Book details

Review

“A jaw-dropping mystery that makes a hairpin turn on nearly every page.” (Entertainment Weekly (Grade A, EW “pick”) on THE INTRUDERS )“Fast-moving, sinister and highly accomplished…This is ferocious story-telling of the highest order, with corkscrew twists and turns that make it deliciously scary as the secrets unfold.” (Daily Mail (London) on BAD THINGS )“Better keep your night-light on.” (Post-Tribune (Gary, Indiana) on THE INTRUDERS )“The suspense kills....Marshall knows how to pull you into his net, hold you encased, and then throw a one-two punch when you’re looking the other way. The Intruders is fast, original, and thoroughly engrossing.” (Madison County Herald (Mississippi) )”Will have readers looking over their shoulders...as Marshall drives it home with a brilliant ending....The Intruders’ originality and suspense keeps the story fresh.” (Times Union (Albany, NY) )“This spooky tale shows Marshall...has a knack not only for the frisson of dread but also the telling psychological insight.” (Publishers Weekly on BAD THINGS )“Fluid blend of crime and horror. . . . Pervasive creepiness.” (New York Daily News on THE INTRUDERS )“Marshall is a master of the unpredictable; nothing is as it seems, and no event can be anticipated….This guy is a marvel.” (Bookreporter.com (generic quote) )“What I love about Marshall’s work is his off-kilter view of like and death, which in The Intruders is at its most menacing.. . . . I just loved this book.” (Deadly Pleasures magazine )“Fans of King, Koontz, and John Connelly’s supernatural-tinged crime novels should find much to enjoy here....[ Marshall ] infuses his mystery with elements of the fantastic that simmer, chill, and ultimately haunt the memory....Surprises to keep the pages turning right up until the last silky black paragraphs.” (Mystery Scene on THE INTRUDERS )“Remarkable.” (Locus on THE INTRUDERS )“Potent, character-driven thriller about personality manipulation and brainwashing. . . . Subtle, satisfying—and really scary.” (Kirkus Reviews on The Intruders )“The ending of this thriller is complex and creepy, but the fun is in getting there....This guy is good. Marshall knows how to create real suspense, how to dole it out slowly and catch you off guard....A story that will not let you go.” (Arizona Republic on THE INTRUDERS )“A well-constructed, terrifying story...The Intruders is so good, readers will be compelled to check out [Marshall’s] 2002 novel, The Straw Men, which Stephen King called ‘a masterpiece.’” (USA Today )“Michael Marshall is the new Stephen King, to the nth degree. He successfully complements Carol O’Connell’s tormented characters for roller-coaster-like psychological twists and thrills....BAD THINGS deserves six stars.” (www.BookReporter.com on BAD THINGS )“Seduce(s) the reader with its chilling momentum.” (Business Day (South Africa) )“Well-crafted and intriguing. . . . The Intruders twists and turns its way through a wonderfully weird and frightening tale. The fights are bloody, the chills are sub-zero, and the finale is jaw-dropping. How can you go wrong?” (Ian Kern, Mysterious Bookshop, NYC )“Welcome to the truly twisted world of Michael Marshall. He plays with your head and appeals to your own deep and dark imagination.” (The Mirror on THE INTRUDERS )“[T]his book knows how to tighten your innards. Marshall anchors your sympathy with his characters, and then unravels them in subtle ways with every turn of the screw. ” (www.blogcritics.com )“A masterpiece . . . brilliantly written and scary as hell.” (Stephen King on STRAW MEN )“A genuinely scary thriller with satisfyingly malevolent villains.” (The Sun Herald (Australia) )“Michael Marshall...is one of those writers who can propel readers along with a rocketing, inventive plot, then stop them cold with a brilliant descriptive line that demands repeated reading....A compelling plot, characters who are completely believable and unforgettable, and sharp, smart insights into the nature of modern life.” (New Orleans Times-Picayune )“A mind-blowing combination of crime and horror, made all the more terrifying because the character doesn’t know why it’s all happening. Compelling and unnerving.” (Romantic Times BOOKclub )“Marshal rachets up the stakes of his deftly written suspense novel by injecting telling, if somewhat paranoid, commentary on how regular people can be manipulated by those with the means and ways.” (Booklist on KILLER MOVE )“Marshall...offers a subtle and unnerving story of the little things that can tip the balance of one’s life and send it spiraling into choas...