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Blood Rubies
BLOOD RUBIES
It would bring bad luck, they said. But she split her pair of ruby earrings and gave one to each of her beautiful twin babies. Within hours she was burned to death in a fire. The twins lived.
KATHERINE
Raised by a poor, childless couple, Katherine was shy and withdrawn, except in her love for the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In her heart, Katherine had found God. In her father’s heart, they found a butcher knife.
ANDREA
She grew up with all that money could buy. She was pretty and popular and went to the best schools. Her parents loved her dearly, and gladly did anything to please her. But what made Andrea happy, would make them dead.
THEY MET IN THEIR NIGHTMARES
In the dark of sleep, Katherine and Andrea had terrible dreams of being the other. Until the hand of evil that guided their waking lives brought them face to face with each other . . . and the crossed fate of horror awaiting them both.
Reviews
“Blood Rubies is an engrossing study of unconscious evil, unreflective evil, and it is the sign of the book’s wit and audacity that the evil figure is a nun . . . At times I thought I was reading a peculiar combination of James M. Cain and Ronald Firbank . . . a beautifully crafted story.” - Peter Straub
It would bring bad luck, they said. But she split her pair of ruby earrings and gave one to each of her beautiful twin babies. Within hours she was burned to death in a fire. The twins lived.
KATHERINE
Raised by a poor, childless couple, Katherine was shy and withdrawn, except in her love for the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In her heart, Katherine had found God. In her father’s heart, they found a butcher knife.
ANDREA
She grew up with all that money could buy. She was pretty and popular and went to the best schools. Her parents loved her dearly, and gladly did anything to please her. But what made Andrea happy, would make them dead.
THEY MET IN THEIR NIGHTMARES
In the dark of sleep, Katherine and Andrea had terrible dreams of being the other. Until the hand of evil that guided their waking lives brought them face to face with each other . . . and the crossed fate of horror awaiting them both.
Reviews
“Blood Rubies is an engrossing study of unconscious evil, unreflective evil, and it is the sign of the book’s wit and audacity that the evil figure is a nun . . . At times I thought I was reading a peculiar combination of James M. Cain and Ronald Firbank . . . a beautifully crafted story.” - Peter Straub
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1982
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500 people want to read
About the author
Axel Young
3 books8 followersAxel Young is a pseudonym used by Michael McDowell (1950-1999)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 8, 2016
It was another late night in Char's house! I hit a certain point in this book and knew I wasn't going to be putting it down again until I was done.
In a suburb of Boston a woman gives birth to twin girls in an ugly tenement. She insists the midwife pierce their ears and insert a small ruby earring in each. A few hours later the mother is dead and the twins separated, each without any knowledge of the other. This is the tale of how their separate lives eventually collide.
This book is quick reading and has lots of down 'n' dirty 80's fun. The singles bar scene in Boston back then was sometimes seedy and this book does not flinch away from that. At first I thought that Blood Rubies celebrated that seediness, but it turned out I was WAY off on that. I couldn't think of a better warning away from it than this story. Times have changed a lot since then, but for women, the truth is always the same in a singles bar-be wary and be careful.
The last quarter of this book flew by in a blur and the ending hit me like a truck. I was thrown into the air, across the road, and tossed in a heap onto the edge of the asphalt. (At least, that's what it felt like.) I still can't believe it! This book is a perfect example of McDowell's writing-his observations of the inner workings of family-the jealousies and resentments, the love and the hate, all the petty emotions-he knows them and writes about them in ways that- inside yourself? You know are true. And THIS, this is what made McDowell great.
Highly recommended for fans of 80's horror!
*My intention was to try to stretch this book out, but I just couldn't do it. This is the last dark fiction book written by Michael McDowell and brought back by Valancourt Books. That's it. I'm so sad about that, I can't even find the words to describe how I feel. If it weren't for Valancourt, I probably never would have been able to read McDowell's work since all of it was out of print or ridiculously expensive. So a HUGE thanks goes out to them for turning me on to him. He's now one of my favorite authors of all time. *
**Thanks again to Valancourt for providing this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review. This is it. *
In a suburb of Boston a woman gives birth to twin girls in an ugly tenement. She insists the midwife pierce their ears and insert a small ruby earring in each. A few hours later the mother is dead and the twins separated, each without any knowledge of the other. This is the tale of how their separate lives eventually collide.
