This review will be posted on July 23, 2024 to: https://instagram.com/amandas.bookshelf

I'm not sure if neo-Gothic is a genre, but if it is, this novel absolutely belongs in its classification. This was dark and creepy and unsettling. Imagine the family from Knives Out, but scarier. Fans of social horror and Gothic tales will appreciate the layers of complexity explored in this, such as Old Testament religion, prophecy, greed, and queer identity. I absolutely couldn't put this down! #NoRoadHome Rating: 😊 / really liked it
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This book is scheduled for publication on July 23, 2024. Thank you @atriabooks for providing me this digital ARC via @NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“The knife slides free, the door clicks closed and here, at last, is the rain. ”
Here are reasons to read the Thriller book:

Marriage - Newly married Toby and Alyssa, along with Toby’s son Luca
Family Compound - are traveling to Alyssa’s family compound for her 30th birthday party.
Head of Family - When the head of the family is found dead
Storm - and a storm is brewing, suspicions turns to the new comers, and Toby believes his son could be in terrible danger

If you have seen the movie Ready or Not, this book is like that. Except in this case, the family is part of a church cult and what they want him for is not to kill him. This family is truly despicable, and definitely make sure you check your triggers because there is quite a bit of really questionable things in this book. However, I give the author props for his handling of them without a lot of graphic details. This book was intense and absolutely action packed. Although a lot of times while the main character is trying to solve the mystery, you really want to yell at what he is missing. But follow it along, and I promise everything has a purpose.

4.5 Stars. Wow! This was memorable, gripping, twisted and twisty. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. My rating is nearer 5 stars. The character development is strong and there is a huge cast to sort out. Who is basically good with positive intentions? Others may be fanatical, evil, deluded, of unstable or drug addled. Many seem to have secret agendas. The tension and sense of foreboding are tangible in this gothic tale of an immensely wealthy dysfunctional family living in a poorly maintained mansion, so huge that it is easy to lose one’s way in it. The wealth was accumulated from donations to a religious TV series lead by Jerome Wright which has become increasingly focused on Old Testament retribution and prophecy.

Millions of dollars have been hidden in offshore accounts but siphoned off by a family member, placing the ministry on the verge of bankruptcy.

This is a story of bigotry under the pretense of religious extremism, murder, revenge,betrayal, predatory sexual secrets,incest and deception amidst a raging storm and deadly flood. It asks how far a person would go to protect their child and how far a family would go to protect their family business based on wealth derived from religious broadcasts

Tobias Tucker is fiercely protective of his seven-year-old son. Luca. Luca wears his hair in braids decorated with beads, likes colourful clothes and sparkly socks. As a hobby he constructs origami flowers from paper found in trash. Toby is determined that Luca will grow up without prejudice for his differences. A ghostly spectre is visible to Luca.

Toby feels the loss of his sister Willow. He has locked away tragic memories in an imaginary ‘mind castle’ he learned to create. He has been unable to retrieve the most disturbing ones. After a short acquaintance, he marries the beautiful, wealthy Alyssa Wright. She persuades Toby to visit her family home built on the profits from the religious telecasts and meet her many relatives.

Once Toby, Luca, and Alyssa arrive at the estate, there is an eerie, sinister atmosphere and he learns Luca is part of a nefarious plot to change him and make him one of their own. Shorty after arrival, Alyssa’s grandfather Jerome is found stabbed to death on the roof. The key to enter the roof is missing and also the blood soaked murder weapon. Most of the family members may have a motive but Toby is targeted for blame. The family delays calling the police and evidence is placed to make Toby look guilty. He never had time to find his way to the roof or the key to gain access. This was a way to get rid of Toby and claim Luca.

This so-called religious family is far from God-like. They plan to continue the religious TV series without Jerome to build up
a greater fortune. They are prejudiced against those with homosexual or transsexual lifestyles and run a camp to rid members of alternative sexual orientations. Once at a the camp they are subjected to emotional and sexual abuse by predators Jerome and Alyssa ‘s brother Richard. There is also bigotry based on racial factors. Two cousins , Jules and Marie are of mixed race and employed as servants without hopes for any inheritance.

