


Things that hit old nerves I’d cauterized with 20 more years of life experience under my belt. At least for me, he reaches right in with these characters that I don’t-or shouldn’t-have anything in common with and flays me to the bone with commonalities. This is only my second book of his and…he had me in the first words of the first book. Each noise a footstep or a whisper of an uninvited guest or ghost-something out to get me. They’re spectral howls through a haunted wood and the undead breaking free from musty graves. What was I thinking reading, this while house/dog sitting two nervous toy poodles in a big old creepy house that creaks and groans when a slight breeze from the ocean hits the house juuuuust right? The rhythmic sounds of waves crashing against the nearby beach aren’t soothing while reading scary books. I’m a frequent insomniac anyway, I don’t need to pile on any more reasons to miss more zzzs. I’m a big fucking scaredy cat and that’s the kind of shit that keeps me up at night. It isn’t until Kennedy forces the Caroway’s secrets into the light that Jeremy realizes belonging sometimes comes with a price. Kennedy suspects there’s something off about the creepy mansion and its mysterious owners, but Jeremy thinks he’s finally found somewhere he fits.

Tempers flare, sexual tension boils over into frustration, and Jeremy turns away from the band to find a friend in his eerily beautiful landlord Hunter Caroway. They had planned to spend six weeks focusing on new music but things go awry as soon as they arrive at the long-deserted Caroway mansion. Still, hoping to get close to Kennedy, the band’s enigmatic guitarist, he follows Stygian to northern Louisiana for a summer retreat. He thought the indie rock band Stygian would become his anchor, but-lost in their own problems-they’re far from the family he sought. Most people just see him as the skinny emo kid who wears eyeliner and plays drums.

Jeremy has been isolated and adrift since the death of his brother.
