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The Last House on Needless Street Kindle Edition
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"The buzz...is real. I've read it and was blown away. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end." —Stephen King
Winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel!
A World Fantasy Award Finalist!
An Indie Next Pick! A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick!
A Library Journal Editors' Pick! STARRED reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly!
Named one of the "50 Best Horror Books of All Time" by Esquire!
"Brilliant....[a] deeply frightening deconstruction of the illusion of the self." —The New York Times
Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is a shocking and immersive read perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Haunting of Hill House.
In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three.
A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time.
A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory.
And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible.
An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.
“The new face of literary dark fiction.” —Sarah Pinborough
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTor Nightfire
- Publication dateSeptember 28, 2021
- File size6955 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
An Indie Next Pick!
A LibraryReads Top 10 Pick!
A Library Journal Editors' Pick! STARRED reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly!
One of Library Journal's Best Horror Books of 2021
One of Bustle's "Most Anticipated Books of September"
"[A] terrifying exploration of human consciousness that excavates character like an ice pick chipping through an ancient glacier: The deeper one goes, the chillier it gets." ―The New York Times
"[T]he most powerful narratives in the genre manage to create an unshakable sense of unease, and that's exactly what this novel does ... a must-read for those who like the kind of labyrinthine narratives that pull the rug out from under you, sending you tumbling into a dark, dark room." ―NPR
“This masterful horror novel packs an emotional wallop that lingers.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A stunning and immersive tale of psychological horror. It’s terrifyingly real and physically upsetting, yet, like the best of the genre, it leaves space for hope to ultimately shine through." ―Library Journal, starred review
“Full of twists and turns, this high-concept gothic horror is going to be huge.” ―Guardian
“The buzz building around Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is real. I've read it and was blown away. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end. Haven't read anything this exciting since Gone Girl.” ―Stephen King
“Sensational….I can’t recall another novel in recent years that dares so much and succeeds so wildly.” ―A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
“A chilling and beautiful masterpiece of suspense, cunningly plotted and written with the elegant imagination of a Shirley Jackson or a Sarah Waters. I was completely enthralled.” ―Joe Hill, New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman
"A breathtakingly ambitious book, gorgeously written, and never once shies away from showing you its fangs and its beautiful blood-filled heart. Stop reading this blurb already and open the damn book." ―Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts
"A masterpiece. Beautiful, heartbreaking and quietly uplifting. One of the most powerful and well-executed novels I've read in years." ―Alex North, author of The Whisper Man
“Absolutely brilliant. This is extraordinary, high-wire-act horror, audacious as hell.” ―Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Red Hands
"Dark and creepy, sad and wonderfully strange. It kept me glued and guessing right up to the end―I loved every inch of it." ―Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy
"Brilliant. Breathtaking. Terrifying. A masterpiece to read at your own peril." ―Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger
"A risky, gleeful descent into a house without windows or doors. It's a must-read for horror fans." ―Sarah Langan, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Good Neighbors
“This book was like an onion. Layer after layer after layer and then you're crying and somebody's got a knife. A brutal, twisty, puzzle box of a book. I stayed up way past my bedtime.” ―T. Kingfisher, author of The Hollow Places
"Ward ably handles the series of nested revelations of the truth about the house's inhabitants and how they connect to Ted's own childhood, all the while maintaining a propulsive, suspenseful tone. Recommended for anyone interested in horror with well-realized characters and a claustrophobic, intense setting." ―Booklist
“What did I just read?! One perfect sentence after the other ... this is a story I wish I knew how to write―and I'm thrilled that Ward pulled off this trick of a book.” ―Rachel Howzell Hall, author of And Now She's Gone
“THIS IS THE BEST HORROR NOVEL I HAVE EVER READ. Even Shirley Jackson, her Majesty, would have to concede to this one.” ―Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
“Books like this don't come around too often... I would say I inhaled this in one, but I think I was too busy holding my breath throughout. Bravo.” ―Joanne Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Gospel of Loki
"The new face of literary dark fiction." ―Sarah Pinborough, New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes
“You don’t read The Last House on Needless Street―you survive it. This isn’t just a thriller; it’s a sleek, diabolical, stress-inducing machine.” ―Jonathan Janz, author of The Siren and the Specter
“Incredible. Absolutely creep-inducing, skin-crawling, even agonising; and also so beautiful, both in writing and heart. One of my favourite things in ages.” ―James Smythe, author of The Explorer
“Incredible. Just incredible. Throughout, I didn't know where to put my heart. A breathtaking, fiercely beautiful novel.” ―Rio Youers, author of Lola on Fire
“Breathtakingly brilliant. Dark and relentlessly twisty, the best thing I've read this year.” ―Lisa Hall, author of The Party
“Not only edge of the seat, terrifying suspenseful horror, but it also broke my heart into tiny pieces. Such exquisite writing.” ―Muriel Gray, author of The Ancient
"It’s one eerie mind-bender of a novel in the best way." ―Bloody Disgusting
"[A]n immersive, head-shaking, game of a novel that speaks to the horrors of a person’s past and how a horrific event can leave people unchanged for the worse." ―SFF World
"This is a true page-turner. Just when you think you’ve figured out what is really going on, you’ll probably realize you were wrong." ―Book Reporter
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B08QGL96B5
- Publisher : Tor Nightfire; 1st edition (September 28, 2021)
- Publication date : September 28, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 6955 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 342 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,043 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #15 in Women's Psychological Fiction
- #30 in Domestic Thrillers (Books)
- #47 in Domestic Thrillers (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

CATRIONA WARD was born in Washington, DC and grew up in the United States, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and is a graduate of the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia.
