{"id":20755,"date":"2026-05-13T10:28:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=20755"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:44:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T14:44:39","slug":"review-marion-by-leah-rowan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-marion-by-leah-rowan\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Marion by Leah Rowan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Marion-Novel-Leah-Rowan\/dp\/1250416469\"><em>Marion<\/em> by Leah Rowan<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>St. Martin&#8217;s Press (June 2026)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"20758\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-marion-by-leah-rowan\/marion\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?fit=987%2C1500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"987,1500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Marion\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?fit=674%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-20758 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?resize=230%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Book cover, Marion by Leah Rowan\" width=\"230\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?resize=230%2C350&amp;ssl=1 230w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?resize=674%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 674w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?resize=768%2C1167&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marion.jpg?w=987&amp;ssl=1 987w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 85vw, 230px\" \/>Reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?s=Dave+Simms\">Dave Simms<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Norman was her first&#8230;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The &#8220;what if&#8221; pre<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mise is such a cool idea for modern takes on classic tales &#8211; if done well. <em>Marion<\/em> is a great example of how this can be done, with fun storytelling and wickedly sharp, witty writing. Leah Rowan tackles the idea of Robert Bloch&#8217;s <em>Psycho<\/em>, but from Marion&#8217;s viewpoint, the victim of the infamous and bloody shower scene. But what would happen if she fought back and killed Norman?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It turns the story on its head, but in a very cool, inventive way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For those who remember the beginning of the film or book, recall the heroine dashing away with the money, hoping to start a new life before she meets the guy with mommy issues in that weird hotel. This time, she wants to save her sister from an abusive marriage but also has a suitcase full of cash that she &#8220;borrowed&#8221; from her boss. When she winds up in the hotel and actually survives the attack, a new tale begins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What ensues is incredible fun, penned by Rowan, and readers follow Marion on a journey that audiences never got to imagine, thanks to Norman with his disturbed mind and mom&#8217;s dresses. Norman&#8217;s murder, which is more self-defense than anything else, is only the beginning. Why does the second murder happen? And the third?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">W<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hat does Marion hope to achieve on this crime spree? Can someone stop her? Should they?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Rowan does here is intriguing and thought-provoking. The plot might have given Hitchcock a headache but maybe, just maybe, some director will take a chance on this story, as it takes the &#8220;final girl&#8221; motif and gives it a <em>big<\/em> middle finger. Marion takes her chance and makes the most of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strong, witty writing, and plenty of twists and turns make <em>Marion<\/em> a great beach read for the summer. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recommended thriller.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marion by Leah Rowan St. Martin&#8217;s Press (June 2026) Reviewed by Dave Simms Norman was her first&#8230; The &#8220;what if&#8221; premise is such a cool idea for modern takes on classic tales &#8211; if done well. Marion is a great example of how this can be done, with fun storytelling and wickedly sharp, witty writing. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-marion-by-leah-rowan\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: Marion by Leah Rowan&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[715,3677,3678,79],"class_list":["post-20755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-dave-simms","tag-leah-rowan","tag-marion","tag-reviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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