I’m a huge fan of Ronald Malfi. I’ve read (just counted) 15 of his books, which may not be all of them but is certainly an overwhelming majority, from his earliest amateurish stabs at fiction to the awesome scary epics he’s matured into. So when Malfi says Come With Me I do. No map, no questions asked.
Which is to say that having found his latest novel on Netgalley, I requested it immediately and read it as soon as approved, no plot summary, no page count, pure trust. And sure enough, it paid off. Mostly. For how prevalent literary fights have featured in Malfi’s latest work, with this book he decided to revisit his thriller writing days, flex those muscles, test those waters. So genre wise the book is basically a serial killer thriller with supernatural undertones thrown in. The plot goes something like this… Aaron Decker is a haunted man. Aaron’s comfortable life was brutally changed one day when his wife Allison was randomly gunned down by a crazed shooter at a mall (the most American of scenarios and most tragically inspired by a real life story death of the author’s friend). Now he’s become unmoored, unanchored and in his grief he goes over some of his late wife’s things and finds a side of her he didn’t know existed. Sure, she was always reticent to talk about her past, but he figured that was due to all the tragedies she left behind, a death of her father, a death of her sister. But turns out there was more, so much more. Turns out his late wife’s sister was actually murdered and Allison has spent years investigating that and other similar deaths. Evidence suggests a serial killer. And now Aaron finds himself compelled to take over where Allison left off, to follow the thread no matter what darkness it’ll lead to. It begins as the only way to understand Allison, to be close to her once again…but soon enough it turns terrifyingly real. So there you go. An excellent dark psychological suspense thriller from a genre hopping master of literary scares. The ghostly ambiance throughout blends in smoothly with the very credible murder investigation straight down to the prerequisite (and unexpected) final plot twist. A combination sure to delight fans of both supernatural and murderously natural genres. I said mostly earlier and that’s because at time (and really just that, only at times) the book seemed lightly overwritten and it used the title excessively in some many ways. But these are really very minor things, comparing to the most excellent sum total. Malfi’s writing is excellent in the way that it plays out (for me, anyway) cinematically, I find his words projecting a movie onto the screen of my mind. Such as his vivid imagery, the atmospheric darkness pervading this story, the eerie small towns shrouded in sadness, desperation and nightmares. Really, really good, completely immersive, profoundly engaging reading experience. Read in the dark if possible, but either way…read this book. It’s exciting, disturbing and hugely entertaining. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
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