ABOUT:
From critically acclaimed author Jon Bassoff, The Memory Ward is a haunting Russian doll of a novel about one man’s attempt to discover what’s real and what isn’t …
They say it’s always beautiful in Bethlam, Nevada. No place you’d rather live. The people are friendly, if a little nosy, and there’s no crime to speak of. Life is pretty perfect.
But postal worker Hank Davies has started to suspect something is off in this idyllic little town. And he’s certain of that when he realizes the letters he’s been delivering are just blank pages.
Hank isn’t the only one who’s noticed the oddities in Bethlam. One such person knocks on his window in the middle of the night, urging him to investigate his bedroom wall. When Hank pulls back the wallpaper, he discovers dozens of sheets of paper, full of a story that is either complete madness or unbelievable truth. As he begins looking beyond the veneer of his smiling neighbors and their white picket fences, Hank is drawn further and further into a disturbing new reality …
Told in Bassoff’s lyrical and evocative style, The Memory Ward is a disquieting page-turner that examines the nature of identity, trauma, and what it means to be human.
PRAISE & REVIEWS:
“Bassoff whips up sufficient unease with his Twilight Zone setup…Blake Crouch fans will enjoy this mind-bender.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Haunting…Bassoff skillfully portrays flawed characters as sympathetic truth-seekers caught in a world presenting a dangerously cheerful facade…The underlying sinister feeling will entice fans of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines series…The Memory Ward is a strong addition to the psychological thriller genre.” ―Booklist
“The Memory Ward is a nesting doll of horror and suspense. Bassoff artfully crafts a novel that questions morality, free will, and what makes us human. Compelling from the first page to the last.” ―Erin E. Adams, Bram Stoker Award finalist and Edgar Award-winning author of Jackal
“The Memory Ward starts with a fast one-two combo of unease and quiet suburban terror and only gets better from there. If The Stepford Wives and The Truman Show had a creepy, punk rock baby, it would be The Memory Ward. Read it. Visit Bethlam. And don’t worry if your memories feel a little.” ―Gabino Iglesias, award-winning author of House of Bone and Rain
“This book scared the shit out of me so much I had to close my blinds one night while reading. It’s also funny as hell. And that’s where Jon Bassoff gets you, in that bizarrely tense space between unsettled and funny and heartwarming. I don’t know what or who is real anymore. I’m still shook!” ―Steven Dunn, author of Potted Meat
“Jon Bassoff’s The Memory Ward mixes the page-turning momentum of a beach read bent on thrills with eerie and mysterious Twilight Zone vibes. This exploration of the subjectivity of memory and self spirals down into the darkness beneath the idyllic town of Bethlam and demands we contemplate the disturbing truth of who we are (or aren’t). Fun and weirdly funny until its final-act trap springs, The Memory Ward merges the psychological thriller with the literary horror novel to unsettling results.” ―Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of The Loop
AUTHOR VISITS:
Visits with this author are available via Adventures by the Book!