Toby meets Alyssa Wright and marries the pediatrician within a few months of knowing her. Toby, Alyssa and Tobys son, Luca go visit her televangelist grandfather on their family's giant estate.

When the grandfather is found dead, everyone's demeanor starts to change along with messages being left in red paint within the home. Toby must protect Luca from the Wright family as he tries to unravel what happened to Jerome.

This book has suspense, supernatural and it felt like a Clue game at certain points as Toby is trying to find a killer within the family.

At times it was confusing to figure out if we were still in the same day or even the same house.
I loved the story overall and thought the twists were brilliant.

Please note, there's child abuse aspects and religious trauma. Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

March 27, 2024
I loved John Fram's debut, The Bright Lands. It was so surprising and unique and I was happy to find out about No Road Home which is just as unique and thrilling.

Toby is a single parent to Luca and he's married rather quickly to Alyssa. He's never met her family but he knows of them. Her grandfather is a famous televangelist and the whole family has a role in keeping the business running smoothly. Now everyone is getting together at the Wright family compound in Texas.

Things immediately feel creepy and shady. Then the grandfather is found murdered on the roof and a storm has everyone trapped. That's when the atmosphere becomes extremely charged and intense. Toby's anxiety ramps up as he realizes the family's agenda and what they intend for his son.

He desperately tries to find a way out of the situation they're in. To get out of their clutches physically and otherwise. He might have a possible ally but it's hard to trust anyone. As if that wasn't enough there's a man only Luca can see. So yeah, this book has it all and seriously had me stressed!

I loved how protective Toby was of his sweet little boy who makes origami roses and wears sparkly socks. I love how this story was written, supernatural and reality melded perfectly. Nuanced characters and a lot of depth and emotion. Which I also found in The Bright Lands. It's safe to say John Fram is a favorite author of mine and I highly recommend his books.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

Expected Publication Date: July 23, 2024

WOW this was incredibly compelling and good!!! I would have finished it in one sitting if my body hadn't betrayed me and fallen asleep (which also led to some WILD dreams). I loved the complexity of the queer characters and the fact that they were not simply reduced to their queerness. I love watching the downfall of a corrupt wealthy family, and I really enjoyed the twists and fresh takes that this book added to the trope.

Thank you to Atria Books, Netgalley and John Fram for the ARC!

Single father Toby Tucker has done his best to provide a safe, loving environment for his sensitive son Luca. But when Toby marries Alyssa Wright - the granddaughter of a famous televangelist - he doesn’t realize his entire world is about to change. Heavily steeped in Old Testament teaching, the family’s compound is located in Texas - which Toby and Luca at first happily travel to. But they are unaware of the plans Alyssa has in store for her new family. Things get even worse when a family member is found murdered and a freak storm makes them unable to leave. But then Luca starts seeing a mysterious figure around the house…

What I loved most about this story is how the entire time, there was sense of impending doom - lol! Toby thinks he is getting a second chance at love and having a mother for his son, but he had no idea what he was getting into with Alyssa’s crazy family. Add to it the fact that they can’t leave the compound, and Luca seeing a mysterious figure and you have the perfect locked-room horror story. Though you do need to suspend belief a little bit at home things come together, it was a fun experience to read. And I was hanging onto every word. I haven’t yet read the author’s first novel but after finishing this, I added it to my TBR immediately!

“No Road Home” releases July 23, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

After being wowed by the depths of John Fram’s depravity in “The Bright Lands,” I hoped that “No Road Home” would deliver the same levels of WTF-ness. While not a terrible read, I was a bit let down that it ended up a relatively standard thriller with a few nice touches of gothic atmosphere and a dash of the supernatural.

The less you know going in the better, but the broad strokes of the plot involve single father Toby trying to protect his (likely) nonbinary child, Luca, from their new in-laws – the televangelist Wright family – during a fraught weekend at their Texas compound.

The first half of “Home” is a slow burn, reminiscent of a game of Clue. After patriarch Jerome is found stabbed to death, all fingers point to outsider Toby, and he must solve the mystery before the police arrive. The foreshadowing is heavy-handed, but it's balanced with enough red herrings to keep you guessing and the pages turning.

Pretty quickly I grew tired of the half-baked bigotry mixed with family drama. Everything was over-the-top but in a grating and not groundbreaking way.

