Castle | Litsy

Castle | J. Robert Lennon

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This was my first from @Billypar #ALSpine list and it was a great first read of 2025. I won‘t say much about it. Knowing less going in is more. Really atmospheric modern gothic psychological thriller. Foreboding and tension. The story unfurls in a masterful way. At halfway through I couldn‘t put it down. This book is about a lot of interesting things and makes you think but that would give some things away. Check Vinny‘s great review for more!

monalyisha

JamieArc Check trigger warnings if you have any. This story gets a bit dark. 2mo

JamieArc Photo of mine taken at Musée d‘Orsay because I love it ? 2mo

BkClubCare Great pic 2mo

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BarbaraBB I loved this one too. So atmospheric! 2mo

JamieArc @BkClubCare Thanks! 2mo

JamieArc @BarbaraBB I do love an atmospheric read! 2mo

Billypar It sounds like you liked it as much as I did! 🙂 Definitely one to go in blind on. Which is true for me and Tom Lake - for all the attention it got, I realized I actually knew zero about the plot. I just started it today after finishing a holdover from 2024, but I'm already hooked. 2mo

Billypar If you're interested, below is the podcast episode with Lennon that first introduced me to him. @BarbaraBB I can't remember if I already shared this with you? https://open.spotify.com/episode/4G0fISU2x6iD8h0V7M0asn?si=zg2puYAgSLaD2rreu8q_a... 2mo

JamieArc @Billypar Thanks - I‘ll check it out. I‘m from Michigan and Tom Lake reps MI well. I vacation where it takes place and that‘s probably part of why I liked it. Glad you are liking it too! I hadn‘t heard of Lennon and probably wouldn‘t have read this, so I‘m really glad it was on your list. I plan to read more so if you or @BarbaraBB have recs, send them my way! 2mo

BarbaraBB @Billypar No you didn‘t. Thank you so much, I will certainly listen to it. 2mo

BarbaraBB Jamie, I loved the tagged one and it made me want to read all of his backlist. All his books are completely different but you can‘t go wrong I think .

Subdivision: A Novel

2mo

Billypar I also read Subdivision first, and it's the only other one I've read so far, but I certainly plan to read more. It is a very different novel, but I liked it even more than Castle (it's even stranger if you can believe that, lol). 2mo

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JamieArc

Castle | J. Robert Lennon

Having a very peaceful 1st day of the year with my first #AuldLangSpine book of the year.

57 likes

Cathythoughts

Castle | J. Robert Lennon

I‘ve started this one. Nothing has really happened yet , but I feel very uneasy… so far so good 👍🏻

BarbaraBB I just read this too. The suspense!! I think @Billypar recommended it. A real good Lennon again! 6mo

Billypar @BarbaraBB Yeah, this was a good one. It does make you feel very uneasy, and the tension keeps ratcheting up as it goes. 6mo

Cathythoughts @BarbaraBB @Billypar Oh great stuff! Looking forward to reading more of it now 👍🏻 6mo

sarahbarnes I can‘t wait to get to this one of his! 5mo

Cathythoughts @sarahbarnes He‘s intense , that‘s for sure. 👍🏻 5mo

59 likes2 stack adds5 comments

BarbaraBB

Castle | J. Robert Lennon

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Eric Loesch, a private man with a shadowy past, returns to his childhood home in rural NY where he purchases and renovates a derelict house with steely determination. The adjacent woods seem to beckon him and he discovers a gothic castle at the centre of his land that he appears not to own.
This intriguing and strange narrative evokes the question of how much is real or representative of Eric‘s state of mind.

📸 Kyoto, Japan

BarbaraBB @Billypar @sarahbarnes You were right Vinny, another great Lennon read. Just more proof we must read all his books! 7mo

Billypar Glad you liked it! And what a perfect woodsy backdrop - hope you're having a good trip 🌳🌳 7mo

Suet624 How are you managing to read so much while you‘re traveling? 7mo

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BarbaraBB @Suet624 I have a lot more time to read than when I am working and managing my family 😀 7mo

BookWrym Sounds intriguing 7mo

Cathythoughts I have to stack it 👍🏻❤️ 7mo

Liz_M Too bad you didn't finish reading this while in Nara and visiting the park with the famous deer. 😁 7mo

BarbaraBB @Cathythoughts Yes you have too!! 7mo

BarbaraBB @Liz_M I was thinking that too! How are you Liz? You‘ve been quiet I think? All well? 7mo

sarahbarnes Yay, I can‘t wait to get to this one! 😃 He‘s so good. Great pic! 7mo

Cathythoughts Ordered 👍🏻 7mo

Megabooks This sounds really good! 6mo

BarbaraBB @Megabooks It is. It‘s a typical Lennon. 6mo

85 likes2 stack adds13 comments

Billypar

Castle | J. Robert Lennon

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The best way I can describe this is part gothic thriller - part early 2000s U.S. military critique, as strange as that combo sounds. Eric Loesch, a former military officer, returns to his hometown to purchase a large plot of wooded land with a decrepit old house that he plans to restore, and he responds to questions from curious town residents with hostility and paranoia. Naturally, strange events linked to his past start occurring... 👇

Billypar ... but even though what follows seems stitched together from the tropes of much older novels, Lennon breathes new life into them, and I read this compulsively, like a great thriller. But it also has more layers to it. The unlikable main character's voice was eerily authentic, reflecting an American male persona that internalizes military dogma and sees human relationships as not mission-critical. I also liked how the time shifts were handled 👇 8mo

Billypar I get restless from the structure of so many modern novels that alternate between present and past action at regular intervals. Instead, Lennon withholds key details about Eric's past, and the narrative moves at a quick pace, only to flashback later to explain some of the mystery. @BarbaraBB I think I'm going to follow your lead and try to read everything J. Robert Lennon has written based on how much I enjoyed this and Subdivision. 8mo

BarbaraBB That is such a good idea! And I haven‘t read Castle yet but I do have a copy and am now looking forward to it ver much, thank you! My next Lennon will be

Mailman

8mo

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Centique Great review! This sounds wonderful 🙌 7mo

sarahbarnes I haven‘t read this one yet but I love him and am trying to read all of his books. I just found used copies of two of his that I haven‘t read yet. The Funnies and The Light of Falling Stars. 7mo

Billypar @sarahbarnes I think I need to try Broken River next since I've heard so many good things. The GR description for The Funnies just says: "Dust marks on cover and edge of pages. Wear to edges." ? 7mo

sarahbarnes 😂😂 I did like Broken River quite a bit. 7mo

40 likes1 stack add7 comments

Christopher_Tallon

Castle | J. Robert Lennon

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I can't describe this book very well. It's one of a kind. A guy returns home from the military, restores his old family home, and takes a very strange journey into his own mind. Weird. Awesome. Love this author.
Try it.

16 likes

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