Hostile Architecture

He may be homeless but Ben is making the best of things. He has a tent, he has access to food, and even has a couple friends.

However, when a mysterious stranger appears, offering food and safety to him and his friend Connor, his instincts tell him not to trust it, instincts that are proven right when Connor is nowhere to be found the next day.

Someone or something has been culling the vagrant population and nobody seems to notice or care, so when he sees the stranger again, Ben will have to follow him to the source, even if his pursuit of truth brings him all the way down to a Hell he may never escape.

Because The Worm Mother has been waiting for a very long time, and has no intention of letting him go.

©2026 Joseph Murnane (P)2026 Joseph Murnane

The Worm Mother

I have to admit that I'm not quite sure what I just read. Definitely grief horror involved, but I am lost as to the nature of the supernatural aspects of the book. The author is definitely a great storyteller and his writing is always spot-on.

Dr. Ben Castle was a successful journalist/author when his wife died. Now, he is homeless and estranged from his twin daughters. When the vagrant population starts to dwindle, Ben's past of investigation leads him to try to figure out what is happening. But, the distraction for me is the overall trippness of the tale with the almost fever dream quality that made a bit hard to read.

This book will definitely make you think and evaluate your own idea of the American Dream. What would you do or who would you sacrifice to obtain your goals? It's definitely heartbreaking at times and I will probably think about it a lot over the next few days. I would like to know more about the Worm Mother and her minions.

The narrator did a good job and added a lot to the book.

Harsh critique, fantastic story

I loved Joseph’s unflinching criticism of the system of oppression that is continually pitting us against each other and turning communities into factioned warzones. Poignant and beautifully written, this novel is not short of well rounded and fully fledged characters. The antagonist was as creepy as they come and a very apt metaphor for the meat grinder of capitalism.