The Perfect Act

5-Star Review
Personally, I've always found ventriloquist 's dummies creepy, like some people do clowns, but Tom Kane managed to write this short book, only 89 pages, so succinctly that it packs enough creepiness in to keep a person awake at night!

Harve, at 70+ has been trapped in a miserable marriage with a vindictive harriden for 40 years. His only friend and comfort is the old dummy his father made and the ventriloquist 's talent he also inherited. Has Harve suddenly found freedom? Or something worse?

5-Star Review
The Perfect Act was an excellent read and one that kept me engaged from beginning to end.

What impressed me most was how carefully the story was constructed. The author takes the time to build tension rather than rushing toward the payoff, allowing each unsettling moment to land with real impact.

The characters felt believable, and their reactions to the increasingly disturbing events helped ground the story. I found myself fully invested in what was happening and eager to see how it all played out.

My only real criticism is that I wanted more. While the novella works well in its current form; the concept, characters, and story felt strong enough to support a full-length novel. There was so much potential within the plot and narrative that I would have happily spent more time exploring it. That isn’t a negative so much as a testament to how invested I became in the story.

Overall, The Perfect Act is a well-crafted, atmospheric novella with excellent pacing, effective horror, and a carefully developed sense of unease. If you enjoy stories that build tension gradually and reward patient readers with a satisfying payoff, this is absolutely worth picking up.

Highly recommended.

This book is highly recommended for readers who like cursed-object horror, creepy dolls, unreliable narrator tropes. It is an unsettling psychological horror novella infused with technological horror… Creeping dread and "something is very off here" vibes, no jump scares.

Harve, the main character, has a strange but understandable relationship with Mr. Quist. That partnership slowly becomes poisonous as the restored dummy begins giving Harve exactly what he secretly wants… control & applause… and a voice cruel enough to say the things that Harve really can't…

The AI element in the book is not over explained and leaves room for several frightening possibilities. Is Mr. Quist malfunctioning? Is Harve losing his grip on reality?

That ambiguity gives the ending its nasty little punch.

If you like endings where everything is wrapped up nicely, this is not for you. The book has an ending that will leave you thinking about it long after it ends, with more questions than answers.

Ewww, such a creepy little story, this was. I have always been terrified of ventriloquist dummies, especially after seeing the old movie ‘Magic’ starring Anthony Hopkins. How anyone could think these dummies are entertaining, is beyond me… I would rather stick pins in my eyes!!

Seventy year old Harve has had ‘Mr Quist’ since he was gifted him, as a young child, by his father, who made him. Harve see’s ‘Mr Quist’ as his only friend, and they both spend the nights in his den, avoiding his vicious, abusive wife Gloria. After Gloria dies, Harve is approached by his doctor and friend Ginny, and her son Davis. Davis asks Harve, if it would be possible to ‘tidy up’ and restore the, now, tatty ‘Mr Quist’, experimenting with A.I. When ‘Mr Q’ is returned, and children’s parties are booked, the newly restored ‘Mr Q’ soon becomes a terrifying, different entity, entirely, resulting in bloodshed.

This novella was creepy, and I started reading it while in bed last night, but had to stop, as I was imagining ‘Mr Quist’ sitting at the end of my bed… only joking! Though, people who hate cursed dummies, and Victorian dolls, will catch my drift! The ending didn’t leave me feeling any better either #gooseflesh!