What a heartbreaking read this was!

As you start the read, you absolutely know what the book is about...until you realize that you absolutely do NOT. There are some really terrific surprises here!

The book is violent, touching, and incredibly sad.

It's also fast paced and simply fun to read - and points to a bit of an homage to a very favorite Twilight Zone episode!

A fantastic read!

* ARC via Publisher

All of a sudden everyone seems to be raving about this book, Stephen King included, and while I enjoyed it well enough I was not as blown away by it as he seemed to be. It was undoubtedly an interesting premise, and it raised some interesting questions along the way, but something about it just fell a little short for me. Unfortunately I'm not really sure what that something is, just that it seemed to be lacking it. I liked out main character Jess, although she was vaguely impulsive and honestly made a few choices that didn't seem to make any sense, but she was young and in a tough spot, so I can't exactly fault her for that. I also liked the child character (mostly called Kiddo throughout the book), and felt that Cassidy did a good job writing through his eyes the handful of times we got to see it. The smattering of other character POVs we got were fine. As I said above the plot was certainly an interesting one, and the "twist" really ended up adding more to the story than I was expecting. All in all it really was an enjoyable ride, it just didn't knock me off my feet. Perhaps it was just a little too silly at times? Maybe I wanted there to be just a little more substance? Honestly I'm not really sure, and perhaps I never will be. Whatever it is that's missing for me does mean that I won't be fearlessly championing it to whoever will or won't listen, but I'll still be happy enough to suggest customers pick it up if it's something I think they might be interested in, and I might even whip up a shelf-talker for it. I'll also be keeping an eye out for whatever Cassidy puts out next, because despite not loving his books quite as much as some in the horror community his work is certainly solid and contains some good scares.

I want to start by giving a huge thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for allowing me to read this book & share my thoughts! I was so excited when I was approved!!!
How can I begin to describe the whiplash I experienced on this emotional rollercoaster?! This was filled with moments that were terrifying & creatures stepping right out of nightmares! We are given lots of gore, death, and intense sentiments of trauma/fear/loss of control.
The book is fast-paced, and I didn't feel that it dragged for me at all. Just when I thought I understood what was going on, there was a twist!
I was really drawn to the characters, and they tore my heart out! I loved the connection that Jess established with the little boy & how they bonded through similar relationships with their paternal figures.

The very end was alright but I significantly liked this book more than Nestlings, which I also made a review on. My favorite out of the two! Overall, this was a great horror read, in my opinion, with a great atmosphere of mystery!
Then, the Afterword from the author was very touching!

🐺🏡🩸No one will be spared🩸🏡🐺

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - Franklin D. Roosevelt


Jess is a waitress/failed actress that is having the shittiest shift of her life, when she finally goes home, she finds herself as the new self appointed guardian of a terrified tiny human that is on the run fearing for his life from his Dad. The night goes bad to out of this world extremely wrong. On the run crazy shit keeps happening, and soon, they might find out what happens when the wolf comes home.

This book took off from 0-60 and forgot to put the brakes pedals on. It's brutal, visceral, and it tugs on your heartstrings. It's so morally complicated in more ways than one. A heartbreak and gut punch mixed perfectly with horror and thrill.

The relationship between Jessa and Kiddo and how she tries her best to be positive and uplifting while also dealing with her own personal shit, is the closest that you can describe being a parent, we don't know what we are doing, we just hoping not to fuck it up while trying. The "wolf" and other stuff happening in the book was insane! The descriptions, the sheer obliteration, and decimation without any remorse or discrimination was so refreshing to see. No one will be spared... when the wolf comes home...

This was true bone-chilling nightmare fuel.


I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this e-book ARC and absolute masterpiece of horror!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first Nat Cassidy book and it definitely won't be my last. I can see why so much people recommend their books! This was a great fix of supernatural thriller that explored fear and anxiety and family trauma in a way that kept me engaged.

I'm not going to say anything else because you just need to dive into this book.

this book was everything and then some.
It gutted me, it haunted me, and it left me sobbing!! The emotional grip this story had on me? Absolutely unreal.

The story shows the representation of fear and how it roots itself in our lives, how it controls us, and how it lingers long after the monster is gone. I’m still crying just thinking about it.

This book has everything: honestly five stars isn’t enough. This is a story that is going to be stuck with me for a long time!

Nat Cassidy is an auto-buy author for me! I love his writing and his books are always compelling and horrifying. When the Wolf Comes Home was another fantastic book by Cassidy. I loved the wild storyline, the characters, and the gory horror moments.

The story was a mix of a lot of different genres. It was part horror, action, drama, and a little sci-fi. It felt different than Cassidy’s previous work. There was a lot going on in the story, but it never felt confusing or disjointed. The story was so engrossing from the very beginning. It was action packed and exciting.

I loved the ending, even though it made me sad. I also loved the afterword by Cassidy. He has the best afterwords in his books!

