The Return by Rachel Harrison

This is Harrison’s debut novel, and it is very impressive. There is a slow burn of unsettling details, a unique setting (a isolated lurid boutique-style hotel with themed rooms, some more frightening than others), and likable characters it is easy to relate to. The power of friendship is not something that is commonly used in horror novels, but it is used to great effect here.

The book centers on four friends: Molly, Mae, Julie, and our narrator, Elise. They are friends from college, with the kind of ferocious closeness that early adulthood friendships tend to bring. As the book opens, Julie has disappeared while hiking. Harrison gives us a time-lapse of details of the search and how the friends cope with not knowing what happened to their friend. As Julie’s absence approaches two years, most people have assumed she has died, but Elise feels absolutely certain she is still alive, despite attending a funeral for her. 

And then, two years to the day of her disappearance, she appears on her porch, with no memory of what happened to her. Mae decides to plan a mini-reunion for the scattered friends to catch up and celebrate Julie’s return. But is that really Julie? And what is going on in the hotel? 

Close friendships always have their own minefields of old injuries and bad feelings, and these friends are absolutely no exception. You probably have at least one friend you can see in at least one of the characters. As the reunion getaway wears on, they have to keep one another happy and healthy while also trying to figure out what is going on with Julie and in the hotel.

I bought this ebook on a bit of a whim, and I am glad I did. I found it a very compelling read, and the twists and turns unsettling. The themes of grief and loss and friendship work really well intertwined with the horror. Losing close friends and being forced to confront the effects of your own poor life choices is a horror in its own right.

There is some gore, some body horror, and implications of other violence, but I don’t think it’s too overwhelming. If you enjoy reading about close friend groups and don’t mind a little blood and guts in your horror, this book is well worth a read. 

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to text my best friends and tell them I love them.

Hillary H