[he] skillfully spins interlocking plot lines as the agents out to ruin Moore and Hunter begin to collide in nightmarish fashion.” (Publishers Weekly on KILLER MOVE )“Potent blend of suspense, paranoia and just plain creepiness. . . . A provocative and supremely intelligent thriller.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )“The pacing is excellent, the plotting brisk. . . . Scary brilliance.” (Baltimore Sun on THE INTRUDERS )“taut action and appealing characters” (San Francisco Chronicle )“Keeps the reader off-kilter....Will have readers looking over their shoulders, feeling a bit paranoid themselves, as Marshall drives it home with a brilliant ending.” (South Florida Sun-Sentinel on THE INTRUDERS )Keeps readers guessing with twisting plot...adrenaline-paced...addictive.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer )Keeps readers guessing with twisting plot . . . adrenaline-paced...addictive.” (Cleveland Plain Dealer on THE INTRUDERS )“The pacing is excellent, the plotting brisk.....Scary brilliance.” (Baltimore Sun )“Marshall does an extraordinary job. . . . The Intruders captures a sense of the menacing inevitable” (Time Out London )“Devilishly clever. . . . For fans of Stephen King as well as those of, say, Robert Cras, The Intruders is a tautly crafted page-turner of the first order.” (BookPage )“Fluid blend of crime and horror....Pervasive creepiness.” (New York Daily News )“Marshall is a powerful writer who sprinkles bizarre twists....It’s easy to become attached to Marshall’s fully drawn characters.” (Olympian (Olympia, WA) )“Marshall builds up suspense slowly . . . Black Ridge – like the Maine towns populated by Stephen King’s characters – is not a place you want to visit.” (Booklist on BAD THINGS )“Readers will find it very hard to put down this well-written and somewhat spooky novel.” (Library Journal )“This is a psychological thriller guaranteed to keep you up at nights.” (Arcadian Lifestyle )“[Marshall’s] plots lead straight into the dark woods and have a spooky and paranoid edge....The Intruders...never relents in its own, cold conviction that there is someone dangerous out there.” (Hobart Mercury (Australia) )“A well-told thriller... [that] has several unexpected curves along the way.” (Crimespree Magazine on THE INTRUDERS )“A nerve-wracking story full of bizarre twists....Mr. Marshall recalls Stephen King’s ability to set a story in the world of the commonplace, then suddenly jolt it into a more hellish realm. He also has some of Mr. King’s ability to rivet attention with eerie surprises.” (Janet Maslin, New York Times )“A spooky, mysterious, suspenseful thriller, the kind that keeps you on the edge throughout.” (Acadiana LifeStyle magazine (New Iberia, LA) on BAD THINGS )

Product Description

Stephen King hailed Michael Marshall's novel Straw Men as “a masterpiece . . . brilliantly written and scary as hell.” Now, Marshall returns with this latest unnerving tale—a creepy, fast-paced thriller that grips you from the first page straight through to its shocking end. Bill Moore already has a lot, but he wants more . . . much more. He's got a lucrative job selling condos in the Florida Keys, a successful wife, a good marriage, a beautiful house. He also has a five-year plan for supersuccess, but that plan has begun to drag into its sixth year without reaping its intended rewards. So now Bill's starting to mix it up—just a little—to accelerate his way into the future that he knows he deserves. Then one morning Bill arrives at work to find a card waiting for him, with no indication who it's from or why it was sent. Its message is just one word: modified. From that moment on, Bill's life begins to change. At first, nothing seems very different. But when things begin to unwind rapidly, and one after another, people around Bill start to die, it becomes increasingly clear that someone somewhere has a very different plan for Bill's future. Confused and angry, Bill begins to fight against this unseen force until he comes to a terrifying, inescapable realization: Once modified, there's no going back.