This book is quick reading and has lots of down 'n' dirty 80's fun. The singles bar scene in Boston back then was sometimes seedy and this book does not flinch away from that. At first I thought that Blood Rubies celebrated that seediness, but it turned out I was WAY off on that. I couldn't think of a better warning away from it than this story. Times have changed a lot since then, but for women, the truth is always the same in a singles bar-be wary and be careful.
The last quarter of this book flew by in a blur and the ending hit me like a truck. I was thrown into the air, across the road, and tossed in a heap onto the edge of the asphalt. (At least, that's what it felt like.) I still can't believe it! This book is a perfect example of McDowell's writing-his observations of the inner workings of family-the jealousies and resentments, the love and the hate, all the petty emotions-he knows them and writes about them in ways that- inside yourself? You know are true. And THIS, this is what made McDowell great.
Highly recommended for fans of 80's horror!
*My intention was to try to stretch this book out, but I just couldn't do it. This is the last dark fiction book written by Michael McDowell and brought back by Valancourt Books. That's it. I'm so sad about that, I can't even find the words to describe how I feel. If it weren't for Valancourt, I probably never would have been able to read McDowell's work since all of it was out of print or ridiculously expensive. So a HUGE thanks goes out to them for turning me on to him. He's now one of my favorite authors of all time. *
**Thanks again to Valancourt for providing this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review. This is it. *
May 11, 2016
This book begins with a house on fire. Two infant sisters are rescued from the fire and grow up separately, leading completely different lives. But there is a thread that they have in common. They each are determined to get what they want, and no-one will stand in their way. Both girls live double lives without remorse. If they were ever to meet, the outcome could be explosive. Michael McDowell employs his expert skills at driving the reader compulsively through the lives of these two girls who are so different, yet so ruthlessly alike. The drama! The drama!
Many thanks to Valancourt Books, who provided me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Many thanks to Valancourt Books, who provided me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 15, 2021
I don’t write reviews.
I need to take a breath. By Jove, that was a lovely ride! From reading the copy, the story seems like one you’ve heard before: twins, orphaned soon after birth, separated, a cursed piece of jewelry(?). This is not the tired twin story you know.
The time is split almost 50/50 showing experiences in each twin’s life. The reader gets to know both sisters. This reader started to form opinions and make predictions early on. These sisters don’t play by any rule book I’ve read.
This wasn’t a supernatural story. It radiates McDowell’s star talent: creating characters of interest. A very tasty book for a rainy day.
I need to take a breath. By Jove, that was a lovely ride! From reading the copy, the story seems like one you’ve heard before: twins, orphaned soon after birth, separated, a cursed piece of jewelry(?). This is not the tired twin story you know.
The time is split almost 50/50 showing experiences in each twin’s life. The reader gets to know both sisters. This reader started to form opinions and make predictions early on. These sisters don’t play by any rule book I’ve read.
This wasn’t a supernatural story. It radiates McDowell’s star talent: creating characters of interest. A very tasty book for a rainy day.
May 9, 2016
As much as I wanted to make my last full-length McDowell book last, there came that inevitable point where I simply couldn't tear myself away....
When we begin BLOOD RUBIES, by Michael McDowell, we see the tragedy of a young, unmarried woman giving birth to twin girls. All the poor mother has to give her daughters, are her ruby earrings--passed on for generations to each eldest daughter. Despite her own mother's protestations that separating the pair of jewels will bring severe bad luck, the new mother has each daughter's one lobe pierced with one of the heirlooms. That every night, a fire breaks out in the worn-down apartment building--killing all but the newborns, who are separated in the ensuing confusion.
McDowell then takes us on a journey where we are privy to each of the girls' separate upbringings--neither one aware of the existence of the other. Katherine only has eyes for becoming a nun and joining the sisterhood; whereas Andrea is brought up surrounded by wealth and material possessions.