There is a list at the beginning identifying members of the family in this complex and tangled tale. The reader should pay attention to enjoy all the twists and turns and the final revelations.

There is a raging storm at the beginning. My mind kept shouting at Toby to grab his son and run, but the road is washed out and internet and phone service is down. There is no way out. Later there is a massive flood with more deaths as the house crumbles into the water. At the same time, Toby’s hidden memories are surfacing.
How supportive has his new wife been in Toby’s time of trouble? Despite this dark, disturbing story, I found the outcome very satisfying. Publication date is July 23.

This book sucked me in right away with the short chapters and it's old school feel of televangelist. When I was young my own grandpa used to watch them. It kept getting more foreboding with the family showing their greed and disrespect. It reminded me then of the movie "ready or not" which I loved. The challenge was on. However, the story twisted a little for me mid way through the book where it very much felt like an "agatha cristie" who done it. I did enjoy following the story and found some to be very unique story. What I felt would have made the story better for me. The foreshadowing kept ruining part of the story for me. I would have preferred to be shown and not told with surprise. I would have liked to meet each character instead of them being explained in the beginning. I loved little Luca and wish they would have done even more with that character and the plot. I think readers will have very differing opinions on this story. I look forward to seeing how they like it or not.
3.8 stars

After Toby marries into the very religious, wealthy, televangelist Wright Family, he isn’t sure what he or his son, Luca are up against. When he ventures out to their estate to meet them all in one place for the first time, the bigotry and ghosts come out in full force.

NO ROAD HOME by John Fram is a hugely character-driven, anger-fueled family drama with some supernatural thrown in.

I loved the characters of Toby, Luca, and Julian so so much and I wish we got more characterization and a detailed backstory of Willow as well. With that being said, the character list in this book is STACKED, so be prepared to memorize that family tree (there’s a nice little key at the beginning that was extremely helpful!), but if you’ve been around here a while, you know I love when books have a long character list!

I found the televangelist aspect to be extremely unique and made this book even more uneasy when it came to the secrets that were slowly revealed, and almost wish that aspect were built up in an even wilder way.

This is my first read from John Fram and won’t be my last!

*triggers will be posted on Storygraph - but major bigotry all-around*

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: July 23

This is a well-crafted, well-told, super scary Gothic story. I was rapt from the opening and I was rewarded for my attention. Each character is flushed out, there's no blending of characters nor was I left wondering over who is speaking or being spoken of. Fram writes his characters like they are people he's known forever. This is no small feat for a book with multiple characters, but Fram executes it marvelously! This tale is atmospheric and dark with supernatural elements that give a nice scare, and other times the fright comes from considering the trauma, pain, and fear of those who were hurt. This is definitely a book for the Gothic horror fan, and also for those who enjoy a good mystery. I read this book a few months ago and I've been telling everyone I know to check it out this summer. Go read it! You won't be disappointed.

Also, in the back matter Fram wrote that he felt he'd lost confidence in his writing at some point - if I remember correctly. I can only hope that he realizes what an amazing book he's created here, and what a talent he has. Fram is an awesome storyteller and this story was a worthy read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC!

I really enjoyed this book: it was absolutely wild at times. There was so much going on with all of these characters, I truly didn’t know what to expect or where the story would go.

When I started the book, I don’t think I was immediately sold on it. I found the first few chapters the story was almost trying to find its footing, which could be due to the many names you’re immediately introduced to, but once it picked up - it really just kept on going.

The religious components of this book definitely threw me off, because I don’t think I’ve read one like this before. There were so many more twists than I expected, and I think I maybe only guessed one or two of them correctly.

Overall, a super fun read and I’m definitely interested in reading more from John Fram!

