The Guardians: Amazon.co.uk: Andrew Pyper: Books

Review

`A splendidly eerie haunted house story, and a superb evocation of small town life. The Guardians gripped me from its opening line and never let go.' (John Connolly )

`Andrew Pyper's The Guardians is everything you could ask for in a thriller. It's psychologically unnerving, moves like a bullet, and is fraught with so much tension you might crack a tooth reading it. Outstanding in every way.' (Dennis Lehane )

`It is a perfect haunted-house story, a crisp, eerie October night of a book that had me in its clutches from page 1. It still has.' (Joanne Harris )

`The Guardians is a chilling, screw-tightening ghost story for grownups-it vibrates with menace while delving into the deep, dark matters of loyalty, lust and our own natural, nasty inclinations. A thriller with brains, heart, and no small amount of goosebumps.' (Gillian Flynn )

`Like any good haunting, The Guardians is at first just a whisper in your ear. Then page by page, Andrew Pyper ratchets up the tension, the suspense, the fear until you find yourself white-knuckled and breathless. Pyper is the rare writer who has it all; he's a poet, a magician, and a seer into the frail human heart. Moving, utterly gripping, and gorgeously written. Don't miss it.' (Lisa Unger )

`The Guardians is so much more than a thriller. Truly great writing, haunting, intelligent, human, terrifying. Pyper is a genius.' (Deon Meyer )

A wonderfully atmospheric chiller from Pyper who excels at combining crime and horror...A nail-biting read, deliciously tense and well written. The relationships of the small town, and particularly those between the quartet of friends, are skilfully drawn and Trevor is an appealing, flawed and vulnerable protagonist. (TANGLED WEB )

Ambitious...With a well-executed dual narrative, both past and present, strong characterisations and some truly arresting images, The Guardians is a compelling and genuinely creepy read. (THE GUARDIAN )

It draws you in...The Guardians' themes include the influence of past crimes and the treacherous uncertainty of memory. (THE SPECTATOR )

a thrilling horror story that keeps you turning page after page in an urgent need to find out what happens next. You won't be disappointed either, thanks to a satisfying pay-off and action-filled conclusion that contains just the right amount of shocks. (SFX )

Pyper is the most striking Canadian crime writer to emerge in recent years and this is a characteristically intelligent move into Stephen King territory (John Williams MAIL ON SUNDAY )

This is a dark, brooding, compelling story about the loss if innocence and the ubiquity of evil, with a finale as bittersweet as your 50th birthday party. (Peter Millar THE TIMES )

Review

'A splendidly eerie haunted house story, and a superb evocation of small town life. The Guardians gripped me from its opening line and never let go.' -- John Connolly 'Andrew Pyper's The Guardians is everything you could ask for in a thriller. It's psychologically unnerving, moves like a bullet, and is fraught with so much tension you might crack a tooth reading it. Outstanding in every way.' -- Dennis Lehane 'It is a perfect haunted-house story, a crisp, eerie October night of a book that had me in its clutches from page 1. It still has.' -- Joanne Harris 'The Guardians is a chilling, screw-tightening ghost story for grownups-it vibrates with menace while delving into the deep, dark matters of loyalty, lust and our own natural, nasty inclinations. A thriller with brains, heart, and no small amount of goosebumps.' -- Gillian Flynn 'Like any good haunting, The Guardians is at first just a whisper in your ear. Then page by page, Andrew Pyper ratchets up the tension, the suspense, the fear until you find yourself white-knuckled and breathless. Pyper is the rare writer who has it all; he's a poet, a magician, and a seer into the frail human heart. Moving, utterly gripping, and gorgeously written. Don't miss it.' -- Lisa Unger 'The Guardians is so much more than a thriller. Truly great writing, haunting, intelligent, human, terrifying. Pyper is a genius.' -- Deon Meyer A wonderfully atmospheric chiller from Pyper who excels at combining crime and horror...A nail-biting read, deliciously tense and well written. The relationships of the small town, and particularly those between the quartet of friends, are skilfully drawn and Trevor is an appealing, flawed and vulnerable protagonist. TANGLED WEB Ambitious...With a well-executed dual narrative, both past and present, strong characterisations and some truly arresting images, The Guardians is a compelling and genuinely creepy read. THE GUARDIAN It draws you in...The Guardians' themes include the influence of past crimes and the treacherous uncertainty of memory. THE SPECTATOR a thrilling horror story that keeps you turning page after page in an urgent need to find out what happens next. You won't be disappointed either, thanks to a satisfying pay-off and action-filled conclusion that contains just the right amount of shocks. SFX Pyper is the most striking Canadian crime writer to emerge in recent years and this is a characteristically intelligent move into Stephen King territory -- John Williams MAIL ON SUNDAY This is a dark, brooding, compelling story about the loss if innocence and the ubiquity of evil, with a finale as bittersweet as your 50th birthday party. -- Peter Millar THE TIMES