Arguably, a case of their "nurturing" shaping their mental outlooks . . . except for the inexplicable dreams that each has, where they are "IN" their unknown twin's life. McDowell has a gift for being able to bring forth your emotions fully as he continues on with his tale. I truly "felt" for each of these girls. The scenes he set were completely factual--in my own mind--as the novel went on. No matter what was happening, or which twin it was happening to, I was completely transfixed.
Another thing about McDowell's writing that never ceases to amaze me: with all of the books I read each year, I'm never able to predict the outcome of one of his novels.
BLOOD RUBIES was no exception.
Highly recommended!
When we begin BLOOD RUBIES, by Michael McDowell, we see the tragedy of a young, unmarried woman giving birth to twin girls. All the poor mother has to give her daughters, are her ruby earrings--passed on for generations to each eldest daughter. Despite her own mother's protestations that separating the pair of jewels will bring severe bad luck, the new mother has each daughter's one lobe pierced with one of the heirlooms. That every night, a fire breaks out in the worn-down apartment building--killing all but the newborns, who are separated in the ensuing confusion.
McDowell then takes us on a journey where we are privy to each of the girls' separate upbringings--neither one aware of the existence of the other. Katherine only has eyes for becoming a nun and joining the sisterhood; whereas Andrea is brought up surrounded by wealth and material possessions.
Arguably, a case of their "nurturing" shaping their mental outlooks . . . except for the inexplicable dreams that each has, where they are "IN" their unknown twin's life. McDowell has a gift for being able to bring forth your emotions fully as he continues on with his tale. I truly "felt" for each of these girls. The scenes he set were completely factual--in my own mind--as the novel went on. No matter what was happening, or which twin it was happening to, I was completely transfixed.
Another thing about McDowell's writing that never ceases to amaze me: with all of the books I read each year, I'm never able to predict the outcome of one of his novels.
BLOOD RUBIES was no exception.
Highly recommended!
December 24, 2022
I might be a stretch to call this a horror novel, but McDowell's smooth easy prose and great story telling make for a great read in any genre. Set in Boston for the most part, Blood Rubies tells the tale of two identical twin sisters separated just a few hours after they were born when their ratty tenement in North End of Boston burned down. One sister was injured after her fall from the third story window her ma tossed her out of, and became legally adopted to a working class family in Sommerset. The other sister was caught and squirrelled away by a childless couple who later became wealthy and now live in Weston, an exclusive suburb of Boston. Nonetheless, each has one half of a set of blood ruby earrings that had been handed down for generations.
McDowell chronicles the nasty upbringing of Katherine, often sexually abused by her 'father' who finds her only solace in the strict Catholic school she attends and the nuns there. Andrea, in contrast, is raised in the lap of luxury and has her choice of attending several of the 'Seven Sisters' when she graduates from her exclusive high school. You know McDowell will bring them together sometime, somehow, but he bides his time nicely here. The only connection to horror is that the sisters both have dreams of their other half, and both are appalled at the life style of the other. This only gets worse when Katherine decides to become a nun while Andrea discovers sex, drugs and adventure in her frequent outings to Beacon Hill singles bars.
McDowell does a masterful job here in building up the tension throughout the novel, and drops in some really hairy scenes for both twins involving murder and mayhem. Yet, you really have sympathy for both twins here. I really wish McDowell had wrote more as this was the last book of his that I had not read. So gifted. RIP. 4.5 super stars!
McDowell chronicles the nasty upbringing of Katherine, often sexually abused by her 'father' who finds her only solace in the strict Catholic school she attends and the nuns there. Andrea, in contrast, is raised in the lap of luxury and has her choice of attending several of the 'Seven Sisters' when she graduates from her exclusive high school. You know McDowell will bring them together sometime, somehow, but he bides his time nicely here. The only connection to horror is that the sisters both have dreams of their other half, and both are appalled at the life style of the other. This only gets worse when Katherine decides to become a nun while Andrea discovers sex, drugs and adventure in her frequent outings to Beacon Hill singles bars.
