Soon

The residents of a tiny, isolated town in the Australian outback are haunted by a malevolent force in this wonderfully taut novel, which is laced from start to finish with creeping dread. Every evening as the sun sets, the streets of Nebulah fill with a strange mist that swirls with terrible visions of the dead and dying. Only locked doors and windows keep the mist at bay until dawn comes—and those who linger outside are murdered, their bodies never found, their forms added to the specters in the mist come dark the next day. Aging former cop Pete is one of the last stubborn holdouts in what has become a ghost town, with most residents either disappeared into the mist or fled to safer climes. Despite strict habits of vigilance—being indoors by dark, locking doors and windows, and clustering together at night—the survivors’ numbers are rapidly whittled down by suicide, surrender, and slip-ups until only Pete and his closest friend, retired schoolteacher Milly, remain. Murphy deploys sharp, fluent prose and a skillful command of atmospheric terror to tell a story that gets at the heart of real horror: the very human emotions of regret, loneliness, despair, yearning for home, and having nowhere to go. Readers who appreciate subtle horror grounded in human failings will appreciate the buildup and maintenance of tension through this book, as well as the fateful ending, which successfully drives home that same vulnerable humanity. (Oct.)