Absolutely loved this book. At over 400 pages it’s almost considered an epic in my book! Man, you really love to hate the Wrights! Because they’re awful AWFUL horrible people but also because they’re parading as Christians and of course horrible people and fleecing their “flock” for all their money. And you also love to love Toby and Luca too. It’s just such well written characters and the twist is *mind blowing* and I quite love the ending as well. All the stars

Thank you to Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley, for the free E-copy for review.

No Road Home by John Fram is a creepy and claustrophobic read that takes the reader on a gripping journey. From the outset, we are introduced to Toby Tucker, a single father who has dedicated himself to shielding his sensitive son Luca from the bigotry of the world. However, when Toby marries Alyssa Wright, the granddaughter of a renowned televangelist, they find themselves plunged into a realm of religion, wealth, and hate.

As the story unfolds, a trip to the Wright family's Texas compound takes a perilous turn when Toby's father-in-law is found murdered, and suspicion immediately falls on Toby. Adding to the unease, Luca's descriptions of a spectral figure lurking around the house suggest that this family harbors more than just the crime at hand.

Initially, I found myself questioning Toby's decisions, wondering what he could have been thinking in getting himself and his son into such a precarious situation. However, as the narrative progresses, it becomes clear that Toby is carrying his own set of personal traumas and struggles, including the experiences of his sister. This added depth and complexity to the character, making me root for him even more as he fights to clear his name and protect his son.

The book takes an unexpected turn, veering in a direction I did not anticipate. My initial impressions of questioning Toby's actions gave way to a deeper understanding of the challenges he faces, and I found myself invested in his journey, hoping for the hero and his son to find a way out of the perilous predicament.

Ultimately, No Road Home emerges as a powerful exploration of a father's love, a brother's devotion, and the dark undercurrents of poverty, bigotry, and the abuse of power within the realm of religious institutions. It is a thought-provoking and immersive read that leaves a lasting impression.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own

Wow.

Crazy dysfunctional Texas families that lean heavily on preaching are some of my favorite tropes. When newlyweds Tobias(Toby) and Alyson and Toby's son, Luca head to Texas to celebrate Alyson's birthday with her family, the weekend goes from polite to crazy in a matter of seconds.

Short punchy chapters and a reasonably paced plot kept me engaged and I ended up finishing this in one sitting. If you like a murder mystery, add this to your beach bag!


Expected Publication Date 23/07/24
Goodreads Review 18/07/24

If you like rich messy family drama, closed room mystery, trapped during a storm trope, unreliable narrators, and action then this is for you.

We are following Toby Tucker and his son Luca who are going to Texas to meet his new wife’s wealthy family. Toby’s wife, 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. As soon as they arrive at the mansion trouble starts brewing. Someone is leaving terrible threatening written messages on doors, a storm rolls in and the murders began.

I enjoyed this thriller. I never read anything from John Fram before and I really enjoyed his writing style. The chapters were short and kept you wanting to read more. This had many tropes that I enjoy: locked room mystery, isolation, and a destructive storm. The story had a good atmosphere and the cast of characters were all pretty terrible humans, but that made the story more interesting. I would read from John Fram again and would recommend this book to thriller lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Meeting your in-laws for the first time is always a nerve-wracking event.

Toby and his son, Luca, are headed to Texas with Toby’s wife, a pediatrician and heiress named Alyssa. Alyssa has given Toby every reassurance she can muster about her family, because Luca is starting to show signs of being queer and Toby doesn’t want him around bigots; and, well, Alyssa’s grandfather is a famous televangelist. Alyssa tells him her family is too rich to be bigoted. Well, you can see how well this is going to go.

I liked the idea of this book much more than I liked the book itself. I liked the individual story components more than the whole. I liked the tropes, but not how they were assembled. Does that all make sense? It was like the ingredients were all there but the measurements were wrong and it was baked wrong.

