Reviews

Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn

debbieliz83's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

adrienne_l's review against another edition

4.0

Lucas Graham is a true crime writer desperate for his next hit book. When he receives a letter from Jeffrey Halcomb, an imprisoned cult leader responsible for murder and suspected of causing his followers' mass suicide, that promises to revitalize Lucas' career (and perhaps save his marriage in the bargain), he is willing to do whatever it takes to land the interview of a lifetime. This includes moving himself and his twelve year-old daughter Vee across the country to live in the house where Halcomb and his eight followers horrifically sacrificed a young woman and her newborn infant before his followers poisoned themselves. Halcomb was convicted of murder and sent to a maximum security prison where he has remained silent. Until now.

Within These Walls is told in two different timelines, one is set in 1983 and tells the story of lonely and neglected Audra Snow as she becomes irrevocably bound to Halcomb and his "family," and the other follows Lucas and Vee who discover that the house of horrors Halcomb left behind may not be as empty as it seems.

This is a long, slow moving novel that is mostly build up until about the 75% mark. I didn't particularly mind this, as I found the 1983 timeline offered an interesting exploration of indoctrination into a cult - how the cult leader and devoted follower prey on the lonely and vulnerable. It sort of reminded me of the film Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene, but then again I guess most stories about falling under the sway of a charismatic cult leader follow pretty much the same pattern in broad strokes, with only smaller differences in ideology and the characters of the people involved. There's still something fascinating about them, though. I didn't particularly love the timeline in the present day, mainly because Lucas is such an annoying woe-is-me type with a short fuse. But I recognize that his selfishness served the purposes of the story, even if it wasn't such fun to spend time in his head. There were also some very effectively creepy scenes involving the haunting in the present day.

This is my third book by Ania Ahlborn and she is a very good writer who seems to prefer unlikeable characters and unhappy endings. Within These Walls is one of her longer works at 400+ pages but it did not seem that long to me, despite the slow buildup. I look forward to reading more of her work.

fletcherskiddish's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.75

tmilaan's review

4.0

Super spooky!

thejessiejoy's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

nancyadelman's review

4.0

I found this book at a thrift store and being a fan of both true crime and horror novels decided to give it a go. Though it is fiction, it has an interesting premise. A has-been, washed-up true crime author is given a once in a lifetime chance to interview the charismatic leader of a cult for a book deal. The cult leader is serving time in prison for his involvement in a murder-suicide some years before and decides to allow the author a one-time interview with unprecedented access to write a book; the only catch is that the aurhor has to agree to stay in his home, the site of the crime while he writes the book. Though this book has an interesting premise, the story gets bogged down and it took me a while to read just because it got somewhat boring through the first half or so. The latter half really picked up and held my attention. I had to go back and re-read the epilogue to be sure that I understood what had happened, not because of any confusing writing on the author's part but because I read it too fast. It is a very unique horror story and any true crime aficionado would probably like this as well.

kim_possumble's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

kdickerson38's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Dual timelines/POVs, with police reports/news stories mixed in; a combo of cults and haunting which proved to be intriguing and unique; suspenseful, with an impending sense of dread; I really enjoyed the premise from the beginning but I'm not sure I like where it ended up; the last scene was pretty dope though

nose_ina_book's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This was definitely on the slower side as most haunting books are. I enjoyed the complexity of the relationships between characters, the alternating between timelines and news stories, as well as the cult aspect. 

tmonjaras's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A good horror mystery in the PNW with a looming threat that felt like it was never really there.