#ReadWithCBTB Book Pick: HOME BEFORE DARK by Riley Sager
Book Discussion: July 25, 2020 at 12:00 PM EST
Guest Host: Jennifer Hillier
Hi Friends!
A new month is upon us—and it’s bringing with it one of my personal most-anticipated releases of 2020. That’s right: Riley Sager’s HOME BEFORE DARK is finally here, and we are going to celebrate by making it our next #ReadWithCBTB buddy read selection! If you’re new to #ReadWithCBTB, first of all, welcome—we are so happy you’re here! You may find it helpful to check out my first #ReadWithCBTB post for a bit of an explanation of this virtual event series. If you have any questions, you are always welcome to email me at crimebythebook@gmail.com! If you’re a returning #ReadWithCBTB participant, I’m so grateful you’ve chosen to participate again, and I can’t wait to discuss our next book selection with you!
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be buddy-reading Riley Sager’s spine-tingling suspense novel HOME BEFORE DARK, which just published in the US this week! HOME BEFORE DARK is a chilling thriller about a young woman who returns to the home her family owned when she was young, and confronts the ghosts of her past… and a few ghosts that seem all too real, too. This month, we’ll be joined by the amazing Jennifer Hillier, the author of Little Secrets, Jar of Hearts, and more, to discuss HOME BEFORE DARK at the end of the month! Jennifer is a fantastic suspense writer in her own right, and I was so fortunate to get to know her a little bit earlier this spring when I interviewed her over Instagram Live. I am so excited to discuss Riley Sager’s new release HOME BEFORE DARK with her, and with you all!
SO HOW DO YOU PARTICIPATE IN #READWITHCBTB?
Joining in this virtual buddy read and book discussion is easy! Simply read Riley Sager’s HOME BEFORE DARK on your own schedule over the next month (find some suggested places you can buy the book below!), and register via email at the link below. The day before the event takes place (July 24, in this case!), I will send everyone who has signed up via email a direct Zoom link that you can use to tune in for this book discussion. To keep the logistics for the event as smooth as possible, we will run this Zoom meeting in a webinar-style format, where Jennifer and I will appear on video and audio, but we will welcome all reader thoughts, questions, and comments in the Zoom chat box! I will also solicit questions from readers via email in advance of the chat, so if you have a question you want to be sure we address in the Zoom conversation, you can submit it early! One important note: if you have already signed up for the #ReadWithCBTB email list, you do NOT need to sign up again. You are already on the list!
It’s totally free to participate in these events—all you’ll need is a computer or mobile device that will allow you access to the internet to tune in for the discussion via Zoom. (Please note: when we discuss these books, we’ll be discussing all of the book. There will be spoilers in these book discussions, which is why we are hosting them via Zoom, rather than Instagram Live. I don’t want anyone accidentally stumbling upon these chats and having the book spoiled for them!)
I can’t wait to start reading with you guys!
REGISTER FOR #READWITHCBTB HERE:
About Riley Sager’s HOME BEFORE DARK:
What was it like? Living in that house.
Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father's book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father's death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
Alternating between Maggie’s uneasy homecoming and chapters from her father’s book, Home Before Dark is the story of a house with long-buried secrets and a woman’s quest to uncover them—even if the truth is far more terrifying than any haunting.
Suggested Retailers:
Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Bookshop.org
About Guest Host Jennifer Hillier:
Jennifer Hillier is the author of Little Secrets, Jar of Hearts, Creep, Freak, The Butcher, and Wonderland. She is a regular columnist at The Thrill Begins.
Connect with Jennifer on her website, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and grab a copy of her latest release LITTLE SECRETS below!
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.