The Antiques Roadshow, if Stephen King was the host…When art appraiser Anita Cassatt is sent to catalogue the extensive collection of reclusive artist Leo Kubin, it isn’t the chill of the secluded house making her shiver, it’s the silent audience of portraits clustered on every wall, watching her.The lawyer didn’t share the dead artist’s instructions for handling his art, and Anita and her team … instructions for handling his art, and Anita and her team start work ignorant of the instructions designed to keep them safe. Safe from the art.
There are secrets hiding in Kubin’s house. But as Anita and her team discover, some secrets don’t want to stay hidden.
Described as Caravaggio meets Poltergeist – Painted is a gothic horror novel with a decent serving of psychological unease and a healthy fear of the dark. Perfect for lovers of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.
What readers are saying about Painted:
“Refreshing to encounter this subtle, delicate narrative where horror peeps slyly out…”
“Painted is an effective haunted house book, favoring tension and subtlety over outright violence and kills.”
“McKenzie does an incredible job in the characterization of the people in her novel. With each and every one, I came away with the feeling that I knew them–down to even the secrets they kept hidden from each other.”
“This novel literally took my breath away in places.”
“The plot is sensationally addictive and the creepy factor kept me alert page after page.”
“No gore or cheap scares here, this is a subtle and delicate chiller written in the spirit of a Shirley Jackson novel.”more
Good supernatural mystery
For me, there was a lot of build up but not enough of a “peak”. I enjoyed the premise, and the supernatural elements were unique and held my attention, but the horror fell a little flat. Not exactly “gripping” but it did keep a hold on my curiosity to the end.
PAINTED is not only the first novel I’ve read from author Kirsten McKenzie, but also her first foray into the horror genre. There have long been sayings regarding ‘the eyes being a window to the soul’, and the way that McKenzie choses to utilize this idea to shape her book gives it an incredibly fresh outlook.
When Leo Kubin, an extremely reclusive artist, sends over very specific instructions as to how his vast art collection is to be handled–to the law firm he’d always dealt with–he had no idea about the recent changes there. Mainly, the gentleman who always dealt with his clients in a supportive and protective manner, has died. Unfortunately for the firm’s elderly clients, his son–Alan Gates Jr.–is nothing like his father. Concerned only with the bottom-dollar line for himself, this arrogant, lecherous man disregards Mr. Kubin’s explicit instructions as a senile old man’s nonsense, and more importantly to him, a waste of extra time and money. Therefore, it is without the benefit of these “safety measures” that the company hired to itemize and catalog for auction the contents of the late Mr. Kubin’s vast estate are sent to begin their jobs. Art appraiser, Anita Cassat arrives at the out of the way mansion days before her colleagues, as it is expected that the sheer number of paintings assembled there will take much longer to appraise.
Once there, Anita is instantly filled with a fear that she is being watched, despite being the only human present.
“An audience of eyes, immortalized in portraits clustered on every wall . . . ”
McKenzie does an incredible job in the characterization of the people in her novel. With each and every one, I came away with the feeling that I knew them–down to even the secrets they kept hidden from each other. When one of them startles, you can practically see the physical shiver and changes that affect them. These are complete individuals–even the ones that have ceased to exist, as we know it.
“. . . Their eyes the brightest part of every portrait, capturing the essence of their humanity . . . more than the subjects thought they would ever reveal to anyone . . .”
When Anita begins handling the portraits, the uneasy atmosphere in the story begins to ramp up incredibly. The tension remains so thick, that I found it difficult to find a place to stop reading for a time, reluctant to leave the world that was unfolding before me. The portraits are–at first–the primary source of Anita’s apprehension, and plant the seed that something is “off” about this job. As she handled one particular picture, she noted: “. . . The edges were indistinct, and the eyes smudged beyond recognition as if someone had tried to gouge them out . . . ”
“. . . It was easy to ignore the known. It was the unknown which made her mouth dry and her pulse race.”
Some elements of the sinister atmosphere the old estate had festered are provided by the few thoughts and comments from an elderly farmer, who’d lived next to it his entire life.
“. . . the house had a reputation . . . Most threw themselves off the cliff and were swallowed by the sea . . . ”
There was so much complex mystery twined in this tale, that just when I thought I figured out something, a new element would present itself to decipher and add to the confusion.
“. . . This wasn’t a life he wanted to lead. It wasn’t his life either. That was over.”
Eventually Anita is joined by her colleagues, each specializing in a different area of appraisement. Even here, McKenzie’s skills shine through as we get to intimately know the new arrivals. The tension–even with the additional bodies–continues to maintain and even increase its presence, until all around harbor a silent fear of . . . something, yet intangible, to them.
“. . . You’re next, you’re next, you’re next.”
This novel literally took my breath away in places. Some of the prose took on dual meanings when faced with an unknown threat. Even the secrets that were revealed remained cloaked in a thin layer of mystery that we, perhaps, weren’t meant to ever unravel.
“Twilight is the master of disguise. The champion of falsehoods and fiction. The eye wasn’t designed for twilight . . . ”
While there were moments in the story where the action slowed considerably, overall I felt this novel was a fascinating read, full of explicitly presented atmosphere, realistic characters, and a supernatural force that hadn’t been overdone in other novels. The ideas were shown with a “fresh” approach to the subject matter, leaving behind a shred of mystery for readers to ponder over after they finished.
“. . . Hindsight is a terrible gift when you realize you’ve destroyed more beauty than you created.”
I am greatly looking forward to reading Kirsten McKenzie’s next horror-themed novel.
Highly recommended!
I enjoyed reading this book. Imagine paintings coming to life. Wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but entertaining enough to hold my attention. Not extremely scary.
Great haunting mystery!
What a story! I was taken into the story almost immediately and once the real action started I could not put it down. Great little thrill ride. I was hoping for a slightly different ending but in horror you can’t always get what you want. Well worth the price.
This was the first read of this author for me, and I am excited to have found her.
Seriously creepy. It kept me up all night. This was a combination of not being able to put it down and an overactive imagination keeping me awake after I’d finished. Probably best to flip the paintings around to face the wall before you start.
Not my cup of tea.