BOOK REVIEW | THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE | PHILIP FRACASSI

ABOUT THE BOOK

Rose DuBois is not your average final girl.

Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home.

When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn't too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age!

Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can't help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister?

Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there's a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn't careful, Rose may be their next victim.

REVIEW

Cocoon meets Scream in Philip Fracassi’s new book about a sadistic killer in a retirement home. 

Life at The Autumn Springs Retirement Home is largely bucolic. Residents spend their days undertaking the various activities set up by the staff, feeding the ever efficient gossip machine and generally living out their twilight years in a way that is meaningful to them. 

However, things change when one of the residents is killed. Initially deemed an accident, things just don’t seem to add up. As the body count increases, Rose Dubois and her fellow retirees believe that these deaths are outside the natural order of things and are something much more sinister. Now they have to find evidence and convince the authorities that the deaths are anything but natural deaths. 

In The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, Philip Fracassi kills off the elderly residents in an increasingly violent methods.

Initially masquerading with a blanket of coziness, Fracassi masterfully turns the screw of tension to snapping point as the plot becomes increasingly more gripping.

The characters feel real and dynamic, each one worming their way into your heart. The leading lady, Rose is inherently strong, but it’s obvious that under her veneer of impenetrable calm, there is something just below the surface that denotes her struggles throughout life.  Furthermore, Fracassi surrounds Rose with a memorable set of characters.

Whilst setting the story in a retirement home can shine a light on how old people are viewed, Fracassi manages to instil a sense of hope into the story. However, don’t think he shies away from the dark, because there is a stark air of criticism on how the most vulnerable in our society are viewed and ignored.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a tense thriller that ratchets the tension to ten. 

I need to read more books by Philip Fracassi now!