Plot Synopsis – Gemma Turner was a starlet poised for a big break in the 1960s, but she suddenly disappears while filming a French horror film. Christopher Kent is a man who slowly becomes enthralled with solving the mystery of Gemma Turner and how she may have been involved with his late mother. The story winds us through the madness of jealousy as we learn the horror of what really happened to Gemma.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Girl on TV – LFO

Publication Date – Nov. 14, 2023

Spicy Rating – 🌶

Overall Rating – 4 out of 5 ⭐

Review – The story is told mostly through split POV of Gemma and Chris. Gemma’s life is in the past; she was a rising starlet who took some risks and the blame for flopped films. Now at only 22, she faces being washed up and out of Hollywood. She takes one last stab at the industry and signs on to a French horror film, believing this will be her way out. When she arrives on set, she realizes she has taken the director’s wife’s part and that the director, Thierry Valdon, may also be interested in more than just Gemma’s acting prowess.

Gemma is slowly being broken down by her experience with Hollywood and with men. Everything and everyone seems to just want to take from her. Suddenly she finds herself in 1850s France. At first, she thinks it’s just a very well-done immersive film set, but she soon learns she’s living out the horror film she was set to make.

Chris Kent starts as a young boy slowly losing his mother to madness and addiction. When she lands a job singing at a hotel, Chris thinks it will finally turn things around. However, when they get there, a photo of Gemma Turner on the wall throws his mom into an episode, and Chris loses her. Chris’s part of the story starts with him at around 8 and growing up into a man of 32. Chris follows the breadcrumbs of obsession to find out what happened to Gemma and why just a photo of her could wreck his mother.

As Chris grows older, he hears a rumor that the final film Gemma made, L’Étrange Lune, is screened every 10 years. He knows he must see it. When he finally secures a ticket, what he sees is nothing short of miraculous or demonic, depending on who you ask. L’Étrange Lune has film footage that shouldn’t exist, and the movie seems to evolve with each showing. As Chris works to figure out the mystery of L’Étrange Lune and Gemma works to get back home, the characters become more and more intertwined.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was an excellent thriller, and I enjoyed the mystery. I thought the reasoning behind why Gemma was stuck in her last film was a little predictable, but the connection between her and Chris was something that was well-written and a great twist. I hate when an author inserts a twist just to have a “shocking” moment. The plot twist in this novel was done with finesse and in a way that made sense without detracting from the novel. There is a light love scene in this book, but I would say it’s more of a closed-door scene.

There could have been a little bit more development for me on Thierry and Manon. I felt like fleshing out their relationship more would have made more sense later on. There was also mention that the chateau where they’re filming is haunted, but that never actually plays into the story anywhere. I suspect it was meant to be a red herring of sorts, but to me, it just felt like a loose thread. The author could have taken that whole part out, and it wouldn’t have changed the story at all.

Overall, this is a great fall read with some edge-of-your-seat drama and a mystery you’ll be begging to solve.

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the ARC!