McDowell does a masterful job here in building up the tension throughout the novel, and drops in some really hairy scenes for both twins involving murder and mayhem. Yet, you really have sympathy for both twins here. I really wish McDowell had wrote more as this was the last book of his that I had not read. So gifted. RIP. 4.5 super stars!
November 5, 2023
Asi asi.
Contained some skillfully written, fully fleshed out characters...but none of them were really what they call "likeable" due to the awful things they all did to each other. And while I enjoyed the wacky (purposely ridiculous), murderous storylines and the sprinklings of deeply dark humor, overall I doubt there was anything I read that will stick with me for long. It was fun but forgettable...
So you see: it was asi asi for me.
3 Momentarily Diggable Stars
Contained some skillfully written, fully fleshed out characters...but none of them were really what they call "likeable" due to the awful things they all did to each other. And while I enjoyed the wacky (purposely ridiculous), murderous storylines and the sprinklings of deeply dark humor, overall I doubt there was anything I read that will stick with me for long. It was fun but forgettable...
So you see: it was asi asi for me.
3 Momentarily Diggable Stars
May 11, 2016
4.5*
It is always a real treat to get to read a Michael McDowell book for the first time. Blood Rubies did not disappoint!
This is the story of two sisters, twins girls born into bad luck. One grows into a charmed college cutie, the other becomes a devout almost-nun. Along the path to their desires a path of destruction and blood.
I loved that this book wasn't what I had expected it to be. I loved that I couldn't tell what would happen next. And I loved the OH MY GOD moment that left me stunned and unable to stop reading.
October 11, 2013
For anyone who hasn't scoured the internet for Michael McDowell books, you may not know that he wrote under numerous pseudonyms. This little gem is well worth getting online...if you can find it. Only two books were written as Axel Young. The first, WICKED STEPMOTHER, was okay, but BLOOD RUBIES is a must for fans of his work. The story is over the top and deliciously campy. A fast paced, absurd soap opera that could have been made into a movie by John Waters. He ranks in my top five favorite horror authors of all time.
March 2, 2024
A ruby earring—all that their mother had to give them in this life—was secured in the left earlobe of one of the infants, and in the right earlobe of the other. “Not good,” Theresa muttered darkly. “Not good to separate the rubies. Bad luck—bad luck will follow until the rubies are together again . . .”
October 28, 2020
The cover hooked me, and the punchy writing kept me coming back, but, despite plenty of depressing brutality and death, it was all a bit lackluster.
May 6, 2017
As much as I wanted to make my last full-length McDowell book last, there came that inevitable point where I simply couldn't tear myself away....
When we begin BLOOD RUBIES, by Michael McDowell, we see the tragedy of a young, unmarried woman giving birth to twin girls. All the poor mother has to give her daughters, are her ruby earrings--passed on for generations to each eldest daughter. Despite her own mother's protestations that separating the pair of jewels will bring severe bad luck, the new mother has each daughter's one lobe pierced with one of the heirlooms. That every night, a fire breaks out in the worn-down apartment building--killing all but the newborns, who are separated in the ensuing confusion.
McDowell then takes us on a journey where we are privy to each of the girls' separate upbringings--neither one aware of the existence of the other. Katherine only has eyes for becoming a nun and joining the sisterhood; whereas Andrea is brought up surrounded by wealth and material possessions.
Arguably, a case of their "nurturing" shaping their mental outlooks . . . except for the inexplicable dreams that each has, where they are "IN" their unknown twin's life. McDowell has a gift for being able to bring forth your emotions fully as he continues on with his tale. I truly "felt" for each of these girls. The scenes he set were completely factual--in my own mind--as the novel went on. No matter what was happening, or which twin it was happening to, I was completely transfixed.
Another thing about McDowell's writing that never ceases to amaze me: with all of the books I read each year, I'm never able to predict the outcome of one of his novels.
BLOOD RUBIES was no exception.
Highly recommended!