Through the Wrights, Fram created a proxy for every religious hypocrite, but each member of the extended family was written as a scheming, morally corrupt and greedy caricature. This approach dulled the impact of his attempted social commentary.

This is just one of several elements that hold the story back [some spoilers below]:

Outside of Toby, every single character is a plot device. The reliance on one-dimensional supporting characters is common in thrillers, sure, but framing characters solely as antagonists to hate felt lazy.

Take Alyssa, for example. As Toby's wife, she's the reason he's entangled in this mess, yet she disappears from the narrative after the initial chapters. We’re told her motivations, but without her perspective, I had a hard time buying what Fram was selling – specifically this was all a ruse to obtain a child so she could get access to her inheritance. Huh?

The pacing suffered from repetition. The "Memory Palace" concept, while interesting, became tiresome with excessive flashbacks for both Toby and Jerome. Plus, the search for the journal and family interviews could have benefited from streamlining. All told, there was way too much filler before entering the last act where – thankfully – Fram tied up most of the implausible loose ends.

The plot is too convenient. While believability isn’t essential for enjoyability, the plot relied too heavily on convenient tropes. The blackmail scheme felt uninspired, and Toby's miraculous recovery from a debilitating knee injury and concussion within a day strained credulity. I know Fram is creative, so it’s disappointing he didn’t push originality a bit more. [minor spoilers ended]

Still there were plenty of things that I enjoyed [major spoilers below]:

The father/child relationship. Luca grapples with self-discovery, unsure of where he fits on the gender spectrum. Unlike most boys his age, he doesn't feel confined to traditional masculinity. Toby – who we learn is actually his uncle – offers unwavering love and fierce protection against outside forces looking to mold him into a heteronormative image. While not a queer novel, so to speak, it’s nice to see that Fram included positive portrayals of nonbinary and trans representation into the plot.

The Wrath of God. Despite my aversion to religious texts, I adore horror steeped in religious lore, like "The Exorcist" or "The Nun." Fram balanced Old Testament rage with a variety of intriguing concepts – like prophecy, omens and possession – that added a touch of novelty. Still, I wish this would’ve been the primary focus rather than taking a backseat to the whodunit plot. I particularly enjoyed how Jerome dabbled in black magic to bring his brother/lover back to life Lazarus-style.

Last act POVs. Though Toby serves as the main narrator, it felt like his story ran its course about half way through “Road.” Fram's decision to introduce multiple viewpoints in the final chapters, including Luca, Jerome, Richard and Julian, revitalized a text that had lost momentum. Just when I thought the story had reached a dead end, this shift in structure changed my opinion – and overall rating.

The twist(s). The reveal of Toby's connection to the Wrights was unexpected. I, truly, did not think Willow (his transgender sister and Toby’s mother) spent time at Camp Cleve – the Wright’s conversion therapy camp – where she (then living as William) was sexually abused by Jerome. This positioning of “Road” as an old fashioned, biblical revenge tale was a nice touch. However, Toby's naivete in believing he wouldn't be a suspect in a murder he intended to commit strained credulity. Also, I did not see the incest plots coming, and they were a doozy! [major spoilers ended]

The final verdict: “No Road Home” is a good read, but it’s not groundbreaking. Fans of religious-themed horror and dastardly families (think “Ready or Not”) will appreciate this more than most. Readers picking this up hoping for a queer-focused story, like “The Bright Lands,” may be let down. Shortcomings aside, I’d still give Fram another shot.

Someone else compared this book to “The Righteous Gemstones,” but noted that this book is much, much darker. I’ll say it is—the family in this story is incredibly sick and twisted. I did enjoy reading it, especially the way it wrapped up at the end. I think it was a little bit too long/repetitive, and at times a bit confusing to follow the details. Overall, though, a solid read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this locked-room thriller, Toby and his son must find a way to escape his new wife’s family mansion after her father, a famed televangelist, is found stabbed through the heart.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-arc.*

4 Stars – Provocative and engaging, but the twist at the end didn’t quite work for me~

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC of “No Road Home” by John Fram in exchange for an honest review.

