Unbury Carol

Name: Unbury Carol
Price: 17.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Josh Malerman
ISBN: 9780399180187

✍️ Josh Malerman

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4.6

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

A woman trapped in death-like comas battles her greedy husband and a rescuing outlaw in the weird West.

Malerman constructs a suspenseful narrative where Carol Evers wakes in bodies declared dead by her husband Dwight. James Moxie, an infamous outlaw from her past, intervenes to save her. The text explores themes of murder and redemption through this triangular conflict. Library Journal notes the prose is bleakly lyrical, comparing it to Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor. Delilah S. Dawson highlights the vivid characters and guns-blazing action. The story does not rely on supernatural magic but on psychological horror and human greed. Carol must summon her own will to survive the darkness binding her.

Key Themes

Literary Context

The book sits in the weird West tradition, blending gothic horror with Western tropes. It draws on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale for its structure. The setting involves the Trail and comas indistinguishable from death. Malerman uses these elements to create a haunting tale of survival.

Josh Malerman

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Horror Fiction

🏛 Del Rey Books 📅 2019 🌐 English 📔 Paperback 📐 Book ISBN: 9780399180187

📝 Description: Unbury Carol

Josh Malerman, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author known for Bird Box, presents Unbury Carol. This novel reimagines the Sleeping Beauty narrative within a Western setting. The story centers on Carol Evers, who suffers from comas that mimic death. Her husband Dwight exploits this condition to claim her fortune by burying her alive. Meanwhile, her former lover James Moxie rides the Trail to rescue her. The plot follows three perspectives as they compete for Carol’s fate. Carol herself fights through the darkness of her waking slumber with fierce will. Malerman blends elements of gothic horror with the weird West tradition. The narrative structure shifts between these characters, creating a tense drama of life and death. Stephen Graham Jones describes the work as a Poe story set in that landscape. Readers who enjoy suspenseful thrillers and supernatural fiction will find this tale compelling. Those seeking lighthearted romance or traditional historical Westerns may find it too bleak. The book offers a twisted take on fairy tales, focusing on survival and redemption. It remains a haunting story that lingers after the final page.