Fiend by Alma Katsu review

By Satu

Alma Katsu has composed a story of corporate and individual greed of rather Shakespearian proportions placed in modern America. The Berisha family is successful and powerful, however are their accomplishments a result of hard work or is something more sinister afoot? 

Three adult children Dardan, Maris and Nora all have different expectations placed upon them. Dardan, being the male heir, is expected to put aside all his own desires and continue the family business. 

Maris, although cunning and capable, must secure an advantageous marriage in order to give birth to children to assure the family lineage. 

Nora has no particular purpose due to her being female and the youngest. She is free of pressure and able to carry on a gloriously hedonistic lifestyle. However, this also means that she is peripheral and invisible in the eyes of her parents. 

Their parents Olga and Zef, as unsympathetic as they are, are both bound by ancient burden and covenant without a possibility of freedom. 

However, once a family tragedy occurs, all the carefully outlined plans for the future are thrown into chaos. 

The story alternates between the current day and the childhood experiences of all three children. The story unfolds in a careful, considered manner and the curse is told in whispers. 

The genius of this book is the way Nora is included into the story. She is the insignificant, forgotten one but her narrative is weaved into the story in a way that although, always in the background, her voice is strong and clear. 

This book is a tale of how children’s experiences of a difficult, cold childhood shapes them and what is there to do when ancient expectations refuse to go away. It is an interesting, contemporary take on parental expectations, greed and deals made in the distant past.