The Reading

By Lee Emerick

Little Hangwich is a quiet town - quiet in the way places are quiet just before something very stupid happens.

When a mysterious book turns up in the library's donation box, librarian Marjorie Prendick assumes it's just another dusty curiosity. Then it bites a teenager. And a bingo-night regular. And a man who made the mistake of trying to renew it online.

As the body count climbs, Little Hangwich turns to its only hope: Dr. Nathaniel Blaze - optometrist, academic showoff, and the sole man alive who can "see what others cannot, because he has three degrees." With his sharp-tongued ex-wife Helena, a forensic bibliographer with no patience left for him, and Marjorie's rapidly weaponising frustration, Blaze uncovers the horrifying truth: the book isn't just cursed. It's hungry. And it's trying to write itself into a bestseller.

Now the pages are multiplying. The overdue notices are chanting. The shelves are trembling. And someone is going to have to write the most devastating one-star review in literary history - or die trying.

Because in Little Hangwich, overdue books don't just accrue fines. They collect souls.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HK3YH37G
• ISBN13: 9798172171604
• Release Date: September 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"