When we begin BLOOD RUBIES, by Michael McDowell, we see the tragedy of a young, unmarried woman giving birth to twin girls. All the poor mother has to give her daughters, are her ruby earrings--passed on for generations to each eldest daughter. Despite her own mother's protestations that separating the pair of jewels will bring severe bad luck, the new mother has each daughter's one lobe pierced with one of the heirlooms. That every night, a fire breaks out in the worn-down apartment building--killing all but the newborns, who are separated in the ensuing confusion.
McDowell then takes us on a journey where we are privy to each of the girls' separate upbringings--neither one aware of the existence of the other. Katherine only has eyes for becoming a nun and joining the sisterhood; whereas Andrea is brought up surrounded by wealth and material possessions.
Arguably, a case of their "nurturing" shaping their mental outlooks . . . except for the inexplicable dreams that each has, where they are "IN" their unknown twin's life. McDowell has a gift for being able to bring forth your emotions fully as he continues on with his tale. I truly "felt" for each of these girls. The scenes he set were completely factual--in my own mind--as the novel went on. No matter what was happening, or which twin it was happening to, I was completely transfixed.
Another thing about McDowell's writing that never ceases to amaze me: with all of the books I read each year, I'm never able to predict the outcome of one of his novels.
BLOOD RUBIES was no exception.
Highly recommended!
December 7, 2025
"I don't know who first said you can't judge a book by its cover, but I'll bet you anything he never went to a singles bar."Between 1980-1986, Michael McDowell and his close friend Dennis Schuetz (teamed up as 'Nathan Aldyne') wrote four entertaining murder mysteries featuring amateur sleuths Daniel Valentine and Clarisse Lovelace.
But that wasn't all. In 1982, the year they wrote the second (deceptively sunniest) Valentine-Lovelace entry - 'Cobalt' -they also joined moonlighting forces as "Axel Young' to write 'Blood Rubies', the first of two (according to Wikipedia) "over-the-top parodies of Sidney Sheldon-type suspense novels".
In 2017, when Valancourt Books reissued both 'Blood Rubies' and its 1983 follow-up 'Wicked Stepmother', the publishing house gave both books covers that indeed seemed to emphasize 'parody'. But it's really just 'WS' that (at least a bit more overtly) heads in the parody direction.
That said, neither of the 'Axel Young' novels lacks the Sidney Sheldon-esque page-turning quality. As well, and as with Sheldon, both Young novels highlight female characters who will learn to be tough. But that's something that McDowell was capable of creating alone - in novels like 'Gilded Needles' and 'Blackwater'.
Giving 'Blood Rubies' a 5-star rating is for one reason: it's ballsy storytelling - and the kind that doesn't stop (right up to the jolt that is its epilogue).
It opens with a prologue dripping in melodrama. A woman gives birth to twin girls on a New Year's Eve, only then to find herself trapped in a burning building, faced with attempting to save the babies' lives by tossing them to rescuers below... before she dies. The babies survive but they are unintentionally separated at birth.
We then follow each girl separately, up to the age of nineteen. The life of one (Katherine) is fairly harrowing - until she finds a way out of it (or so she thinks). The life of the other (Andrea) is fairly stable and promising - until the road to love leads to certain, very dark disaster.
In the novel's third section, the two finally meet, in circumstances which (due to the fact that they're twins) are fraught with DRAMA!
It's here that 'Young' ultimately makes a very bold narrative choice, asking the reader to re-think the difference between what tends to happen in fiction and the less-admirable truths of real life.
There's no denying this is a decidedly wacky tale. It takes turns juggling what's plausible with what's unbelievable (as if saying, "~ or is it?"). Yet, for all its looniness, it's a story infused with a ton of genuine desperation and sadness.
June 15, 2014
This book was one I read back in 1982/1983, after receiving it as a gift from my cousin. I wanted to read it again, to see if it was as I remembered it. It was an interesting, but disturbing book, that makes me so thankful that I have never had to experience anything like this in my life. I was shocked & surprised that I could remember what was going to happen before I read it, and I had remembered the story quite well from the first time reading it. I know it may not be what many would read, or what I normally read myself; however, it brought back many present memories of the time in my life that I received my first copy, and the love, laughter & fun times shared with my cousins.
