The Homecoming

Starred review from March 4, 2019
Surgeon Aaron Quinlan, the 36-year-old narrator of this brilliant thriller set in the Pacific Northwest from Pyper (The Demonologist), learns that his father, Raymond, a secretive workaholic who was mostly absent from Aaron’s life, has died. The next day, a car picks up Aaron and his 14-year-old sister, Bridge, and the pair are driven by “someone who won’t even look” at them to a huge wooded property, where they join their mother and their 35-year-old sister, Franny. Raymond’s attorney explains that the man’s will grants an even division of the multimillion-dollar estate on the condition that all four of them remain on the grounds for 30 days; supplies would be delivered, but the Quinlans would be without cellphones or any other means of contacting the outside world. They agree, but come to regret that decision after some terrifying encounters with a deranged man who appears bent on harming them. This figure proves to be only the first of several threats to their safety. Pyper fairly lays the groundwork for the truth behind their experiences, and readers will be invested in the thoughtfully constructed characters. Fans of Josh Malerman’s Bird Box will be pleased. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, Gernert Company.

Starred review from February 1, 2019
Pyper's weird, wonderful, audacious new novel begins simply enough: a man has died, and his family has gathered to hear the reading of his will. Much to the surprise of the man's widow and the couple's children, they all stand to inherit a sizable fortune, but there's one, rather odd condition. From this first small indication that The Homecoming will be no ordinary family drama, the story?walking a line between thriller and horror?descends, at first slowly and then with almost dizzying speed, into an abyss of shattered memories, disquieting dreams, and an evil that borders on the surreal. The characters, who seemed fairly normal at the outset, show themselves to possess deep layers of haunting pain. And what the novel reveals about the characters will make readers view the entire story in a new, darker light. Brilliantly constructed and absolutely mesmerizing, this could very well be the best book yet by the author of such acclaimed novels as The Demonologist (2013) and The Damned (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)