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Reviewed by Kristen A. Peters for Readers' Favorite
In The Wraith by Lori R. Lopez, Maud Soleil is a poet who uses her writing to tune out a soul-crushing day job. She writes a moody poem about a devoted "wraith," but then things get weird when she starts seeing a man who looks exactly like her character everywhere—first in shop windows, then just standing in the park. She becomes convinced she’s somehow "breathed life" into an ideal man, but a romantic obsession turns into a total nightmare as she chases him through alleys and eerie curio shops. As the boundaries between her art and the material world begin to crumble, Maud realizes that the elusive figure she is pursuing may have a much more sinister reason for appearing in her life than she ever imagined.
Lori R. Lopez has a way of building a spooky atmosphere that makes a reader feel just as "unglued" as Maud. I really liked how the story explored the line between a lonely woman's imagination and a very real, predatory evil—it’s the kind of ending that makes you want to double-check the locks before bed. Watching the poem reveal a "wicked plot" at the end was a total gut-punch, turning what felt like a Gothic romance into a tragic, ghostly heist. The Wraith is a fast-paced, gloomy tale that serves as a grim reminder of how our deepest desires can sometimes be the very thing that pulls us under. I would recommend this book to its intended audience of fans of Gothic horror and dark poetry.
