A Book A Week

"Every house has a story. Ours is a ghost story."

July has officially become a horror month at my house. I've always been a fan of horror movies, but my reading of the genre really didn't venture too far beyond the occasional Stephen King novel. This month I've decided to change that. New releases from Paul Tremblay and Stephen Graham Jones provided a very strong start, but the book I was most eagerly anticipating was the new Riley Sager novel. Over the past couple of years, he has become a favorite author, always mixing classic horror thrills with intriguing character work. When recording an interview with John B. Valeri for his YouTube channel Central Booking, we agreed that Sager's Home Before Dark would be the perfect novel to read next. As is often the case, John's recommendation proved to be an expert choice.

Years ago Ewan Holt moved his young family into the sprawling Baneberry Hall. The aspiring author was hardly settled into the Victorian manor when the strange things started happening. Only three weeks into their stay, the Holt family fled in the night, escaping the horrors that they experienced in the estate. Most people would have put that past behind them, never to speak or think of it again. Ewan Holt is not most people. Instead of burying the terror that he and his family faced, he saw an opportunity to exploit it. His bestselling book House of Horrors was born, an in-depth chronicle of the Holt's haunted time at Baneberry Hall. The book became THE definitive ghost story, capturing the minds and imagination of a generation of readers. But the book wasn't without its critics. To this day, people still question the validity of Holt's claims. After all, there's no such thing as ghosts.

Maggie Holt is tying a nice bow on the remaining bits of her father's affairs. Ewan has passed away leaving a surprise for his only daughter, the deed to the famed Baneberry Hall. Maggie has little memory of her time at the house. She was only a child at the time of her family's infamous inhabitance of the haunted place. She has spent years trying to escape the shadow of her father's book. In fact, she doesn't believe any of it happened. Her competence in the restoration of old homes should mean she can flip the dilapidated property quickly and finally put this past behind her. As she begins the process of renovating her former home, Maggie begins to experience things that can't be reasonably explained. Maybe her old man wasn't as crazy as all his critics made him seem.

This is the third novel by Riley Sager that I've read (I still have Final Girls waiting patiently on my kindle), so I thought I knew what to expect going into it. Indeed, Home Before Dark features many of Sager's signatures. There's the strong female main character, flashbacks to past events that are slowly revealed to impact the present-day plot, and the creepy horror elements that keep the suspense tightly wound and the pages turning. All that being said, I don't remember being as thrilled by Sager's writing as I was with this one. On the surface, the story seems like a straight-ahead haunted house novel, but there were so many twists and turns that I simply didn't see coming. Add to this the element of our main character coming to terms with her family's past, and you've got the kind of read that will have you devouring the book in only a few sittings. Home Before Dark sees Riley Sager step up his game to an even higher level than his previous fantastic books. Believe the hype on this one. It is a really great read.

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
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