The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Handyman Method is a recently released Domestic Horror tale that left me scratching my head. Not necessarily because of the content, it never lost me, but because I don’t know how to express how I feel about it.
Even days later, I can’t put into words what about this didn’t appeal to me. It’s a good book, yeah, but in spite of its positives, I wasn’t feeling it at all.
This story follows a young family, husband, Trent, wife, Rita and son, Milo, who are moving into a new home. The home itself is in an unfinished subdivision and it seems they are the first to the neighborhood.
Their move-in day is a little odd. You can already tell something is potentially off with this family. The husband in particular is giving off a vibe that resembles Jack Torrance after weeks at The Overlook.
He seems unhinged is what I’m trying to tell you.
After Trent finds a flaw in the wall of his wife’s closet, he cannot rest until he fixes it. In order to do so he does what many of us do. He turns to YouTube.
He finds the channel of Handyman Hank, who is more than happy to guide Trent on his wall patch project, as well as many other things.
Meanwhile, Milo is having interesting experiences of his own at the new property. Some more traumatizing than others. Prepare yourself for some action with his pet turtle…
I don’t know what else to say about this without giving plot points away, so let’s just end the summary portion there. Now let’s get into the dirt.
First, I was struck by how similar the family dynamic resembled The Shining. Trent’s character especially seemed like he was Jack’s less likable cousin. Even down to him losing his job due to an incident at work, the truth of which unfolds for us over the course of the story.
Milo as well felt very Danny, but actually I have no clue how old Milo actually was. To me, he could have been anywhere from 5, all the way to like 13. Honestly, I have no clue.
The Mom, Rita, was odd, but she didn’t really impact me one way or another until the end.
I think I did this book a disservice actually by picking it up directly after I had read The Shining. It was literally the next book, so that was all front and center in my brain.
Therefore, I couldn’t help but see comparisons around every turn in this story, and not in a good way. If I’m being honest, that did impact my experience with this book.
As far as the rest of it goes, it didn’t do anything for me. It didn’t do anything wrong either, I just wasn’t feeling anything from the characters, or any atmosphere, or sense of place. It all felt very flat.
There was certainly plenty going on, as far as action and progression, but I just didn’t care. I know so many people are going to love this. I’ve read some of the reviews and their experiences with it sound incredible.
I wish the same could have happened for me.
I’m glad I gave this one a shot. It had an intriguing premise overall. I just wish I could have connected more with the characters and plot.
As I’ve said before though, just because this one didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. I definitely feel like I am in the minority opinion at this point, so please check out all the other great reviews for this book.
If the synopsis sounds interesting to you, it’s absolutely worth picking up. You could find a new favorite and then, feel free to come back and tell me how wrong I am!
Thank you to the publisher, Gallery / Saga Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m sad this was a miss for me, but I look forward to picking up more from both of these authors in the future!!