Eve's Still Dead
A year ago, Asher’s life shattered when his new wife, Eve, died in a tragic car accident on their wedding night. Now, Christmas approaches, a season Eve loved, and Asher is still lost in a fog of grief. Desperate for a connection, he decorates his home, surrounded by gin, sugar cookies, and twinkle lights – a ghostly echo of the life they never had.
Then, he finds her wedding gift. An Advent calendar. And behind each tiny door isn't chocolate, but a handwritten note. A message from Eve. From beyond the grave. She’s speaking to him, pulling him into a daily dialogue that blurs the line between memory and madness. Asher must answer, but what will Eve demand?
- Eve/Ruth - Asher’s alleged wife
- Asher/Jasper/December - English professor
- Sybil - Asher’s student
- Marla - Asher’s college acquaintance
- Lexy/Summer - Asher’s therapist
- Eve died last year on Christmas Eve in a car accident.
- Sybil kisses Asher and he gets very angry and threatens to report her to the dean.
- On December 1st, Asher finds the advent calendar he bought Eve for Christmas but never got to give her.
- In the first drawer is a page from Eve’s diary that says ‘Christmas is a beautiful time for lovers.’
- On December 2nd, Asher finds a note in drawer two that says, ‘Asher, how I’ve missed you.’
- The notes continue but the messages get eerier, and Asher believes it is Eve’s ghost leaving them.
- The December 9th note states they are going to play a game like A Christmas Carol where Asher will visit ghosts from his past to make amends.
- Asher must go to his mother and confess his sins or there will be dire consequences.
- Asher’s mother is in a coma because when he was a teenager, he pushed her down the stairs, thinking she was his abusive father.
- The thought of seeing his mother is too much, so Asher burns the letter and the next day his mother dies.
- Asher’s next note says he must go and confess his sins to Marla and apologize.
- At a frat party when Asher was nineteen, he slipped a date rape drug into Marla’s drink and she ended up getting raped by someone else at the party.
- Asher goes to visit Marla as the note instructs but blacks out and doesn’t remember what happens.
- The next note instructs Asher to visit the grave of Jasper, the twin brother he believes died at birth.
- Asher’s next note tells him to visit Hawthorne Medical Facility where he was institutionalized after a suicide attempt as a teenager.
- He refuses to go and when he wakes the next day, there is a bloody belt hanging in the room and his throat is sore like when he tried to hang himself as a teen, leading him to believe Eve’s ghost tried to kill him.
- The December 17th note says Asher needs to learn to move on, so Eve set him up on a date.
- Asher meets his blind date, Summer, and likes her a lot.
- After drinking excessively at a party, Asher wakes up and finds Sybil in his bed with no recollection of how she got there.
- Asher decides he needs to stop getting so drunk that he blacks out and makes bad decisions.
- The December 20th note says that Asher must attend an AA meeting by Christmas.
- Asher attends an AA meeting but later he drinks.
- The next note from Eve states that she killed Sybil because Asher drank alcohol.
- On December 23rd, Asher goes to Summer’s house unannounced and when he sees her, a voice in his head tells him to kill her.
- Asher kidnaps Summer.
- Asher reads the next note which states the notes have not been from Eve or a ghost but from Jasper.
- Summer, who is actually Lexy, explains to Asher that Jasper is not Asher’s brother but an alternate personality Asher forgot about after the car accident a year ago.
- A year ago, Jasper abducted Eve, who was someone else’s wife, not Asher’s.
- Jasper tortured Asher because he was angry Asher forgot about him after the accident.
- Asher regains control and frees Lexy.
- Asher tries to carry her out of the building and accidentally drops her on the concrete, killing her.
- One year later: Asher is locked up in a mental facility.
- Jasper smothered his mother with a pillow, snapped Marla’s neck and killed Sybil after carrying on a relationship with her for months, and Asher has no memories of these events.
I really enjoyed the dark and eerie atmosphere of this story, especially with it taking place during the Christmas season. I found myself feeling for Asher as he dealt with his grief, and being mostly in his POV made it easy for me to get caught up in everything he was experiencing.
I liked the way the Advent format worked with the story, with everything unfolding through December as Asher receives a new note each day. The chapters are short and the pacing stayed consistent for me, so the book flowed really well.
What really made this one stand out for me was how unpredictable it became. I thought I had a pretty good idea of where things were going, but the twist completely surprised me. I also liked how the story kept me questioning what was real and what Asher could actually believe as things progressed. This was a quick read for me, but it still managed to pack in plenty of tension and kept me invested throughout.
If you like dark psychological thrillers, eerie mysteries, and unexpected twists, then you will enjoy this book.
- Rape
- Attempted suicide
- Murder
- Psychosis
- Kidnapping
ASIN: B0HB7KVVT6
Publication Date: October 27, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
