Oddly, although I read this in October, I plucked it out of a mountain of books at random and understood it was literary, not horror, despite the title. On one level, this story is excellent and for the first few chapters I was engrossed by the strange plant Mr Delabano puts in the ground, but by the halfway point I felt bombarded by a sense of isolation. No doubt this may be what the author intended, as the book is about the isolation of suburban life, but the style weighs heavily and didn’t seem to follow any path. The pace varies, plodding, sometimes enjoyable. If you’re looking for riveting and exciting, this may not be the book for you. It’s more one of social commentary. The writing likely deserves a 4/5 even though the author goes too much in to the minutiae of Mr Delabano’s life, but my personal enjoyment lingers around a mere 2. As for the grand payoff I’d heard about, I was disappointed. At one point, I wondered if the old man would end up killing his often unwelcome neighbours, but this didn’t happen. A lot is obscure. I’m sure there are many passages that will speak to some but bore and confuse others. You’ll never really know if the strange plant influences Mr Delabano’s neighbourhood, or if he is simply going mad under the weight of loneliness. ( )

What places this among my favorite thrillers is that a distinct lack of contrived action combined with an entirely sympathetic and absolutely plausible narrative voice give the book room to grow a slow chill. It's terror in amber, turning slowly under a magnifying glass. ( )

This story had a nice leisurely pace. Not in a bad way, but in a way that let's you know something is building. And so the tension and questions keep building. I was expectant, and certainly getting into it (it's something of a very subtle Little Shop of Horrors).

But then came the end. Couldn't make heads or tails of it. This was the epitome of the ambiguous ending (which I don't necessarily mind).

But if you're someone who needs the ends wrapped up tightly, this one might frustrate you.

Overall, the trip was worth it. ( )