The Only Child by Andrew Pyper

I am not a fan of horror fiction, except for an extended flirtation with Stephen King when I was in high school.  I do, however, give a pass to Andrew Pyper, because his work usually references literature and he is very skilled at dancing that fine line that leaves me wondering if there are in fact supernatural events happening or we have a highly unreliable narrator. As Pyper wrote in one of his earlier novels, The Killing Circle, "After all, what is sanity other than guarding the border between the fiction and non-fiction sections?" With Pyper, you can never be entirely sure which section of the bookstore you are visiting.

The Only Child opens with the protagonist, Lily Dominick, revealing that when she was six years old her mother was killed by a bear when they were living in a remote cabin in Alaska.  Lily mysteriously escaped, but carries with her troubling memories that do not match the official version of events. Now grown-up and a forensic psychiatrist, Lily understands how unreliable a child's memory of traumatic events may be, but is still unable to shake off the belief that her mother was killed not by a bear, but by a monster; and that Lily was rescued by a magical white horse.

She is the assistant director at a maximum security forensic psychology institute, and it is her job to assess the mental state of violent criminals. One morning she is presented with Michael, a patient who claims he committed a random and unusual act of violence just to meet Lily. He tells her that he is over 200 years old, he is not human, and he knew her mother and can tell her the secrets of her own past. In spite of her training and scepticism, Lily finds herself swept along in a series of increasingly dangerous and violent situations, as she pursues and is pursued by this mysterious creature, who seems more monster than man.

There is an element of international espionage to the tale as Lily soon encounters dangerous assassins who are also trying to find Michael, and the characters travel from New York, to various European cities, and the vast frigid wilderness of Alaska.  The tale also travels through time exploring events over the past two centuries and visiting some of the earliest horror writers in English literature: Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Bram Stoker. Yet in spite of the diverse range of locations, characters, and timelines, Pyper manages to maintain the flow of the story jumping effortlessly through time and space.

It is a novel I read quickly in part to fully appreciate the flurry of motion and incident, but also to prevent myself from dwelling too long on the more horrific incidents. As I said, it is not my preferred genre.  However, if it is your genre or you just want to try something new, I would recommend the Only Child.  Pyper tells his tale with skill, maintaining the suspense and tension between the "fiction and non-fiction sections," while adding frequent plot twists. It is a true page-turner.

Three and a half smileys out of five. 😀😀😀😶