This is Ben Bemus with the Sioux City Public Library, and you’re listening to Check it Out.
Today I am recommending The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. A horror novel filled with unreliable narrators who will leave you unnerved and uncertain from start to finish.
Ted Bannerman lives in a house that has three locks on the door and all its windows boarded up. He has a hard time remembering names and distinguishing the past and present, and sometimes he “goes away” for a while. Sometimes his daughter Lauren comes to visit, but she is getting increasingly violent and is never allowed to go outside. The house is also home to a talking cat named Olivia who believes that it’s God’s will that she does her best to keep Ted safe and happy. Concerned that someday he will “go away” and not come back, Ted decides to look for a friend who will understand his unique situation and can take care of Lauren and Olivia when he is gone.
Their lives are thrown into chaos when a new neighbor named Dee moves in next door. She is back in town eleven years after her little sister Lulu went missing during a family trip to a nearby lake, and she’s determined to find answers. She firmly believes Ted is responsible, but she needs proof before she can act. Her quest for truth and revenge grows increasingly dangerous as she monitors her new neighbor, and though there are a lot of mysteries in Ted’s life to unravel, one thing is certain: something is very wrong in the house next door.
The Last House on Needless Street is excellent at provoking conflicting feelings- its atmosphere is claustrophobic and unnerving, always leaving the reader uncertain about its reality, yet it can also be oddly charming. Check out The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, and other horrifying thrillers like it, at the Sioux City Public Library.
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