The Killing Circle - Hardcover

Pyper, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385663692 ISBN 13: 9780385663694

Publisher: Doubleday of Canada, 2008

Synopsis

From acclaimed, bestselling author Andrew Pyper, a suspenseful page-turner that explores the repercussions of that most dishonest of thefts: stealing another’s story and calling it your own.

Patrick Rush, a former bright light at the National Star now demoted to the reality TV beat, is still recovering from his wife’s death when he joins a writers’ group in Toronto. His goal: to write the book he’s always felt lived within him. Trouble is, Patrick has no story to tell. And while the circle’s members show similarly little literary promise, there is one exception: Angela. Her unsettling readings tell of a shadowy childhood tragedy and an unremitting fear of the Sandman, a “terrible man who does terrible things.” It’s the stuff of nightmares or horror films. Or is it?

Over the weeks that follow, a string of unsolved murders seem increasingly connected to Patrick. And then the circle’s members start to go missing, one by one. Still haunted by loss–and by a crime only those in the circle could know of–Patrick finds himself in a fictional world made horrifically real. But nothing will put him in greater danger than that ancient curse of natural born readers: the need to know how the story ends.

At once a complex and compulsive read, The Killing Circle explores the side effects of an increasingly fame-mad culture, where even the staid realm of literature can fall prey to ravenous ambition and competition.

About this title

Review

Praise for ‘The Killing Circle’:

‘The Killing Circle is one great read: darkly lyrical and atmospheric, it's as haunting as it is gripping. Highly recommended’ Harlan Coben

‘Frightening... action-packed’ LA Times

‘Gorgeously written and thoroughly unnerving suspense thriller...a terrific yarn’ New York Times

‘Extraordinary thriller... suffused with a tone thick with dread, this is easily Pyper's most ambitious – and absorbing – work to date' Publisher’s Weekly

'One of the more interesting authors writing in Canada... The Killing Circle deserves to be taken seriously... sharp and witty... Pyper has great fun' Quill & Quire

'Pyper is a true prose-master a generous topping of caustic humour and sharp-witted observations...a fright-filled thriller’ Canadian Globe & Mail

‘A thumping good read... a real creep-fest’ Ottawa Citizen

‘A strong and compelling read with just enough thrills and chills’ Vancouver Sun

‘“The Killing Circle” is transfixing in its handling of suspense... Pyper delivers a dark, compelling read that... invites readers to think about the nature of fear and obsession’ The Walrus

‘Very smart, very scary, very good: once I started I couldn't stop. Fans of dark and witty suspense will love The Killing Circle’ Peter Abrahams

Reviews for Lost Girls:

‘This is one scary book... You’ll want to keep all the lights on as you read this one’
Independent on Sunday

‘An excellently written novel, brilliant in its evocation of atmosphere’
Evening Standard

‘Extremely compelling’
Sunday Telegraph

‘“Lost Girls” is a hugely impressive and utterly compelling thriller’
Independent

‘A remarkably fine debut novel ... “Lost Girls” has a menace that is all its own’
Time Out

‘“Lost Girls” is remarkable and compelling. But, more than that, it is a novel that goes some way towards reinventing the literary ghost story’
The Times

Book Description

Once you’re in, there’s only one way out

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday of Canada
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0385663692
• ISBN 13: 9780385663694
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 321