The Killing Circle [Import] [Hardcover]

Andrew Pyper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

From acclaimed, bestselling author Andrew Pyper, a suspenseful page-turner that explores the repercussions of that most dishonest of thefts: stealing another’s story and calling it your own.

Patrick Rush, a former bright light at the National Star now demoted to the reality TV beat, is still recovering from his wife’s death when he joins a writers’ group in Toronto. His goal: to write the book he’s always felt lived within him. Trouble is, Patrick has no story to tell. And while the circle’s members show similarly little literary promise, there is one exception: Angela. Her unsettling readings tell of a shadowy childhood tragedy and an unremitting fear of the Sandman, a “terrible man who does terrible things.” It’s the stuff of nightmares or horror films. Or is it?

Over the weeks that follow, a string of unsolved murders seem increasingly connected to Patrick. And then the circle’s members start to go missing, one by one. Still haunted by loss–and by a crime only those in the circle could know of–Patrick finds himself in a fictional world made horrifically real. But nothing will put him in greater danger than that ancient curse of natural born readers: the need to know how the story ends.

At once a complex and compulsive read, The Killing Circle explores the side effects of an increasingly fame-mad culture, where even the staid realm of literature can fall prey to ravenous ambition and competition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this extraordinary thriller from Canadian author Pyper (The Wildfire Season), Patrick Rush, a lowly TV critic for a Toronto newspaper whose life has been slowly deteriorating since the untimely death of his wife, struggles to remain employed while trying to raise his precocious young son. When Rush decides to join a local writing circle in hopes of pursuing his lifelong dream of being an author, he becomes obsessed with a horrific work-in-progress written by a would-be writer in the group, a possibly autobiographical tale about being haunted by a terrible man who does terrible things. Rush begins finding connections among the story's supernatural villain, a shadowy serial killer with a predilection for dismemberment that has all of Toronto living in fear, and his own unraveling sanity. Powered by an ingeniously nonlinear narrative and suffused with a tone thick with dread, this is easily Pyper's most ambitious—and absorbing—work to date. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Patrick Rush is a lonely widower, a wannabe novelist, and the father of a young son. He joins a writer’s workshop or, as its leader refers to it, a “circle.” The leader is a minor novelist from the seventies who disappeared from the Toronto literary scene after some scathing reviews and allegations of criminal sexual behavior. During the circle’s weekly meetings, Patrick is mesmerized by the writing of a young girl whose unadorned yet ethereal prose reveals an intensely personal childhood story of abandonment, abuse, and stalking by the Sandman, a character who may be real, may be symbolic, and may have followed her to Toronto. Bodies are turning up in Patrick’s neighborhood, and Patrick’s concern for the safety of his son grows, even as the readings in the circle—and the behavior of its leader—become more ominous. Pyper’s first novel, Lost Girls (2000), was a New York Times Notable Book. Few are better at conveying an omnipresent sense of dread and horror bubbling just beneath life’s seemingly mundane routines. This will keep you up one night reading and another four checking the locks on the doors. --Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Canada (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385663692
• ISBN-13: 978-0385663694
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,873,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in a smallish town in southern Ontario, which makes me Canadian. It also, more markedly, makes me a boy born in a smallish town, which has left (for me) inescapably gothic inclinations. I write novels in which bad things happen to people like you and me, which is to say, people with secrets or desires they'd prefer to keep hidden away. Normal people.

My books are usually referred to as thrillers, or "literary thrillers," or mysteries, or suspense, or horror. Whatever they're called, they're intended to reveal character through the experience of fear. I guess that's my central intent, though "central intents" are always a moving target, aren't they?

My most recent novel is The Guardians, which was a Globe and Mail Best Book and is about shared secrets of long-time male friendship, the horrors of turning 40, hockey...and a haunted house. Before that is The Killing Circle, which is about what happens when a wannabe novelist steals another wannabe's story and the villain from that story is given life in the so-called "real world." It was selected as a Notable Crime Novel of the Year in The New York Times. Then there's The Wildfire Season, about a man who must pass through a forest fire that has encircled a remote town in order to save his ex-girlfriend and the daughter he met for the first time only days earlier. The Trade Mission has been called a "modern Heart of Darkness" and involves a pair of overnight dot-com millionaires (remember them?) brutally confronting non-virtual reality after being pursued in the Brazilian jungle. Finally (or originally) there's Lost Girls, which was a New York Times Notable Book and Globe and Mail Best Book, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel, and concerns a defence lawyer who believes he's being visited by the ghosts of two girls, the presumed victims of a double murder committed either by his client...or the Lady of Lake, a local myth who waits to pull others down into the lake outside town...