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Compelling menace.... 14 July 2011

By Ruby

Format:Paperback

The Guardians by Andrew Pyper

I have loved Andrew Pyper darkly, seductive novels, all of them are very different on the surface but underneath they all have similar characteristics, human anxieties and secrets and misgivings.

'The Guardians' has shades of Stephen King's IT and The Body in this 'coming of age' supernatural thriller but there is nothing wrong with that and Pyper doesn't put a foot wrong! The local haunted house has become part of urban mythology and the Thurman House in the Guardians represents that old abandoned spooky house in our town that we all ran past as children.

Trevor, Randy, Ben and Carl were boyhood friends until, looking for a missing person, they went into the Thurman House and what they found there changed them forever. They are bound by a vow of silence about what they found and the terrible things that happened in the house. Years later Trevor returns to Grimshaw for the funeral of Ben, the only one who stayed behind 'to watch the house' and to makes sure whatever was in there didn't escape. He committed suicide...

Accompanied by Randy, Trevor arrives in Grimshaw, Carl joins them for the tragic reunion to find history has a nasty habit of repeating itself and once again, they are forced to venture into the malevolent Thurman House.

The author uses a wonderful duel narrative from Trevor, present day and the past, his 'Memory Diary' using a Dictaphone on which he records episodes from his childhood. The pacing is superb, giving the reader precious little time to contemplate events before hurtling you into the next incident. The story has a perfect balance between the believable and the paranormal and Pyper's imagery is vivid and visceral full of compelling menace

Of course it really is all about friendship, rite of passage, what it is to become a man, and to be a man but as someone said it is a terrifying and breathless and as a midnight dare to run through your local graveyard...

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Chilly but not necessarily a chiller 14 April 2011

By Cheeky Monkey VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I'll begin by saying I enjoyed this book and that, when you really think about it, is all that matters. It's well constructed, the characters are recognisable as people we know and have bck stories of their own and while it's not exacly scary, it rattles along nicely and a couple of times it made me turn the heating up. It's an old fashioned haunted house tale where a group of grown ups reflect on faded glories and insecurities and come to terms with the past... just like a Stephen King book. Yes, like others I recognised familiar (and favourite) themes from Mr King's work, but this book is not a straight rip-off and it has its own identity. Andrew Pyper deserves credit for writing a creditable thriller with thrills and chills that does not degenerate to tedious slasher rampages or rely on maverick cops/forensic specialists to wok it all out for us but it's really a chiller and I'd say you'd have to be a very nervous individual to be actually scared. All in all, a good yarn best savoured on chilly nights when you have the house to yourself. I'm not sure it ould work quite so well reading this on a sunny beach.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

An enjoyable ghost story 19 Mar 2012

By David TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Since I was a child I have enjoyed a good ghost story. I grew up reading the Fontana Book Of Ghost Stories among others, so I was looking forward to reading The Guardians. Luckely I was not dissapointed. Andrew Pyper has written a good supernatural chiller with plenty of scares and good characterisation. Rather like Stephen King's excellent novel It, The Guardians is set party in the past during the characters childhood and later in present day where the children now grownup return to the house to once again face the horror that lurkes there. This is a good scary novel and best read while sitting by the fire with a nice drink. Enjoy.