Book Review - The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

Title: The Caretaker
Author: Marcus Kliewer
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Published: 2026
 
Description: Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention. It had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all. Vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she’s not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.
 
Besides it’s only a three days’ work…
 
Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregan Coast wilderness.
 
What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property. And Macy might jus be the only thing standing between it and the rest of humanity.
 
Review: After enjoying Marcus Kliewer’s previous book, “We Used to Live Here’, I was really looking forward to his latest release, “The Caretaker”. Although, in hindsight, I thought his debut was just a tiny bit better, Kliewer has once again proven with this new book that he is a master at creating an ominous atmosphere and gives us yet another original horror/ thriller.
 
The story follows Macy, who takes a job as a caretaker at a remote, mysterious estate. What begins as a quiet, well-paid routine job quickly turns into a full-blown nightmare. The enormous house harbors dark secrets, and before long, terrifying, inexplicable events begin to occur, blurring the line between reality and paranoia.
 
Just like “We Used to Live here”, this book was once again incredibly creepy and nerve-wrecking. Kliewer is so good at building up the underlying tension that I simply couldn’t put the book down; I just had to keep reading. Still, in the end, I couldn’t give this book 5 stars either, for exactly the same reason as with “We Used to Live Here”: there are simply too many unanswered questions. Although a bit of mystery is inherent to this genre, in this specific case I also found the ending not entirely satisfying. It left me with a feeling that was just a little too vague.
 
In short, a must-read for fans of psychological horror and nonstop suspense. And if you don’t mind that not all pieces of the puzzle will fall into place, this is the book for you.
 
Rating: 4/ 5