The Sturgeon’s Heart: A Novel

What would you do if you woke up without skin? How would you react if your skin were suddenly transparent? Maybe you’ve felt like you were disappearing before, or fading away. What if it literally happened?

This is the horror explored in Amy E. Casey’s The Sturgeon’s Heart. The misleading surface of this story is the beautiful nature in a calm, cozy Minnesota town nestled beneath the Great Lakes. Hidden under that surface is an ancient terror.

Three characters’ lives cross paths in Duluth, Minnesota. Jo works a seasonal job as a florist. Sarah works at the local supermarket. Howard works from his apartment as a freelance writer. Then, one day, Howard wakes up without skin. He looks into his bathroom mirror and sees straight through his own face into the entire spheres of his eyes, the muscles, veins, and arteries working to keep him alive.

The Sturgeon’s Heart shows us what happens when myths meet modern reality—when the surface disappears and we see the blood flowing through the muscles underneath.

For me, the ending didn’t quite live up to the shocking, interesting way this novel began. But, that’s a big myth to live up to.