The other family A novel

The Howell Family has uprooted itself from its California home to spend a year in a New York City rental. It's a nice house, maybe a bit small for Nora and her husband and their two children, but it has lots of character. The house's past includes a story that is either really cool or really unsettling, depending on your point of view: years ago, the house was the scene of a triple murder. While one of her children seems fascinated by the story (the girl is a true-crime buff), Nora is altogether creeped out. And, after she becomes convinced someone is watching her family, she starts to wonder whether her loved ones are in jeopardy. The prolific Corsi Staub turns in a stellar performance, creating a palpable sense of dread and generating the kind of suspense that keeps readers glued to the page.

This chilling domestic thriller from bestseller Staub (The Black Widow) opens with the arrival of Nora and Keith Howell and their daughters, 14-year-old Piper and 17-year-old Stacey, in Brooklyn from L.A. Nora and Keith hope to piece their marriage back together; Piper is looking forward to exploring New York City; and true crime aficionado Stacey is soon captivated by the boy down the street, who tells her that, 25 years earlier in the Howells' new brownstone home, someone killed a family--father, mother, and teenage daughter--as they slept. The murders are still unsolved. Stacey is unnerved as she learns more about the house's history and realizes a stranger is stalking her. Nora's discovery of a metal box in the garden and a creepy photo puts her on edge, and she becomes certain that the house's bloody past is reaching out to ensnare her family. Are the neighbors just welcoming, or are they too anxious to befriend the Howells? The suspense rises as it emerges that the Howell family's chances of surviving hang on one of its members revealing a dark secret. Staub reliably entertains. Agent: Laura Blake Peterson, Curtis Brown. (Jan.)