Nestlings
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3.6 • 67 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Nat Cassidy is at his razor-sharp best again with his horror novel Nestlings, which harnesses the creeping paranoia of Rosemary's Baby and the urban horror of Salem's Lot, set in an exclusive New York City residential building.
Best Adult Books 2023—New York Public Library
NPR Books We Love 2023
Best Horror of 2023—Esquire, Den of Geek
Best Horror of 2023 (Honorable Mention)—Paste
Ana and Reid needed a lucky break.
The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling: with mobility, with her relationship with Reid, with resentment for her baby. That's about to change with the words any New Yorker would love to hear—affordable housing lottery.
They've won an apartment in the Deptford, one of Manhattan's most revered buildings with beautiful vistas of Central Park and stunning architecture.
Reid dismisses disturbing events and Ana’s deep unease and paranoia as the price of living in New York—people are odd—but he can't explain the needle-like bite marks on the baby.
Other Books by Nat Cassidy:
Mary: An Awakening of Terror
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cassidy's tepid sophomore horror outing (after Mary) is more cagey than creepy. It kicks off when new parents Reid and Ana win an affordable housing lottery and move into a luxurious two-bedroom apartment overlooking Central Park in New York City's historic Deptford building. The hapless duo jumps at the opportunity, hoping it means their luck has turned after almost a year of hardship following their daughter's complicated birth, which left Ana paralyzed from the waist down and led to a tumultuous night the couple never talks about, the events of which are slowly teased out to readers. Moving in to the Deptford brings some familiar-feeling scares: a spooky concierge with an artificial smile, elevator operators that resemble gremlins, gargoyles that disappear, and wailing that drifts through the walls. Soon-to-be one-year-old Charlie is especially unsettled by the apartment, frequently waking her parents with screams of terror. The strangeness only intensifies the more Reid and Ana get to know their neighbors and gradually piece together what exactly is going on in their new building. Cassidy successfully sets up an ominous mystery around the Deptford's history, but the pace is slow and the horror elements never truly terrify. This won't have anyone sleeping with the lights on.
Customer Reviews
Lengthy - but has its moments
The plot of this book felt drawn out in an unnecessary way. There are definitely “creepy” scenes, but the payoff for them was just not there for me. The characters are interesting and trying to solve the mysteries of the Deptford building keeps you reading, but the reveal just didn’t land for me. I feel it was pretty predictable from the first time something eerie happens. The action also does not start until maybe the last 100 pages or so.