Families -- Fiction. |
Life change events -- Fiction |
Moving, Household -- Fiction. |
Upstate New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction. |
Suspense fiction. |
Family |
Families -- Social aspects |
Families -- Social conditions |
Family life |
Family relationships |
Family structure |
Relationships, Family |
Structure, Family |
Household moving |
Relocation (Household moving) |
New York, Upstate (N.Y.) |
Available:
Library | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
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Searching... Dighton Public Library | DUF | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library | FIC DUFFY | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Hanson Public Library | DUFFY | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Middleborough Public Library | F DUF | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... New Bedford Wilks Branch | FIC DUFFY | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Pembroke Public Library | FIC DUFFY, B. | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Plainville Public Library | F DUFFY, B. | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Seekonk Public Library | FIC DUFFY | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wareham Free Library | F DUF | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Westport Free Public Library | FIC DUFFY | FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In this enthralling and atmospheric thriller, one young family's dream of a better life is about to become a nightmare.
Ben and Caroline Tierney and their two young boys are hoping to start over. Ben has hit a dead end with his new novel, Caroline has lost her banking job, and eight-year-old Charlie is being bullied at his Manhattan school.
When Ben inherits land in the village of Swannhaven, in a remote corner of upstate New York, the Tierneys believe it's just the break they need, and they leave behind all they know to restore a sprawling estate. But as Ben uncovers Swannhaven's chilling secrets and Charlie ventures deeper into the surrounding forest, strange things begin to happen. The Tierneys realize that their new home isn't the fresh start they needed . . . and that the village's haunting saga is far from over.
House of Echoes is a novel that shows how sometimes the ties that bind us are the only things that can keep us whole.
Advance praise for House of Echoes
"[Brendan] Duffy walks a fine line between crime and horror, skillfully manipulating the threats of a punishing winter, creepy historic setting, and strange villagers. . . . This unsettling, atmospheric tale is right up the alley of those who enjoyed Jennifer McMahon's Winter People ; and the shared appeal with Stephen King's The Shining is undeniable." -- Booklist (starred review)
"A fluid, suspenseful yet subtle thriller, with touches of humor, evocative writing, and characters that are both familiar and uniquely fascinating. A wonderfully tense and heart-wrenching debut." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
" House of Echoes is that rare debut that grabs the reader by the lapels with both hands and never lets go. It's compelling, brooding, atmospheric, and propulsive--and it accomplishes something frightening and unique: a portrayal of the great outdoors as beautiful, amoral, and claustrophobic at the same time. It will stay with you long after you read the last page, and it may very well haunt your dreams." --C. J. Box, New York Times bestselling author of Endangered
" House of Echoes is dark, emotionally affecting and truly creepy. Brendan Duffy dives straight into the ugly core of small-town America and doesn't flinch a bit--a fantastic story and a great book." --Kelly Braffet, author of Save Yourself
" House of Echoes is the captivating tale of a bruised family's escape to their dream house in a bucolic small town, only to find themselves trapped by its dark legends. In this relentlessly chilling story, Brendan Duffy breathes new life into the gothic tradition. Uncanny and hypnotic, it will freeze your heart." --Keith Donohue, New York Times bestselling author of The Boy Who Drew Monsters
"Brendan Duffy's House of Echoes is one of those wonderful stories that come along only once in a while, a beautifully nuanced and riveting family drama set within a terrifying landscape that has you turning pages long past bedtime. But keep the light burning and read to the end. That's when you realize you've been in the hands of a very clever storyteller, and that what you thought you'd been reading was all along something else." --Carla Buckley, author of The Deepest Secret
