Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2023. : I know that horror is about creating and using fear; Ward creates fear surrounding the abuse the characters suffer at the hands of others, but we as readers are never taught to fear DID itself. An unspeakable secret binds them together, and when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch tr Read allThe Last House on Needless Street follows Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street. 3. Ted calls Lulu the Little Girl With Popsicle and cant forget the anniversary of her abduction, as even eleven years after Lulus disappearance, hes a suspect or feels like one. , Language Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2021. GizmoBasil Mon 05-Apr-21 15:11:39. A masterpiece to read at your own peril." "A terrifying exploration of human consciousness that excavates character like an ice pick chipping through an ancient glacier: The deeper one goes, the chillier it gets." Once your package is ready for pickup, you'll receive an email and app notification. Thank you to the author, publishers Viper Books and NetGalley UK for access to an advance readers ebook. Her sister, Dee, is still looking for her, years after everyone else has given up. An unspeakable secret binds. I may try to pick it up again in a few weeks time, but for the time being I feel there are better books to grab my attention and don't want to spend my reading time on this. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. my review of The Last House on Needless Street, Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2023. The New York Times Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is a shocking and immersive read perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Haunting of Hill House. We are going home. Mommy held out her hand.I made to pick Olivia up, but Mommys fingers were like a cuff about my wrist. Get it Sep 27 - Oct 4. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime. , X-Ray , Sticky notes 'Little Eve' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2018) won the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award and the August Derleth Prize for Best Horror Novel at the 2019 British Fantasy Awards, making her the only woman to have won the prize twice, and was a Guardian best book of 2018. It is nightmare fuel. This book warmed my horror-loving heart because it implements genre tropes in ways that are new and exciting, especially for the literary form. All Rights Reserved. Layer after layer after layer and then you're crying and somebody's got a knife. Just when you think youve figured out what is really going on, youll probably realize you were wrong." Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2021. The deal was negotiated by Michael Dean at Andrew Nurnberg Associates. Some twists I liked better than others. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. They live among the trees, behind a skin so thin you could scratch it open with a fingernail. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end." Bring your order ID or pickup code (if applicable) to your chosen pickup location to pick up your package. Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. You think you know what's inside the last house on Needless Street. I really liked Little Eve. : Just incredible. The book answers all these questions and eventually lets you know that you were asking the wrong questions all along. One perfect sentence after the other this is a story I wish I knew how to writeand I'm thrilled that Ward pulled off this trick of a book. Rachel Howzell Hall, author of And Now She's GoneTHIS IS THE BEST HORROR NOVEL I HAVE EVER READ. Layer after layer after layer and then you're crying and somebody's got a knife. Learn more about the program. Yes, I whispered. It twists and turns you in many directions. She studied English at the University of Oxford, and later, completed a Creative Writing Masters at the University of East Anglia. From the ramshackle houses to the disappearing children, there's something nefarious at foot - but is it human or supernatural? The book has a twist that will change you world and open yourself to a new way of thinking. I would give this book more stars if I could. I could hardly bear to let go of her, even for a moment.Now, back to the car. The book failed to grab my attention , and after reading the first 50 or so pages I have put it aside. (LogOut/ NPR"[P]erhaps the slipperiest psychological study in the annals of horrora book with secrets as sorrowful as they are appalling." I would give this book more stars if I could. Whats done is done. She executes the existentialism in this passage in a sad yet satisfying way, like releasing a deep breath. I may try to pick it up again in a few weeks time, but for the time being I feel there are better books to grab my attention and don't want to spend my reading time on this. Beautiful, heartbreaking and quietly uplifting. Haven't read anything this exciting since Gone Girl. Stephen KingSensational.I cant recall another novel in recent years that dares so much and succeeds so wildly. A. This is such a twisted story. Just what you want in a good psychological horror thriller. Layer after layer after layer and then you're crying and somebody's got a knife. Viper will publish in the UK on March 18 and Tor Nightfire will publish in the U.S. in late September. