by Todd Ritter
First published 2024
Ethan Marsh wakes up alone in a backyard tent on Hemlock Circle. His ten-year-old best friend Billy has vanished through a knife slash in the canvas. Someone took Billy during the night from their quiet New Jersey cul-de-sac. Billy never comes home. Thirty years pass. Ethan returns to his childhood house, battling sleepless nights and disturbing dreams. Strange activity begins after dark. Someone walks the cul-de-sac at unusual hours. Signs of Billy appear in Ethan's backyard. The occurrences feel like cruel jokes, but they might mean Billy has returned to Hemlock Circle alive. Ethan starts digging into that July night. He reconnects with old friends and neighbors. His search leads him into the surrounding woods, where Billy once claimed ghosts lived. A mysterious institute conducts secret research on a decaying estate deep in the forest. Each discovery brings Ethan closer to the truth about his friend's disappearance. He learns that safety is an illusion, whether in manicured suburbs or dark wilderness. The past refuses to stay buried.
Genres: suspense, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: second-chance, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Hemlock Circle, New Jersey
Period: Thirty Years Later
376 pages · Hardcover · Dutton