The Guardians, The Killing Circle, The Wildfire Season and Lost Girls are all in development for feature films.

I also have a law degree from the University of Toronto I've never used, and a B.A. and M.A in English Literature from McGill University which have proved considerably more handy. I live in Toronto.

There's more tidbits of other sorts at my website: www.andrewpyper.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Circle, October 17, 2008

By 

William C. Loehfelm "Bill Loehfelm" (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Killing Circle: A Novel (Hardcover)

Pyper's new novel is the most blood-chilling, mind-bending thriller that I've read in years. The plot's as intricate as frost patterns on a winter window - you never know who or what to believe, everyone seems capable of anything - and yet Pyper never loses control of the story. The twists and shocks come hurtling at you but never feel contrived, illogical or forced. Too exciting to put down. This book is just brilliant.

Bill Loehfelm, author of Fresh Kills

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying thriller, December 22, 2008

By 

JustMelissa (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Killing Circle: A Novel (Hardcover)

The Killing Circle is a novel about the flagging success of Patrick Rush, a recent widower, single dad, and columnist at the city paper. The economy of print news combined with Patrick's indifference and bad attitude quickly lead to unemployment. Having always dreamt of writing the great Canadian novel, Patrick joins a writing circle, where he quickly discovers that he's really got nothing to contribute. When strange things start happening in Patrick's city and writing circle, he's drawn into a sequence of events that ultimately sets his life back on track - or so it seems.

Though that sounds like the complete story, in fact, it's just act 1 and I haven't spoiled anything for future readers. The story is told in two chunks - 2003 and 2007. The 2003 section almost entirely serves as back story. In that sense, the story takes some time to evolve. However, the writing and the characters make the time pass quickly. In 2007, we discover even more about the protagonist that makes us question his moral fiber, and from there the mystery takes unexpected twists and turns. Is Patrick the next victim? The prime suspect? An unwitting pawn in someone else's game?

On the thriller spectrum from Koontz (the good guys always win and live to see another day) to King (sometimes evil prevails), Pyper is much closer to King. Patrick is far from perfect and I didn't always find myself rooting for him to come out on top. Unfortunately, I didn't really identify or connect with any of the characters which made me feel oddly disconnected from the story. At the same time, Patrick also seems slightly disconnected from his own life so perhaps the distance I felt was appropriate.

In the end, I enjoyed the book, the unique plot (I didn't come close to guessing the ending), and the writing kept me interested until past my bedtime. I have added Pyper's previous books to my eventual to-be-read list, but I won't go out a buy them ASAP. Overall The Killing Circle is solid read that I'll be happy to pass along to fellow mystery readers, but not something that I'd highly recommend.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling thoughtful thriller, August 8, 2008

By 

Tina "Tina" (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Killing Circle (Hardcover)

Andrew Pyper wrote a wonderful first book called Lost Girls. I remember thinking how proud I was that he was Canadian. So, of course, when his most recent book became available for review, I jumped on it. The Killing Circle is a "thriller/mystery/whodunnit".

What I like about Pyper is that you can never really categorize his books in just one area.In this newest entry, our main character Patrick Rush is an ordinary guy, who is down on his luck. His wife just recently died and somehow, his writing career at the paper seems to be on a downward spiral. He longs to write "that" novel, but somehow does not seem to have much to say. In an attempt to get some ideas and rejuvenate himself, he joins a writing circle - which at first glance appears to be a mistake - until he meets Angela. Angela is a mother, but she tells tales of this Sandman - a horrible man who comes into the night and does horrible things. Rush finds himself fascinated and returns, week after week to hear more. The only problem is - the Sandman appears to be real - a dark man has appeared and is re-creating the grisly scenes that are "imanaged" and "told" by Angela.

Rush gets this idea - should he offer to write the "true story" of these murders? and why do they sound so familiar? how can this be happening? It is very difficult to write this review without giving anything away. As always, Pyper does not use the standard thriller ploys to get the story moving along. We remain unsure of the intentions of ALL of the players until the end of the storyline. There are some serious twists along the line (one in particular that I really did not expect). I kept asking myself, is it possible that Rush has lost his mind?

Pyper writes with style, he often uses poetic storytelling that lures you into a different world - only to yank you right back out with a grisly scene. He is unlike any other writer of this(ese) genre(s) I have read.On some level Pyper is the Paul Auster of the mystery world. You start off one place with the storyline and you end up at a completely different place and you never know how you got there - except that the ride was exceptional.What a wonderful read