Bad Things

A bad thing occurred three years ago. A little boy died for no discernable reason, shattering lawyer John Henderson's world. Today he's a different man, living a solitary, simple existence in an Oregon beach house—until the night he receives a short e-mail from a stranger:

I know what happened.

With just four words, Henderson is pulled back to Black Ridge, Washington, the one place he'd hoped never to see again. It seems that bad things have always happened in this small town of generations-old secrets—and the shadows here seem even darker now than when tragedy first drove John Henderson away. The deeper he digs for answers, the more danger he draws toward himself and his estranged, helpless family . . . and he's not the only one who's been called home.

And that's a very bad thing . . .

From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Intruders and The Straw Men comes a nerve-shattering story of guilt, rage, deadly secrets, and very, very . . . bad things

Three years ago, lawyer John Henderson watched his four-year-old son tumble from a jetty into the lake outside their Washington home. In a terrible instant, a life all too brief and innocent ended. But it wasn't drowning, the fall, or even some previously undetected internal defect that killed the little boy. Scott Henderson had simply, inexplicably . . . died.

Today, John is a different man divorced, living a solitary existence in a beach house in Oregon, working as a waiter in a restaurant that caters to the summer crowd. Withdrawn from a life and past too painful to revisit, he touches no one and no one touches him. Then one night he receives a short and profoundly disturbing e-mail message from a stranger. It reads: I know what happened.

It's enough to pull John back to Black Ridge the one place on earth he'd hoped never to return to in search of answers to the mystery that shattered his world. In this small, isolated Pacific Northwest community, populated in large part by descendants of the original settlers, the shadows now seem even darker and more sinister than when tragedy first drove him away and the wind whipping down out of the primal forest can chill a man to his soul. It seems that bad things have always happened in this town of generations-old secrets and are happening still.

The deeper John digs into his own past, and into local history, the more danger he draws toward himself...and toward his estranged and helpless family. And though he doesn't know it, he's not the only one who's been called back to Black Ridge.

And that's a very bad thing...

A twisting, relentlessly thrilling, and consistently surprising novel of psychological suspense, Michael Marshall's Bad Things is a masterwork of chilling brilliance that will keep the reader guessing right to the final page. Bad things don't just happen to other people. They're waiting to happen to you, too.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of this unsettling novel of supernatural suspense from bestseller Marshall (The Intruders), four-year-old Scott Henderson dies from no apparent cause after falling into a lake in Black Ridge, Wash. The boy's devastated parents, John and Carol, divorce, and both leave the area. Three years later, John is lured back to Black Ridge by a chilling message from a woman who says she knows what killed his son-a siren call that John can't ignore. John's return is a trigger for other ominous events that will lead him to relive Scott's death and confront the dissolution of his former life. The small town's surface normality contrasts nicely with the unnerving behavior of some residents and even inanimate objects (e.g., cars that suddenly won't start). While much of what's going on doesn't make a lot of sense, this spooky tale shows Marshall (who writes horror and SF as Michael Marshall Smith) has a knack not only for the frisson of dread but also the telling psychological insight. (May)

Michael Marshall is a screenwriter and the internationally bestselling author of The Intruders and the acclaimed trilogy of The Straw Men, The Upright Man, and Blood of Angels. He lives in London.