So, nine times out of ten, when I read a book description that suggests Christianity and bigotry are going to be a major focus, I say, “Thanks, but no,” and move right the heck along. Without extensive therapy that I certainly can’t afford, the best I can probably say on the matter is that it’s generally just too close to home for me to find more pleasure than frustration in reading about such topics. Which isn’t to say I can’t appreciate a good plot that roots around in religious themes. Hell, Endo Shusaku’s Silence nested in my brain about a decade ago and I still get moved to tears when I think about it. Not to mention, the number of queer romances that feature protagonists who’ve been shaped by their experiences with religious bigotry that I’ve managed to enjoy despite getting my hackles all raised about it and needing a week or so of intermittent grumbling and an endless supply of good tea to mentally recover from—I read "Heartsong" by AE Wasp at the end of last year and the whole thing with the gulls crying definitely left its mark on me.

All of that is just to say that “No Road Home” is not a book I would have been likely to pick up if I’d been browsing the aisles in my local bookstore. So, how then did I end up reading it? Well, the cover was intriguing and it’s shelved under LGBTQ+ and Mystery & Thrillers. And I didn’t actually read the description before committing to it. Whoops….

But, there’s certainly something to be said about impulse reads that get you out of your general wheelhouse, because I really enjoyed this one. It was both emotionally distressing and an utter delight—for the most part. It has all the grudging family chaos of something like “Knives Out” but with the eerie gothic, ambiguously threatening atmosphere of “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Turn of the Screw.”

The narrative is smart, well-paced, and engaging. It’s a whodunnit mystery with a dead patriarch, scheming relatives, and one hell of a haunted house that pitched me right back to my childhood obsession with the curiosity that is the Winchester Mystery House and its inscrutable design. While I did have my suspicions about the murderer, the plotting is sophisticated enough that I was never sure of how all the clues fit together, and when I thought I had it all sorted, a new revelation changed the implications of what I thought I knew. Of course, there’s also just enough biblical imagery and vague occultist references to paint uncertainty around the figure that haunts the grounds of the Wright family’s estate.

The characters are distinct, and the Wrights are pretty horrible overall, but thankfully not in a cartoon evil kind of way. They are messy and nuanced. And, though it doesn’t excuse their actions, their motivations make sense within the context of their experiences (and general selfishness). There are a lot of them though; so, understandably, some get more development than others. Still, even though there were limitations to how much insight we get into each character, they felt like their stories existed beyond what was written. Even our protagonist Toby Tucker isn’t framed as being some shining beacon of morality, despite how protective he is of his son and how out of depth he seems among the Wrights.

Probably the thing I enjoyed the most is also the thing that peeved me the most, and that’s the way memory is dealt with in the text. The concept of the memory palace is nothing new whether you’re coming at it from Jonathan Spence’s biography of Matteo Ricci, ancient Greek studies on rhetoric, or BBC Sherlock. That being said, I don’t recall ever seeing it employed in the way Fram uses it here. Memory and the various memory palaces that layer the text, are key both from a thematic perspective as well as a structural one. The memory palace becomes a plot device that obscures the truth, and without it the story—in this particular arrangement—just wouldn’t work.

It's handled well, for the most part. I appreciate the way it’s incorporated into the early stages of the story, the logic of the house, and throughout the building tensions of the mystery. However, it does become an issue for me towards the end with the final reveal. It’s a twist, to be sure, but not one that entirely worked for me. It felt cheap somehow, taking all that build up and intrigue and making it feel like nothing more than a gimmick. Even though the narrative delivers with all the biblical comeuppance that I’d been itching for from the moment Toby and Luca arrive at that house, the ending left me unsatisfied and annoyed because of the final twist and the entire shift in tone that comes with it. The sophistication of the plotting diminishes into a bland denouement that explains the remaining whys and hows in what felt like a dry and uninspired info dump.

It's not a bad ending, it just feels lacking in comparison to how good the rest of the text was. And it is just as likely to be a non-issue for other readers as it is an issue for me.

In any case, “No Road Home” was a great read that’s layered and interesting and that I would consider reading again. I’d recommend it for readers who like gothic novels and unreliable narrators.

My first John Fram book but definitely not my last. The story was tense and creepy and at the same time tugged on my heart strings. Characters were phenomenal and kept me totally invested in the story. Might have read long into the night. Lordy, Lordy! Packed with secrets, lies and strong family ties. Well done!
Thank you NetGalley, John Fram and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Bright Lands is a book that will stick to your bones, so when I saw No Road Home announced, I couldn't wait to read.

