The Handyman Method

June 19, 2023
Cutter (The Troop) and Sullivan (The Marigold) don’t do anything fresh with the haunted house trope in this bog-standard horror story. Attorneys Trent and Rita Saban move with their young son, Milo, into the brand new Dunsany Estates, a development in the middle of nowhere, billed as a future community full of greenery and like-minded families. For now, though, they’re the only ones. Despite the absence of any neighbors, and some physical problems with the house itself, the Sabans hope the move will provide a fresh start after a trauma: a coworker at Trent and Rita’s firm “went postal,” attacking the office with a hammer. Trent’s heroism stopped the attack but left him physically scarred and placed on indefinite leave, at a significantly reduced salary, due to concerns about PTSD. At loose ends, Trent focuses his energy into working on the house, aided by DIY YouTube channel The Handyman Method. That quotidian endeavor turns dark as the house slowly reveals its creepy secrets, which threaten the Sabans’ lives and sanity. Though a late plot twist livens things up a bit, there’s little else to distinguish this in a crowded market. It’s nothing special, but for readers looking for a ghost story, this will do in a pinch. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.

June 10, 2024

The horror is already in the house--and it's toxic masculinity. This collaboration between Cutter (The Troop) and Sullivan (The Marigold) traces the downfall of Trent Saban, a man who just wanted to fix a crack but ends up succumbing to his most disturbing impulses. Trent seeks out a YouTube handyman series for help, but things take a turn when the host slyly inserts poisonous words of advice just for him. The messages wear at his confidence, identifying Trent's wife and son as the problem and offering violent solutions that descend into grotesquery and true horror. Corey Brill brings an everyman voice to the narration, creating an absently fond, tolerant head-of-household tormented by a morass of insecurities within. Secondary characters are given distinct, if somewhat stereotypical, voices--an unhelpful side character exhibits perfectly pitched nasality, while the insidious handyman speaks in a good ol' boy voice, and so on. Whether listeners love this novel will depend on their interpretation of its third-act twist. VERDICT A haunted-house story possessed by the shades of Stephen King's The Shining and The Tommyknockers. Horror fans will be enthralled.--Matthew Galloway

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.