By: John Fram
Narrators: Shaun Taylor-Corbett, Travis Tonn,, Jade Wheeler
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781668031445
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 07/23/2024
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
“A grand gothic story as enthralling as it is terrifying.” —S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author
A young father must clear his name and protect his queer son when his wealthy new wife’s televangelist grandfather is found murdered in this unputdownable locked-room thriller from the acclaimed author of The Bright Lands—perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Paul Tremblay, and Alex North.
For years, single father Toby Tucker has done his best to keep his sensitive young son, Luca, safe from the bigotry of the world. But when Toby marries Alyssa Wright—the granddaughter of a famed televangelist known for his grandiose, Old Testament preaching—he can’t imagine the world of religion, wealth, and hate that he and Luca are about to enter.
A trip to the Wright family’s compound in sun-scorched Texas soon turns hellish when Toby realizes that Alyssa and the rest of her brood might have some very strange plans for Toby and his son. The situation only grows worse when a freak storm cuts off the roads and the family patriarch is found murdered, stabbed through the heart on the roof of the family’s mansion.
Suspicion immediately turns to Toby, but when his son starts describing a spectral figure in a black suit lurking around the house with unfinished business in mind, Toby realizes this family has more than murder to be afraid of. And as the Wrights close in on Luca, no one is prepared for the lengths Toby will go in the fight to clear his name and protect his son.
My Review
John Fram's latest NO ROAD HOME is a multi-layered twisty suspense and complex genre-bending of literary, psychological, family drama, horror, religion, ghosts, gothic, LGBTQ, paranormal, whodunit mystery and locked-room thriller for a spine-chilling creepy Stephen King/Dean Koontz vibe. At its heart is a story of family.
About...
A young father must clear his name and protect his queer son when his wealthy new wife's televangelist grandfather is found murdered when they meet the family in the haunting small town Hebron, Texas compound.
Toby Tucker is a single dad in LA who has always protected his young queer son Lucus (age 7) from bigotry. Lucus calls himself a boy, but he is feminine, wears his hair long, and dresses in lots of pink and mauves.
When Toby marries Alyssa Wright —the granddaughter of a famed televangelist known for his grandiose Old Testament preaching—he can't imagine the world of religion, wealth, and hate he and Luca are about to embark on. He is off to meet his in-laws—what will he find at the compound?
Do Toby and Alyssa really know one another and each other's families? As a child, Toby had found everything about The Prophecy Hour faintly deceptive, beginning with its title. His Uncle Ezra watched the TV show and Toby and his sister Willow suffered through it.
Meet the powerful and wealthy Wrights:
~Jerome Jeremiah Wright:
Prophet, Patriarch, and CEO of Two Creeks Ministries
~Abigal: His wife (deceased)
~Corah: His sister
~Sarah Nella: His oldest daughter; COO of Two Creeks and Head of Ramorah (house/grounds)
~Ruth: Youngest daughter; Head of Congregational Development
~Hugo: Ruth's husband; Director of Praise and Worship
~Ginger: Ruth & Hugo's oldest daughter
~Matthias: Ginger's son
~Richard: Ruth & Hougo's son; Director of Future Ministry
~Kassandra: Richard's wife
~Alyssa: Ruth & Hugo's younger daughter
New Addition to the family:
~Tobias (Toby) Tucker: Alyssa's new husband
~Luca Tucker: Toby's son
Staff at Ramaorah:
~Marie and Julian: Hired help
As Toby and Lucus are invited to meet Alyssa's famous religious family at the Texas compound, they encounter some characters who have strange words and warnings along the way. These cryptic messages add to the eerie atmosphere and hint at the dark secrets the family is hiding.
Upon arrival, things are eerie, and bizarre things occur. Toby wonders what kind of family this is and soon he realizes he must escape with his son. What kind of family did he marry into and their motives?
This family is not how they appear on TV. They have dark hidden family secrets and much more. There is something dark and sinister. But then there is a storm, and flooding which cuts off the road. The family patriarch is found murdered and stabbed on the roof of the mansion.
