OUR WINTER MONSTER

A couple grapples with monstrosity in this tense horror novel.

Holly and Brian need a break. The couple have had a rough year, recovering from a horrible incident that left them both with severe post-traumatic stress; Holly has coped by throwing herself into her work, while Brian has developed debilitating anxiety: “They’re too far apart and always drifting further. He doesn’t understand how she keeps getting stronger, and she doesn’t understand why he keeps getting weaker.” They decide to take an “emergency vacation” to the village of Pinebuck, New York, where they plan to drink, eat, and relax in a B&B. Unfortunately, a blizzard hits the town, and the couple’s car crashes en route after having been followed by “a giant, white shape that doesn’t blow apart and almost looks solid.” It turns out to be a snow monster that leaves a trail of destruction wherever it goes, which of course draws the attention of the town’s beleaguered sheriff, Kendra Book; she suspects that Holly and Brian are actually behind the carnage—and in a way, she’s right. “One: there’s a monster,” Holly explains to Brian. “Two: we’re the monster. It’s you, and then it’s me, and after me it goes to you again.” It’s an off-kilter premise, but Mahoney pulls it off beautifully, with legitimately terrifying action scenes and a creeping sense of horror threaded through the book. But where he shines brightest is in his depiction—sensitive and accurate—of post-traumatic stress and anxiety: “Happiness was dangerous,” he writes of Brian. “He had to keep his guard up. He watched for threats and problems and began to see them everywhere. But much of what he did to minimize trouble had the opposite effect and made things worse.” There are two monsters in the book: one made of snow, the other made of psychological anguish. Mahoney does an excellent job illustrating how terrifying both are.

Smart, sensitive, and scary as hell.