February 2, 2015
In Duffy’s chilling debut, author Ben Tierney, who’s coping with writer’s block, moves with his family from Manhattan to Swannhaven, a village in upstate New York. Ben and his wife, Caroline, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, hope to build a new and better life by converting an old farming estate into a country inn. Instead of the idyllic life they expected, alarming things start happening. A shed on their property mysteriously catches on fire. Someone, whom the Tierneys’ eight-year-old son names “the Watcher,” leaves disturbing messages and animal carcasses in the nearby woods. On one occasion, a deer’s head is left on their stoop. To make matters worse, Caroline becomes increasingly paranoid. Ben needs to discover who or what is responsible. Having decided to write about the village, he begins seeing eerie connections between events in the past and the present. Duffy does a good job building the suspense, but some readers may feel let down by the implausible ending. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Weed Literary.