Chilling and Disturbing Tale of Young Children Coping with the Death of a Parent

I really wasn't quite sure what to make of this debut novel by William Friend. The story revolves around Alfie and Julia, the wife and twin sister respectively of Pippa who died nine months previously. Pippa and Alfie's children are also twins and share a close bond as Pippa and Julia did. The girls claim there was a man in their room and start appearing in Alfie's room every night. This stops suddenly and the girls start talking about their friend, the Black Mamba of the title, who can only be seen and heard by them. Alfie asks Julia, a psychotherapist, to speak to the girls however it seems that she and Pippa also had strange experiences in the family home now lived in by Alfie and the twins. There are many strange occurrences and it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate between what it real and what is fantasy in the twins' minds. This will certainly appeal to many readers who enjoy dark mysteries.