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New York Times

Revenge, Murder and Zombies in 3 New Horror Novels

With a Vengeance Sager's WITH A VENGEANCE (Dutton, 382 pp., $30) is many things at once: a fast-paced thriller, a locked-room mystery and a violent tale of revenge. Back in 1942, during World War II, Anna Matheson's brother died when a train transporting American troops preparing to ship abroad exploded. It wasn't an accident. The train's engine was intentionally constructed with shoddy materials to turn it into a deadly bomb. Anna's beloved father, a train mogul, was blamed for the incident, convicted and later murdered in prison. The events devastated Anna's family, especially because Anna is certain her father was framed. Twelve years later, Anna has gathered the six people she believes are responsible for destroying her family, using personal notes with targeted messages to get them to join her for a 13-hour nonstop luxury train ride from Philadelphia to Chicago. She wants to watch them squirm and make them confess to their crimes, and then, at the end of the trip, the F.B.I. will be waiting to arrest them. But someone else on the train has a different plan, and it involves killing everyone before they reach Chicago. 'With a Vengeance' doesn't tread new ground — it is very clearly inspired by Agatha Christie — but it dances around this known territory with grace and aplomb, in large part because of Sager's impeccable pacing and signature twists. Some characters are thin and there's a love triangle that occupies too much space, but Sager holds it all together with interesting deaths, buckets of tension, a few surprises and plenty of speed. Strange Houses Uketsu's STRANGE HOUSES (HarperVia, 203 pp., paperback, $17.99) follows a writer who starts investigating a peculiar home for sale in Tokyo. A friend, an architect named Kurihara, helps him scrutinize the building's floor plans. As the men probe, they discover bizarre details and architectural incongruities, which convince them they're looking at a house designed for murdering people — a 'hired killer workshop,' as they call it. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.