Night of the Claw

In a plot device borrowed from M.R. James Casting the Runes a writer of international thrillers is slipped a cursed totem. Slowly he is filled with the urge to kill his child, who has suddenly become a rage inducing problem in the household. Campbell, who originally published this book under a pseudonym, builds the unbearable suspense with painful slowness, letting the reader suffer through each delicious moment until the rushed finale, which ends like a low budget horror movie. Recommended.