Alex by Adam J. Nicolai

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I don’t know that I would classify this one as a “horror” story per say, I can’t say that I was scared or creeped out at any point, but I am perfectly fine classifying it as a respectable work of literature. Now let it be known, just because I did not find this novel frightening in a traditional sense, it should not be misconstrued as me saying the book lacked disturbing elements. I’m not sure about you, but pretty certain the majority of humans find it troubling to read about a psychopath performing heinous acts on a child. Consider that your trigger warning.

If you’ve ever read previous reviews of mine, you know I am a married female that does not have children (yes, on purpose – I know – crazy right?!). However, this book leads me to believe that if I ever did birth a child, and then experience the loss of said child, I can look forward to them coming back as an annoying ghost kid that only can only communicate with me by repeating nonsense phrases. Alex was like a doll with a broken pull string and after a while (a short while), he became more of an irritation than an effective plot device. I will admit, though, that this might be mainly due to the fact that the Audible narrator seemingly discovered a way to kick himself in his own balls since anytime he spoke as the Alex character, his voice notably became five octaves higher and, impressively, seven times more grating.

But despite this, at the novel’s core, it’s a narrative about love, grief and the toll both of these take on the psyche, and it's not half bad. It has a pretty solid “oh I didn’t see that coming!” revelation, which is always appreciated. I could see this book translating effortlessly into a limited series or even full-length film – and I’m talking to you, Amazon Prime, after all, this is an Amazon exclusive. Better hurry up before big, bad Netflix buys up the rights and farts out a movie version next week starring Jonah Hill. Seriously.



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