Synopses & Reviews
From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Intruders and The Straw Men comes a nerve-shattering story of guilt, rage, deadly secrets, and very, very . . . bad things
Three years ago, lawyer John Henderson watched his four-year-old son tumble from a jetty into the lake outside their Washington home. In a terrible instant, a life all too brief and innocent ended. But it wasn't drowning, the fall, or even some previously undetected internal defect that killed the little boy. Scott Henderson had simply, inexplicably . . . died.
Today, John is a different man—divorced, living a solitary existence in a beach house in Oregon, working as a waiter in a restaurant that caters to the summer crowd. Withdrawn from a life and past too painful to revisit, he touches no one and no one touches him. Then one night he receives a short and profoundly disturbing e-mail message from a stranger. It reads: I know what happened.
It's enough to pull John back to Black Ridge—the one place on earth he'd hoped never to return to—in search of answers to the mystery that shattered his world. In this small, isolated Pacific Northwest community, populated in large part by descendants of the original settlers, the shadows now seem even darker and more sinister than when tragedy first drove him away—and the wind whipping down out of the primal forest can chill a man to his soul. It seems that bad things have always happened in this town of generations-old secrets—and are happening still.
The deeper John digs into his own past, and into local history, the more danger he draws toward himself . . . and toward his estranged and helpless family. And though he doesn't know it, he's not the only one who's been called back to Black Ridge.
And that's a very bad thing . . .
A twisting, relentlessly thrilling, and consistently surprising novel of psychological suspense, Michael Marshall's Bad Things is a masterwork of chilling brilliance that will keep the reader guessing right to the final page. Bad things don't just happen to other people. They're waiting to happen to you, too.
Review
“A genuinely scary thriller with satisfyingly malevolent villains.” The Sun Herald (Sydney) on BAD THINGS
Review
“This is a psychological thriller guaranteed to keep you up at nights.” Arcadian Lifestyle
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“Fast-moving, sinister and highly accomplished…This is ferocious story-telling of the highest order, with corkscrew twists and turns that make it deliciously scary as the secrets unfold.” Daily Mail (London) on BAD THINGS
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“This spooky tale shows Marshall...has a knack not only for the frisson of dread but also the telling psychological insight.” Publishers Weekly on BAD THINGS
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“Marshall builds up suspense slowly . . . Black Ridge like the Maine towns populated by Stephen Kings characters is not a place you want to visit.” Booklist on BAD THINGS
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“taut action and appealing characters” San Francisco Chronicle
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“Michael Marshall is the new Stephen King, to the nth degree. He successfully complements Carol OConnells tormented characters for roller-coaster-like psychological twists and thrills....BAD THINGS deserves six stars.” www.BookReporter.com on BAD THINGS
Synopsis
"Marshall recalls Stephen King's ability to set a story in the world of the commonplace, then suddenly jolt it into a more hellish realm."
--New York Times
Bad things have always happened in Black Ridge, Washington--and Michael Marshall, the acclaimed, bestselling, Phillip K. Dick Award-winning author of The Intruders ("Scary brilliance" --Baltimore Sun) and Straw Men ("Brilliantly written and scary as hell" --Stephen King), lets readers experience all the exceptional nastiness. Marshall's Bad Things is an electrifying combination of psychological suspense, mystery, horror, and paranormal activity that no fan of ingenious, intelligent thrillers will want to miss.
Synopsis
“Marshall recalls Stephen Kings ability to set a story in the world of the commonplace, then suddenly jolt it into a more hellish realm.”
—New York Times
Bad things have always happened in Black Ridge, Washington—and Michael Marshall, the acclaimed, bestselling, Phillip K. Dick Award-winning author of The Intruders (“Scary brilliance” —Baltimore Sun) and Straw Men (“Brilliantly written and scary as hell” —Stephen King), lets readers experience all the exceptional nastiness. Marshalls Bad Things is an electrifying combination of psychological suspense, mystery, horror, and paranormal activity that no fan of ingenious, intelligent thrillers will want to miss.
About the Author
Michael Marshall is the author of the trilogy that includes The Straw Men, The Upright Man, and Blood of Angels, as well as the stand-alone novels The Servants, The Intruders, Bad Things, and Killer Move. He also works as a screenwriter for clients in London and Los Angeles, and is currently writing a television pilot set in New York City. He lives in London, England, with his wife and son.