---

I was mentioning recently in my review for Eric LaRocca’s WE ARE ALWAYS TENDER WITH OUR DEAD that there are some books that aren’t enjoyed so much as endured. 

I think I’ve got another entry into that category. 

Ania Ahlborn’s BROTHER is a book with a reputation. I’ve seen it pop up on lists over the years comparing it to things like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and more recently a friend had it featured on a graphic comping it to the legendary episode of The X-Files, “Home.” 

So this is one that’s been on my radar for years, and after really digging Ahlborn’s 2025 novel, THE UNSEEN, I’m definitely eager to get more into her backlist.

And yeah, wow.

Fucking hell. 

There are things that happen in this book that genuinely rattled me. The kind of things where you set the book down, stare into space, take a couple deep breaths and just whisper “what the fuck.”

This is the story of the Morrow family, living in the Appalachian region of West Virginia. They mostly keep to themselves, work their family farm. It’s a quiet life. 

jk they kill and eat women, THEY ARE A PACK OF KILLER CANNIBALS JESUS LEAPING CHRIST

*ahem*

The story is primarily told from the third-person POV of nineteen-year-old Michael Morrow, the youngest of the three Morrow siblings. In addition to Michael there’s Misty Dawn, his sister, and Reb (short for Rebel, but really Ray) his brother. I don’t think it’s ever outright said, but following clues about music that’s metioned & what movies are playing in the theatre, I believe the story is mostly set in 1980. There’s some flashback sequences as well, which provide some backstory to the Morrow family.

I joked before, but keeping to themselves is how the Morrows get by. They are careful in choosing their victims, generally relying on hitchhikers, or people who might go unnoticed were they to drop off the face of the earth. But lately it seems like Reb is growing restless, and he keeps taking Michael along to visit a nearby town, where they meet two local girls who work in a record shop. It’s wildly exciting & scary for Michael, as he has no social life whatsoever. His whole world is the Morrow family farm. But he’s incredibly taken with this girl Alice, talking about music & movies, going to McDonald’s for lunch. But Michael is consumed with guilt & paranoia, because he is keeping such awful secrets. 

Michael’s role in all this is…complicated. Somewhat passive, but still complicit. The trick here is getting the reader to sympathize with Michael, and I think Ahlborn is pretty successful on that front. The book would be too difficult to read otherwise. 

I’m kind of at a loss for what else to say about BROTHER. There’s only so much I can get into without revealing this book’s darkest secrets, and I’m not going to do that. You’ll often see me mention being an “along for the ride reader” (not a phrase I coined, something I got from a friend years ago), so some of the book’s shocking moments truly caught me off guard. There’s a malignancy about certain members of the Morrow family, even beyond the abductions and murders. There’s a cruelty & meanness in this book that I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered before. Moments of hope or beauty are few and far between, and short lived. 

So again, did I “enjoy” BROTHER? I’m not sure. But for whatever reason, as a horror fan, sometimes I’m especially drawn to the bleakest, darkest tales. And BROTHER sits near (or at) the top of the list of some of the darkest & most troubling books I’ve read. I think Ania Ahlborn is a phenomenal writer & storyteller, but this is not a book to go into lightly. Both excited and afraid to continue working my way through her backlist titles!