Paul Tremblay's terrifying twist to the home invasion novel—inspiration for the upcoming major motion picture from Universal Pictures
"Tremblay's personal best. It's that good." — Stephen King
Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake. Their closest neighbors are more than two miles in either direction along a rutted dirt road.
One afternoon, as Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears in the driveway. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen, but he is young, friendly, and he wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologizes and tells Wen, "None of what's going to happen is your fault." Three more strangers then arrive at the cabin carrying unidentifiable, menacing objects. As Wen sprints inside to warn her parents, Leonard calls out: "Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world."
Thus begins an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined. The Cabin at the End of the World is a masterpiece of terror and suspense from the fantastically fertile imagination of Paul Tremblay.
Paul Tremblay's terrifying twist to the home invasion novel—inspiration for the upcoming major motion picture from Universal Pictures
"Tremblay's personal best. It's that good." — Stephen King
Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake. Their closest neighbors are more than two miles in either direction along a rutted dirt road.
One afternoon, as Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears in the driveway. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen, but he is young, friendly, and he wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologizes and tells Wen, "None of what's going to happen is your fault." Three more strangers then arrive at the cabin carrying unidentifiable, menacing objects. As Wen sprints inside to warn her parents, Leonard calls out: "Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world."
Thus begins an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined. The Cabin at the End of the World is a masterpiece of terror and suspense from the fantastically fertile imagination of Paul Tremblay.
Reviews-
-
Starred review from April 16, 2018
The apocalypse begins with a home invasion in this tripwire-taut horror thriller. Eric and Andrew are vacationing with their seven-year-old daughter, Wen, at remote Gaudet Lake in New Hampshire when their cabin is invaded by a quartet of weapons-wielding strangers, each of whom has been driven there by a shared vision: that the world will end unless one member of this family sacrifices another. That sets the stage for an excruciatingly tense standoff between them and their prisoners as they try to outmaneuver one other. Tremblay (Disappearance at Devil’s Rock) skillfully seeds his tale with uncertainties, including news reports of portentous world catastrophes, that suggest the invaders’ vision is genuine, and he introduces enough doubt into the beliefs and behaviors of all the parties to keep them and the reader off-balance. His profoundly unsettling novel invites readers to ask themselves whether, when faced with the unbelievable, they would do the unthinkable to prevent it. -
Amy Landon's warm, flowing voice at first seems to be at odds with the horror in this audiobook. But its soothing quality suits the rational tones of the four strangers in the story, and it intensifies the violence when it happens. Wen is on holiday with her fathers at a remote cabin when the four arrive, armed with unusual homemade weapons and demanding access. Eric and Andrew can't keep them out and are eventually overpowered. If Wen, Eric, and Andrew do not choose to sacrifice someone in their family, the world will end. Most of the audiobook is informational narrative--why the four are there and how they can prove the world will end--interspersed with moments of shocking violence. The ending seems forced, as if the author hasn't quite decided his conclusion, but this is still a compelling listen. C.A.T. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
-
Starred review from June 1, 2018
Married couple Eric and Andrew are at a remote cabin in New Hampshire celebrating their adopted daughter Wen's eighth birthday when four strangers with homemade weapons start walking down the gravel driveway. Out catching grasshoppers, Wen is the first to see the giant man named Leonard, who asks her to fetch her parents. He calls out, "your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world." The quartet attempts to gain access to the cabin while the family inside barricades the entrances. Eventually, Leonard and his companions invade the premises and give Eric and Andrew an impossible choice to prevent the apocalypse. Meanwhile, the news on TV reveals that the world might indeed be ending. VERDICT A Bram Stoker Award winner for A Head Full of Ghosts, Tremblay once again demonstrates his talent for terrifying readers. Offering a terrible situation with no good outcome, this is the author at his best. Highly recommended for Tremblay's fans and those who relish end-of-the-world scenarios. [See Pepub Alert, 12/11/17.]--Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
-
April 15, 2018
A striking work of psychological horror and unblinking terror from bloody fantasist Tremblay (Disappearance at Devil's Rock, 2016, etc.)In this peek-between-your-fingers work of domestic horror, the Bram Stoker Award-winning author demonstrates a counterintuitive maturity in his writing even as he inflicts the cruelest possible scenarios on his unwitting victims. Here the author has stripped his narrative back to the most threadbare elements in a tale that is nearly impossible to review without unveiling some critical shocks. The moving parts are surprisingly mundane. There is a longtime couple, Eric and Andrew, who have taken a well-earned vacation in a remote cabin near a lake in rural New Hampshire. There is their kiddo, Wen, an adopted and much-loved Chinese girl who is portrayed in a rich, endearing, and authentic way throughout the story. There are four strangers from disparate parts of the country, two men and two women bearing medieval-looking makeshift weapons, who come to convey an unbearable proposition. Other than their common quest, there is nothing particularly extraordinary about these strangers--a bartender, a nurse, a line cook, and a roughneck who may or may not be who he claims. "Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen," says their leader. "But they have to. Tell them they have to. We are not here to hurt you. We need your help to save the world. Please." In a grave choice that meets all the dramatic principles of Anton Chekhov, there is a gun. Tremblay masterfully switches perspectives during the book's most dramatic moments, offering only hints at how the quartet's strange mission originated but fully seizing upon this family's personal shock and distress. As the story unfolds, Tremblay introduces bloody violence, a sweeping, agonizing consequence that may or may not be real, and a series of episodes that lead these troubled souls toward a disquieting and macabre conclusion.A blinding tale of survival and sacrifice that matches the power of belief with man's potential for unbridled violence.COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
-
Starred review from May 15, 2018
Tremblay (Disappearance at Devil's Rock, 2016) is back with another thought-provoking, page-turning horror novel. Wen is almost eight years old, on vacation with her two dads, Andrew and Eric, on an isolated lake in New Hampshire. While catching grasshoppers on the front lawn, she encounters Leonard, a large man in a white button-down shirt, who asks for help convincing her dads to let him and his friends into their home. They have come to this secluded place with their menacing and crude weapons to stop the world from ending, and Wen and her dads are the key to humanity's survival. What follows is an extremely intense, anxiety-inducing thriller that puts the family in mortal danger while forcing them to tackle a universal dilemma?is one life worth that of seven billion others? Alternating between unreliable narrators, Tremblay captures the intense emotional struggle, especially in flashbacks into the lives of the odds-defying family of Wen, Andrew, and Eric, while dread and terror permeate every sentence. This is a novel with the heart and tone of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006), but will also appeal to fans of Ruth Ware, Josh Malerman, and Joe Hill.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
