Last to Leave the Room - The Perfect Sci-Fi Horror!
“The door is open, just a little, maybe two inches wide. Beyond it is the abyss, exactly as she pictured it, exactly as she remembers it. It spills from the doorway like a substance, not an absence. It washes over the basement floor, lapping at the table legs, covering her notes. The lights cannot pierce it and are swallowed in turn. The line of the dark rises.”
I’m a massive Caitlin Starling fan. The Luminous Dead is one of my favorite horror books of all time. So when St. Martin’s Press reached out to see if I’d like a review copy of her upcoming release, Last to Leave the Room, I obviously jumped at the chance.
San Siroco is slowly sinking. Dr. Tamsin Rivers and her team are tasked with finding out how and why. Is this scientific mystery related to the labs that Tamsin’s team are secretly building miles below the city? Tamsin won’t allow that. But she does have another secret, the basement in her home is also sinking. And one day a door appeared where one shouldn’t be. After many futile attempts to study and open it, Tamsin is shocked to find someone suddenly walk through it. It’s her doppelganger. Her world is thrown into chaos as Tamsin attempts to solve the mystery of the sinking city, the strange door, and the perfect replica of herself while her own memory begins to change and fade. Is it all connected?
“It also means trusting something that looks like her, and Tamsin knows better than that.”
Here’s what I loved:
What a fantastically unique concept and story. While the story harkens back to themes of doppelgangers, bodysnatchers, changelings, this is like nothing I’ve read before. A lot of the scientific talk definitely went over my head but it didn’t alienate me. I was able to easily keep up.
Tamsin is an incredible character to follow in this story. She begins the book as an aggressive, selfish, driven scientist to whom work/life balance is not a concept. But as the mystery unravels and Tamsin’s mind and body begins to break down, she starts to evolve. I think it’s a great character study and also a real reflection of what it’s like to be a driven woman in competitive areas like science or academia. How you’re perceived, how you’re judged, and how you carry yourself. At what lengths are we willing to go to achieve success, and who do we kick down on our way up?
There’s some really creepy moments here that remind you of Starling’s talent to scare you. The door is obviously a massive factor in the story and so many of the scenes around it are chilling. As Tamsin’s memories begin to change and she forgets crucial moments, you’re terrified for her, screaming at her on the pages to GET OUT, RUN!
I also thoroughly enjoyed the character of Lachlan who is initially tasked as Tamsin’s “handler” for her company, but slowly peels away layers to reveal a sexual and emotional tension between the two as the story goes on. They’re crucial to the plot, and of course to Tamsin’s story. As we learn more about them, they become even more interesting. Please, please, please write a short story or even a book about Lachlan’s backstory because holy crap I need it!
“It chews at its lower lip, and that gesture, more than any other, is upsettingly familiar. Alienating. Tamsin has the oddest feeling that she’s looking at herself, and that the she who is doing the looking is – not her. Is more akin to a camera with nerves than a person.”
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and it’s another great addition to Starling’s phenomenal body of work. A massive thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pick up a copy for yourselves on October 10th, or better yet - preorder! You’re going to love this, I promise.
