It Rides a Pale Horse

by Andy Marino

Overview

From a new star in horror fiction comes a terrifying novel of obsession, greed, and the shocking actions we’ll take to protect those we love, all set in a small town filled with dark secrets. 

“If you like Grady Hendrix’s novels, Clive Barker, or just a dash of Lovecraftian horror, you’re going to love this one.” – San Francisco Book Review
 
Peter Larkin — Lark to his friends — is a local hero in the small town of Wofford Falls. The one who went to the big city, found fame in the art world, then returned home to settle down. He's the kind of guy who becomes fast friends with almost anyone. His sister, Betsy, is talented as well. And eccentric. Unlike Lark, she keeps to herself.

When Lark meets with a fabulously rich client, it seems like a regular transaction. Even being met at the gate of the sprawling, secluded estate by an intimidating security guard seems normal. Until the guard plays him a live feed: Betsy being abducted in real time.

Lark is informed that she's safe for now, but her well-being is entirely in his hands. He's given a book. Do what the book says, and Betsy will go free.

"Marino draws readers in quickly, creating sympathy for the characters, unveiling the necessary details to immerse them in a world of art, siblings, deadly intrigue, and a centuries-long nefarious quest. Dread is present from the start, but it quickly escalates into a disorienting cosmic terror that touches everyone." — Booklist

"Marino offers horrors both existential and visceral." — M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts, on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

"Dark and fascinating . . . Not quite like anything I've ever read before. A strange, compelling, late-night page-turner. It kept me reading way past my bedtime." —T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places​, on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

Also by Andy Marino:
The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316629546
Publisher:	Orbit
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	184,393
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Andy Marino was born in upstate New York, spent half his life in New York City, and now lives in the Hudson Valley. He works as a freelance writer. 

Editorial Reviews

08/29/2022

It takes two chapters of dazzling if disjointed overwriting for Marino’s second horror novel (after The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess) to hit its stride, but as the relationship between sculptor Lark and his painter sister, Betsy, comes into focus, a sophisticated blend of high art and small-town gore likewise emerges. Lark grew up in Wofford Falls, left, and has now returned under mysterious circumstances. He’s become a big deal, but not too big to personally deliver a sculpture to anonymous buyers up the road—only to discover that they’ve abducted Betsy and will kill her unless Lark fulfills a grisly commission inspired by an 18th-century psalter. From this implausible premise, the bare bones of the plot develop predictably: Lark steadily abandons his moral compass, Betsy paints in frenzied parallel in her dungeon, and the reader’s dread of their artistic confluence grows. The telling, however, is proportionately complex, invoking vast swaths of culture and history. There are disappointing slips into the misogynistic trope that a man’s greatest horror is to be rendered impotent by a woman, but a compensating strength is Marino’s rendering of the minor characters, whose steadfastness and humor keep the story grounded even in its wildest flights. It’s more style than substance, but it’s stylish indeed. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Marino has a good eye for genuinely disturbing imagery. This novel hums with a terrifying momentum."—Kirkus

"Marino draws readers in quickly, creating sympathy for the characters, unveiling the necessary details to immerse them in a world of art, siblings, deadly intrigue, and a centuries-long nefarious quest. Dread is present from the start, but it quickly escalates into a disorienting cosmic terror that touches everyone. Booktalk it to readers as The Twisted Ones, by T. Kingfisher meets Slade House, by David Mitchell with a touch of Lovecraft Country, by Matt Ruff."—Booklist

"Marino is very willing to plumb the depths of human discomfort and nihilistic despair, revealing disturbing images that sear into the brain while showing how art, and sibling bonds, can both create and destroy."—Library Journal

"A visceral, disturbing story about the power of art and ritual."—Paste Magazine

“It Rides a Pale Horse is a bizarre thrill ride from beginning to end. Captivatingly surreal.”—San Francisco Book Review

"Marino offers horrors both existential and visceral. From a stunning opening, the sense of dread just builds and builds."—M. R. Carey, author of The Girl with All the Gifts, on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

"Odd and dark and fascinating . . . Not quite like anything I've ever read before. A strange, compelling, late-night page-turner. It kept me reading way past my bedtime."—T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places, on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

"Marino does an impressive job writing tender and heartbreaking moments without sacrificing the brutal tone that drives the story. Absolutely devastating."—Publishers Weekly on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

"Andy Marino’s The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess is a gripping portrait of addiction and an innovative take on demonic possession, delivering a shocking ending and powerful themes of how love heals but can also be corrupted."—Craig DiLouie, author of The Children of Red Peak, on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

"Equal parts surreal and hyper-real, darkly hypnotic. Marino puts his main character's throbbing heart on full display and we are swept along on the dark journey into waters both mystical and terrifying. With every new revelation, the dread just mounts and mounts to the mind-shattering conclusion."—David Wellington, author of The Last Astronaut, on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

“Admirers of the works of Tana French, Megan Abbott, and Zoje Stage will devour this book.”—Booklist on The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess

From the Publisher

09/01/2022

The latest from Marino (The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess) is a lesson about how art can open doors that probably shouldn't be opened. The story focuses on the Lark siblings, both eccentric artists. Peter Larkin (Lark to his friends) is a famous artist, a hometown boy who made good yet decided to stay in the community where he grew up, idyllic Wofford Falls. His sister Betsy is also talented, but her paintings can have disconcerting effects on people and on reality itself. This makes her integral to the plans of a pair of one-percenter siblings who want the Larkins to help them create works of art that might just destroy the world. Marino demonstrates his skill as a storyteller, creating empathetic, fleshed-out characters who must fight through the madness that is bearing down on them—but note that this novel isn't Stephen King-style, slice-of-Americana, triumph-of-the-human-spirit horror. VERDICT Marino is very willing to plumb the depths of human discomfort and nihilistic despair, revealing disturbing images that sear into the brain while showing how art, and sibling bonds, can both create and destroy.—James Gardner

Library Journal

2022-07-27
In this disquieting novel, two siblings are forced to take part in an uncanny ceremony.

Where does the line between art and ritual lie? Over the course of the last decade, the Hudson River Valley has emerged as a setting for a host of inventive works of horror from writers like John Langan, Sam J. Miller, and Laird Barron. Marino’s latest novel, set in the fictional town of Wofford Falls, is a solid addition to their number. Peter “Lark” Larkin and his sister, Betsy, both in their 30s, grew up there; Lark spent some years in New York City before returning to his hometown with a degree of art-world success under his belt. It’s Betsy who is the more gifted of the siblings, though her skills veer into the paranormal, as this glimpse of one of her creations demonstrates: “The object’s doing something prismatic with the air, with the space that surrounds it. He tilts the box, half expecting a staggered trail of after-image, a holographic stutter.” Then Betsy is abducted and the Larkins are forced to take part in a bizarre occult ceremony by another brother and sister—Helena and Griffin Belmont, who are both impossibly long-lived and hope to return their father to full life and health. As Lark works on building strange sculptures at the Belmonts' compound, the effects on the larger world—including distortions of space and reality—become clearer, and the full scope of the Belmonts' plan becomes more and more apparent. There’s a lived-in sensibility to much of this novel that makes the horrific elements stand out even more, and Marino has a good eye for genuinely disturbing imagery. At times things can feel a little too crowded—the Belmonts’ centuries of plotting could support a novel all its own—but this novel hums with a terrifying momentum.

A memorably visceral take on art, family, and power.

Kirkus Reviews