Medusa: Or, Men Entombed in Winter - Kyle Farnworth
A review of Kyle Farnworth’s novel examining belief, power and violence within an isolated male community.
378 pages · Kindle edition · February 2026
Systems Outlast Individuals
Medusa is a literary work of mystery and suspense set within an isolated male community shaped by ritual, endurance and belief. The novel unfolds deliberately, favouring atmosphere and behavioural detail over rapid plot movement, and builds tension through repetition and accumulation rather than conventional escalation.
At its centre is Meddy, a singular woman positioned within a closed male world. Her presence reshapes the dynamics around her, provoking loyalty, fixation and projection. The novel examines how admiration hardens into hierarchy and how belief becomes a substitute for judgement. Meddy functions less as a traditional protagonist than as a catalytic figure within a system largely defined by male behaviour.
The narrative moves between the origins of the community, its eventual fracture, and the personal history of Peter Holloway. Peter’s arc provides the book’s clearest line of continuity, tracing participation, complicity and eventual withdrawal. Fatherhood is presented in practical terms, defined by action, timing and transfer of care rather than emotional resolution.
Suspense emerges through setting and recurrence. Cold, waiting and silence recur as organising forces. Violence is shown as learned and maintained rather than sudden or anomalous. The novel shows limited interest in procedural or legal detail, focusing instead on moral consequence and lived aftermath.
The book resists the conventions of crime fiction. Investigation does not drive the narrative and closure is deliberately withheld. The epilogue reinforces persistence rather than resolution, suggesting that systems outlast individuals and that containment does not equal repair.
Readers approaching Medusa should expect a slow-burn narrative that prioritises atmosphere, structure and behavioural truth over pace. It is likely to resonate most with those interested in power, belief and the inheritance of violence, and with readers open to a deliberate, measured form of literary suspense.
3.5 stars
Advance reading copy provided by the publisher.