Old Soul
The deliciously unsettling novel that will sneak into your dreams and haunt you
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The most mesmerising, unsettling novel of 2025, perfect for fans of David Mitchell, Julia Armfield, and Margaret Atwood.
'Sinister, mysterious and gorgeously realised' KALIANE BRADLEY, author of The Ministry of Time
'Super-sophisticated horror' The Times
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The woman never goes by the same name.
She never stays in the same place too long.
She never ages. She never dies.
But those around her do.
When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances.
Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared.
Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw.
And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice.
But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?
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'Snags the reader in its claw and mesmerizes from page one' Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch
'Like nothing else I've ever read ... The kind of story you tell around a campfire as the lights of civilization begin to flicker out around you' Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person'
'Beguiles, terrifies and utterly seduces you ... At once a thriller, a postmodern mystery and an existential horror tale' Megan Abbott, author of El Dorado Drive
'Brilliant, horrifying ... So much fun, fantastically tense and wonderful' Evie Wyld, author of The Echoes
'Clever, spooky ... Kept me guessing to the end' Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists
'A mesmerizing story, brilliantly told' Ian McGuire, author of The North Water
'Smart, taut and twisty ... Deftly delivers the chills' Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Barker (The Incarnations) delivers a sweeping work of literary horror that spans the globe yet remains distinctly itchy beneath the skin. Strangers Jake and Mariko meet at an airport in Japan and, over the course of their brief conversation, uncover a disturbing connection between the recent deaths of their loved ones. The autopsies of both victims revealed that their organs were "the wrong way round" and both encountered a mysterious woman shortly before their deaths. The details of these encounters lead Jake on an international investigation piecing together testimonies from others who have met the enigmatic woman whose presence, he discovers, can be linked to countless deaths across centuries and continents. Driven by guilt and curiosity, he races to uncover her true nature, even as the woman, always one step ahead, sets her sights on her next victim. Barker weaves an eerie and suspenseful narrative, alternating between Jake's present-day pursuit and haunting flashbacks of the woman's victims. The slow-burning tension and lush, atmospheric prose build a creeping sense of dread that lingers long after the final page. Fans of both the deeply personal speculative horror of Carmen Maria Machado and the subtle, character-driven mystery of Haruki Murakami will be enthralled.
