ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sara Gran is the author of The Book of The Most Precious Substance. Previous work includes Saturn's Return to New York, Come Closer, Dope, Marigold, and the Claire DeWitt series. She is the founder of small press Dreamland Books and writes for television and film. 

Amanda lives a successful life. She’s got everything: a promising career and a loving husband. And then something changes and she starts to act weirdly. First, she leaves an obscene note at work, then she steals lipstick. She begins to smoke again. Not the end of the world, but her compulsions to act cruelly and irresponsibly grow stronger. Is it stress? Or demon possession by Naamah, an alluring woman who dominates her dreams?

The narrative structure of Come Closer is unusual. At first, readers may think they’re dealing with an unreliable narrator on the verge of a psychotic break. Later, they’re not so sure. At a certain point, things flip and it becomes increasingly clear that things have seriously gone off the rails.

The narrative, which focuses on Amanda’s change, completely captivated me. There’s something about Gran’s simple but evocative writing style that I find compelling. The story is genuinely disturbing and balances psychological and supernatural horror with ease. Amanda’s fear of destroying her comfortable life is mixed with a certain joy at destroying everything she has built. I loved that the story was ambiguous - were these compulsions a result of Amanda’s repressed psyche or demonic possession?

I rooted for Amanda as she lost touch with reality, but Gran is an excellent and cruel writer. Her take on demonic possession isn’t only frightening, but well-researched and evocative. She keeps readers informed about Naamah - her origins, needs, plans, and compulsions. And poor Amanda has a small chance of winning her life back.

Come Closer is great. Without superfluous scenes or sprawling descriptions, it tells a nail-biting and intoxicating story in less than 200 pages. A riveting read.