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Duffy's chilling debut, author Ben Tierney, who's coping with writer's block, moves with his family from Manhattan to Swannhaven, a village in upstate New York. Ben and his wife, Caroline, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, hope to build a new and better life by converting an old farming estate into a country inn. Instead of the idyllic life they expected, alarming things start happening. A shed on their property mysteriously catches on fire. Someone, whom the Tierneys' eight-year-old son names "the Watcher," leaves disturbing messages and animal carcasses in the nearby woods. On one occasion, a deer's head is left on their stoop. To make matters worse, Caroline becomes increasingly paranoid. Ben needs to discover who or what is responsible. Having decided to write about the village, he begins seeing eerie connections between events in the past and the present. Duffy does a good job building the suspense, but some readers may feel let down by the implausible ending. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Weed Literary. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In an isolated village in upstate New York, a young family finds "[d]emons in the wood and devils at the door."When novelist Ben Tierney inherits a large estate overlooking the village of Swannhaven, it seems like the perfect opportunity for a fresh start in the country. Life in Manhattan was becoming increasingly difficult, with his wife, Caroline, diagnosed with bipolar illness after giving birth to their infant son and their 8-year-old boy, Charlie, being brutally bullied at school. Ben moves his family into the Crofts, built in the 1700s as the original home of the Swann family, with the idea of turning the house into an inn. He and Caroline begin to forge relationships with the villagers of Swannhaven while digging into the history of the estate. On the surface, the move was a good idea. Ben gets a new idea for a novel, Caroline's manic energy helps her make progress on renovations, and Charlie is enjoying his explorations of the surrounding woods using an outdoor survival manual called The Book of Secrets, but there's an underlying tension in the family's interactions with each other. Ben and Caroline's relationship is tenuous, and Charlie hasn't told his parents about the "Watcher" in the woods. It's clear that the Tierneys have lost each other. Whether they can become a family again before they face tragic consequences is the real mystery. The terror builds slowly, starting with an eviscerated deer and the foreboding atmosphere surrounding the Crofts, the wind slamming doors in the house and screaming through the trees in the forest. As winter sets in, the Tierneys find themselves haunted by echoes of Swannhaven's tragic history of starvation, war and bitter struggles for survival. Debut author Duffy has delivered a fluid, suspenseful yet subtle thriller, with touches of humor, evocative writing, and characters that are both familiar and uniquely fascinating. A wonderfully tense and heart-wrenching debut. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* After their son, Charlie, falls prey to sadistic bullies, Ben and Caroline Tierney abandon New York City to start an inn at the historic Crofts estate in the remote upstate village of Swannhaven. For Ben, it's culture shock; although his grandmother's family originated in Swannhaven, he feels alienated from the tight-knit, standoffish villagers. For the sake of their inn, Ben and Caroline begin making local connections by meeting with the Historical Preservation Society. There they learn that Ben is a descendant of the Winter Families, a revered group of Swannhaven's ancestors who survived a brutal Iroquois attack and a starving winter huddled in the Crofts. But Ben's satisfaction at making social inroads is overshadowed by his sense that someone or something evil lurks at the Crofts, as Charlie becomes obsessively preoccupied with his forays into the surrounding forest, and Ben discovers mutilated animal offerings left around the estate. Duffy walks a fine line between crime and horror, skillfully manipulating the threats of a punishing winter, creepy historic setting, and strange villagers. Readers will find it deliciously challenging to decide if these threats are ironically familiar red herrings or co-conspirators in the Tierneys' untimely end. This unsettling, atmospheric tale is right up the alley of those who enjoyed Jennifer McMahon's Winter People (2014); and the shared appeal with Stephen King's The Shining (1977) is undeniable.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Ben and Caroline Tierney had several reasons for moving their family to the Crofts, an old mansion nestled near the mountains of upstate New York. Having lost her job and struggling with a recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Caroline throws herself into renovating the old house with the hopes of opening a B&B. Ben tries to placate his volatile wife, even though his heart isn't in the renovation, and eight-year-old Charlie increasingly spends more time in the woods with a presence he calls The Watcher. In the meantime, Ben feels strangely compelled to learn as much as he can about the home, its former inhabitants, and the nearby village of Swannhaven. The locals indulge his curiosity and accept him as one of their own, but little does he know the cost of learning the town's secrets. VERDICT Debut novelist Duffy expertly builds suspense, leaving readers eager to know what happens while simultaneously dreading the outcome. This creepy page-turner will appeal to fans of Stephen King and anyone who loves a good ghost story.-Vicki Briner, Westminster, CO (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.