The Haar

De: David Sodergren

Narrado por: Mhairi Morrison

"I don't fear death . . . but they do."

Muriel McAuley has lived in the Scottish fishing village of Witchaven all her life. She was born there, and she intends to die there.

But when an overseas property developer threatens to evict the residents from their homes and raze Witchaven to the ground in the name of progress, all seems lost . . . until the day a mysterious fog bank creeps inland.

THE HAAR

To some it brings redemption . . . to others, it brings only madness and death. What macabre secrets lie within . . .

THE HAAR

Contains mature themes.

©2022 David Sodergren (P)2024 Tantor

Funny, gruesome, sweet, and sensitive

I love so many things about this book, but its heart and soul shine above all. It’s a wild ride and I’m glad I went in blind as possible.

Wow!

I was very impressed with how much I love this story. I expected one thing and got another in the best way. Definitely worth the read if you enjoy gore and a good storyline

Unique and Satisfying

Great pacing. Terrific narration. The protagonist's perspective is flawed and engaging. The reader can easily buy into such an absurd premise, which is a testament to the author's writing.

Narrator sounds like AI

The story is charming and fun, although drags a bit at times. My biggest issue is it was hard to know I liked the story because the narration was so awkward. She sounds like AI that doesn’t understand pacing and inflection. I had to listen on 1.2 to get her to sound human.

A dark horror romance about loss and mortality

So, the best synopsis that I can give you for this book without spoiling too much is if took the plot from The Shape of Water, but swapped out the humanoid fish monster with The Thing. This story really worked for me, and I do NOT like romances at all. But it's very sweet, it touches a lot on loss and mortality, and overall I really loved it. I also think the narrator did a fantastic job, she was great. If you're looking for a dark Lovecraftian romance, this is the book for you. Even if you're not looking for any of those things, I'd still recommend the book anyway. It's just great overall. The story, the characters, all of it. 8/10.

So good, so weird, so wholesome?

Very good if you like Scottish grannies, eldritch sea monsters, and people getting what they deserve.

favorite book of all of 2024

i will admit i was frustrated at first when listening but then i realized it wasn’t by the book itself it was genuine evoked emotion from the writer. characters written well enough to actually upset me.l and by the ending i was having an imaginary dance party set to Kool and the gang’s- Celebration. this was bones and all if it had the horror it desperately tried to achieve. the scenes were depicted so wonderfully that i shivered at certain times…but in that same moment the presence of love and hope were somehow maintained in the story and warmed me right back up. what a lovely lovely book

Happy ending

I liked the unexpected twists and solutions for impossible situations!
I was also glad that our protagonist maintained
her values in the case of extreme duress and subconscious wish for revenge. In the end, their love won out. I enjoyed that.

Delightful

I’m not a huge horror novel person, but this really was such a pleasure to read. Simple, short, and memorable.

Not Bad

I'd say the book overall is good. I enjoy the premise and setup. My real main issue is all the villains are ridiculously over-the-top. They're purely one-dimensional bad guys. There's absolutely no depth to them whatsoever. Their personalities and their dialog, is just straight antagonistic. It's practically much mustache-twirling. But outside of them, the story was really solid. It had heart and I never thought a woman in her mid 80s would make for a interesting protagonist to follow. I'm glad I was wrong.