We Are Here

by Michael Marshall

Overview

An intelligent and page-turning thriller from the international bestselling author of Killer Move.

It should've been the greatest day in David's life. A trip to New York, wife by his side, to visit his new publisher. Finally it looks as though the gods of fate are going to lift him from schoolteacher to writer. But on his way back to Penn Station, a chance encounter changes all of that.

David bumps into a stranger who covertly follows him, and then, just before they board the train home, passes him by close enough to whisper: "Remember me." The stranger follows them back to where they live, and it isn't long before David realizes that this man wants something from him . . . something very personal, that he may have no choice but to surrender.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316252577
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	02/25/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.25(d)

About the Author

Michael Marshall Smith was born in England but spent his early years in the United States, South Africa, and Australia. He has worked extensively as a screenwriter in LA and London, where he lives with his wife and son.

Editorial Reviews

12/09/2013
Marshall combines mystery with urban fantasy to create an eerie, convoluted tale of shadow beings living between the cracks of our world. While visiting New York City, writer David Miller encounters a stranger who says cryptically, “Remember me.” Meanwhile, John Henderson (protagonist of 2009’s Bad Things) and his girlfriend, Kristina, investigate her friend’s stalker, who they discover belongs to a society of mysterious entities. These people, who call themselves “friends,” might be ghosts or forgotten imaginary friends whose creators have grown to adulthood. They have their own factions and agendas, some of which threaten John, Kristina, David, and those David loves. While allusions to John’s past can be distracting, and some explanations are delayed so long that readers might be tempted to flip ahead for context, Marshall depicts interactions involving John and Kristina with realism and warmth. He excels at endowing the ephemeral “friends” with complex motives and emotions, making them as engaging as his most finely drawn flesh-and-blood characters. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Marshall combines mystery with urban fantasy to create an eerie, convoluted tale of shadow beings living between the cracks of our world."—Gabe Habash, Publishers Weekly

Praise for Michael Marshall Smith:

"A jaw-dropping mystery that makes a hairpin turn on nearly every page."—Entertainment Weekly, on The Intruders

"Well-constructed and terrifying."—USA Today, on The Intruders

"A masterpiece . . . brilliantly written and scary as hell."—Stephen King, on Straw Men

From the Publisher

"A masterpiece . . . brilliantly written and scary as hell."

Stephen King

"Well-constructed and terrifying."

USA Today

Praise for Michael Marshall Smith:

"A jaw-dropping mystery that makes a hairpin turn on nearly every page."

Entertainment Weekly

2013-12-17
In this thriller by Marshall (Killer Move, 2011, etc.), people are being stalked on the streets of New York but not in the usual fashion. The stalkers are part of a strange underworld of rejected "shadow people" who disappear as suddenly as they appear. First-person narrator John Henderson, a former lawyer now working in a restaurant, discovers that the shadow people are not easy to tail. He has been asked to determine who is stalking his girlfriend Kristina's friend Catherine. In a parallel plot, told in the third person, small-town teacher David is bumped by a stranger in Penn Station and insinuatingly told, "Remember me." David, who has come to New York with his wife, Dawn, for meetings about the publication of his first book, can't shake the stranger or the strange feeling that he knows him. Soon enough, David becomes embroiled with members of the underworld, who are named for their designated roles: Cornerman, Fingerman, etc. Kristina is followed, traumatic events from John's past are alluded to, and a significant pregnancy points to the future. Is this book a ghost story? A Stephen King–style shocker? An allegory about the neglected underclass? Marshall takes so long to reveal the most basic details, and his writing can be so obtuse, readers may lose interest by the time they find their footing. But in the final third, Marshall puts the pieces together to unsettling effect. It helps that John and Kristina, who share an East Village apartment, are such a winning duo. Though laborious at times, Marshall's novel rewards the reader's patience with its edgy storytelling and ambition.

Kirkus Reviews