A review by reliures
The Between by Tananarive Due

5.0

Horror mystery following Hilton, a young black man who lived through trauma, as a child he almost drowned and his grandmother, his sole parent, died trying to save him. Several years later, as a family man, as his wife receives threatening racist letters, he starts to have horrible nightmares that will slowly unravel him.  

I absolutely loved this book, what an incredible debut by Tananarive Due. She did a great job showing how Hilton’s mental state starts to crumbles, how his dreams and visions gradually impacts his everyday life and relationships for the worst. The pacing was perfectly executed and the writing was vivid and evocative, the creepy nightmares were truly horrifying to read.  

This book was written in the 90s so there’s plenty of references to that era which I liked. Also there’s a really cinematic feel to the writing style which I loved. In addition to being an academic expert in black horror and afrofuturism, the author also wrote screenplays so this book would suit a mini tv show or a film adaptation so well. 

The ending was really beautiful, emotional and quite bold too as it keeps you guessing until the last page as to what happens with the main character. 

I will definitely check out her other books.