'The Last House on Needless Street' (Viper Books, Tor Nightfire) was a Times Book of the Month, Observer Book of the Month, March Editor’s Pick on Open Book, a Between the Covers BBC2 book club selection, a Times bestseller, and is being developed for film by Andy Serkis’s production company, The Imaginarium.
'Little Eve' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2018) won the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award and the August Derleth Prize for Best Horror Novel at the 2019 British Fantasy Awards, making her the only woman to have won the prize twice, and was a Guardian best book of 2018. Her debut Rawblood (W&N, 2015) won Best Horror Novel at the 2016 British Fantasy Awards, was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and a WHSmith Fresh Talent title. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. She lives in London and Devon.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022
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The setup is simple. Ted is a recluse, living in a boarded up house at the end of Needless Street with his young daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia. A decade before, a young girl called Lulu disappeared from the beach at the nearby lake. Ted was questioned, but had an alibi. Now he has a new neighbour, a woman called Dee, Lulu's sister. Who is damn sure that Ted was responsible for Lulu's disappearance.
So far, pretty straightforward. But this is not an ordinary thriller AT ALL. At several points of the novel I was convinced I'd cracked it, and felt very smug. But I was ALWAYS wrong. The flips and reveals and twists are always earned, and work perfectly. It's so clever, so satisfying, and also written utterly beautifully. The characters are perfectly constructed, the atmosphere incredibly vivid, and the twists and turns are breathtaking. I have no idea how the author managed to construct a book that is both mind-boggling clever and also FULL of heart and beauty. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 19, 2021
The setup is simple. Ted is a recluse, living in a boarded up house at the end of Needless Street with his young daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia. A decade before, a young girl called Lulu disappeared from the beach at the nearby lake. Ted was questioned, but had an alibi. Now he has a new neighbour, a woman called Dee, Lulu's sister. Who is damn sure that Ted was responsible for Lulu's disappearance.
So far, pretty straightforward. But this is not an ordinary thriller AT ALL. At several points of the novel I was convinced I'd cracked it, and felt very smug. But I was ALWAYS wrong. The flips and reveals and twists are always earned, and work perfectly. It's so clever, so satisfying, and also written utterly beautifully. The characters are perfectly constructed, the atmosphere incredibly vivid, and the twists and turns are breathtaking. I have no idea how the author managed to construct a book that is both mind-boggling clever and also FULL of heart and beauty. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would.
This is a far more complex story than it first appears. It’s hard to elaborate on that without major spoilers, but suffice it to say no one is quite who they first appear.
As a result this isn’t an easy read. Even before the complexities of the plot start to emerge I was finding it a challenge to keep on top of the different parts of the story. The final chapters have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in explaining what’s been happening which makes the book feel a bit lopsided.
I’d describe this as a psychological mystery. It’s neither a pure horror or a thriller, although there are certainly elements of both. But, the main thing which kept me reading to the end was the need to figure out what was really going on.
If you like mysteries and stories about the complexities of the human mind I think this will appeal.
The novel is told from the point of view of three characters, Ted, Olivia (his cat) and Dee. Ted is a very unnerving individual who I did find myself feeling sorry for as Catriona Ward revealed more of his backstory. He makes for a fascinating character. Then we also hear from Olivia, his cat and I thought that she had a really unique voice as we get to see her perspective of the world. Then, finally, Dee is a character who has just moved next door to Ted. For eleven years, she has been searching for her sister. Her sister went missing at the age of six, and a tip-off has led her to Ted. But what is Ted’s connection to her sister’s case?
I loved, loved the atmosphere in this book, and Catriona Ward creates a very haunting and creepy one. I felt this, particularly in the flashback scenes as we see what happened in Ted’s childhood. You can see how what happened to him made him into the person he is today. You can see this, especially through the relationship he had with his mother.
The book is so well written and Catriona Ward brought the setting to life with beautiful descriptions. I found that as I was reading, I did not want it to end. There’s only a small handful of books I’ve read which have made me feel like that, and I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it for a long time to come. Catriona Ward builds on a dark, foreboding atmosphere as the plot unfolds.
The Last House on Needless Street is exceptional. You need to read it as soon as you can, and if you haven’t got a copy yet, then you really need to. I think every reader will have a different experience with it, and that’s what makes it so original and exceptionally well written. It’s definitely going to be in my top ten books of the year! I can’t wait to see what Catriona Ward writes next. I highly, highly recommend this book!
Prior to this I had only read Catriona Ward's short stories in various anthologies. This one grabbed my attention on social media, partly because of the glowing reviews and partly because the blurb sounded like the kind of story I love.
Honestly, I wish I could award a bonus star to explain how good it is. I don't want to delve into plot or speak of twists and turns because that might influence expectation. What I will say is I devoured every word and as a writer found it totally inspirational.
I usually highlight passages when I read on kindle and make notes in preparation for review. I didn't make a single one when reading this because I was too absorbed. Character development, plot, setting: everything was perfect. It will go straight to my top reads shelf for 2021, but more than that, I know it will remain one of my top forever reads.