For one, it was baked too long. This book was too long by far. The third act of a thriller should be where you kick it up a notch, but I honestly thought the third act was the slowest of the entire book. I kept saying, “We’re not done yet?”

Second, the repetitiveness. By the end of the second act my eyes were starting to glaze over every time I read the term “mind palace”.

Third, the ending. I’m sorry, but I can’t vibe with the ending. It wasn’t good.

I am going to list off a few TWs for you: incest, “wilderness” camp, homophobia, internalized homophobia, transphobia, CSA, suicide. Those are the big ones.

In the end, it was a very average novel that was well-written for the most part but just didn’t vibe as a whole.

I was provided with a copy of this title by Netgalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Since this review is rated three stars or lower it will not be appearing on my social media. Thank you.

File Under: Gothic Fiction/LGBTQ Fiction/Murder Thriller/Psychological Thriller

No Road Home by John fram is about Toby and his son Luca Tucker until recently they lived in LA but because he married Alyssa right they’re moving to Texas to live closer to her family. He is also from Texas and growing up has definitely heard of her grandfather Jerome Jeremiah Wright the pastor they call the prophet. Right before they reached her families palatial mansion they stop at the local Cracker Barrel where the cashier Lotty sees the hook shaped scar on Toby‘s arm and immediately tells him the profit told her to warn the man with that scar that he was heading into a nest of vipers but that right when she starts to mention his son his wife walks up and seems reluctant to leave him alone with the seemingly harmless cashier. When they first arrive at the Homestead Toby is met with a lot of new relatives and not all of them can wipe the shock off of their face when meeting seven-year-old Luca who has his hair in braids with beads. Despite growing up in Texas with his religious uncle after the death of his parents Toby as an adult isn’t religious at all but before the weekend is over he will definitely be asking the Lord for strength and praying that he and Luca make it out alive. This book was so good and there is way too much in it to give a good summary just know before the end of the first night there they already discussed sending Luca to get his hair cut short and to their camp to man him up there was so much I loved about this book they have so much in at a haunted house family secrets just know there’s talk of abuse and incest murder this book was so good! I do want to say though
Luca was seven years old and they kept referring to him as queer and I think that’s a distinction that should be left for him to decide just because he likes pink and his hair in braids doesn’t exactly mean he’s going to grow up and be queer. He may be but I think they should leave that for him to know and seven is way too young to be making such life decisions. There is nothing wrong with being queer I just think seven is a tad bit young they should leave it open until he at least hits his teens. Having said that however I also want to say I thought when Maria and Toby were questioning Matalia and he was in severe pain after having a tumor removed and he was only 12 but they wouldn’t give him anything for pain until he told them everything they wanted to know… I mean the boy was 12 and was in severe pain. I just thought that was wrong of Maria and Toby and also the way Toby had no problem going to potential killers everything someone else told him. Now that I have got the negatives out the way just know this is an awesome awesome book, it had real ghost I did get tired of hearing about Toby‘s labyrinth in memory palace that got super old super quick but I still absolutely recommend this book and still gave it five stars despite all the negative points because the rest was all awesome.#AtriaBooks, #NetGalley, #JohnFram, #NoRoadHome,

I was just complaining about reading too many ‘locked room’ mysteries and ironically here’s my second one in a row after just finishing Jamie Day’s One Big Happy Family. This one too is about a big and extremely dysfunctional family whose patriarch, the Prophet Jerome Jeremiah Wright, has made a fortune from televangelism and has used part of the money to build a mansion for the family in backwater Texas. This story though is creepily atmospheric and gothic with even some supernatural elements to it and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Tobias Tucker, the father of a non-binary kid named Luca, has just married into the Wright family and they have traveled to her family’s homestead to celebrate his wife Alyssa’s 30th birthday. The family includes the patriarch and prophet, his crazy old sister, two daughters, one son-in-law, and various grandchildren, including two who serve as servants in this vast mansion. It doesn’t take Toby long to figure out he’s made a big mistake by marrying Alyssa and bringing his young son into this viper’s nest. Then of course, a torrential rainstorm hits which washes out roads and cell phone service and traps them all in this weird mansion where it seems a murder has been committed. Meanwhile, Luca is seeing someone no one else can see…