August 6, 2017
I absolutely love books about twins-- especially evil twins, and this book tops all that I've read. I had to put it down after about 50 pages for some disturbing images that were provoked about the first twin. HOWEVER, after a few days, the book sat on my bookshelf and whispered to me. I had to continue and push on!
In all of Michael McDowell's books that I've read, there's been a prologue and an epilogue. DON'T SKIP THESE OVER! He actually uses these correctly and they create two wonderful bookends to the story. I've now read 3 of his books, and I can't wait to read more.
Thank you Valancourt Books for making it possible to find this title!
In all of Michael McDowell's books that I've read, there's been a prologue and an epilogue. DON'T SKIP THESE OVER! He actually uses these correctly and they create two wonderful bookends to the story. I've now read 3 of his books, and I can't wait to read more.
Thank you Valancourt Books for making it possible to find this title!
August 16, 2023
Is it fine literature, high modernism, or otherwise one for the ages? Of course not. It’s an absurd conceit —twins separated at birth, cursed by fate — hammered into a perfect potboiler that delivers much more than you’d expect from the title or lurid cover. McDowell’s primary forte is horror, but here he proves he can easily work in another mode - though it’s his cold blooded, unsentimental treatment of every character that ties this to the rest of his oeuvre, as well as the quality of the writing.
One thing that elevates books like The Elementals, The Amulet, or especially Blackwater, is how fully he creates a palpable sense of place, whether it’s a sweltering southern town, a mansion on a dwindling peninsula, or literally anywhere. Here, he turns to Boston and Massachusetts in general - where he lived and worked as a writer and professor. I grew up in Western Massachusetts and went to school in Boston, and his details ring true even reading this 40 years after the fact. Paired with strong character work, that concrete sense of place sets the tone and grounds what would otherwise be an absurd plot. Instead, Blood Rubies is fully realized and essentially the platonic ideal for what it is: a terrible tale perfectly told.
One thing that elevates books like The Elementals, The Amulet, or especially Blackwater, is how fully he creates a palpable sense of place, whether it’s a sweltering southern town, a mansion on a dwindling peninsula, or literally anywhere. Here, he turns to Boston and Massachusetts in general - where he lived and worked as a writer and professor. I grew up in Western Massachusetts and went to school in Boston, and his details ring true even reading this 40 years after the fact. Paired with strong character work, that concrete sense of place sets the tone and grounds what would otherwise be an absurd plot. Instead, Blood Rubies is fully realized and essentially the platonic ideal for what it is: a terrible tale perfectly told.
April 14, 2019
Not bad for a horror story of its time. I mean... Probably. Twins are born to a 19 year old mother, who is immediately insistent that they each have an ear pierced with one of a pair of adult-sized ruby earrings. Unlikely... But then, I did see a fifteen-year-old girl who just gave birth to a very premature baby asking about her ipod as she was getting loaded into the ambulance for transport (working in a rural ER is fun!), so sure I can chalk it up to her head being in a weird place. It was still strange to picture, and I'm wondering if the author has any concept of how small a newborn's ear really is. Why she has the earrings in the first place when the fact that she's in poverty is stressed... Who knows. I'm wondering why they haven't been stolen or hawked, then scolding myself for expecting too much from a prologue to an old horror novel.
The building catches fire, the mother drops them out of a fourth story window in a pillowcase and a sheet. I'm wondering, has the author got any concept of how fragile a newborn is? A woman catches the first and walks off with it, no one says anything? There was quite an audience by then. The other bounces off the fireman's net, into a gutter... But it's okay? This is all in a single evening, by the way.
I let it all pass, because again, it's just a prologue to an old horror novel.
It jumps to one of the twins being eight, and her adoptive father is taking an unhealthy "interest" in her. It jumps to her being thirteen, and it's not mentioned again until she's 13 and thinks her period is god's punishment for "what he's been doing to her." How it was never discovered by the mother, or mentioned by her, or nothing was noticed by friends or teachers, is not explained. She gets a crush on her first and only male teacher, and on the bus ride to his apartment she's daydreaming about him telling her insignificant things about himself that "while not secret, he has never mentioned to anyone else." That seems to be a really innocent fantasy for someone whose adoptive father is raping her. I'm wondering, does the author have any concept of the damage something like that does to a person?
