Monolith

A London journalist investigates a serious of deaths during the construction of a new high-rise along the Thames in Hutson’s predictable horror novel. Jessica Anderson is always looking for the next good story, and she may have struck gold with the Crystal Tower, a luxury building owned by wealthy Russian businessman Andrei Voronov, whose ties to the site go back almost 80 years. As the deaths grow increasingly puzzling, Jess and her friend Alex are forced to look at more unconventional explanations, putting their own lives at risk to get the truth before anyone else dies. Horror veterans will likely guess the nature of the menace early, and passages that take place in 1933 hinting at the sinister history of the site don’t do much to instill dread. Some of the “accidents” that afflict the workers are impressively gruesome, but the characters lack complexity. Hutson (Twins of Evil) squanders the chance to put a new spin on an old myth, making this an unsatisfying read with very few real scares. (Oct.)