A New York Times Crime Novel of the Year

A spine-chilling, mind-twisting psychological thriller — Andrew Pyper’s most gripping novel yet — in which a writing circle is haunted by a serial killer.

When Patrick Rush, journalist, single father and failed novelist, decides to join a creative writing circle, it seems a fertile time for the imagination. In the city of Toronto, a murderer is striking at random, leaving his victims’ bodies mutilated and dismembered, and taunting the police with cryptic notes.

Influenced by the atmosphere of menace and fear, the group begins to read each other their own dark, unsettling tales. One, Angela, tells a mesmerizing story about a child-stealer called the Sandman. Patrick, though, finds fantasy and reality becoming blurred. Is the maniac at large in fact the Sandman? What does Angela really know? And is he himself being stalked by the killer?

It is only when his own son is snatched that Patrick understands what he must do: embark on a horrifying journey into the unknown and track down the elusive figure known as the Sandman.

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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


From the Hardcover edition.

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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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