The Ridge

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By Michael Koryta

Read by Robert Petkoff

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This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around June 8, 2011. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Discover a brilliant thriller set in a remote big-cat sanctuary: “one of the scariest and most touching horror tales in years” (James Patterson).


In an isolated stretch of eastern Kentucky, on a hilltop known as Blade Ridge, stands a lighthouse that illuminates nothing but the surrounding woods. For years the lighthouse has been considered no more than an eccentric local landmark — until its builder is found dead at the top of the light, and his belongings reveal a troubling local history.

For deputy sheriff Kevin Kimble, the lighthouse-keeper’s death is disturbing and personal. Years ago, Kimble was shot while on duty. Somehow the death suggests a connection between the lighthouse and the most terrifying moment of his life.

Audrey Clark is in the midst of moving her large-cat sanctuary onto land adjacent to the lighthouse. Sixty-seven tigers, lions, leopards, and one legendary black panther are about to have a new home there. Her husband, the sanctuary’s founder, died scouting the new property, and Audrey is determined to see his vision through.

As strange occurrences multiply at the Ridge, the animals grow ever more restless, and Kimble and Audrey try to understand what evil forces are moving through this ancient landscape, just past the divide between dark and light.

The Ridge is a brilliant thriller from international bestseller Michael Koryta, further evidence of why Dean Koontz has said “Michael Koryta’s work resonates into deeper strata than does most of what I read” and why Michael Connelly has named him “one of the best of the best.”


The Ridge is a classic ghost story, penned by a master. I couldn’t put it down, even though I almost screamed when the wind blew a branch against the tree outside my study. Yes, it’s that scary.” –Stephen King


Genre:

  • ACCLAIM FOR SO COLD THE RIVER:
    "This book builds like a summer storm. Beautiful to watch until it shakes the house and knocks out the lights, leaving you alone in the dark. Another masterful work from Michael Koryta, SO COLD THE RIVERis guaranteed to put the cold finger down your spine."
    Michael Connelly
  • "Koryta has ventured into genre-bending, successfully melding thriller elements to a horror story that recalls Stephen King."
    Kirkus Reviews
  • "An icy, terrifying winner. So Cold the River puts an October chill in your blood by the end of the first chapter. It's not much longer before you've turned on all the lights and rechecked all the window locks. Few novelists warrant mention alongside Stephen King or Peter Straub. Michael Koryta, however, earns comparison to both."
    Dennis Lehane
  • "Kortya's SO COLD THE RIVER is an example of the good-writing equals good-reading equation that makes fright-inducing fiction worthy of our time, attention, and real enjoyment."
    Dan Simmons, author of The Terror and Drood
  • "A cataclysmic finale will put readers in mind of some of the best recent works of supernatural horror, among which this book ranks."
    Publishers Weekly (starred review)
  • "So Cold the River is a great story, but what held me was the lean, clean prose and the sharp presentation of scenes and dialogue. Michael Koryta is a good story teller and a wonderful stylist."
    Joe R. Lansdale
  • "Michael Koryta is a gifted storyteller. His writing reminded me of the great Ruth Rendell--eerie, suspenseful, and pleasantly wicked. If you're looking for a dose of Midwestern Gothic at its best, SO COLD THE RIVER will be just the thing for you."
    Scott Smith, author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins
  • "A gripping chiller that will keep them guessing - and looking under the covers - until the last page..."
    Library Journal
  • "An edgy, seat-of-your-pants thriller with a supernatural edge..."
    Entertainment Weekly
  • "A superior specimen...beautiful and resplendent."
    Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times

On Sale
Jun 8, 2011
Publisher
Hachette Audio
ISBN-13
9781609412340

Michael Koryta

About the Author

Michael Koryta is the New York Times bestselling author of 12 suspense novels, including Rise the DarkLast Words, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The ProphetThe Ridge, and So Cold The River.  His work has been praised by Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Dennis Lehane, Daniel Woodrell, Ron Rash, and Scott Smith among many others, and has been translated into more than 20 languages. His books have won or been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Edgar® Award, Shamus Award, Barry Award, Quill Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the Golden Dagger.

Before turning to writing full-time, Koryta worked as a private investigator, a newspaper reporter, and taught at the Indiana University School of Journalism. Koryta’s first novel, the Edgar-nominated Tonight I Said Goodbye, was accepted for publication when he was 20 years old. He wrote his first two published novels before graduating from college, and was published in nearly 10 languages before he fulfilled the “writing requirement ” classes required for his diploma.

Koryta was raised in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Koryta and his wife, Christine, divide their time between Bloomington and Camden, Maine, with a cranky cat named Marlowe, an emotionally disturbed cat named John Pryor (named after the gravestone on which he was found as an abandoned kitten), and a dog of unknown heritage named Lola.

 

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