The Cut, by CJ Dotson
15 Apr 2025The Book

Synopsis:
A historic hotel long past its prime and huddled along The Cut, a questionable Lake Erie beach, isn’t Sadie Miles’ ideal place to raise a toddler while also navigating her second pregnancy. After finally fleeing her abusive ex-fiancé, though, Sadie’s new housekeeping position and free room at L’Arpin Hotel are the best she can manage.
On her first night, Sadie runs to help a guest struggling in the hotel’s pool only to find the water calm and empty when she gets there, leaving her with a lingering unease. When a guest then goes missing and her manager insists they simply left without checking out, Sadie suspects he’s covering up darker goings-on in the hotel.
After her ex, Sadie won't let anyone convince her that what she’s experiencing isn’t real again. So, she keeps digging, quickly uncovering suspicious interactions with the staff, mysteriously vanishing security cameras, more missing guests, and things that go bump in the night...and drip in the walls, slither in the tub, and squirm in the halls. Everything isn't as it seems within the dim hallways of L’Arpin. Sadie has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide; she'll need to keep her wits about her to survive and keep her toddler and unborn child safe from whatever lurks nearby.
My Review
The Cut is a supernatural horror novel, written by CJ Dotson, and published by St. Martin Press. A slow burn proposal that follows a woman and her daughter fleeing from abuse and landing in a haunted hotel, with a great set-up that reminds of classical horror movies, playing with the atmosphere and keeping the reader in suspense until the very end.
After finding she's pregnant, Sadie flees from an abusive relationship with her toddler, having to accept a job as housekeeper at the L'Arpin Hotel; but soon she realizes there's something wrong with the hotel and the personal, starting to see water puddles and slimy creatures, even if nobody believes her. The longer she stays at the hotel, the more paranoid Sadie becomes; but she needs this job to maintain afloat her precarious situation, despite the danger that seems to predate her.
Sadie is a well-fleshed main character, one we can empathize with; she's a mother trying to get out of an abusive relationship, and caring for her daughter. The paranoia she feels can be partly linked to the anxiety she feels for being found by her ex; and the whole hotel atmosphere doesn't help to it.
The rest of the hotel characters are quite peculiar, a bit reminiscent of the classics of the genre; all have small details that make you suspect about their real reasons to act, and it ends paying off at the end.
The setting is one of the biggest selling points of this novel: not only we have a decadent hotel where some guests disappear, but also the own natural environment, with the Lake Eire in the background also contributes to the atmosphere. The pacing is a bit slow for my taste, but it is balanced with a great characterisation; and the great finale pays off for this kind of slow-burn.
The Cut is a great cosmic/supernatural horror novel, perfect if you are looking for something with a familiar taste but with some novelty touches; a debut that puts CJ Dotson in the list of authors to follow in the coming years.
The Author/s

CJ Dotson
C.J. Dotson is a Northeast Ohio native who now lives with her family upstate New York. She studied English with a creative writing focus at Cleveland State University and now daydreams about having the time and resources to go back to school to study history and mythology instead. She lives in a house that has more shadows than working lights, along with her husband, 9-year-old son, 5-year-old daughter, her grandmother-in-law, and with her teenage stepson over the school breaks. She loves reading sci fi, fantasy, and horror, but will read really anything that catches her eye (her favorite book is none of those genres — it’s The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien). In what spare time she has, C.J. likes to paint and draw (mostly with acrylics and charcoal respectively) and she’s teaching herself to decorate cakes. C.J. is primarily a writer of novels and short stories, and occasionally flash fiction. She loves to write dark genre fiction, and is an active member of the Horror Writers Association