SNOWBLIND

Something icy this way comes in Golden's latest ghostly thriller, in which the Massachusetts town of Coventry is never the same after a massive snowstorm leaves behind spectral presences.

The storm upends the lives of a Stephen King–like cross section of residents. Hardest hit is Afghanistan-widowed school teacher Allie Schapiro, whose 10-year-old son, Isaac, is bizarrely yanked through his bedroom window to his death and whose love interest, Niko, runs off for help and never comes back. Isaac's older brother, Jake, who had dismissed Isaac's fears over seeing ice monsters in their backyard, and Niko's daughter, Miri, were on the verge of their own teenage romance. But following the tragedies, she moves to Seattle—only to be drawn back 12 years later when she receives an unsettling phone call from her father. At least she thinks it's him. With another giant snowstorm gathering force, strange behavior is spreading in Coventry, where a little girl begins acting and sounding eerily like her late grandmother, and, at the same time that a young boy goes missing, a frighteningly altered Isaac appears before Jake begging for his company. "They're coming," warns one character. Who is coming, and why, is deftly handled by Golden, who keeps things on edge from start to finish. As in The Birds, the supernatural attackers signify psychic unrest as much as physical threat. The book falls short of King-ian frights largely because Golden errs on the side of restraint in his employment of the evil spirits. But the book—which leaves itself open to a sequel—still has its full share of tingling moments.

A chilling contemporary ghost tale that will make you think twice about braving the elements to buy a carton of milk the next time it snows.