Single father Toby Tucker has spent years shielding his queer son, Luca, from a cruel world but marrying into the powerful Wright family thrusts them directly into it. The Wrights are wealthy, deeply religious, and led by a notorious televangelist patriarch whose influence looms over everything. When a storm traps the family at their isolated Texas compound and the patriarch is found brutally murdered, suspicion quickly falls on Toby. As paranoia escalates and Luca begins describing a mysterious spectral figure stalking the house, Toby realizes this family is hiding far more than secrets and he’ll do anything to protect his son.

Ugh. Unfortunately, this is my least favorite John Fram book so far. I was genuinely hooked for the first half, but the second half, especially the last 25%, just didn’t deliver the punch I was hoping for. For a locked-room mystery set on a estate during a storm, it was very uniquely done, and I liked the overall concept, plot, and chapter structure. There is plenty of atmosphere and the genre blend of mystery/thriller with some slight paranormal is something I love. That said, the book felt long, the cast of characters was hard to keep track of, and I grew really tired of everyone’s terrible behavior. Every character was just… awful. By the end, I didn’t really care how it wrapped up and mostly just wanted to finish it.

Overall, it wasn’t bad, just nothing outstanding. It lacked the commitment to the paranormal/fantasy that Fram’s other too books dove into, especially his newest one. I think I was also expecting something bats*@% to happen and we just never got all the way there.

The Brightlands review | The Midnight Knock review

AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP| ★★★★

No Road Home is out now. Thanks to Atria Books for my copy in exchange for my honest review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.