For years, single father Toby Tucker has done his best to keep his sensitive young son, Luca, safe from the bigotry of the world. But when Toby marries Alyssa Wright—the granddaughter of a famed televangelist known for his grandiose Old Testament preaching—he can’t imagine the world of religion, wealth, and hate that he and Luca are about to enter.

A trip to the Wright family’s compound in sun-scorched Texas soon turns hellish when Toby realizes that Alyssa and the rest of her brood have dangerous plans for him and his son. The situation only grows worse when a freak storm cuts off the roads and the family patriarch is found murdered, stabbed in the chest on the roof of their sprawling mansion.

Suspicion immediately turns to Toby, but when his son starts describing a spectral figure in a black suit lurking around the house with unfinished business in mind, Toby realizes this family has more than murderer to conceal—and to fear.

As the Wrights close in on Luca, no one is prepared for the lengths Toby will go in the fight to clear his name and protect his son in this “grand gothic story as enthralling as it is terrifying” (S.A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author).


This is a read-in-one-sitting whirlwind of a book.
I could not put it down.

The locked-door element gave me Clue X Ready or Not vibes, which is a killer combination. The Wright family is a delicious blend of evil on every level, brilliantly written to expose the facets of villainous behavior--larger than life and every day atrocities that force you to question your own comfort and thinking.

Examining identity, generational trauma, stereotypes and societal expectations, and biases, this book is more than a whodunnit. Fram's writing is clever, crisp, and utterly engaging. With a cast of unreliable narrators and expertly plotted motives, you won't be able to put this one down.

Huge thanks to Atria and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Toby Tucker has spent years protecting his seven-year-old son Luca. However, when he marries Alyssa Wright, the granddaughter of a televangelist, he has no idea what he is getting himself into. When they travel to the family compound in Texas, Toby soon realizes that Alyssa’s family has strange plans for him and his son. An extreme rainstorm hits and the family patriarch is found murdered on the roof. Toby is now trapped with Alyssa’s family. Will Toby make it out alive or will the Wrights pin the murder on Toby?

This was my first book by John Fram. I really enjoyed the lgbtq+ representation and the time spent on identity. I also enjoyed the Wright family secrets revealed throughout the book and the sort of whodunit locked room theme. However, there is one thing I would change. It is hard to fully understand what is going on from only Toby’s point of view, which is most of the book. I would have enjoyed hearing from other characters’ points of view more often. For this reason, I give it 3 stars. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a locked room thriller written from mostly one character’s point of view.

I really enjoyed this book. Thank you for a character list! This book was full of twists and turns and kept you guessing all the way! Looking forward to more books from John Fram!

Thank you to John Fram, Atria Books, and Netgalley for this ARC!

I will be thinking about this stunning, complex, gothic thriller, the brutally corrupt family at its core, and its truly inspirational protagonist for years to come.

Toby Tucker is a broke single father who only wants to protect his sensitive young son Luca from the hateful bigotry of the world. But he just married Alyssa Wright, the granddaughter of a powerful fire and brimstone televangelist who made church the family business. Worried that the family won't accept his son, Toby still follows Alyssa back to the family's massive estate to celebrate her birthday. Their first night in the home, a massive storm cuts off the roads , and the family patriarch is stabbed through the heart. It seems clear that the Wrights are eager to pin the murder on Toby, and at the same time, his son Luca starts to see a spectral man in a black suit lurking around the home. Toby must figure out what the Wright family is after with him and his son before the brood of vipers swallows them both whole.

There are so many parts of this book I want to praise, but so many secrets and reveals I need to keep to myself. What I can say is that No Road Home is a dread-inducing slow burn that builds multiple layers of information into a truly stunning finale. Fram's use of Biblical symbolism creates an entirely intriguing story that examines the ugliness that can hide behind a religious facade. On top of religious commentary, there's a terrifying plot whose suspense grabs you from the first page, and escalates all the way to the deadly ending.

I will never forget sweet Toby and his dogged determination to do anything for his son Luca, and I'll be telling every thriller reader I talk to that they need to get to know Toby and Luca too.

Fans of Haunting of Hill House, Lay Your Body Down, and any Mike Flanagan production will absolutely adore No Road Home.

Okay this has the religious trauma mixed into a thriller I have been WAITING FORRRRRRRR!!

