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Book Review: Hokey Pokey - Kate Mascarenhas

· 5 comments · 200 words

Book cover in an art deco style. Two women face each other.OK. What the actual fuck? This starts off as a rather charming period piece - 1920s hotel will all the guests snowed in - and then gradually descends into horrifying madness. I'm used to the bizarre worlds created by Kate Mascarenhas - but this took the creepiness up to an extreme level.

There's an almost fetish-like description of the scenery which helps with the world building. At first I thought the creeping around the hotel was a bit "Famous Five", but it builds up the supernatural tension perfectly. It's only in retreospect that you can understand all the clues which have been dotted around

I can't really tell you much without massive spoilers - but it feels like a study in psychosis and an examination of the way a predator stalks its prey. I'm not sure if the monsters are all in the characters' heads or if this is just a fantasy of the deluded.

It pounds towards a savage end. The sort of book you have to put down and contemplate covering in salt and burying in the marshes.

Verdict
Outstanding
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