Phantom

I love the cover for this one, and I really enjoyed The Ghosts of Thorwald Place, so I wanted to get into this one ASAP. 
I was interested in this novel right off the bat. The blurb sounds much more like a scifi thriller than a horror, but I figured we'd still get elements of darkness. Would you sell your hand for a million dollars? I have to be honest, I thought “it wouldn't be that bad” more than once. You'd still have a hand to use! And you'd have $1,000,000! What could go wrong? 
Let me tell you, it wouldn't be all sunshines and daisies. Regan thought like me and then she started suffering from intense pains. Pains in her hand...that was no longer there. While that phenomenon is real, the author takes it and gives it a more scifi spin. It's dark and eerie, and has so many what-ifs attached to it that it will make you sick. 
I really enjoyed the doubled meaning of phantom, as the novel also features a serial killer on the loose known as the Phantom Strangler. Now I did guess the twist VERY early on, but that didn't suck the fun out of it for me, because even as someone that reads (and even writes) mysteries, I am seldom right somehow. So the verification kept it going for me. 
Personally a 4/5*! Well written and a very enjoyable unlikable liked main character, in a kind of Jessica Jones-y way. 

I just finished Phantom by Helen Power and here is my review.

Regan, better known as Roz, is broke. She can't cover her share of the rent and life is looking worse and worse. Her ex boyfriend, a drug dealer, won't take no for an answer and she can't get any traction in the art world.

When she is at her most desperate, Roz is approached by a man. He offers her a million dollars for her left hand. Before she can change her mind, she wakes up to find her hand gone and a prosthetic in a box for her and her bank account.... FLUSH!

You think things would be better but now she is left with pain so bad she is enrolled in a clinical trial for a drug company. Relief at last but then something strange happens... She can suddenly feel when her missing hand is being used... to commit murder. The phantom strangler is now using her hand and Roz is at a loss to know what to do.
This book was so weird! I actually really enjoyed it. Roz was a hot mess and a half before all this happened and now she is totally out there. As far as unreliable narrators go, she was pretty good and I enjoyed all the characters in this book.
I love psychological thrillers where there is like a syndicate of criminal activity and this one really was well done. I just still have some questions so I am really hoping there is a second book. So many whys!! I won't spoil it but I have more questions than answers and that drives me insane.
This was definitely my favorite read of the month!


4.5 stars