In the Shadow of Spindrift House

April 8, 2019
Stranger Things fans are likely to be engrossed by Grant’s seductive account of four teens who band together to solve paranormal mysteries. Harlowe, whose parents were killed by a cult when she was four, became friendly with schoolmates Kevin, Andy, and Addison in third grade, and the quartet has spent nine years hunting mummies and explaining why some ducks floated in midair. With high school ending, their fellowship faces its end, too, until Harlowe proposes that they travel to Maine to seek a $3.5 million reward. That bounty will go to anyone who enters a haunted house long enough to track down the original deed and resolve a dispute among three families as to its current ownership—a mission that has already left several people dead. Despite a formulaic setup, Grant makes the horrors of Spindrift House palpable. Gradually readers come to understand the implications of the entrancing opening passage about humanity’s imposition of the “mathematical aberration of the straight line” on nature. This strong standalone from Grant (the Newsflesh series) will satisfy fans of classic tales of horror and the eldritch. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary.