Just Like Home

by Sarah Gailey

Overview

Just Like Home is a darkly gothic thriller from nationally bestselling author Sarah Gailey, perfect for fans of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House as well as HBO's true crime masterpiece I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories — she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250174710
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/30/2023
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	31,362
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Hugo Award-winning and bestselling author Sarah Gailey is the author of the novels The Echo Wife and Magic for Liars. Their nonfiction has been published by Mashable and The Boston Globe, and they won a Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Their fiction credits also include Vice and The Atlantic. Their debut novella, River of Teeth, was a 2018 finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

Editorial Reviews

"Gailey’s newest gothic novel is painfully suspenseful and richly dark, their rushing, intoxicating writing in peak form. Delightfully creepy and heartbreakingly tragic, Just Like Home is equal parts raw terror of a dark childhood bedroom, creeping revelations of a true-crime podcast, and searing hurt of resentment within a family. It’s a must-read for all gothic horror fans." —Booklist, starred review

Praise for The Echo Wife:

"For those familiar with Gailey's work, expect this one to offer familiar pleasures and some new surprises. And for those who aren't, well, get ready." —Entertainment Weekly

"Creepy, exhilarating science fiction... A series of dark reveals that leave both the characters and the audience reeling. Readers won't want to put this one down." —Publisher's Weekly

Praise for Magic for Liars

“The sharpest female protagonist of the summer”—The Mary Sue

“A queerer, older, quicker-paced Harry Potter, concerned with the childhood grudges that adults can't get over.”—Refinery 29

“Veronica Mars with a bit of Harry Potter” —The Nerd Daily

From the Publisher

★ 05/30/2022

Vera Crowder, the protagonist of this superior novel of psychological suspense from Gailey (The Echo Wife), returns to her childhood home, Crowder House, after 12 years to reunite with her dying mother, a fraught visit that reawakens dark memories. It gradually emerges that Vera’s father, who frequently reassured her as a child that there were neither monsters nor murderers under her bed, and told her their basement was off-limits, was himself a murderer. (Bodies were found buried in the basement.) Years after her father’s arrest, Vera still believes the house has secrets to reveal, a belief supported by the chance discoveries of fragments from his journal. Suggestive prose (“The stairs that led from the entryway to the second level of the house always seemed to have too many shadows”) enhances the twisty plot as Vera tries to better understand the killings her father was accused of. The counterintuitive choice to have flashbacks recounted in present tense, while using past tense for present-day events, along with ominous foreshadowing (“Three years from now, when there are policemen at the door, she will feel afraid”) helps to create an unsettling atmosphere. Minette Walters fans will be captivated. (July)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2022

Gailey's (The Echo Wife) latest introduces listeners to the Crowder House, home to a family whose patriarch is an infamous serial killer. Vera Crowder never expected she'd have to return to the house she grew up in, not after her mother, Daphne, made sure her feelings about her daughter were known. But Daphne is dying, and there's an artist who seeks inspiration, and perhaps more, from the house that had once sheltered Vera and had been the scene of unspeakable horrors. As Vera searches through her past and tries to rediscover who her father, Francis, was—beyond his body count—she must also decide who she is and who she wants to be. Listeners will be absorbed as they learn the details of Vera's relationship with her family, its various sins, and ultimately, what connects them all. Xe Sands's narration appropriately characterizes Vera as perpetually exhausted by her life and her legacy. When scenes call for more powerful emotions, such as despair or fury—particularly as Vera discovers that some connections are worth fighting for—Sands shows she's able to deliver. VERDICT Gailey wisely unfurls this story at a delightfully excruciating pace. Accompanied by Sands's versatile narration, this is a captivating listen.—James Gardner

Library Journal - Audio

Creepy and atmospheric, Xe Sands’s narration perfectly matches this ethereal yet harrowing story. Vera Crowder is told to come home to the house she grew up in by her dying mother, Daphne. They have a complicated, tense relationship tied to her father's crimes and the horrors hidden in that same house. Vera must overcome these unresolved issues and unexpected memories of her childhood. Sands creates chilling tension as she transitions between the present-day story—filled with a number of multidimensional characters—and Vera's childhood. The story starts slowly and can seem a bit disconnected at times, but it eventually comes together. With its dramatic twists, listeners will be left feeling unsettled by this gripping story. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Creepy and atmospheric, Xe Sands’s narration perfectly matches this ethereal yet harrowing story. Vera Crowder is told to come home to the house she grew up in by her dying mother, Daphne. They have a complicated, tense relationship tied to her father's crimes and the horrors hidden in that same house. Vera must overcome these unresolved issues and unexpected memories of her childhood. Sands creates chilling tension as she transitions between the present-day story—filled with a number of multidimensional characters—and Vera's childhood. The story starts slowly and can seem a bit disconnected at times, but it eventually comes together. With its dramatic twists, listeners will be left feeling unsettled by this gripping story. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2022 - AudioFile