She falls asleep babysitting for a neighbor, wakes up, kills her adoptive father, and goes back to babysitting. Well, fine. Horror novel. By the way, the only time in all this the earring is ever mentioned is, she tugs on it once while looking in the mirror.
Breaking point was when the author takes the trouble (for some reason) to mention that the father is not buried because the grave diggers are on strike. Then a chapter starts with "Two weeks after the burial of her father," then not long after that the mother starts crying because her father hasn't even been buried yet. If the author isn't going to pay attention, why should I?
I read the rest of it pretty quickly, and don't feel like I missed a thing. The rubies are barely present, never explained (that I know of), and feel tacked on. That, or they were a starting point that got neglected. This was less of a story than a series of grisly events, but the lack of detail makes it not good for even that (sex is described along the lines of 'his grunting body pushed her sweaty form into the mattress'). If you're looking to be disturbed, read Jack Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door." That's based on a true story, you don't need magic earrings (or haunted or cursed or whatever the hell they were supposed to be) to write something unsettling. If you're looking for supernatural terror, find something where the supernatural is actually worked into the story instead of cursorily mentioned here and there.
The building catches fire, the mother drops them out of a fourth story window in a pillowcase and a sheet. I'm wondering, has the author got any concept of how fragile a newborn is? A woman catches the first and walks off with it, no one says anything? There was quite an audience by then. The other bounces off the fireman's net, into a gutter... But it's okay? This is all in a single evening, by the way.
I let it all pass, because again, it's just a prologue to an old horror novel.
It jumps to one of the twins being eight, and her adoptive father is taking an unhealthy "interest" in her. It jumps to her being thirteen, and it's not mentioned again until she's 13 and thinks her period is god's punishment for "what he's been doing to her." How it was never discovered by the mother, or mentioned by her, or nothing was noticed by friends or teachers, is not explained. She gets a crush on her first and only male teacher, and on the bus ride to his apartment she's daydreaming about him telling her insignificant things about himself that "while not secret, he has never mentioned to anyone else." That seems to be a really innocent fantasy for someone whose adoptive father is raping her. I'm wondering, does the author have any concept of the damage something like that does to a person?
She falls asleep babysitting for a neighbor, wakes up, kills her adoptive father, and goes back to babysitting. Well, fine. Horror novel. By the way, the only time in all this the earring is ever mentioned is, she tugs on it once while looking in the mirror.
Breaking point was when the author takes the trouble (for some reason) to mention that the father is not buried because the grave diggers are on strike. Then a chapter starts with "Two weeks after the burial of her father," then not long after that the mother starts crying because her father hasn't even been buried yet. If the author isn't going to pay attention, why should I?
I read the rest of it pretty quickly, and don't feel like I missed a thing. The rubies are barely present, never explained (that I know of), and feel tacked on. That, or they were a starting point that got neglected. This was less of a story than a series of grisly events, but the lack of detail makes it not good for even that (sex is described along the lines of 'his grunting body pushed her sweaty form into the mattress'). If you're looking to be disturbed, read Jack Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door." That's based on a true story, you don't need magic earrings (or haunted or cursed or whatever the hell they were supposed to be) to write something unsettling. If you're looking for supernatural terror, find something where the supernatural is actually worked into the story instead of cursorily mentioned here and there.
June 2, 2022
Well, even Michael McDowell is allowed to turn out a clunker considering how many great books he's written. The opening is gripping, and up to his usual standard. Once we get into the life of the first twin, it goes horribly wrong. So much religious twaddle (she pines to devote her life to God as a nun) that I skimmed a great deal of it. There is one shocking incident to jar you awake, but then it's back to boredom. Then it switches to the other twin, and her life, too, is boring, although totally different, as we follow her through adolescence and cruising bars with her best friend. She also experiences a jarring event, but it's not that believable and I was skimming a lot of her story too, so, eh. The twins meet at the end with disastrous consequences but by then I just wanted to be done with them. Not one of his, well, gems.
