The Other Family

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.)