Strange pictures

Uketsu, whose true name and identity remain unknown, opens his ingenious debut suspense thriller (published in Japan in 2022) with an example of how a simple drawing test can be used for psychological analysis. And pictures drawn by separate individuals connect three stories in this ominous novel. In "The Old Woman's Prayer," a pregnant woman's prescient pictures, shared on her loving husband's daily blog, seemingly predict her death during delivery, but there are hints that she was actually murdered. The second chapter, "The Smudged Room," centers around a single, working mother who is being stalked by a mysterious stranger, and her six-year-old son's strange drawing divulges a long-hidden truth. And in "The Art Teacher's Final Drawing," a young, aspiring journalist investigates the three-year-old murder of his former mentor with unfortunate results. But there is more than drawings connecting these cryptic stories. The chilling last chapter, "The Bird, Safe in the Tree," is a marvelous revelation of twists and red herrings. Horror and mystery fans will be eager to explore this thrilling import.

Japanese horror artist and writer Uketsu makes a triumphant international debut with this eerie chiller. A university student becomes curious about the haunting, childlike drawings he finds on an abandoned blog. The more he scrolls, the more he gets the sense that the illustrations point to something sinister, leading him to question what exactly happened to a young housewife named Yuki, who is frequently mentioned in the blog, and how she's connected to a larger web of unnerving events and deadly crimes. The answer emerges through a series of delightfully creepy illustrations and diagrams and the interconnected stories of their creators, allowing the reader to play detective alongside the characters. The result is part police procedural and part Pictionary. Savvy mystery readers may be able to decode the clues before the protagonist does, but it's still enjoyable to experience the shocks and scares as they unfold. The gimmick is fun, but this book also proves greater than the sum of its visual tricks, with a surprisingly strong emotional core that will keep readers glued to the page until the unsettling conclusion. This intricate puzzle box is a must for horror fans. (Jan.)