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The Guardians

"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, bestselling author of Mystic River

"A master of psychological suspense at its spine-tingling best, Andrew Pyper knows just how to lure you in to all the deep dark places of the human heart, and then, twist..."
-Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling suspense author

"Like any good haunting, THE GUARDIANS is at first just a whisper in your ear, a dark form in the window across the street. Then page by page, with the patience and skill of a true master, Andrew Pyper ratchets up the tension, the suspense, the fear until you find yourself white-knuckled and breathless. Andrew Pyper is the rare writer who has it all; he's a poet, a magician, and a seer into the frail human heart. In this moving, utterly gripping, and gorgeously written novel, he brings all his formidable talents to bear. Don't miss it."
-Lisa Unger, bestselling author of Die For You and Beautiful Lies

"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, bestselling author of Every Dead Thing and The Lovers

"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, bestselling author of Dark Places and Sharp Objects

"A creepy and cinematic tale about what boys bury and what they keep. Rarely has male loyalty and silence felt so loaded and lethal. Watch out: in Pyper's deft telling, the repressed comes back swinging."
-Kyo Maclear, author of The Letter Opener

The Guardians is, at its heart, a haunted house story. But the Thurman house is not built on an Indian burial ground nor was it host to ancient Satanic rituals. It is merely empty, an inviting, secret place for the teenaged boys of small town Grimshaw to enact their clandestine (if mostly harmless) desires. It is the actions four of these boys take over the winter of 1984 that haunt them upon their reluctant return twenty-four years later on the occasion of one of the four’s suicide – the only one of them to stay on in town, obsessively keeping watch over the Thurman house for something he believed was awaiting an opportunity for escape.

The Guardians is an intense exploration of male friendship under the pressures of violence and suspicion along with a contemporary, psychologically astute revisitation of the haunted house story. Both moving and horrifying, it explores the secrets of boys and men and the darkest corner of their hearts that must be guarded against.

Doubleday Canada, Spring 2011
Orion, UK, Spring 2011
Ambo/Anthos, The Netherlands
Piemme, Italy

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2011

A Best Book of the Year in the Dutch national newspaper NRC Handlesblad

"Pyper uses his haunted house to maximum effect, finding the right balance between believable detail and supernatural, menacing atmosphere."
-Quill & Quire

"Pyper's plot hits a near-perfect pace..."
-Macleans

"...vivid imagery, bold prose...The Guardians thrills and scares... Andrew Pyper has set a high bar for thrillers, just days into a new year, and other Canadian crime writers will be hard-pressed to top him."
-National Post

"This is a page-turner that will make your heart pound. You’ve been warned."
-The Globe and Mail

"...compellingly readable and stylistically impressive..."
-Calgary Herald

"[h]auntingly good...Andrew Pyper's The Guardians will chill you far more than winter ever could."
-Chatelaine

"The writing is so convincing, even the most skeptical readers may find themselves shaking with fear...A white-knuckle thriller balanced with a satisfying character study."
-Edmonton Journal

"The Guardians is a page-turner of suspense...A psychological tour de force."
-Owen Sound Sun Times

"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 (UK)

"Blisteringly readable. The language is so tight and carefully honed, yet evocative...The Guardians fires on all cylinders: it's a headlong, absorbing narrative enriched by an unflinching literary conscientiousness. They say you can never please everyone: The Guardians comes damn close."
-Vancouver Sun

"I opened it and was sucked in fast."
-Montreal Mirror

"...ample twists and turns and an ending that’s the trademark of all good thrillers."
-Guelph Mercury

"* * * * [Four stars]. A very creepy story...Pyper has such a gift for character and setting."
-NOW Magazine

"The Guardians manages to be both a heart-pounding and heartwarming read. It's a story that will stay with you long after you put it down."
-ffwd (Calgary)

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

"It draws you in...The Guardians' themes include the influence of past crimes and the treacherous uncertainty of memory."
-The Spectator

"The Guardians is a dark, brooding, compelling story about the loss of innocence and the ubiquity of evil, with a finalé as bittersweet as your 50th birthday party."
-Times (UK)

“Pyper is the most striking Canadian crime writer to emerge in recent years and The Guardians is a characteristically intelligent move into Stephen King territory.”
-Mail on Sunday (UK)

Andrew Pyper is the award-winning author of four internationally bestselling novels. Lost Girls (2000), won the Arthur Ellis Award, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and appeared on the New York Times and Times (UK) bestseller lists. The Trade Mission (2002) was chosen by The Toronto Star as one of the Ten Best Books of the Year, and The Wildfire Season (2005) was a Globe and Mail Best Book. Most recently, The Killing Circle (2009) was a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. His forthcoming book, The Guardians, will be published worldwide in the spring of 2011.

Of Pyper’s five completed novels, four are in active development for feature film. He is attached as screenwriter to Lost Girls, which is being developed with producer Steve Hoban (Ginger Snaps, the forthcoming Splice starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley). The Wildfire Season is under option to producer Chris Moore (Good Will Hunting, American Pie, the upcoming The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon), and The Killing Circle is set to go into pre-production for producer Charles Steel (Oscar-winning The Last King of Scotland) with Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) attached to direct. The Guardians, Andrew’s new book, is already under option with producer Dan Levine, former VP of Production at Paramount.

In addition to his novels and film projects, Andrew is co-creator of The Creeps, a horror anthology television series in development at Space.

Andrew Pyper holds an Honours B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from McGill University, as well as a law degree from the University of Toronto. He lives in Toronto.

Visit Andrew Pyper's website

Other titles by this author:

The Wildfire Season
The Killing Circle
The Trade Mission
Lost Girls
The Demonologist

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