The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
What's It About?
This can’t-put-down thriller follows Maya as she tries to prove once and for all that her best friend was murdered years ago by her then-boyfriend.Reese Witherspoon has announced that her January Book Club pick is debut author Ana Reyes’ The House In The Pines (Dutton).
Filled with eerie nostalgia, impossible-to-guess twists, and a fascinating look at how the fantasy of “going home” can quickly fall apart, the book is a fresh, impressive launch for Reyes which is already receiving rave reviews.
Bestselling author Riley Sager calls it “a compelling mix of psychological thriller and dark fairy tale. By focusing not on whodunnit but how and why, Ana Reyes’ stellar debut explores the many ways our memories can fail us — and how they can set us free.”
The House In The Pines is a can’t-put-down thriller that follows Maya as she tries to prove once and for all that her best friend was murdered years ago by her then-boyfriend…even though he never so much as touched her. As Maya digs into Frank’s past and her own murky memories of that summer, she quickly realizes that what she remembers doesn’t match up with what happened; something sinister is at play.
Witherspoon herself couldn’t be more excited: “This is an absolute, can’t-put-it-down thriller that follows Maya who’s trying to prove once and for all that her best friend was murdered years ago by her then-boyfriend, Frank. As Maya digs further into Frank’s past and present, she finds a string of similar mysterious deaths. It’s truly a wild ride that had me flying through chapter after chapter — which I think is the perfect way to kick off your year of reading.”
Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend’s sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed.
Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they’d been spending time with all summer.
Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can’t account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank.
Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer — the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.
At her mother’s house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father’s book that didn’t stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank’s cabin.
Unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.
About Ana Reyes:
Ana Reyes has an MFA from Louisiana State University. Her work has appeared in Bodega, Pear Noir!, The New Delta Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and teaches creative writing to older adults at Santa Monica College. The House in the Pines is her first novel.
