First published 2012
Jack arrives at a remote island for a summer job, expecting to care for two children in peaceful isolation. The massive black house sits on a windswept hill, far from any modern connection to the outside world. Only a housekeeper shares the island with Jack and his two strange young charges. Something feels wrong from the moment he sees the mansion. The cold atmosphere goes beyond the imposing architecture itself. Jack begins noticing visitors around the property. Figures peer through windows and watch from the distant shore. Nobody else acknowledges these mysterious observers. Jack questions what these apparitions want and why he alone can see them. His isolation deepens as disturbing visions and dreams intensify. Reality becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from imagination. Jack fights to trust his own perceptions while darker secrets about the island emerge. His grip on sanity weakens as he confronts the possibility that his mind may be betraying him.
Genres: suspense, mystery, psychological-thriller, gothic-horror
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Island
Period: 20th-century
261 pages · Kindle Edition · HarperCollins
Content warnings: anxiety, mental-illness