I definitely recommend this book to horror lovers. I will definitely be buying a copy of When the Wolf Comes Home once it’s released. I can’t wait for Cassidy’s next book!

Wow. If you’re able to, go into this book knowing as little as possible about it. This will add to the shocking moments, along with the unexpected moments of humor.

Still want to know about it? Well, the book begins with a server called Jess getting poked in the finger by a used syringe while cleaning the bathroom. From there, the stakes become much, much higher. If you enjoy horror and fairy tales, this one should be right up your alley.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Nat Cassidy knows how to do horror with heart! When the Wolf Comes Home had me feeling all the feels😭🫣🫠🤯

Late one night, Jess stumbles upon a scared boy outside her apartment. Just when she thinks she’s done something good, a werewolf shows up, in search of the boy and leaves bloody chaos behind. Talk about a quick plot twist! 🐺💥 So Jess and her new little friend take off from the monster and an emotional suspense filled adventure immediately begins.

This sci-fi-thriller comes in hot and stays fast-paced right til the end. I didn’t see half of what was coming and I loved the ride.

*thanks to #netgalley and @tordotcompub and @catnassidy 👊🏻for this arc opportunity. Pub date is April

This was a wild ride of a horror novel that I thought was going in one direction, and then swerved into a whole other direction that I didn't see coming. But Cassidy mostly pulled it off, with lots of suspense, lots of gore, and some really effective beats of pathos to boot. I will say that I was left a bit cold by the ending, but overall it was a pretty good horror ride, even if it wasn't what I was expecting.

𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒔. 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑯𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓. 𝑨𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.

I barely skimmed the synopsis, not really sure of the plot, but I wanted to know why so many of my book friends said this book made them cry. When I finished the author's notes, I understood. When the author wrote, "My father was a shapeshifter" I understood that to my very core.

If the Supernatural episode "Bedtime Stories" had a baby with early Dean Koontz, this book would be the result. After a brutal prologue that immediately piqued my interest, I settled in with Jess, a struggling actress working a dead-end job at a diner. She's cleaning the restroom when it happens...the moment that changes the trajectory of her life. Shortly after arriving home, she finds a five-year-old boy hiding in the bushes outside her apartment. After a horrific, bloody encounter with the boy's father, she's forced to go on the run to save herself and this mysterious boy who understands so little of the modern world.

Part creature horror and part grief horror, the tension was unrelenting, and I was not prepared for the sucker punches of soul-shattering grief. It's absolutely unreal how complex and layered this story is while at the same time communicating an almost ancient simple wisdom that everyone at some point will face.

Many thanks to Tor Nightfire for this early read. This title is expected to publish April 22, 2025.

"All dads are mother fuckers." With that opening, you had me hooked Nat. I devoured this story from the start to the end and I greatly appreciated the epilogue. If you didn't know, I love epilogues where the author explains their thought processes behind their writing. It's a top tier aspect in a book that I will always appreciate. Also, thank you for your take on content warnings. I appreciate it!

The boy, the wolf, the dad, the fmc all had me in their grips and wouldn't let me go. The plays on memory, creation, imagination and fear all made for lots of moments and thoughts that will stick with me.

There were moments of pure grossness ala Rest Stop (think eyes) and some straight up whacky turns of events. But the real kickers are the moments that punched me in the gut with how brutal the events played out. "No one will be spared when the wolf comes home."

Anytime I feel a prickle on the back of my neck, I'll think of that thread. It played on a very real fear of mine while adding to it - the fear of losing myself to my own mind.

Huge thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the advanced E-book!

Just preorder it. Don’t read the back. Don’t look into it at all. Go in blind and trust Nat Cassidy’s clinical attention to detail to destroy your reality.

This book sent my OCD on a rampage and gave my nightmares more fuel than I’ve ever known. At times it felt like reading my childhood journal in ways that were absolutely panic inducing. And it’s a horror novel, so that means it’s doing a damn good job. And that is all the information you need.

Go feel the fear.

This is SO MUCH MORE than what the synopsis gives. I was settled in for a werewolf book, but pretty quickly I was left reeling when the story's true nature was revealed. What I assumed was going to be a quirky, dark, creepy (this is Nat Cassidy, after all) retelling of the Big Bad Wolf became something much deeper and more striking.

This is a story about fear, itself. About loneliness and connection and facing demons, real and imagined, external and internal. I loved it. Cassidy fills these pages with action (essentially it's The Terminator?) and emotion, with humor and horrors. This is his strongest work yet.

Holy shit this was amazing. I loved it. At first I wasn’t sure if I’d like it as much as NC’s others but by 35% I couldn’t put it down. This was so unique and literally bonkers.

I'm starting to think that Nat Cassidy is scared of public restrooms.

