I read this book probably eight or nine years ago, and it was one of the first real horror novels that gripped me. I got it out from a local library in the UK; I remember desperately going through the shelves at the library less than a year after I first read it with no luck.
It had a white cover with a splash of blood on, I think, or the silhouette of a bird. It was fairly slim, but an adult novel. I'm fairly certain it's named after a member of the crow family or some kind of carrion bird. I keep searching under "Magpie" but it's not enough to find a single horror novel under.
The plot, as far as I recall: A man wakes up as usual, but he finds nobody knows who he is. Not his wife, his boss, or anyone else. (He may start noticing a strange figure at this point, or that may come much later.) He starts finding evidence that he may have lived a different life; a signature on a guestbook in his handwriting, but under a different name. Convinced he's being duped, he starts researching this other name, and arranges to meet someone.
The plot has quite a lot of twists, so I've whited-out the rest of what I remember to avoid spoiling anyone intrigued so far.
Eventually he comes to realise that this double life is actually his real one; he has a boyfriend, not wife, and a completely different career. His fake wife is killed, and he has to prove his innocence (I may be remembering this slightly out of order).
I can't remember quite what happens next, but it ends with him in a tank, being liquidised by a very elderly vampire-esque creature, who set up the whole thing. The vampire can't easily hunt or eat it's victims, so it sets up traps like this for them (I think there may be an element of psychic-vampirism, where it feeds on its victim's distress and confusion too).
The ending isn't quite a sudden as it sounds; at least, I don't remember it being. The book made a real impact on me, and I guess I want to know if it deserved to.
So, does it ring any bells for anyone? Thanks!
It had a white cover with a splash of blood on, I think, or the silhouette of a bird. It was fairly slim, but an adult novel. I'm fairly certain it's named after a member of the crow family or some kind of carrion bird. I keep searching under "Magpie" but it's not enough to find a single horror novel under.
The plot, as far as I recall: A man wakes up as usual, but he finds nobody knows who he is. Not his wife, his boss, or anyone else. (He may start noticing a strange figure at this point, or that may come much later.) He starts finding evidence that he may have lived a different life; a signature on a guestbook in his handwriting, but under a different name. Convinced he's being duped, he starts researching this other name, and arranges to meet someone.
The plot has quite a lot of twists, so I've whited-out the rest of what I remember to avoid spoiling anyone intrigued so far.
Eventually he comes to realise that this double life is actually his real one; he has a boyfriend, not wife, and a completely different career. His fake wife is killed, and he has to prove his innocence (I may be remembering this slightly out of order).
I can't remember quite what happens next, but it ends with him in a tank, being liquidised by a very elderly vampire-esque creature, who set up the whole thing. The vampire can't easily hunt or eat it's victims, so it sets up traps like this for them (I think there may be an element of psychic-vampirism, where it feeds on its victim's distress and confusion too).
The ending isn't quite a sudden as it sounds; at least, I don't remember it being. The book made a real impact on me, and I guess I want to know if it deserved to.
So, does it ring any bells for anyone? Thanks!
