You’re cordially invited to dinner. Penthouse access is available via the broken freight elevator. Black tie optional.
First published in November of 2020, “Thirteen Storeys” is the debut horror novel from British writer, Jonathan Sims (writer and voice of the podcast “The Magnus Archives”). The novel is, mostly, set within the walls of an apartment building in London owned by a reclusive billionaire named Tobias Fell, with the building being split in two halves – the front being the luxury apartments for the rich, and the back being the more rundown affordable flats. However, something isn’t right within either part of the building, which seems to be calling out to the inhabitants in gruesome ways.
The story is split into thirteen sections, one for each of the afflicted residents plus Tobias Fell himself. Per the synopsis:
“A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers – even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building. None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, besides a postcode, they share only one thing in common – they’ve all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building’s walls.
By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests ever said what happened. His death remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries – until now.
But are you ready for their stories?”
Though it took me longer to get through than I would have liked, this was a truly fascinating experience.
Clare's Bookshelf 