No part of this book was what I expected and that's not a bad thing. When the Wolf Comes Home kept me on my toes the whole time- I can honestly say I had no idea what was going to happen next. There was a lot happening in this book and I think that made it feel a bit long. While I don't really think this was a book for me, I do think it was extremely well written, fast paced and entertainingThe characters were great and I quite enjoyed the bit with Who Killed Roger Rabbit.

*The trigger warning at the beginning of this one might just be my favorite part of the whole book!

Jess is tired. Tired of her job at a middling diner, tired of pursuing audition after audition with no callbacks, and tired of stagnation. One night, after a long shift where she’s had to emotionally process her estranged father’s death as well as an unfortunate incident in the diner’s bathroom, she returns home to find a small boy hiding outside her apartment. He asks her for help; the boy is running from his father. Before Jess can fully comprehend the situation, she’s face to face with the boy’s father…. who shapeshifts into something monstrous. Grabbing the boy and fleeing for her life, Jess and the child find themselves on the run in a fast-paced horror that evokes Stephen King’s Firestarter.

This is faster paced than Cassidy’s other books, but the fast pace does not sacrifice character development. Jess is such a dynamic character and she’s a fun main character. This book has some gruesome body horror scenes and deaths, some fantastical horror, but it’s also genuinely funny at times, and the ending is incredibly heartfelt and moving. This is horror with heart, and it was such an engaging read.

Nat Cassidy’s latest book is a strong addition to his work; cementing him as an auto-read author for me. He nails what I love so much about horror - its ability to frighten, yes, but also its ability to reflect the beauty of the human experience, to review the good and the bad, and to remind us all that we are not alone.

Nat Cassidy is a favorite and When the Wolf Comes Home (WtWCH) hit that sweet spot in horror that plays on those fears of ‘what if’? I saw a movie once when I was a kid that scared the heck out of me yet fascinated me at the same time and this story touches a bit on this. What if someone’s wishes or fears could be put into reality? Terrifying! What if that person was a child? Even more terrifying!

WtWCH is a run for your life kind of horror, all on the road action with this insane horror element where you just don’t know what’s going to be thrown at the MC’s next – what foul horror could possibly be around the corner and then BOOM, Nat just hits you with this vivid imagery of your worst nightmare. I would say your worst childhood nightmare but seriously, as an adult, yeah, slippery trail to follow in my wake, friends. And then, there’s the characters! Just so well written and intense!

Again, not to compare but true horror fans are always searching for that book that reminds them of their favorites that make them feel a certain way. Back in the 90’s I was gobbling down Robert McCammon books and to be completely honest, I’ve not found an author that quite gives me the feeling that his books did then. Nat’s books give me that same feeling – escapism at it’s finest.

That’s all I’m going to say about this aside from strongly urging each and every horror fan to pick this one up and read it!

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for this gifted DRC!

A fast paced, assault on the senses horror novel that takes werewolves and fear to a whole new level.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a free e-book and audiobook through NetGalley. Thank you to Tor Nightfire, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the free advanced reader copies. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The audiobook for this was done extremely well. I really enjoyed the narrator, Helen Laser. She did a fantastic job, differentiating the voices to the person as well as adding tempo and emotion to the story. She definitely put on a performance with this one. I really enjoyed hearing Nat Cassidy come in periodically and do some narration. I really enjoyed the author being included in the audiobook, and I wish more audiobooks would do so.

Nat Cassidy took this novel and created a masterpiece of horror fiction. Gristly and heart stopping body gore mixed with pure fear and adrenaline. I could not put this down. We follow Jess who is a down on her luck, out of work actress working in a diner. After experiencing an unfortunate event, she runs into a small boy hiding in the bushes outside of her home. She quickly realizes this boy is scared of, and running from, an abusive father takes him under her wing and ends up on the run as well. But this boy has some abilities that exceed the imagination. And these abilities, invoke a fear in those around them that is unmatched and uncontrollable. This was a wild car chasing heart, stopping ride from beginning to end.

The premise of the story is highly unique. And not only is the premise unique, but the execution is elite. I loved this. I could not put it down. I was thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it and I just absolutely was mesmerized by how well this rolled out. The action is almost nonstop within the novel. It is fast paced, and just dripping with plot and character development. I did not see the ending coming in and that just made it even more outstanding. My jaw was on the floor.

Highly recommend. 5⭐️ no notes.

I did not expect to crack up at the beginning of the book because I was ready to be scared. But that comment about trigger warnings was quite funny. He is going to leave a TW to people who are triggered by book having TWs. I want to see how far he is going to take it!

Back to the book itself... yes, we are our own monsters. Things we fear (the usuals like dying, dark, heights and the unusuals like our own imagination and freak minds) shape us up in a very particular way. Those fears can be projected on others (or characters created) when we are in self-preservation mode. And this story was one big coping mechanism.

I scream a little every time I see a new Nat Cassidy book because I know he is going to mess with my brain (in a good way). Him and Catriona Ward have this impact on me when it comes to reading horror. Keep on doing what you are doing and give us more convoluted plots!