Book review: The scary cost of immortality

Billed as ‘literary horror,’ this atmospheric novel is eerie, to put it mildly. 

At the centre of the supernatural tale is a charismatic woman who operates under pseudonyms, never stays in the same place for long, and crucially, never ages or dies. 

But those who come into contact with ‘the woman’ as she is sometimes referred to, meet a terrible end.

The novel opens at Osaka airport in Japan, where two strangers get talking and discover they have something sinister in common.

Jake’s close friend, Lena, and Mariko’s twin brother, Hiroji, both died in awful, incomprehensible circumstances. 

The two victims had encountered the woman before dying a few days later.

Jake embarks on a quest to get to the root of the mystery. It’s a quest that traverses the ages as well as continents.

This is no ordinary thriller. 

Written in a way that sucks the reader in, easily suspending disbelief because of its immersive effect, it’s a page turner that is quite mesmerising with its astute descriptions of lonely landscapes, such as the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico. 

Susan Barker writes of “the brilliant blue sky and ferocity of sun over the miles of drought-laden plains”.

It is in this inhospitable place that 17-year old Rosa is being photographed by the woman, who is going under the name of Therese. 

Naive and keen to become an inspirational online influencer, Rosa believes in the ‘power of attraction.’ This is ironic, as Therese draws Rosa in with malign intent.

At one point in the novel, the woman, who is chasing immortality, expresses her opinion on death.

“What an outrage to be cast out of consciousness and interred to rot in darkness or cremated to seven pounds of inorganic dust.”

It’s an ‘outrage’ that she will make any sacrifice to avoid. When Rosa asks her what age she is, the woman says 300 years, give or take.

She is “the servant of an entity far more powerful than you could ever imagine”.

The woman is possessed by what she calls the ‘Tyrant’ at the rise of the planet, Venus. 

Staying alive forever has its challenges. The woman’s immune system sometimes recedes, her teeth loosen and blood seeps from her orifices. 

But vampire-like, she knows what she has to do to regain her strength. 

What is interesting about this character are her occasional admissions of vulnerability, her better traces of humanity, beneath the ruthlessness and devious modus operandi.

The woman, posing as a German photographer called Eva, falls for Theo, a (female) sculptor. 

She commissions Theo to make a granite statue of her. Granite will last forever, she says. 

What amazes Theo is Eva’s ability to pose for hours on end in sweltering heat without sweating or needing water. 

She is made of strong stuff — apart from when her body sometimes weakens — and the two embark on a passionate love affair. 

Eva says: “I thought the Tyrant had neutered my ability to love, but I was wrong.”

This novel, relayed through the testimonies of seven people and interspersed with events in the badlands in 2022, is as mesmerising as the woman. 

She can be charming and flattering, seducing her victims with praise and gestures of kindness. 

If she was an outright harridan, the reader would have no sympathy for her and the novel would suffer.

There is a seductive pull in this story towards an “esoteric” belief system. It’s fascinating to read about 18th century Russia and a powerful Muscovite man who is a Luciferian. He seems to be the starting point for the catastrophe that unfolds, suggests the woman. 

A strangely beguiling novel, the woman truly is an old soul.