Suspicion immediately turns to Toby. Then Lucus starts seeing someone in a black suit and strange words written in red on the walls and doorways. Then Lucas goes missing? What is going on? No one is prepared for the lengths Toby will go to in the fight to clear his name and protect his son.
Toby also has a secret past, a past that is somehow connected to the sinister events unfolding at the compound. As the story progresses, the reader is drawn deeper into Toby's past, trying to unravel the mystery and understand how it is connected to the present.
My thoughts...
NO ROAD HOME is everything and more that is described in the summary. I am not a horror, paranormal, or ghost fan; however, this novel worked on so many levels mainly due to the author's master storytelling. A murder mystery meets Gothic locked-room thriller. The past is as intriguing as the present. Dysfunctional family!
Creepy, spine-chilling, evil, and eerie, evangelists' stories are always dark and scandalous. When you have this many family members involved in a mega-church, you know that there are plenty of lies and secrets. The atmospheric locked-room thriller vibe worked well with the mysterious pasts of both the Wrights and the Tuckers. You are going to love Toby and Lucas.
Thought-provoking! There are many highly charged topics of bigotry, murder, revenge, predators, incest, identity, religion, family, wealth, race, and class-and plenty of deception, lies, and secrets.
Expect the unexpected! NO ROAD HOME is a terrifying rollercoaster of a read, with storylines and characters colliding in ways you'll never guess. Thriller fans, this whodunit murder mystery gem should be at the top of your summer TBR list.
Recs...
For fans of the TV evangelist show, OWN's Greenleaf and Jordan Peele's Get Out — meets Terah Shelton Harris' Long After We Are Gone (top books of 2024) and Liz Moore's The God of the Woods. Also for fans of authors, Ruth Ware, Alice Feeney, Carol Goodman, S.A. Cosby, Alex North, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz.
Thanks to Atria Books for an advanced digital review copy via NetGalley for an honest opinion.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded to 5
Pub Date: July 23, 2024
Praise
"By turns searing, soapy, and spine-tingling, Fram’s latest pays homage to Southern Gothic icons Michael McDowell and V.C. Andrews while also tipping its cap to modern horror great Jordan Peele...exquisitely rendered, realistically damaged characters lend credence to myriad mad twists, propelling the tale from portentous start to pulse-pounding finish. Trenchant, terrifying fun."
—Kirkus Review
"No Road Home is a heartrending indictment of prejudice and corruption wrapped in a mystery as twisted as the family at its center. Enter Ramorah at your own peril, but don't bother saying your prayers—God has forsaken this place."
—Luke Dumas, USA Today bestselling author of The Paleontologist and A History of Fear
“A mesmerizing mash-up of murder mystery and modern gothic horror, No Road Home proves there are some familial bonds that redeem, but some are better off cut.”
—Sarah Langan, acclaimed author of Good Neighbors and A Better World
"Trapped in an opulent estate during a storm, a man must solve the murder of a Jerry Fallwell-esque patriarch before his new wife's family pins it on him. No Road Home is a whip-smart, horror-tinged whodunnit in the style of early Stephen King. Fram explores important themes of religion, family, wealth, race, and class--all within the confines of a fast-paced, locked room thriller."
—Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat
“No Road Home is a grand gothic story as enthralling as it is terrifying. John Fram swings for the fences and does not miss.”
—S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author
"Fram touches on generational curses, anti-queer bigotry, and religious trauma in this tense, supernaturally tinged locked-room thriller...Fram lends authenticity to the behaviors and motivations of his sprawling cast, keeping readers glued to the page...[an] ambitious swing for the fences."
—Publishers Weekly
"In the darkly spellbinding No Road Home, John Fram expertly mixes the Fall of the House of Usher and a twisty closed-room mystery into a unique kind of Texas gothic epic. A compelling, thought-provoking, page-turning read."
—Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and most recently, The Pallbearers Club
About the Author
Credit: Luke Fontana
“John Fram hasn’t just revolutionized a genre with his delicious and diabolical debut novel…He may have invented a totally new one all his own.” — Interview Magazine
John Fram is a writer from Texas. He has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Pacific Standard and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Bright Lands is published by Hanover Square Press. He lives in New York.
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