General Fiction (Adult)/Horror/Fantasy
Pub date: 27 October 2026
4/5 ⭐️
Summary:
SOME BOOKS DON’T LET GO…
ENTER THE LIBRARY AT YOUR OWN RISK. Fear comes before the fall.
In the winding, perilous corridors of Jurgen Leitner’s private library, you never know what you’ll find. A starving cookbook. An ancient scroll that casts cool, predatory breezes. A cloth-bound hardback that compels you to DIG, DIG, DIG, DIG.
Free, these books are more than simply unnerving—they’re deadly. But the library keeps their dangers in check and their would-be readers safe. . . .
Or so Leitner claims.
For two of his employees, the risks are worth it. Hugh Franklin, research assistant, has finally found a place he belongs, where his skill in translation is valued, even if his employer is a bit odd. Sebastian Everett, acquisition specialist, can indulge his arcane ambitions, even if it means pretending to care about Leitner’s mission.
Though their tenures at the library were years apart, Hugh and Sebastian’s stories unfold in parallel, and their footsteps echo down the same eerie aisles, caught in a web spun long before either ever heard the name “Jurgen Leitner.”
Will they find a way out . . . or will the library consume them before it’s too late?
Enter the library of an enigmatic collector, where occult books are guarded and researched at a fatal cost, with this uncanny eldritch horror novel from Nebula Award–winning author Premee Mohamed and The Magnus Archives’ Jonathan Sims.
Review:
There would be real satisfaction in that, to scuttle about the decrepit corpse of the library that had made and discarded him.
I’m not sure if this book fully works as an independent story. To properly enjoy it I think you need to be a fan of the source material, I feel like if you go in without any background knowledge you will be confused. BUT if you’re a fan I’m TMA you already know what happens to a certain character, so the jeopardy is slightly gone. The Americanisms also took me out of the story, sidewalk?? blocks?? said casually by Londoners?? You just have to sigh and ignore it I guess.
However, as a (fairly new) TMA fan I did have a lot of fun with this. I do love a good lore expansion, and the gore from the books is delightfully brutal and disgusting as expected.
The dark academia vibes are unsurprisingly immaculate, the plot unsettling and both of our main characters are, not exactly likeable but, compelling in their own ways. Especially Hugh, his character arc was heartbreaking in the end.
The main conflict was also surprisingly deep. Is the world better off by containing fear or do we, as a society, need it to grow and evolve? Should we be content with our comfort zones? We don’t exactly get an answer but it does leave us with some interesting conversation topics.
I did love seeing some of our favourite Fears in play (heeeeey Michael), as well as seeing some new manifestations of them.
All in all, a nice spooky read.
Unless you’re afraid of spiders. Trust me, just give this one a miss.
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