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The Drifter
Glanton House was Carolyn Baxter's new home, the haunted island retreat her widowed mother was determined to transform into an inn. As if in answer to her prayer, tall raven-haired Joss Whitcomb appeared at their door and offered to be the handyman in return for room and board. But Carolyn was wary. Joss was dark, compelling, dangerous. He was still a stranger, even after he saved her mother from a near-fatal accident. And now they were alone in the eerie house he seemed to know so well. He knew the legend of the jealous sea captain doomed to kill again and again. But did he hear the ghostly whispers echoing through the halls at night? Did he know the unseen eyes that followed her every move? Who was Joss? Why was he here? How could she trust this devastating drifter when she feared for her life...?
231 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
19 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
Richie Tankersley Cusick
50 books798 followersRichie Tankersley Cusick is the bestselling young adult author of over 25 titles, including two adult horror titles, Scarecrow and Blood Roots. Her popularity grew at the height of the horror/YA boom in the late '80s/early '90s, particularly with books like Lifeguard , Trick or Treat and Teacher's Pet, just to name a few, allowing her to keep company on the bestseller paperback lists with the likes of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. Her fan base expanded about the time she changed publishers to Archway/Pocket Books with titles like Vampire and Someone at the Door.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 19, 2017
After completely enjoying the last two RTC books I read I found this one to be a complete let down. I know these are nothing more than trashy 90's teen pulp novels but even setting the bar that low this book fails, and it even went so far as to make me actually angry while reading it. I can forgive vapidness in teen fiction but I can't forgive out right negative messages.
Carolyn Baxter and her mother move into a house in a remote part of the east coast with hopes of rebuilding it into a bed and breakfast after her father suffers a fatal heart attack. As soon as they get to the house they start hearing rumors about it's dark and twisted past which make adjusting to her new home rather difficult for Carolyn. Things all seem to be going ok until a handsome drifter shows up at their house and offers to do some repairs in exchange for being able to stay in the house, and then the whole thing suddenly becomes a parent and teen's worst nightmare.
Parents, and would be parents alike, I ask you to envision the following scenario if you will. A stranger shows up on your door step with no last name, no work history and starts making eyes at your daughter. Do you
1) Tell him to get the hell out, you'll hire a licensed work contractor thank you very much.
2) Tell him you might be able to work out some arrangement but he will have to stay in servants quarters at the bottom of the house.
3) Invite him to stay right across the hall from your unprotected teenage daughter?
Why if you said 3 you might just be Carolyn Baxter's mother! Ooh, ooh let's play again.
So after setting up an adult male stranger right next to your daughter's bedroom said daughter comes to you and confesses she feels extremely anxious and frightened in this person's presence and does not feel safe around him. Do you
1) Listen respectfully to her fears and tell the man that you're very sorry but he must go.
2) Talk with her and work out a safe situation for her where she is protected but the man can still work.
3) Guilt trip her for having any reservations and then make a sly remark about her having sexual feelings for him before saying that you hope she's not planning on whoring herself out to other male guests once your business is up and running.
Well, can you guess which one Mrs Baxter chose?
I understand that parents are supposed to fulfill a certain degree of vapidness in teen novels, but what in the heck is RTC trying to say here? That if you are a teenager no one will listen to you and adults don't take your safety seriously? As if most teens don't have enough going on to worry about as it is!
The rest of the book is completely nonsensical and only possessed minor entertainment value. I'm giving it one more star because the ghost scenes were actually pretty creepy, but over all this completely lacked the charm of her previous works.
Carolyn Baxter and her mother move into a house in a remote part of the east coast with hopes of rebuilding it into a bed and breakfast after her father suffers a fatal heart attack. As soon as they get to the house they start hearing rumors about it's dark and twisted past which make adjusting to her new home rather difficult for Carolyn. Things all seem to be going ok until a handsome drifter shows up at their house and offers to do some repairs in exchange for being able to stay in the house, and then the whole thing suddenly becomes a parent and teen's worst nightmare.
Parents, and would be parents alike, I ask you to envision the following scenario if you will. A stranger shows up on your door step with no last name, no work history and starts making eyes at your daughter. Do you
1) Tell him to get the hell out, you'll hire a licensed work contractor thank you very much.