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. So much so that I believe I won't truly appreciate each and every word until I read it a second time to appreciate the author's character building from a new perspective. To Dee, Teds house smells of death; not of rot or blood but dry bone and dust; like an old grave, long forgotten, and although just a house on an ordinary street, its exterior is boarded and interior decaying. Growing up, Stephen King was my gateway to horror. I couldn't put this one down. King said of the gothic tale: "The buzz building. We know you all have many questions for Catriona Ward, author of The Last House On Needless Street. Learn more. A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick! I was feeling things I didn't want to feel and by the end i understood those feelings. Please try again. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end.". What really happened to Dees sister? I was immediately hooked from the very first page, and I did not want to put it down. you survive it. 'The buzz building around Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is real. Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2023, Talk about the unreliable narrator. The Last House on Needless Street, by Catriona Ward, is the best written book I wish Id never read. The Last House on Needless Street is finally out! And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. "Brilliant.[a] deeply frightening deconstruction of the illusion of the self." Recommended for anyone interested in horror with well-realized characters and a claustrophobic, intense setting." I was immediately hooked from the very first page, and I did not want to put it down. Something went wrong. I stayed up late to finish it and then I didnt want to go to sleep. We want to hear from you! There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. The Last House on Needless Street follows Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street. Daily Arts Writer Emilia Ferrante can be reached by emiliajf@umich.edu. I loved Rawblood. Just what you want in a good psychological horror thriller. I was completely enthralled. Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman"A breathtakingly ambitious book, gorgeously written, and never once shies away from showing you its fangs and its beautiful blood-filled heart. So far nothing quite so compellingbut yes, a few things to take the taste out of my brain. I've read it and was blown away. Its very much a puzzle narrative, and structured as one. : I was born in the US and lived there as a child. All these things are true. Mommy told him that these were the most dangerous kinds of wounds. Let me in, Catherine pleads. , Enhanced typesetting Broadly, the novel follows Ted, a man living alone in his mid-30s, his daughter Lauren, his lesbian Bible-reading cat Olivia and a woman named Dee who lost her younger sister in an abduction years ago. DID, in this case, is a way for someone being abused to cope with that abuse. I want you to feel the power of it, she said. In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. The idea of such horror in a person seems unrealistic. It brought everything in line as to the sequence of the events throughout the book. This is weirdly justifying, although I am sorry you had to read an upsetting book. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. This isnt just a thriller; its a sleek, diabolical, stress-inducing machine. Jonathan Janz, author of The Siren and the Specter"Its one eerie mind-bender of a novel in the best way." Interesting perspective. Something went wrong. The real villain of the story, though not revealed in her entirety until the end, is Teds mother. Each element finds its way back to each other, and they complete each other in unbelievably satisfying ways. By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The gods are closer than you would think. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places"Ward ably handles the series of nested revelations of the truth about the house's inhabitants and how they connect to Ted's own childhood, all the while maintaining a propulsive, suspenseful tone. It is only outside the last house on Needless Street that Ted finds occasional respite. It is a genre that allows for exploration of the awful, terrible, horrible parts of humanity in order to find something that is strangely beautiful. I stayed up way past my bedtime. The Last House on Needless Street, Catriona Ward's third novel, begins with an unsolved crime: the abduction of Lulu, a six-year-old girl taken from her family one summer's day. Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts"A masterpiece. Sarah Pinborough, New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her EyesYou dont read The Last House on Needless Streetyou survive it. Change). Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2021. Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel! This is extraordinary, high-wire-act horror, audacious as hell. Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Red Hands"Dark and creepy, sad and wonderfully strange. Certainly, Dee (Lulus older sister) holds him responsible, and when the reader hears the story from her perspective, it appears likely. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the WindowA chilling and beautiful masterpiece of suspense, cunningly plotted and written with the elegant imagination of a Shirley Jackson or a Sarah Waters. I've read it and was blown away. Even after two reads, I am confident that there will continue to be details, little tiny snippets that Ward scatters throughout the novel, that resolve themselves in their entirety at the end of the book. Surely I couldnt. Does this item contain quality or formatting issues? An Indie Next Pick!A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick!A Library Journal Editors' Pick! Whenever I opened a book she would appear and curl up next to me. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In this house where his mother took her life Ted is haunted: she is many years dead, yet still as loved and feared by him. I've read it and was blown away. I spent most of my childhood reading so we spent a lot of time together. Everyone who has read The Last House on Needless Street raves about all the many twists and turns. Every depiction of abuse in this novel is uniquely horrifying, but that of Teds mother is particularly bad, especially with its roots in make-you-squirm medical horror. A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory. It brought everything in line as to the sequence of the events throughout the book. However, the villain is not the person with mental illness; its the abuser who is actually evil. Amazon.com: The Last House on Needless Street (Audible Audio Edition): Catriona Ward, Christopher Ragland, Macmillan Audio: Audible Books & Originals Books Literature & Fiction Genre Fiction Horror Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Listening Length 12 hours Author Catriona Ward Narrator Christopher Ragland Audible release date After the first quarter of the book I wasnt quite sure why it was considered a horror or modern gothic mystery, but it was obvious that it was building to something more intense, and then about 2/3 through it becomes more and more disturbing and rather sad with a few twists that I didnt see coming. Ward's third breakout novel The Last House on Needless Street (2021 - Viper, Tor Nightfire) won the August Derleth Prize and has been shortlisted for the Kitschies, the British Book Awards, the South Bank Award, and the World Fantasy Award. The season came to a close with yet another wedding, this time the one fans have been shipping since the get-go - Brad and Billie. Please try again. Once Id read the book, I returned to several sections and appreciated them even more in the light of my new understanding. Most of the book takes place in Teds house or the surrounding woods area. An unspeakable secret binds them together, and when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees behind their house will come back to haunt them all. Olivia is a cat, so has unique insight into what is happening, what has happened, and who Ted is. Dee only ever reads this one book. : "The Last House on Needless Street" by Catriona Ward is one of those rare books you'll read in 2021 that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the moment you start. Highly recommend!! Well-written, captivating, you think you know what is about to happen and then the blue, or is it orange, rug odd pulled out from under you! Tell the truth.I thought about it. Esquire magazine listed it as one of the top 25 best horror novels of all time. What really brought the book together for me was reading the very last ( spoiler). To me it is a tightly woven tale, full of tension and intrigue, with the truth just dangled tantalisingly out of reach. It makes you feel smart, the way a good detective puts together the clues at the end of a story. Some twists I liked better than others. It felt like time to push my boundaries as a writer and turn my love of the gothic to something strange and altogether different. Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. Twists and turns. I was not disappointed. : It shocks us into remembering we are human in the sense that we are mere flesh and bone, yet we are also extraordinary creatures able to contemplate our existence. Ive loved Wuthering Heights, even on rereading, but the cruelty in this book is so much more explicit and detailed. 'Little Eve' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2018) won the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award and the August Derleth Prize for Best Horror Novel at the 2019 British Fantasy Awards, making her the only woman to have won the prize twice, and was a Guardian best book of 2018. In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three. "A terrifying exploration of human consciousness that excavates character like an ice pick chipping through an ancient glacier: The deeper one goes, the chillier it gets." To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. The Last House on Needless Street follows Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street. I was feeling things I didn't want to feel and by the end i understood those feelings. Would recommend this to anyone with an open mind. An Indie Next Pick! It sounds trite but this is story-telling at it's finest. "The Last House on Needless Street" by Catriona Ward is one of those rare novels I read that kept me on the edge of my seat from the moment I started. An Indie Next Pick! An unspeakable secret binds them t Read allThe Last House on Needless Street follows Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street. A brutal, twisty, puzzle box of a book. Unlike many books there is little to no superfluous parts included as filler to make the book longer. Said Ward: From the very first, I was bowled over by the Imaginarium team their passion, their dedication and thoughtful approach to this book. , Publisher Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2023. A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick! The Last House on Needless Street is finally out! She read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and is a graduate of the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. Her debutRawbloodwon Best Horror Novel at the 2016 British Fantasy Awards, and was a WHSmith Fresh Talent title. This isnt just a thriller; its a sleek, diabolical, stress-inducing machine. Jonathan Janz, author of, ASIN Do you love it?Yes, I said.How much?I love it more than I loveice cream, I said. Of walking away from something you love. save . A breathtaking, fiercely beautiful novel. Rio Youers, author of Lola on FireBreathtakingly brilliant. I was utterly confused from the beginning. Kelly Link makes the magical seem everyday, and vice versa. Terrifying. If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. A Library Journal Editors' Pick! Haven't read anything this exciting since. People who are interested in human psychology might be interested in it. : I loved everything about this book from cover to cover. Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street arrived in 2021 riding a wave of pre-release hype the likes of which I don't think I've seen since Justin Cronin released The Passage ten years ago. Fear in the dark is what powered her 2015 gothic horror debut, Rawblood, the follow-up Little Eve, and now her breakout third book, The Last House on Needless Street, published on 18 March. Courtesy of Laurie Sparham, Profile Books, Tom Sizemore Dies: 'Saving Private Ryan' & 'Black Hawk Down' Star Was 61; Reactions + Career In Photos, MRC, James Wans Atomic Monster & 3 Arts In Deal To Develop Pornsak Pichetshotes Noir Graphic Novel The Good Asian Into Series, Searchlight Lands Theatrical Remake Rights To Oscar-Nominated National Geographic Docu Fire Of Love, Lava Love Story Of French Volcanologists, The Oscar-Nominated Women Behind Elvis: Gail Berman, Catherine Martin & Mandy Walker Speak On The Man, The Myth, The Movie. Wow, I see why the book made you feel terrible. That would make me a mean, mean boy.She put a cool hand on my shoulder. I literally gasped out loud at parts of this book, making me glad I was reading it alone in my bedroom. I told my roommates that I couldnt hang out with them yet (on a Friday night, no less) because I was on the last 50 pages of this book and I simply had to finish. Especially the cover artwork. She abuses him by performing unnecessary and painful medical procedures, during which he is not allowed to make any noise or move at all. No, she said. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Highly recommend if you enjoy reading books that truly keep your mind reeling! I highly recommend this book. Such exquisite writing. Muriel Gray, author of The Ancient"Its one eerie mind-bender of a novel in the best way." It was like spinning a vast spiderweb. A World Fantasy and August Derleth Award Finalist! , ISBN-13 Number of pages: 400. I just love how this book was written. There was a problem loading your book clubs. I read it in one sitting because its so compelling, but the more I got drawn into the mystery of what was happening and the more I found out, the worse I felt. 'The Last House on Needless Street' (Viper Books, Tor Nightfire) was a Times Book of the Month, Observer Book of the Month, March Editors Pick on Open Book, a Between the Covers BBC2 book club selection, a Times bestseller, and is being developed for film by Andy Serkiss production company, The Imaginarium. Unable to add item to List. I've read it and was blown away. I gave a single nod. Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger"A risky, gleeful descent into a house without windows or doors. A puzzle narrative combined with Gothic influences makes The Last House on Needless Street a compelling read. I was utterly confused from the beginning. An unspeakable secret binds them together, and when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees behind their house will come back to haunt them all. In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. It's a must-read for horror fans." I hope you are now reading something uplifting and happy. One of my favourite things in ages. James Smythe, author of The ExplorerIncredible. She was already very full of opinions. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. At first, I found the structure fragmented my understanding of exactly what was happening, but this mirrors the characters lives: theres no omniscient narrator, no one person who guides the reader through. , Tor Nightfire; 1st edition (September 28, 2021), Publication date It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end. Why did you decide to write a modern gothic thriller? A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory. I read the first half over the course of a week and was interested but could easily put it down to check my phone or have a conversation. A teenage girl who isn't allowed outside, not after last time. She is only a couple of pages from the end. I stayed up way past my bedtime. Learn more. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. Everything in life is a rehearsal for loss. Dark and relentlessly twisty, the best thing I've read this year. Lisa Hall, author of The PartyNot only edge of the seat, terrifying suspenseful horror, but it also broke my heart into tiny pieces. : I enjoyed learning Teds story bit by bit. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward is insanely good. I think Olivia is very much her own cat, however. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. I felt that everything the author wrote added to the story. Ward also innovates the tropes of medical and body horror, which are routinely explored in detail in the visual form but are more challenging to accomplish in the literary form. "Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama," by Bob Odenkirk (Random House, nonfiction) What it's about: The beloved star of "Better Call Saul" and "Mr . Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. You think you've read this story before. A teenage girl who isn't allowed outside, not after last time. The Last House on Needless Street?