I was invited to read this title, and I hadn't heard of John Fram before the invite, but needless to say he is going to be one author I will keep tabs on for sure.

This book had me in a chokehold. I could not put it down. There are so many twisty turns mixed in with crazy religion as well as young queerness that was absolutely delicious for me. I really enjoyed this one.

This was my first book from John Fram and it was impossible to put down! No Road Home is an atmospheric and gripping read. Toby is such a fierce and loving father, who is determined to do whatever it takes to save his son from the horrors of the house. Luca, his son, was a very observant and beautifully-written character. I loved how strong their relationship was and the amount of trust they had in each other. No Road Home kept me guessing with twists, reveals, and excellent pacing.

Readers who enjoy locked-room thrillers, LGBTQ+ rep, and high stakes will devour No Road Home. Looking forward to what John Fram writes next!

Thank you to John Fram, Atria Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

I don't normally like thrillers, but I was blown away by this book. A little warning: there is a lot of homophobia throughout the book and talk of conversion camps. This book was so well done that I almost don't know how I can talk about it without spoilers.

Toby Tucker and his young son Luca are precious cinnamon rolls, and the Wrights are a gross swamp of bad people. When Toby marries Alyssa Wright, he knows she belongs to the Wright Family. The Wrights are a televangelist family in Texas and when Toby and Luca travel with Alyssa to meet the family, a whole mess of problems rise to the surface. Toby just wants to protect his son...right?

This book was so good. My one grievance with this book is Alyssa's storyline; she felt like she could have been fleshed out more as a character. She was outside of the family in California as a pediatrician and suddenly she's involved in the family business? I know there is an inheritance and other money on the line, but it just didn't feel explained enough to me. Same with Ginger's story and her daughter; the daughter is just such a small thread that could have been fleshed out better.

But man, this story was hard to put down. The whole time I was just as nervous as Toby was. There were parts of this story that are truly sickening to read. The web of violence that just keeps getting repeated, the ending of the book does feel biblical. There is a small supernatural component to the book, which adds a beautiful depth. I love how supportive Toby is of Luca's queerness and how he will do anything to defend and keep Luca safe.

This is a great thriller and the ending is *chef's kiss*. Definitely recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc; all opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the copy of No Road Home by John Fram. I loved the premise of this book and Toby was a great main character. He was such a good father, always looking out for his son’s well being and being willing to sacrifice so much for him. I was grateful for the ‘cast list’ at the beginning so I knew who the characters were. It started out slowly, but I got finally invested in the story about halfway through. It was darker than I expected. I didn’t enjoy the subject matter and hated the reason for all of the family discord, so that ruined the book for me. The final twist/reveal was interesting, I just wish the rest of the book had been better.

Not only did i love this cover this book did not disappoint.

Was full of twists, turns and just lots of mystery. Loved the writing and will read more from this author.


Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

A closed door murder mystery written in the vein of 'The Mighty Gemstones', with an LGBTQ slat. Mr. Fram crams a lot into this plotline--supernatural elements, a gothic estate, power hungry televangelists, homophobia, a shocking murder--and it's really fun to go along for the ride.
Toby should have known what he was getting into when he married Alyssa, the daughter of a famous wealthy televangelist, but he's in love, so who knows. He brings Luca, his gay son, into the marriage. They are soon invited to the patriarch's grand estate in Texas to meet the extended family. What could go wrong? There it seems like Alyssa and her father have a different agenda, and Luca has seen a man in a hood roaming the property. When the father is found dead from a gunshot wound, the accusations fly, and the newcomers are the main target. Of course they are now trapped in the house due to an impending storm and have to solve the crime themselves! Once Toby starts finding out some of the family members' secrets, things escalate quickly as they are fighting to hold out until help arrives.

This is a very entertaining take on the classic locked room thriller that manages to address acceptance and inclusion as well. Toby and Luca are very well developed and you are rooting for them to make it out of there alive. You won't see the end coming until it smacks you in the face.

Did he marry for love or for money? I am not big on the whole TV ministry thing. But it did make a good backdrop for the story. Is the family all about sharing the gospel or is it about pulling in money? How can Luca become so important to the family? The book is full of twists and turns that I did not see coming. The ending is spectacular. Good setting, good storyline and good characters made this book one worth reading.