2) Tell him you might be able to work out some arrangement but he will have to stay in servants quarters at the bottom of the house.
3) Invite him to stay right across the hall from your unprotected teenage daughter?
Why if you said 3 you might just be Carolyn Baxter's mother! Ooh, ooh let's play again.
So after setting up an adult male stranger right next to your daughter's bedroom said daughter comes to you and confesses she feels extremely anxious and frightened in this person's presence and does not feel safe around him. Do you
1) Listen respectfully to her fears and tell the man that you're very sorry but he must go.
2) Talk with her and work out a safe situation for her where she is protected but the man can still work.
3) Guilt trip her for having any reservations and then make a sly remark about her having sexual feelings for him before saying that you hope she's not planning on whoring herself out to other male guests once your business is up and running.
Well, can you guess which one Mrs Baxter chose?
I understand that parents are supposed to fulfill a certain degree of vapidness in teen novels, but what in the heck is RTC trying to say here? That if you are a teenager no one will listen to you and adults don't take your safety seriously? As if most teens don't have enough going on to worry about as it is!
The rest of the book is completely nonsensical and only possessed minor entertainment value. I'm giving it one more star because the ghost scenes were actually pretty creepy, but over all this completely lacked the charm of her previous works.
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June 27, 2017Nostalgia re-read! RTC writes the most godawful, irresponsible parents ever, which I find incredibly charming. "Sure, let's invite this hot strange man to live with me and my teenage daughter in our brand new hometown and rickety old fixer-upper. What could go wrong?"
(Hint: everything.)
(Hint: everything.)
October 18, 2020
Very slow, and doesn’t pick up until the very end. And lol what a wild reveal! A foggy island, ghosts, a creepy stranger, an old dilapidated house, and a diabolical (and v convoluted) plan? A bit of a drag, but I’m here for it.
June 4, 2021
This is the story of someone with no common sense or understanding of red flags, who is thus condemned to suffer through an interminably long journey through every cliché connected with sea-based ghost stories: widow’s walks, disappearance at sea, faithless lovers and jealous husbands, pirates with hook hands…
To be fair to our protagonist Carolyn, her mother couldn’t spot a red flag if a man was beating her to death with it, so I guess she never had much of a chance.
To be fair to our protagonist Carolyn, her mother couldn’t spot a red flag if a man was beating her to death with it, so I guess she never had much of a chance.
August 18, 2023
This was fun. Some great beach descriptions and hot guy descriptions I would have eaten up as a teen. The jeans alone omg
March 26, 2014
I thought I had read pretty much every Point Horror book as a kid, but I must have missed this one. The title seemed familiar, but it's clear to me that I never read this one.
That being said, I legitimately enjoyed reading this now. I figured out who the "ghost" was, but the rest of the ending was a surprise.
All in all, this was entertaining and definitely helped to pass the time during a long doctor appointment.
That being said, I legitimately enjoyed reading this now. I figured out who the "ghost" was, but the rest of the ending was a surprise.
All in all, this was entertaining and definitely helped to pass the time during a long doctor appointment.
July 24, 2016
Hate to admit this, but I skimmed some parts of the book, not many though! The book can get repetitive as it's mostly Carolyn hearing and seeing suspicious and chides in with her companions. The strongest point of the book is perhaps the ghost parts as it does sound chilling and the mystery was semi-interesting.
Not one of Richie's best work, but can be good to pass afternoon reading this book.
Not one of Richie's best work, but can be good to pass afternoon reading this book.
March 11, 2015
I read this when I was a kid and then recently reread it as an adult; my rating is more for nostalgia's sake than anything else. I loved it when I was younger so it makes it a fun read now.
August 2, 2022
I haven't been disappointed in anything RTC has written and I hate saying I was let down by a book.
The back of the book promised something interesting and the inside had a lot of promise to start with but then it just faded out. Imagine a giant firework promising something stellar, light fuse and...it's a big old goose-egg dud.
Her descriptions and suspense are still there, the snappy dialogue, the interactions engaging and the swerve of the climax are still good.
Carolyn Baxter and her widowed mother move into Glanton House in a seaside island off the mainland. It was left to them by a great aunt neither one knew and who had a reputation of keeping to herself as a recluse.
