This Thing Between Us

A Novel

By: Gus Moreno

Narrated by: Robb Moreira

Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

A widower battles his grief, rage, and the mysterious evil inhabiting his home smart speaker in this mesmerizing horror thriller from Gus Moreno.

It was Vera’s idea to buy the Itza. The “world’s most advanced smart speaker!” didn’t interest Thiago, but Vera thought it would be a bit of fun for them amidst all the strange occurrences happening in the condo. It made things worse. The cold spots and scratching in the walls were weird enough, but peculiar packages started showing up at the house - who ordered industrial lye? Then, there was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza projecting light shows in an empty room.

It was funny and strange right up until Vera was killed, and Thiago’s world became unbearable. Pundits and politicians all looking to turn his wife’s death into a symbol for their own agendas. A barrage of texts from her well-meaning friends about letting go and moving on. Waking to the sound of Itza talking softly to someone in the living room...

The only thing left to do was get far away from Chicago. Away from everything and everyone. A secluded cabin in Colorado seemed like the perfect place to hole up with his crushing grief. But soon Thiago realizes there is no escape - not from his guilt, not from his simmering rage, and not from the evil hunting him, feeding on his grief, determined to make its way into this world.

A bold, original horror novel about grief, loneliness, and the oppressive intimacy of technology, This Thing Between Us marks the arrival of a spectacular new talent.

A Macmillan Audio production from MCD x FSG Originals.

©2021 Gus Moreno (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2021, NPR Best Book of the Year

2022, VCU Cabell First Novelist Winner

2021, NYPL Best Books of the Year

Promising start but hard to follow

I am not sure what happened in this story. I didn’t understand the timeline. I couldn’t make sense of the rules of the world he created. Disappointing after a promising beginning.

Unravels, but worth it

The story is original, while still borrowing from a lot of classic tropes, it didn’t feel tired.

The story falls apart a bit in the last act, but I liked it enough that I would go back and listen to the second half again to catch something I may have missed. Not straight up horror, but there are a couple scenes that were spooky, and a little bit of gore, but mostly just an overall unsettling eerie feeling throughout.

Overall, highly recommend!

personal, Beautiful, haunting

I loved this book from the first page. it's a personal work of grief and bizarre horror.

Not what I expected.

At every turn this book became something different.
It starts out as am extremely personal view in to the grief of the main character then shifts in to almost lovecraftian horror filled with chaos. 100% reccomend a listen and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Not terrible, not great

Themes: Grief. Generational trauma. Broken families. Marriage. Class. Gig economy. Technology.

Author Gus Moreno opens his story with a funeral, getting right to the heart of the main theme: grief.

Leading with the grief trope is a smart device (get it?) for Moreno, who expertly paints the picture of a man profoundly overwhelmed with gruff and guilt. The story becomes a winding road of bad juju, malfunctioning technology, generational trauma, and a dash of brujería.

If you like suspense and lonely cabins in the woods, this audiobook is perfect for you.

Amazing prose, ending a bit of a let down.

The story is written and told beautifully. It made me emotional listening to the passages about grief.

I felt the ending was a bit of a let down, personally. Which is why I’m giving the story only 3 stars.

Entertaining

This reads like a “Black Mirror” inspired dark comedy. I found it to be highly entertaining.

Eh…

Some good horror imagery. Very heavy on the despair and grief element, which adds to the ambiance.

The character histories (flashbacks) are done very well, but the current story as it’s happening in the present was tough to follow.

Narrator was fantastic though. If I see more books from Robb Moreira, I know the narration won’t be a problem.

Phenomenal

Phenomenal book! What an engrossing story of grief and despair. I highly recommend this book.

Confusing and Slow

Really wanted to like this book; however, I think I may have missed the point. There were several times that my husband and I had to ask each about where the character was, was he dreaming or hallucinating, and the general plot of the story.