THE WONDER STATE

Across two timelines, a band of friends explores the secrets of an Arkansas hot springs town.

In a town in the Ozarks, there are eight magic houses, each with its own abilities. One house forces visitors to tell the truth, another can slow down time for those inside it, and a third grants powerful luck. The friends spend their senior year of high school hunting for the houses; the eighth and most mysterious they call the Portal House, and they believe it can transport them to the alternate dimension that gives the houses their powers. But their quest ends in tragedy, and most of the group leaves town, presumably for good. Fifteen years later, in 2015, they’re drawn back when one of them—Brandi—disappears. While the rest of the friends found success elsewhere, Brandi stayed in Arkansas, cleaning houses and struggling with an addiction to prescription pills. The book focuses on Jay, a painter constricted by guilt over leaving Brandi, her one-time best friend, behind. There’s also Iggy, a popular quarterback who was once Jay’s lover; Charlie, bookish and wistful; and Max and Hilma, wealthy twins who are outsiders to the town. Finding Brandi is mandatory: The group is bound by an oath they took, given power by one of the houses. The influences of Stephen King, Donna Tartt, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are clear here. Aside from the fantastical houses, which are neither haunted nor quite benevolent, the world of the novel is conventional, and Jay is the only character with depth. At the end, the person who turns out to be the antagonist discusses their actions and motives and then asks: “Is this like at the end of some cheesy movie, where the villain just explains everything to you?” Jay isn’t sure if it’s just a joke, and neither is the reader.

A thriller that doesn’t elevate its fascinating core premise.