07/24/2023

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.. (Oct.)

"A taut, ominous gothic that plays with preconceptions of gender and genre alike. Starling illuminates her characters brilliantly, and isn't afraid of the dark corners behind them. This book runs like clockwork — but it's unpredictable too, unnervingly so, like a machine finely calibrated to self-destruct. It reads like Shirley Jackson writing an episode of Severance." — Isaac Fellman, author of Dead Collections and The Two Doctors Górski.

"A stylish and chilling technothriller, Last to Leave the Room had me rapt at every page. Starling once again succeeds with this tense, atmospheric tale of genius and hubris, one that will have readers question their sense of identity until the chilling end." — Victor Manibo, author of The Sleepless

"No two Caitlin Starling books are the same, save for their intelligence, imagination, and compulsive readability. But with Last to Leave the Room, Starling has outdone herself. If, by the end of Chapter 3, you're not *desperate* to know what happens next, you're as baffling as non-Euclidean geometry." — Nat Cassidy, author of Mary: An Awakening of Terror and Nestlings

"A mad-scientist cautionary tale cloaked in unflinching dread, to read this book is to creep down the basement stairs in the dark toward bone-deep uncertainty. Last to Leave the Room is a page-turning genre-buster, carefully plotted and deeply frightening, with unexpected heart. I loved every moment."

—Katrina Monroe, author of They Drown Our Daughters

"A bow-taut psychological thriller, a virtuoso science fiction tale, and above all an unsqueamish exploration of identity, ambition, cruelty and memory. It's a terrifying combination of tension and imagination that could only have come from the mind of Caitlin Starling — no one else working in speculative fiction could have executed this with such style and confidence."

— Nebula award-winning author Premee Mohamed

"Caitlin Starling's Last to Leave the Room is a masterclass in narrative tension. This is a terrifyingly compelling work of scifi horror that was impossible to look away from, even when I wanted to read with my hands mostly covering my eyes."

—Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

"Last to Leave the Room is a singularly fascinating book. Starling is a genius for the horrors of the physical and the interpersonal, and this book marries those two unique nightmares brilliantly." —Sarah Gailey, award-winning author of Just Like Home

“Caitlin Starling’s Last to Leave the Room is a twisty, reality-warping powerhouse of a novel. Absolutely riveting!” -Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of Kagen the Damned and Cave 13

"Last to Leave the Room is unpretentious and incredibly readable—the kind of book that monopolizes your attention until you realize you've missed your bus stop. I think I finished it in two sittings, and I had fun, despite the fact it tickles that deep and terrified part of our lizard brains that recognizes the instability of our own identities, and deeply resents all the other, better versions of ourselves we could've been. Also, I'm a sucker for gruesome eyeball stuff." - Hiron Ennes, author of Leech

"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.” - Kirkus, starred review

"Her most original, compelling, and terrifying novel yet.” - Booklist, starred review

“The action is pulse-pounding." - Publishers Weekly

"It’s psychological horror at its most terrifying, the kind of writing that makes you stop to question—just for a moment—how well you know your own mind and your own world... Last to Leave the Room will deeply unsettle readers as it asks two existentially fraught questions: What exactly makes you, you? And who are you when all that is stripped away” - Bookpage

08/01/2023

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

Xe Sands's eerie performance beckons listeners into this horror story. Parts of the city of San Siroco are sinking, including the basement of Dr. Tamsin Rivers. At the same time, the room's dimensions are slowly stretching, revealing a door that shouldn't exist. Then, perfect doppelgängers of herself and her cat appear. The distortions can't be explained by science, and Tamsin is growing more forgetful and panicked the longer she's around her double. Sands's vocal fry and emotional tone will keep listeners on edge as Tamsin becomes more and more obsessed with the door in her basement. Some character voices are difficult to distinguish, but Sands's unsettling performance and consistent pacing are remarkable. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

★ 2023-08-26
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 doppelgänger 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.