Last to Leave the Room

July 24, 2023
Starling (The Death of Jane Lawrence) hits a rare false note in this underdeveloped, anxiety-inducing take on both mad scientist and doppelgänger tropes. The brilliant but deeply unethical Dr. Tamsin Rivers has made a terrible discovery: her city, San Siroco, is sinking. Myrica Dynamic, the corporation bankrolling her underground experiments, demands answers she doesn’t have, and her minder, Mx. Lachland Woodfield, makes it very clear that Myrica will hold Tamsin responsible for whatever happens to the city, good or bad. To make things worse—and weirder—a door appears out of nowhere in Tamsin’s basement. When it opens, out walks Tamsin’s double, who Tamsin names Prime. As Tamsin desperately tries to solve the mystery of the basement door, Prime starts filling in for Tamsin in public, until no one, not even Tamsin, can tell who’s the original and who’s the copy. For readers, this question is never in doubt, however, leading a third act twist to fall flat. Though the action is pulse pounding, the thematic exploration of identity and the limits of human understanding remains frustratingly shallow. Readers will be disappointed..

August 1, 2023

Tamsin is the head of a crucial experiment taking place deep beneath the city of San Siroco. When she and her team discover that the city appears to be slowly sinking, they are quick to cover up their possible connection to it. Returning home, Tamsin finds that the same thing is occurring at her house, but only in her basement--and at a faster rate. When a mysterious door appears one night and a double of Tamsin emerges, she must find out what is really happening without alerting her employer. Tamsin's scientific work takes the forefront in this novel, and while it's important to the plot, the intricate detail sometimes bogs down the pace. The character of Lachlan is introduced as a handler for Tamsin, and while some unknown connections between the two are teased, their relationship is left very nebulous. Unfortunately, the novel's twist and ending are predictable. VERDICT It's billed as horror, but the latest from popular novelist Starling (after The Death of Jane Lawrence) is more of a speculative thriller; her fans will still clamor for it.--Emily Vinci

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2023
Starling's latest (after The Death of Jane Lawrence, 2021) is her most original, compelling, and terrifying novel yet, a tale that signals her growth as a writer and is sure to bring her to the attention of even more readers. Dr. Tasmin Rivers is a brilliant scientist, leading a top-secret experiment deep underground for a large corporation in San Siroco. During their research, her team discovers that everything within the city limits is slowly sinking 27 mm a month, except Tasmin's basement, which is sinking even faster. Or is it stretching? As she becomes more obsessed with the happenings in her own home, Tasmin loses track of time, her team, and the danger facing the city, until the day a door appears in her basement, and through it walks her exact, physical double. What follows is a thought-provoking, creative, and compelling novel, one that relentlessly squeezes unease out of the reader, presenting a cautionary tale so deeply unsettling that it is best described as a depiction of existential dread itself. For fans of the liminal space where science fiction and cosmic horror overlap such as in T. Kingfisher's The Hollow Places (2020) or Gus Moreno's This Thing Between Us (2021).

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2023
An ambitious scientist loses herself in her work--literally. The government and citizens of San Siroco, California, believe Myrica Dynamics privatized the city's crumbling subway system for the public good. In truth, Myrica did so to conceal Dr. Tamsin Rivers' quest to develop a new communications protocol involving technological mirrors mounted in subterranean geodesic domes. Success means Tamsin will "revolutionize the world" and be recognized as a genius, but while early results look promising, there's a problem. Since testing commenced, the city has been sinking three millimeters each week. More perplexingly, Tamsin's basement has been sinking three centimeters each week--but unlike the rest of San Siroco, "not in a way that impacts the structural integrity of her home." Tamsin hasn't yet told anyone about her basement; nobody can definitively link the city's subsidence with her research, and she doesn't want Myrica to draw premature conclusions and shut things down. Tamsin begins working from home, hoping the cellar can provide answers; instead, a door appears from which a Tamsin doppelg�nger emerges. At first Tamsin's double, "Prime," seems sweet and accommodating, but as Tamsin starts losing both time and memories and Prime becomes more assertive, Tamsin regrets her secretive tendencies. Part existential horror, part speculative fiction, and part paranoia tale, Starling's latest thrills and chills while exploring the contextual nature of identity and the concept of personhood. Diabolical plotting, relentless pacing, and ascetic worldbuilding function in tandem with Starling's staccato present-tense narration to maximize tension and drive. At once visceral and introspective.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.