Maybe this is a ghost story...
Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home.
Coming home means returning to his late father's house, which has seen better days. It means lying to his wife. But it also means reuniting with his friends: Eric, now the town's deputy sheriff; Dale, a real-estate mogul living in the shadow of a failed career; his childhood sweetheart Tig who never could escape town; and poor Meach, whose ravings about a curse upon the group have driven him to drugs and alcohol.
Together, the five friends will have to confront the memories―and the horror―of a night, years ago, that changed everything for them.
Because Andrew and his friends have a secret. A thing they have kept to themselves for twenty years. Something no one else should know. But the past is not dead, and Kingsport is a town with secrets of its own.
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Maybe this is a ghost story. (PROLOGUE)
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(Titan Books, 4 June 2024, paperback, 345 pages, ARC from the publisher)
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I've heard of the author but never read his work before. If Small Town Horror is anything to go by, I've missed out. I loved this book. I couldn't stop reading every time I picked it up and didn't want the book to end. I have a particular fondness for horror novels set in small towns. I grew up in a small town so maybe that's why. Stephen King is great at writing about the darkness lurking beneath small towns. I knew I was going to enjoy this book and I wasn't disappointed. This is very dark at times as the past threatens to completely upend the present when you start to get to the heart of Andrew and his friends dark secret. I'd recommend this rollicking horror yarn.
