Review: The Horoscope Writer by Ash Bishop

Author: Ash Bishop
Publisher: CamCat Books
Publication Date: July 2023

Leo: You’ll step out the door, prepared for a normal day. But you’ll never reach your workplace. You will vanish, without a trace.

Who is The Horoscope Writer? It’s not Bobby Frindley. He’s an ex-Olympic athlete who has fast-talked his way into an entry-level position at a dying newspaper. He’s supposed to be writing horoscopes, but someone has been doing his job for him . . .

On his first night on the job, Bobby receives an email with twelve gruesome, highly-detailed horoscopes, along with a chilling ultimatum: print them and one will come true, or ignore them and all of them will.

Working with a skeptical co-worker, Bobby investigates the horoscope writer’s true identity, but the closer he gets to the truth, the more the predictions begin to be about him. Has he attracted the attention of a cruel puppeteer? Or is it possible that, like any good horoscope, it’s all in his mind?

The Horoscope Writer ended up being a pleasant surprise.  Bobby is hired as a freelance writer for the aper.  He wants to be a crime reporter, instead he ends up being the new horoscope writer.  When a fan seems to predict the actual future through his e-mails, Bobby knows there is something strange going on.

I did end up liking the msytery in this one.  I kept changing my mind as to what was really going on.  I won't spoil it because there are a lot of twists.  What I had a hard time liking was Bobby.  He really was not a likable character.  He made a lot of decisions that I could not really get behind.  Despite that, this is an instance where I could put aside my dislike of a character berceuse the mystery was to riveting.  I highly recommend this one.  It's definitely unique.