February 16, 2025
It’s hard to believe that McDowell co-wrote this rubbish. This novel should have been consigned to obscurity. But, of course, McDowell still sells and so what about reprinting an Axel Young’s novel with MICHAEL MCDOWELL written in capital letters on the cover? The novel has no redeeming qualities. The plot is only a rip-off, bits and pieces of other horror books put together, and the writing is truly painful to read. One example? “Andrea frowned, but then another man, handsomer than the first, stepped in beside her. He brushed back a blond wave from his forehead and smiled with complete self-assurance. His eyes were blue and his teeth perfectly aligned”. It actually reads like a satire and, who knows, maybe McDowell and Schuetz did have some fun writing lines like these for a quick buck. This novel is embarrassingly bad.
January 1, 2022
Twins each wearing one ruby earring after birth even though it is whispered the rubies should never be separated. Their mother dies in a fire before saving her newborns. Katherine is raised and wants to become a nun after being raped by her adoptive father she plunges a knife repeatedly in his chest. She frames her adoptive mother for his murder and redefines her life, devoting it to the church. Andrea the other twin is brought up with money and after finding out about her past goes on a life of self destruction and meets a drug dealer who will kill her parents. The twins will meet by accident and a chain of events with a cataclysmic ending.
December 30, 2024
Nothing special here. Axel Young was a penname for Michael Mcdowell who wrote several 80's horror novels. Don't expect anything like those books. This is basically a family drama involving 2 twin sisters seperated at birth, one is a nun and the other a WASP. Both are unlikeable. One grows up in a convent and the other is a rich spoiled college student. The ending is very abrupt, but they do meet finally near the ending.
April 14, 2024
Like a lot of 80s pulp novels, this one makes you feel a little grimy when you’re done reading it. Unfortunately it’s also very dull. It could easily be 100 pages shorter, and it doesn’t so much end but just peters out. Michael McDowell wrote a handful of real bangers, but his bibliography does not always warrant a deep dive.
March 12, 2019
A wicked, campy little tale of troubled twins. Was expecting a twist, but was pleasantly surprised to find a completely straightforward story full of disturbing events. Can't say I necessarily enjoyed it, but it was very accomplished and kept me engaged from start to finish.
October 18, 2023
Nobody beats Michael McDowell for sheer, Gothic twistedness. This is more of the real thing from your favorite creator of dysfunctional families, hiding what they have to hide so they can go on pretending to be OK.
February 11, 2023
Compelling narrative, really well written and never bored by it. But I've never rooted harder for both protagonists to die.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2023
Not my favorite of his, mostly due to the graphic sexual violence, but still a good book.
November 11, 2023
Not for me. DNF about 1/3 of the way in.
March 16, 2025
First Michael McDowell I’ve really disliked.
June 23, 2020
This is the third Michael McDowell book I've read in the last year or so, and although this one is more pulp fiction than traditional horror, I think it was my favorite so far (maybe tied with The Elementals, which is the one book everyone should probably read of his, if they're interested in him as an author). The story of two twin sisters, separated when they are very young babies, and the cursed ruby earrings each wore, was just a lot of fun to read. The first half of the book focuses on the more innocent of the two sisters, Katharine, who was raised by terrible adoptive parents, and who aims to be a lifelong good girl- her ambition is to become a nun, although she is capable of very evil things. The second half of the book shifts focus to her twin sister, Andrea, who she never knew of, although they were raised in different suburbs in the Boston area. Andrea becomes involved with sex, drugs, a series of dangerous characters and quickly gets in over her head. This book was just super fun to read although there are definitely a lot of passages that felt over the top- that was part of the appeal for me, anyway. It felt like a purposely bad/campy tv movie from the 80's, watched purely for entertainment. Michael McDowell was really good at writing for entertainment's sake- this one will be hard to top for me, when it comes to quick, campy, and fun reads.
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