T is for Timelines. This book takes place in 1998 and 2020
H is for Haunting. Enter a home haunted by more than just the strained memories of a lonely childhood.
E is for Estranged. Sometimes we drift apart from the people we’ve loved or grown up with.
S is for Suburbia. Where it feels so important to always keep up appearances.
E is for Eerie. With an oppressive atmosphere, growing tension and dread, and pervasive uncertainty, there are plenty of eerie vibes here.
F is for Family. Complicated dynamics and lifelong ties
A is for Amber. Our main character
M is for Murder. The prologue kicks off with a double homicide and betrayal.
I is for Inheritance. Amber and her family are moving back into Amber’s childhood home.
L is for Lockdowns. Maybe the stress of 2020 is making Amber see and hear all these strange things.
I is for Imagination. Or perhaps it’s not the stress, perhaps it’s just Amber’s overactive imagination…
A is for Arson. In 1998, a troubled neighbor boy likes fire just a little too much.
R is for Revelations. Hidden truths will come to light
W is for Whispers. A hateful voice won’t be silent
A is for A--holes. That’s not a nice thing to call a bunch of 12-year-olds, I know, but in 1998 there are some mean bullies at Amber’s school.
L is for Lighter. Useful for lighting candles and the grill and bonfires and so very much more
L is for Loss. As an adult, Amber is the only remaining member of her family.S is for Shadows. They’re moving when they shouldn’t, they’re watching all the time
A spine-chilling, heart-pounding suburban horror novel at the heart of the genre, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Cassandra Khaw, and Catriona Ward.
In 1998, desperate loneliness pushes preteen Amber to ignore the misgivings of her family, particularly her younger sister, when she befriends the troubled new kid in the neighborhood—a boy with dead eyes, a fascination with fire, and no remorse. Their turbulent relationship is brief but creates lasting consequences.
Twenty-two years later, in 2020, he resurfaces to kill Amber’s parents, and is in turn betrayed by his accomplice and killed in Amber's childhood home.
After the deaths, Amber inherits the house and, in an effort to save money, moves in with her husband and two children, hoping to reclaim some sense of stability in the grief and chaos surrounding her. Instead, she finds that the familiar walls are haunted by more than just bitter memories and lockdown stress. She shifts in and out of dreamlike trances, her reflection won’t meet her gaze, and a menacing voice whispers to her from the gathering shadows. Although she tried to brush off the strange happenings as stress-fueled hallucinations, Amber is soon forced to admit that something much more real—and more dangerous—haunts her family. But Amber has deadly secrets of her own, and she must resolve these long-buried truths or lose the life she’s contrived for herself.
Thriller | Paranormal | Horror [ St. Martin's Press, On Sale: April 14, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250336583 / eISBN: 9781250336590 ]
C.J. DOTSON possesses the statistically average number of body parts for a human being to have. She and her husband, stepson, and children (all of whom also appear human) share a cabin in the woods with more bugs than she would ever like to see. In her limited spare time she enjoys reading, video games, painting, baking and decorating cakes (with…questionable success), and petting her dog and two cats.
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