The last word: a novel

Emma Carpenter suffered a terrible tragedy, ending up homeless and penniless. Taking a job as a house sitter on a remote island on the Washington coast, she spends her days reading e-books, walking her dog, and communicating with her neighbor, Deek, using a telescope and a whiteboard since she has no desire to meet anyone face-to-face. She's in a holding pattern until she can take the backpack of rocks she keeps by her back door and walk into the ocean. But then she does something out of character, writing a review on Amazon of one of the e-books she's read. She gives it one star, and almost immediately, the author begins sending her increasingly threatening messages. As the situation escalates, Emma senses impending doom, and she's right--in a single night of terrible violence and bloodshed, her worst nightmares come true. The imaginative and thoroughly original plot features bewildering and bizarre twists and a totally unexpected ending. Adams' modern-day Gothic effectively blends horror and thriller and is guaranteed to keep readers off-balance with its intensity and overall creepiness.

This outstanding psychological thriller from Adams (Hairpin Bridge) finds schoolteacher Emma Carpenter house-sitting at Strand Beach, Wash., where she avoids thinking about her problems by walking her dog along the beach and by binge-reading the never-ending supply of 99 cent self-published books she downloads from the internet. Then she reads Murder Mountain, a serial killer novel by H.G. Kane. The download site asks readers to rate the book. Emma--after making sure zero isn't an option--gives the book one star. Two hours later, she gets a reply from the author asking her to take down her review. Kane's messages become menacing after she refuses. Emma's creeping horror at being targeted by a madman increases when he arrives at her door, quoting lines from their internet exchanges. As the tension rises, spectacular plot twists open up new possibilities while effectively demolishing existing expectations. Along with the nail-biting suspense, the book provides some genuine fun by treating readers to overwrought excerpts from a unpublished manuscript about the crimes that take place at Strand Beach. Adams remains a writer to watch. Agent: David Hale Smith, InkWell Management. (Apr.)

Downloading a 99-cent e-book morphs into a costly mistake for a young woman who posts a scathing review that pushes the unstable author over the edge. Former junior high math teacher Emma Carpenter holes up in a remote beach house on the Washington state coast binge-reading e-book horror novels as she tries to forget a terrible event that happened five months ago. Her sole companion is her golden retriever, Laika, and that's how Emma, an introvert, likes it. Her only human contact is washed-up writer Deacon Cowl, who lives next door. They've never met, but they communicate using whiteboards and telescopes. Cowl recommends she download Murder Mountain by H.G. Kane, but Emma hates everything about the poorly written thriller and its clichéd story of an angry man who tortures and kills young women. After she posts a negative review, Kane messages her and insists she take it down. Emma refuses. Kane won't take no for an answer. Soon, the power goes out, the internet goes down, and Emma, like the women in Murder Mountain, is in a full-on fight for her life. Classic stalker tropes are upended in this twisty tale of a psychopath who, believing he's invincible, wants Emma's death to be the center of his next novel. But Emma, the indomitable heroine, takes control of the narrative and tilts the story in her favor as she fights to protect herself and Laika. Knives are out, as well as swords and stun guns, in this breathlessly paced, head-spinning tale. Prey becomes predator in this unnerving thriller. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Emma Carpenter suffered a terrible tragedy, ending up homeless and penniless. Taking a job as a house sitter on a remote island on the Washington coast, she spends her days reading e-books, walking her dog, and communicating with her neighbor, Deek, using a telescope and a whiteboard since she has no desire to meet anyone face-to-face. She's in a holding pattern until she can take the backpack of rocks she keeps by her back door and walk into the ocean. But then she does something out of character, writing a review on Amazon of one of the e-books she's read. She gives it one star, and almost immediately, the author begins sending her increasingly threatening messages. As the situation escalates, Emma senses impending doom, and she's right—in a single night of terrible violence and bloodshed, her worst nightmares come true. The imaginative and thoroughly original plot features bewildering and bizarre twists and a totally unexpected ending. Adams' modern-day Gothic effectively blends horror and thriller and is guaranteed to keep readers off-balance with its intensity and overall creepiness. Copyright 2023 Booklist Reviews.

While housesitting on Washington State's rain-soaked coast, Emma Carpenter writes a highly disparaging review of a horror novel she's annoyed to have read and gets angry pushback from the author himself. Then weird things start happening that make her wonder if the author is stalking her. The author's No Exit is now an original HULU film; with a 100,000-copy first printing.

This outstanding psychological thriller from Adams (Hairpin Bridge) finds schoolteacher Emma Carpenter house-sitting at Strand Beach, Wash., where she avoids thinking about her problems by walking her dog along the beach and by binge-reading the never-ending supply of 99 cent self-published books she downloads from the internet. Then she reads Murder Mountain, a serial killer novel by H.G. Kane. The download site asks readers to rate the book. Emma—after making sure zero isn't an option—gives the book one star. Two hours later, she gets a reply from the author asking her to take down her review. Kane's messages become menacing after she refuses. Emma's creeping horror at being targeted by a madman increases when he arrives at her door, quoting lines from their internet exchanges. As the tension rises, spectacular plot twists open up new possibilities while effectively demolishing existing expectations. Along with the nail-biting suspense, the book provides some genuine fun by treating readers to overwrought excerpts from a unpublished manuscript about the crimes that take place at Strand Beach. Adams remains a writer to watch. Agent: David Hale Smith, InkWell Management. (Apr.)