Carolyn's mom wants to turn it into an inn but the stern housekeeper who comes with it, Nora, says it isn't meant for living souls. It belonged to a sea captain who gifted the house to his young bride and even built her a widow's walk to wait for him to come home.
Believing he was lost at sea after so long, the wife found a lover in a drifter passing through but her husband did return. His ship crashed on the rocks during a storm she did not witness but the lover did. Instead of offering the captain help, he cut off his hand clutching to the cliffs and watched him drown.
Soon however Captain Matthew Glanton returned home...and murdered the drifter as well as his wife, Carolyn, with a hook now replaced upon his hand.
The ocean wind is cold and the island foggy full of tales and calls of how the ghosts still haunt the house, ghost lights appearing on the shore, but Carolyn's mom doesn't believe in the past. Focusing on the future, Merriam Baxter hires a handyman to help out with the old house.
A stranger, a drifter not from town, named Joss Whitcomb appears on a rainy night and offers to work in exchange for a room. He's tall, dark, handsome, a tattoo on his arm of a skull and a gold hoop in his ear...Carolyn can't hep but be intrigued.
The intrigue becomes suspicion when he doesn't seem to hear the voices in the night and when Carolyn is out in town...Joss happens to be there when her mother has an accident. She survives but taken to the hospital on the mainland, Carolyn is left in the old house with Joss.
She tries to avoid him and let Joss do his job but Carolyn can't even go into town without still being drawn to the mystery of what happened so long ago in the house. Horror surrounded it then and terror seems to be within the walls now...
Everything sounds good doesn't it? I guess I thought the whole plot was going to be like a ghost story but no and it isn't gory yet I didn't really mind that. When we get to what's really going on, it's not as juicy as I thought it would be. The ending also seems so rushed and actually...too ambiguous.
I guess I would round it up to two and a half stars just because I do like RTC's style but not one of my favorites. If you haven't read it and are a big fan of RTC, you can go on your own judgements for it is still an interesting read.
The back of the book promised something interesting and the inside had a lot of promise to start with but then it just faded out. Imagine a giant firework promising something stellar, light fuse and...it's a big old goose-egg dud.
Her descriptions and suspense are still there, the snappy dialogue, the interactions engaging and the swerve of the climax are still good.
Carolyn Baxter and her widowed mother move into Glanton House in a seaside island off the mainland. It was left to them by a great aunt neither one knew and who had a reputation of keeping to herself as a recluse.
Carolyn's mom wants to turn it into an inn but the stern housekeeper who comes with it, Nora, says it isn't meant for living souls. It belonged to a sea captain who gifted the house to his young bride and even built her a widow's walk to wait for him to come home.
Believing he was lost at sea after so long, the wife found a lover in a drifter passing through but her husband did return. His ship crashed on the rocks during a storm she did not witness but the lover did. Instead of offering the captain help, he cut off his hand clutching to the cliffs and watched him drown.
Soon however Captain Matthew Glanton returned home...and murdered the drifter as well as his wife, Carolyn, with a hook now replaced upon his hand.
The ocean wind is cold and the island foggy full of tales and calls of how the ghosts still haunt the house, ghost lights appearing on the shore, but Carolyn's mom doesn't believe in the past. Focusing on the future, Merriam Baxter hires a handyman to help out with the old house.
A stranger, a drifter not from town, named Joss Whitcomb appears on a rainy night and offers to work in exchange for a room. He's tall, dark, handsome, a tattoo on his arm of a skull and a gold hoop in his ear...Carolyn can't hep but be intrigued.
The intrigue becomes suspicion when he doesn't seem to hear the voices in the night and when Carolyn is out in town...Joss happens to be there when her mother has an accident. She survives but taken to the hospital on the mainland, Carolyn is left in the old house with Joss.
She tries to avoid him and let Joss do his job but Carolyn can't even go into town without still being drawn to the mystery of what happened so long ago in the house. Horror surrounded it then and terror seems to be within the walls now...
Everything sounds good doesn't it? I guess I thought the whole plot was going to be like a ghost story but no and it isn't gory yet I didn't really mind that. When we get to what's really going on, it's not as juicy as I thought it would be. The ending also seems so rushed and actually...too ambiguous.
