The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

By: Andy Marino

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

From an electrifying voice in horror comes the haunting tale of a woman whose life begins to unravel after a home invasion.

“Admirers of the works of Tana French, Megan Abbott, and Zoje Stage will devour this book.” —Booklist

Possession is an addiction.

Sydney's spent years burying her past and building a better life for herself and her young son. A respectable marketing job, a house with reclaimed and sustainable furniture, and a boyfriend who loves her son and accepts her, flaws and all.

But when she opens her front door, and a masked intruder knocks her briefly unconscious, everything begins to unravel.

She wakes in the hospital and tells a harrowing story of escape. Of dashing out a broken window. Of running into her neighbors' yard and calling the police.

The cops tell her a different story. Because the intruder is now lying dead in her guest room—murdered in a way that looks intimately personal.

Sydney can't remember killing the man. No one believes her.

Back home, as horrific memories surface, an unnatural darkness begins whispering in her ear. Urging her back to old addictions and a past she's buried to build a better life for herself and her son.

As Sydney searches for truth among the wreckage of a past that won't stay buried for long, the unquiet darkness begins to grow. To change into something unimaginable.

To reveal terrible cravings of its own.

“Marino offers horrors both existential and visceral. From a stunning opening, the sense of dread just builds and builds.” —M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts

"Odd and dark and fascinating ... Not quite like anything I've ever read before. A strange, compelling, late-night page-turner. It kept me reading way past my bedtime." —T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places

Critic reviews

"Marino offers horrors both existential and visceral. From a stunning opening, the sense of dread just builds and builds."—M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts

"Odd and dark and fascinating . . . Not quite like anything I've ever read before. A strange, compelling, late-night page-turner. It kept me reading way past my bedtime."—T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places

"Andy Marino’s The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is a gripping portrait of addiction and an innovative take on demonic possession, delivering a shocking ending and powerful themes of how love heals but can also be corrupted."—Craig DiLouie, author of The Children of Red Peak

"Equal parts surreal and hyper-real, darkly hypnotic. Marino puts his main character's throbbing heart on full display and we are swept along on the dark journey into waters both mystical and terrifying. With every new revelation, the dread just mounts and mounts to the mind-shattering conclusion."—David Wellington, author of The Last Astronaut

"Marino does an impressive job writing tender and heartbreaking moments without sacrificing the brutal tone that drives the story. Absolutely devastating."—Publishers Weekly

I have a Hate-Love Relationship with this

Story- VERY dark and disturbing. However, the ironic and sarcastic lines made me laugh, mostly thanks to another fantastic job by Lakin. But this is not my style, and I feel like a need a shower.

Not Story Advertised...But Not Bad

Overall, it's not a bad book. It's just a very different one than the one we are led to expect in summary. Pros: Creative story, interesting ending, strong characterization, and really good narration. Cons: Too wordy, and timeline is hard to follow. Would be a much stronger story at about 2/3 the length.

Save your credits

Took me months to finish this book. The characters were uninteresting and unsympathetic, the story jumped around so much it was hard to keep track of what was happening and everything happening was unrealistic. It felt like the author started out writing a book about addiction and relapse, and then got hit in the head. I’ll be returning this immediately after finishing this review.

Save your credit and get something by Stephen King instead.

not for me. to scatter brained

not for me, story hard to follow. narrator was great. I was looking for a suspense or thriller, got a story about an addiction

Confusing and disjointed

The first third was OK, the rest was nonsensical. A lot of it didn’t make sense, especially the ending.