Who Would Like This Book:
If you love stories that mash up genres, Unbury Carol is a real treat - imagine a gothic fairy tale layered with gritty Western vibes and a pulse of supernatural horror. The tension of a race-against-time rescue, a memorable villain straight out of nightmares, and eccentric world-building make this an atmospheric and unique read. Fans of twisted fairy tales, weird Westerns, or those wanting a break from typical thrillers will find plenty to love here, especially if you don’t mind a bit of the macabre.
Who May Not Like This Book:
If you’re hoping for a tight, fast-paced plot from page one, prepare for a slow burn - some readers found the pacing sluggish and the prose repetitive. Feminists or those wanting a strong female lead might be frustrated by how sidelined Carol feels in her own story, with much of the action revolving around the male characters. Also, if you’re expecting something like Malerman’s Bird Box, you may be disappointed by the stylized language and the different approach to horror.
About:
'Unbury Carol' by Josh Malerman is a gripping blend of Western, fantasy, horror, and fairy tale elements. The story follows Carol Evers, a woman with a medical condition that causes her to appear dead, leading her husband Dwight to plot her premature burial for her fortune. However, a former lover named James Moxie sets out to save her before it's too late, facing off against a ruthless killer named Smoke. The narrative unfolds with a ticking clock as Moxie races against time to rescue Carol, set against a backdrop that feels like the Old West but also mystical and alternate universe-like. Malerman's writing style quickly immerses readers into this world of perilous suspense, with well-developed characters and a haunting storyline that plays upon the fear of being buried alive.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include graphic violence and themes of premature burial and death.
Has Romance?
Romantic elements are present, particularly highlighting the past relationship between Carol and Moxie.
From The Publisher:
The New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box returns with a supernatural thriller of love, redemption, and murder.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSWEEK
"This one haunts you for reasons you can't quite put your finger on. . . . [Josh Malerman] defies categories and comparisons with other writers." - Kirkus Reviews
Carol Evers is a woman with a dark secret. She has died many times . . . but her many deaths are not final: They are comas, a waking slumber indistinguishable from death, each lasting days.
Only two people know of Carol's eerie condition. One is her husband, Dwight, who married Carol for her fortune, and-when she lapses into another coma-plots to seize it by proclaiming her dead and quickly burying her . . . alive. The other is her lost love, the infamous outlaw James Moxie. When word of Carol's dreadful fate reaches him, Moxie rides the Trail again to save his beloved from an early, unnatural grave.
And all the while, awake and aware, Carol fights to free herself from the crippling darkness that binds her-summoning her own fierce will to survive. As the players in this drama of life and death fight to decide her fate, Carol must in the end battle to save herself.
The haunting story of a woman literally bringing herself back from the dead, Unbury Carol is a twisted take on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.
Praise for Unbury Carol
"Fantastically clever. A breakneck ride to save a life already lost, proving sometimes death is only the beginning." -J. D. Barker, internationally bestselling author of The Fourth Monkey
"Breathtaking and menacing . . . an intricately plotted, lyrical page-turner about love, betrayal, revenge, and the primal fear of being buried alive." - Booklist (starred review)
"Unbury Carol is a Poe story set in the weird West we all carry inside us, and it not only hits the ground running, it digs into that ground, too. About six wonderful feet." -Stephen Graham Jones, author of Mongrels
"Bleakly lyrical à la Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor." - Library Journal (starred review)
"With vivid prose and characters that leap off the page, guns a-blazing, Unbury Carol creates its own lingering legend, dragging you along like an obstinate horse toward a righteous storm of an ending." -Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Phasma
Ratings (8)
Loved It (4) | |
Liked It (1) | |
It Was OK (1) | |
Did Not Like (2) |
Reader Stats (23):
Read It (7) | |
Want To Read (11) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (4) |
2 comment(s)
Unbury Carol has a promising premise—an eerie Western tale of a woman who suffers from a mysterious condition that leaves her in a death-like coma and a race against time for her to be saved before she's buried alive. Unfortunately, the execution of this intriguing concept fell flat for me.
The biggest issue I had was with the pacing. The novel starts strong, but the middle drags on endlessly with repetitive sequences and a lot of meandering. What could have been a tense, gripping thriller instead feels sluggish, losing much of the suspense along the way. The characters lacked depth. Carol, the story's focal point, doesn’t feel fully fleshed out. I wanted to connect with her and her struggle, but she comes across as distant and underdeveloped.
The antagonists (Smoke, Rot, and Dwight), while menacing or just jackasses in theory, felt cartoonish at times, lacking the complexity that would have made them truly terrifying or engaging. The supernatural elements (Rot and the Magic James Moxie), while intriguing at first, felt underutilized and not fully explored, leaving the story feeling incomplete.
There are some redeeming qualities—the writing style is lyrical and atmospheric at times, and the concept is certainly original. But overall, I was left wanting more in terms of character development and a tighter, more suspenseful plot. What could have been a haunting and tense narrative was weighed down by uneven storytelling and pacing issues.
the wizard of oz
sleeping beauty
the dark tower
a dash of the tell-tale heart
mix these together and you get
unbury carol, an entirely unique novel about a woman who almost dies a lot
carol, who lives in a world something like the american frontier west but with more magic and less specificity, often falls into comas so close to death most doctors can't tell the difference
she has spent her life trying to find a way to release herself from howltown, the name she gives to the dark place she falls through during these comas
when her jealous husband uses her latest coma as a ploy to bury her alive and take her money for himself, her old lover-turned-outlaw james moxie hears about his plan and comes riding down the trail to rescue her
the trail and those who live on it, mostly adventurers and outlaws, is what reminded me most of the dark tower, moxie the legendary gunslinger who comes out of retirement to travel down the road to his lady's aid
but carol isn't a passive sleeping beauty, and she's finding herself more and more powerful within howltown, with people from her past both living and dead coming to her rescue
this novel is creepy and scary and surprising and great
What can you read after
Unbury Carol?
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