The Book of Accidents

May 31, 2021
Philadelphia police officer Nate Graves, the protagonist of this creepy supernatural thriller from bestseller Wendig (Wanderers), initially rejects his much-hated, abusive father’s dying wish that he buy his childhood house for $1 and then live there with his artist wife, Maddie, and their 15-year-old son, Oliver. The house in Upper Bucks County, Pa., holds horrible memories for Nate, but Oliver, an empath who feels others’ pain and fear, insists he needs a fresh start after being humiliated and bullied for his special ability. A vengeful ghost who may be Nate’s late father stalks the house, and nearby is the park that a serial killer used as a dumping ground before he vanished just as he was being executed. A boy’s penchant for black magic, a haunted train tunnel, and sculptures that come to life add to the eerie atmosphere. Wendig is strongest when concentrating on the Graveses' unshakable love for each other, but the complex plot frequently devolves into confusion and repetitive scenes. Horror fans will best appreciate this one. Agent: Stacia Decker, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary.

May 15, 2021
A family that's banished itself to the woods of rural Pennsylvania finds more than they bargained for when supernatural forces decide they would make quite a snack. Prolific and delightfully profane, Wendig pulled off a good trick last time with his sprawling, inventive, and prescient apocalypse chronicle, Wanderers (2019). This is another doorstopper, but here he returns to macabre horror reminiscent of his supernatural Miriam Black novels, injected with a juicy dose of Stephen King-like energy. An eerie opening introduces Edmund Walker Reese, a serial killer strapped into Pennsylvania's electric chair circa 1990 for murdering four girls--a killer who disappears the second the switch is flipped. In the present day, former Philly cop Nate Graves is stewing over the death of his abusive father, who's left him a home in the woods. Maddie, Nate's artist wife, thinks it's perfect for her work, not to mention a natural refuge for their hypersensitive son, Oliver, who's imbued with not only a preternatural empathy for others, but also a gift for lending the pained some solace. At Nate's new job as a Fish and Game officer, his partner, Axel Figeroa, always has one eye open for trouble because of their proximity to Ramble Rocks, where Reese committed his dirty deeds, as does the Graves' neighbor Jed Homackie, a whiskey-drinking peacenik with secrets of his own. As happens, things get weird. Nate starts seeing his dead father around every corner. Maddie experiences fugue states that aren't simpatico with her newfound predilection for chainsaw sculpture. Oliver gets the worst of it, finding himself caught between a couple of vicious bullies and a newfound frenemy, Jake, who quickly emerges as someone------or something--far darker than he appears. The characters are eccentric and likable even if their plight isn't quite unpredictable, and the book will be catnip to horror fans, complete with meddling kids, doppelgangers, dimensional fissures, demons, and ghosts; it's a prototypical edge-of-your-seat plunge into real terror. A grade-A, weirdly comforting, and familiar stew of domestic drama, slasher horror, and primeval evil.

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June 1, 2021
Wendig, whose last novel, Wanderers (2019), is on its way to becoming a classic of pre-apocalyptic fiction, now tells a tale that also threatens to become a classic, this time of literary horror. Nate, Maddie, and their young son have moved into the house in the country where Nate grew up. It's not exactly a joyous homecoming: Nate's late father was abusive (although Nate keeps most of that part of his life to himself). But he and Maddie hope the change in setting, from urban to rural, will be good for their son, Oliver, who has been having problems at school and in social situations. Soon, however, the darkness approaches: Nate has visions of his father, and Maddie has her own visions. And Oliver? Let's just say that his natural tendency toward empathy goes into overdrive. It seems encouraging, at first, that Oliver is able to make a new friend, but when Wendig starts revealing the truth about that friend, we think: Uh-oh, this isn't going to end well. Wendig has fashioned a horror story that feels at once old-fashioned and cutting-edge, masterfully taking a familiar scenario and shaking it up to devastating effect. More proof, if proof were still needed, that Wendig is a force to be reckoned with across genres.

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Starred review from July 2, 2021

How do we cope with a world damaged beyond repair? Do we abandon it in hopes that a new world fares better? Or do we fight for what's good beneath the wounds and scars? Nate and Maddie Graves reluctantly return to their hometown, in the hopes of giving their son Oliver an opportunity to start over. Nate and Maddie are chased by their dark pasts, and that darkness is seemingly pursuing Oliver too. Thankfully, Oliver's new friend Jake seems poised to protect him. But Jake has secrets and some darkness of his own. Wendig's (Wanderers) latest is a bold, impressive novel with fierce intelligence and a generous, thrumming heart; this is the author writing at the height of his powers. It's intimate and panoramic. It's humane and magical. It's a world-hopping, time-jumping ride that packs a deep emotional punch. VERDICT Wendig blends horror, fantasy, and small-town family drama in an ambitious epic that spans both a multitude of worlds and the interior expanse of the human heart. This one's essential.--Cody Daigle-Orians, Hartford, CT

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