THE CARETAKER by Marcus Kliewer – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
Published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books on April 21 2026
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Mind-bending and menacing, The Caretaker is weird psychological horror at its best.

“If you are reading this, it means you have failed the first Rite.”

The Caretaker is Marcus Kliewer’s second book, and it’s just as bizarre and unsettling as We Use To Live Here. This is another mind fuck of a story where the reader isn’t given much information. Instead, the story unfolds organically, drawing you into a weird situation that only gets stranger as things progress. If you love puzzles and you don’t mind open ended stories with very few explanations, you’ll enjoy this a lot.

Macy Mullins and her seventeen-year-old sister Jemma live in a decrepit apartment complex, are behind on rent, and are still dealing with the grief of losing their father three years ago. Jemma has resorted to shoplifting, and they are on the verge of getting kicked out of their home. When Macy sees an ad for a caretaker, a weekend job caring for an elderly man for “excellent pay,” Macy jumps at the opportunity. She’s invited to an interview with Grace Carnswel, who lives in the swanky Brooksview Heights neighborhood. Grace confesses that her husband is actually dead, and the caretaking job involves monitoring the house while she’s gone for the weekend. David, her late husband, was obsessed with something called the “rites,” a set of complicated rules that he claimed he had to follow to avoid the end of the world. Grace assures Macy that David was a bit nuts, but she made him a promise to keep the rites going after his death.

Macy is skeptical but in desperate need of cash, so she agrees to take the job, despite Jemma’s protests. Grace explains that all Macy needs to do for the next two days is to make sure all the lights in the house stay off between the hours of 3 and 4 a.m. As long as she completes that task, nothing bad will happen. But if something goes wrong, and she’s unable to turn off a light within three minutes, there will be consequences.

Macy settles in and begins her odd caretaking job, but on the first night, she fails to turn off a light (which came on by itself!) within the three minute timeframe. What follows is a hallucinatory and sometimes terrifying sequence of events as things begin to spiral out of control.

Kliewer has come up with an idea that seems innocent on the surface but soon turns menacing, as Macy tries to follow David’s rules, which to be honest, are nearly impossible to adhere to. Not only do you have a house that appears to be haunted—lights randomly turn on and off by themselves, voices echo from various rooms, “Visitors” knock on the front door—but the surrounding property is full of rabbits, which are not allowed inside the house (consequences for this are horrifying). The complex rules (“If this happens do this”) are absurd and make no sense. There’s also a sort of countdown clock mentality to the story that gives it a frightening urgency. At one point, the rule states that Macy must hide from a Visitor, but she’s not allowed to let her heartbeat get above 150 beats per minute. It’s almost like being in a video game, trying to make it through the weekend without ending the world, and boy did this weird brand of psychological horror work for me! I couldn’t stop reading, mostly because I had no idea why this was all happening and I needed to get to the end to find out!

Macy is an interesting character. She’s suffering from depression and has social anxiety and very low self esteem. She admits that she’s a train wreck, and some of these quirks are explained in flashbacks, as we learn about her childhood with her beloved father and how he died. I’ve seen some reviews that criticize her character because she can’t follow David’s simple rules, but to be honest, his rules are nuts (“If a rabbit gets in the house, you have ten minutes to catch it.”), and I probably wouldn’t be able to follow them either!

I also really liked Jemma, who doesn’t come with Macy but constantly checks in with her through texts and phone calls. You can tell the girls are extremely close, even if it doesn’t seem that way on the surface.

Kliewer explores grief and depression through Macy’s chaotic thoughts as she’s trying to complete her tasks, and these searing emotional moments gave the story extra heft. The house, or whatever entity is controlling this weird game, plays with Macy’s mind and makes her see things that aren’t there—or are they? It’s not always easy to tell what’s real and what isn’t. Kliewer is a master at creating a feeling of dread, even when you don’t really know what you’re supposed to be scared of.

I had a few theories about what was happening but was wrong on all accounts. The ending actually surprised me, and while the author didn’t give me all the explanations I wanted, it didn’t really matter. The Caretaker was a wildly entertaining read that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.