After Emily’s mother dies, she and her husband decide it is time to finally leave the city and make a true life change. They both have good jobs that allow them to work remotely and the pressures of life have really taken a toll recently. It’s time for something completely different-a farmhouse in rural Nebraska.
Neither of them have any farming knowledge, but they won’t need it. It’s only the house and immediate yard that are for sale. The barns and the farm ground will still be managed by the original family, and they are promised they will hardly see them except for an occasional tractor going by.
Emily starts running again, allowing the clear blue midwestern sky and endless horizon envelop her. She starts to learn the dusty roads, rural scenes, and countryside sounds. But then little things stop making sense. She begins using her run tracker to check the distance from the house to the barn, and every time it changes-significantly. At night, she hears music coming from the barn hayloft but when she investigates no one is there. Then she hears the farmers talking about a young woman who disappeared. Voices whisper in her ear, warning her to hide. Whether it’s real or imagined, she sees her chance for a peaceful life slipping away.
The barn was outside my window. not looming in the distance. The haggard wood walls, the peeling paint, they were pressed against the glass pane above my kitchen sink. There was no sky. There was no garden. No sunlight. Only the decrepit edifice. Silence squeezed my skull. ~Loc. 2769
This is a much better than average thriller, with strong storytelling that holds together from beginning to end. The mystery is solid, her unraveling of it is realistic, and if one chooses to believe in spirits, their assistance is unwavering. It’s a creepy and compelling novel that I highly recommend.
My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press (Sourcebooks) for the early review copy. Read via NetGalley.
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (June 17, 2025)
Language: English
Paperback: 432 pages
ISBN-10: 1464229163