The story is very spooky and atmospheric, with lots of twists, turns and surprises. This would make a terrific horror-suspense movie—hope someone has snapped up the movie rights! The author absolutely skewers this fundamentalist Christian family and lays bare their hypocrisy.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this exciting new thriller via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

I do not read much LGBTQ+ horror/mystery but found this novel intrigu9ing. Our hero, Toby Tucker, marries into a truly detestable family of televangelists and ends up having to protect his young son from their machinations. Toby will do anything to secure his son's safety. I did not anticipate the clever twists at the end There is alot of violence both in the present and in the past culminating in an apocalyptic finish. There is even a ghost.

Overall the story is well-written and very touching by the time we reach the end. This is a complex mystery in which everyone has secrets and nearly everyone lies. A family tree for the Wrights would have been of help! The book seems to have fewer layers initially than it ends up having by the end. The result of this is that you don't care as much for the characters in the first three quarters of the book as you do by the final quarter. They start out as fairly one dimensional and but then develop more and more complexity as the novel continues. I found the ending quite moving and the metaphor of the memory palace was powerful.

The writing is excellent; the plot is propulsive. I'm going back to a cozy MM romance now!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Toby visits his new wife’s estate. He’s familiar with the patriarch, as he’s a famous televangelist. When the televangelist is found murdered on their first night, Toby becomes the main suspect.

I really started off liking this one. For a locked room mystery in an estate with a storm, it was very uniquely done! I liked the concept, the plot, and the way the chapters were structured. It became too long for me and I got really tired of all the characters’ horrible behavior. They were all just so awful. I started not caring who killed who and wished they’d all just die.

“This family is so black with sin you couldn’t find it in the dark.”

No Road Home comes out 7/23.

Wowzer! This book has so much going on and it captures you in the beginning and the dark, gothic atmosphere keeps you mesmerized until the end. You will find LGBTQ rep, incest, homophobia, bigotry, mental health issues, supernatural elements, murder, revenge all combined to make a great locked room mystery/thriller with a bit of horror tossed in.

Toby Tucker is a single dad trying to provide and protect his sensitive son Luca. He lost his sister Willow and he saw how things effected her and doesn't want that to happen his son. He marries Alyssa Wright and she is granddaughter of televangelist. They go to Texas so he can meet the family.

This is one disturbed, creepy, bizarre family and the house has some mysterious things going on which adds to the mystery of what is going on?. The family will lie, backstab, and manipulate to try and make sure they keep the money they think they deserve.

The patriarch of the family gets killed. A storm comes and everyone is stuck on the estate until the roads are clear to travel. Things escalate quickly and Toby has gotten in way over his head. The family is trying to pin the murder on Toby as he tries to play sleuth and figure out who did it.

This book is fantastic in so many ways and you need to read it to fully appreciate it.

Rating: 4 ⭐️

Wow. A suspenseful thriller with so many moving pieces. I had a lot of theories reading this book but with the twists and turns was continuously surprised!

A good read that kept me on the edge of my seat. Definitely a solid 4 stars and worth the time/read in my opinion!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

What happens when you marry the granddaughter of a mega church televangelist? You'd think you found the perfect wife and a great family to help raise your son. But, on a visit to the family compound secrets are everywhere, no-one seems to be without sin, and the this family is anything but perfect. No Road Home was a quick read for me, it is a fast-paced whodunit with a horror twist. It is very much in John Fram's style for those whom enjoyed his previous book, The Bright Lands.

Please note, I received an ARC copy of this book for review from NetGalley, but that never influences my honest reviews of books or authors.

I accidentally submitted the wrong feedback. Working on review and will come before due date. Thank you for understanding!