From acclaimed, bestselling author Andrew Pyper, a suspenseful page-turner that explores the repercussions of that most dishonest of thefts: stealing another’s story and calling it your own.

Patrick Rush, a former bright light at the National Star now demoted to the reality TV beat, is still recovering from his wife’s death when he joins a writers’ group in Toronto. His goal: to write the book he’s always felt lived within him. Trouble is, Patrick has no story to tell. And while the circle’s members show similarly little literary promise, there is one exception: Angela. Her unsettling readings tell of a shadowy childhood tragedy and an unremitting fear of the Sandman, a “terrible man who does terrible things.” It’s the stuff of nightmares or horror films. Or is it?

Over the weeks that follow, a string of unsolved murders seem increasingly connected to Patrick. And then the circle’s members start to go missing, one by one. Still haunted by loss–and by a crime only those in the circle could know of–Patrick finds himself in a fictional world made horrifically real. But nothing will put him in greater danger than that ancient curse of natural born readers: the need to know how the story ends.

At once a complex and compulsive read, The Killing Circle explores the side effects of an increasingly fame-mad culture, where even the staid realm of literature can fall prey to ravenous ambition and competition.


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"The villain leaps off the page...Pyper does an impressive job building suspense, offering enough narrative twists and turns to keep the reader nicely off balance.  Basing the experience of the novel in Rush's first-person perspective, he is able to capture not only the depths of the haunting and gradually mounting terror, but also the more routine aspects of the character's life... A strong and compelling read."
—The Vancouver Sun

"A thumping good read, a real creep-fest."
—Ottawa Citizen

"The Killing Circle is the best of a quartet of outstanding mystery-thriller novels by Andrew Pyper.  A riveting prologue, impossible to put down, quickens the beat and leaves you with a twist in the pit of your gut.  The twist weaves you through the story of fear, panic and resignation and it drives you onward, page by page, to the conclusion... a challenging and compulsive read that clearly demonstrates Andrew Pyper as a unique storyteller on the Canadian scene."
—Hamilton Spectator

"Rising star [Pyper] doesn't disappoint in [this] fast-paced, funny thriller.  A terrific ride of a mystery...the story hurtles along.  Pyper is so good at dropping clues.  The thing is, he's also good at introducing so many twists that you'd swear his plot was inspired by a bowl of rotini."
—Edmonton Journal

"Extraordinary...Powered by an ingeniously nonlinear narrative and suffused with a tone thick with dread, this is easily Pyper's most ambitious — and absorbing — work to date."
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Very smart, very scary, very good: once I started I couldn't stop. Fans of dark and witty suspense will love The Killing Circle."
—Peter Abrahams, author of Oblivion and End of Story

"Few are better at conveying an omnipresent sense of dread and horror bubbling just beneath life's seemingly mundane routines. The Killing Circle will keep you up one night reading and another four checking the locks on the doors."
—Booklist

“If Andrew Pyper scripted our collective nightmares, we’d all be dreaming and screaming like the narrator of his gorgeously written and thoroughly unnerving suspense thriller…. This is a terrific yarn.”
—The New York Times

“This is one great read: darkly lyrical and atmospheric, it's as haunting as it is gripping. Highly recommended.”
—Harlan Coban

“Frightening and action-packed.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Spookily terrific...Great suspense and a great story. ”
—Winnipeg Free Press


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"...the way the narrator rationalizes his behaviour so honestly makes me reconsider and admit that I might find myself doing the same things in that situation. I am a fan of horror stories. I would not classify this as a horror novel but it most definitely terrified me on more than one occassion. I especially liked the ending. I hope I'm not giving too much away when I say that it was not what I was expecting."
- Amy T, Ontario

"I read this book in 2 days. I liked this book because it was a page turning thriller, not what i would normally expect from a Canadian novel. The characters were well written and as their "secrets" unfolded the twists made sense for the characters. I feel lucky to be a first reader of The Killing Circle. Well Done!"
-Vicki H, Ontario

"I really enjoyed the fact that the book is set in Toronto and I could recognize many of the places mentioned. Until the end, I could never quite figure out if the events in the book were actually occuring or if they were in the narrator's mind. It kept me on my toes right up to the final page!"
- Brenda G, from Ontario


From the Hardcover edition.

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Visit Andrew Pyper's website.

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Andrew Pyper is the author of three bestselling novels, Lost Girls (a New York Times Notable Book), The Trade Mission, and The Wildfire Season, as well as Kiss Me, a collection of short stories. Lost Girls and The Killing Circle are currently in development for feature films. Andrew Pyper lives in Toronto.


From the Hardcover edition.

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