On an isolated ridge in the Kentucky woods stands a homemade lighthouse, hundreds of miles from any substantial body of water. Local reporter Roy Darmus has always found it an amusing oddity - until he is selected as the recipient of a suicide note from its builder. Roy enters the bizarre structure to find the walls covered in maps bearing the names of the dead - including his own parents, who were killed in a car accident when he was a boy. Roy soon has a storytelling assignment more daunting than anything he's seen before: convincing people that an age-old legend has in fact come to life. With haunting atmosphere and tension-coiled plot, THE RIDGE is a terrifying journey into the heart of darkness.
Industry Reviews
A man in love with the woman who shot him. Who could possibly resist that story? Not me. Read on, and discover one of the scariest and most touching horror tales in years. * James Patterson *
Michael Koryta is . . . a hot name in the supernatural/crime crossover field . . . An enjoyable blockbuster. * Financial Times *
The excellent Michael Koryta has established a formula of his own . . . one that mixes likeable protagonists with imaginative out-of-the-way settings and a dose of the supernatural * Mail on Sunday *
A freshly imagined and elegantly constructed variation on the dead-of-night ghost story . . . Readers are swept along by Koryta's narrative voice * New York Times Book Review *
A chilling supernatural thriller by rising literary star Michael Koryta * Wall Street Journal *
THE RIDGE' is a classically good mystery that's also regionally fascinating . . . Koryta's tales stand out because of the quirks he spins in - a haunted piano, a too-conveniently-located rural tavern, a closed paper's newsroom - quirks that add up to that rarest of things: a summer mystery that's both spooky and incredibly funny. * New Yorker *
Particularly powerful when revealing the telling details of those who are isolated - by profession, by geography, by temperament. It's admirable to attempt a ghost story that can withstand the cynical scepticism of our time while engaging the reader with characters who struggle with all-too-real dilemmas. Here, Koryta has created a vivid world that's hard to shake for days after the book is finished. In THE RIDGE, he has delivered a nuanced supernatural thriller worthy of the praise he's received and that is surely yet to come. * Los Angeles Times *
A rural Kentucky community becomes the unlikely focal point for a series of enigmatic and terrifying events in Koryta's subtle supernatural thriller . . . Koryta matches an original and complex plot line with prose full of understated menace. * Publishers Weekly *
Koryta . . . gets deep inside the minds of his protagonists, and the story is intriguing and spooky. It's a good book, effectively blending crime and horror . . . this one will definitely cross over to fans of both genres. * Booklist *
The choice is simple: Kill or be killed . . . Koryta, whose affection for the big cats and those who care for them is contagious, has produced a supernatural thriller that will raise goosebumps the size of golf balls. * Kirkus *
Koryta delivers another supernatural thriller with punch . . . Part ghost story, part murder mystery, all thriller, this fast-paced and engaging read will have readers leaving the night light on long after they have finished the book. * Library Journal *
An eerie tale . . . a dark and compulsively readable story . . . Koryta doesn't just craft an absorbingly creepy plot; he also makes effective use of setting and local history . . . His prose is observant and streamlined, and his characters are believable and complex . . . Reading THE RIDGE is a fine way to chill down a hot summer night. But you'll want to leave the lights on. * St. Petersburg Times *
THE RIDGE by Michael Koryta is a strange and intense novel that has a touch of Stephen King thrown in for good measure . . . a fascinating study of good vs. evil . . . At one moment it is a legitimate drama and in a flash it becomes something supernatural. That is where the Stephen King influence shows its face. Koryta takes the drama then adds the supernatural . . . and when one portion begins to unravel the story beneath is an amazing one. Michael Koryta is a name that is growing in stature with each new novel he releases. THE RIDGE indicates he will keep getting better and better. This is a chilling story that will have you burning the midnight oil and wishing you had a lighthouse to ward off any dark presence around you. * Huffington Post *
Red alert for mystery and thriller fans who like a touch of the supernatural: Michael Koryta walks this line better than anyone else I know. Fine, gripping writing that's firmly grounded in police work and the lives of real people . . . and that whispering fear always lurking. * Neil McMahon, author of Lone Creek and L. A. Mental *
Michael Koryta is an immensely gifted storyteller, and this new novel confirms that he gets better and better with each new book. Once I started THE RIDGE, I couldn't put it down. * Ron Rash, author of Serena *
From page one of THE RIDGE, Michael Koryta has the reader leaning forward, racing down the page, driving deeper and deeper into his creepy, pulpy tale to find out what bad thing is going to happen next. As in SO COLD THE RIVER, Koryta delivers a midwestern ghost story based on place--another roadside attraction from his haunted heartland. Reader, heed my advice: hold his hand tight. You don't want to get caught out here alone in the woods, in the night, in the dark. * Stewart O'Nan, author of Emily, Alone *
Captivating, intriguing, frantic, tense and lightening quick, Michael Koryta's THE RIDGE is undoubtedly a must-read novel that will have readers begging for more of the same from this scintillating author. * www.chrishigh.com *
The excellent Michael Koryta has established a successful formula, mixing likeable protagonists with imaginative settings . . . It's a blend somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King . . . a heady, gothic brew. * Mail on Sunday *
