King Nyx

Bakis returns almost three decades after Lives of the Monster Dogs with a tepid feminist gothic novel set in 1918 and based on the life of author and paranormal researcher Charles Fort (1874--1932), a self-described "crypto-scientist" interested in anomalies. The action begins when Charles receives a letter from mysterious benefactor Claude Arkel, who invites Charles and his wife, Anna, to his mansion in the Thousand Islands so Charles can write. The first night after the couple arrives from New York City, Anna, who narrates, is unnerved by the sight of ragged and disheveled people in the woods, one of whom she recognizes as a fellow maid from back when she used to work in Charles's father's house. Later, Anna finds a room full of life-size human dolls at Arkel's mansion and is creeped out even further. Bakis has a good feel for her characters, and the setting is credibly eerie. Nevertheless, the effort to excavate the real-life Anna Fort from a male-dominated narrative is a bit heavy-handed ("Why was it anyway," Anna wonders, "that wives were supposed to help husbands with their books and never got their name on the cover?"), and the denouement feels improbable. This one lacks nuance. Agent: Lynn Nesbit, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Feb.)

At the home of an eccentric millionaire, a woman discovers out-of-the-ordinary events. When her husband is invited to finish writing his book at the island home of a reclusive millionaire, Anna is relieved: If he sells it, they'll be able to keep their Bronx apartment and she won't have to go back to work at the laundry. It's 1918, and Charles Fort--based on a real-life figure--is hard at work on a book about unexplained phenomena, such as objects falling from a clear sky: frogs, for example, or even bits of flesh, or blood. If Anna has doubts about the legitimacy of his research, she keeps them to herself. In any case, when the millionaire Claude Arkel offers the couple a place to stay for the winter, they eagerly accept. Almost immediately, though, things seem to be off. Arkel runs a school for wayward girls, and three students are missing. Meanwhile, there's no sign of Arkel himself, and with the Spanish flu raging in the outside world, the Forts are stuck in quarantine. Bakis' latest novel has the pacing and suspense of a smart literary thriller: It's almost impossible to put down once you've started it. But Bakis can be heavy-handed in her treatment of the themes that undergird her story--in this case, women who support ambitious men. That's not to say Bakis' case doesn't hold water, but she strikes the same note again and again in a way that is more repetitive than satisfying. So, for example, when the Forts first arrive on Arkel's island, and Charles observes that the grand house is "modeled on the Château de Chambord in the Val de Loire" and Anna responds, "I know, I'm the one who showed you the article," the mansplaining moment isn't nearly as funny as it was apparently intended to be; it's just frustrating, in a teeth-grinding way. A smart and engaging literary thriller that bears down too hard on its themes. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.