I guess I would round it up to two and a half stars just because I do like RTC's style but not one of my favorites. If you haven't read it and are a big fan of RTC, you can go on your own judgements for it is still an interesting read.
July 31, 2022
The Drifter by Richie Tankersley Cusick is about Carolyn and her mother, who, after the death of Carolyn's father, find out that they've inherited an old house from their old aunt. Carolyn's mother desires to turn the old house into a bed and breakfast. But Carolyn doesn't like the idea, especially considering its location - right on the cliffs over the sea in dense fog - and considering is grisly history. Soon, the history of the old house comes out to haunt Carolyn.
This book was wonderfully atmospheric and spooky. I love haunted stories that take place by the sea, spooky or no (see The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Haunting of Aveline Jones), and I am adding this book to that list of mine. Cusick has such a talent for making a location - haunted house, haunted school, haunted seaside cliffs - the most frightening place you could ever go. I was on the edge of my seat worried for Carolyn in that old house; I am sure I started hyperventilating at some point.
There were points in the plot and aspects of the characters, however, that I didn't like as much. For one thing, Cusick really knows how to make a character annoying. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and it makes sense for her stories. But I think I would like to have more chill, reasonable characters sometimes (like the brother in Trick or Treat). Carolyn also seems to trust or distrust other characters way too quickly: she doesn't take enough time to process anything, but especially people she's just met. Also, she really, really needs to stand up to her mother more.
The plot felt like things happened too quickly towards the end. I usually prefer very gradual revealings of different elements of a mystery, which is what I liked more about Trick or Treat. In this book, the beginning is slow with lots of atmosphere - this I liked. The end, though, hits you with a bunch of necessary plot points all at once. I would have liked to have gotten to know more in the beginning so that things would connect better later.
All of this said, I really did love the atmosphere of this book. I will definitely be reading more of Cusick's work, and I am so happy there is a giant backlog of books of hers to read!
*I read this book on Scribd*
This book was wonderfully atmospheric and spooky. I love haunted stories that take place by the sea, spooky or no (see The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Haunting of Aveline Jones), and I am adding this book to that list of mine. Cusick has such a talent for making a location - haunted house, haunted school, haunted seaside cliffs - the most frightening place you could ever go. I was on the edge of my seat worried for Carolyn in that old house; I am sure I started hyperventilating at some point.
There were points in the plot and aspects of the characters, however, that I didn't like as much. For one thing, Cusick really knows how to make a character annoying. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and it makes sense for her stories. But I think I would like to have more chill, reasonable characters sometimes (like the brother in Trick or Treat). Carolyn also seems to trust or distrust other characters way too quickly: she doesn't take enough time to process anything, but especially people she's just met. Also, she really, really needs to stand up to her mother more.
The plot felt like things happened too quickly towards the end. I usually prefer very gradual revealings of different elements of a mystery, which is what I liked more about Trick or Treat. In this book, the beginning is slow with lots of atmosphere - this I liked. The end, though, hits you with a bunch of necessary plot points all at once. I would have liked to have gotten to know more in the beginning so that things would connect better later.
All of this said, I really did love the atmosphere of this book. I will definitely be reading more of Cusick's work, and I am so happy there is a giant backlog of books of hers to read!
*I read this book on Scribd*
January 31, 2023
The house gets 3 stars, the rest of this story????? Okay, FIRST OF ALL, this was a little predictable. Second, she just forgives Joss in the end for his part in this? That note he wrote her in the end could have just been the lyrics to Brandy. "You're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be. But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea." Third, Eww Joss. Did she name this character after Joss Whedon? Blech.
This was not Richie's finest. 18 year old me might would have loved this, though, had I read it when it was first released.
This was not Richie's finest. 18 year old me might would have loved this, though, had I read it when it was first released.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2025
I read this book within a a couple of days, not because I was enjoying it, but rather that I just wanted it to be over. Definitely not up to the author’s usual standard. I found parts of the story ridiculously unbelievable. I don’t want to go into details and give away any spoilers, but read at your own peril.
November 25, 2018
Good little mystery with twists and turns
May 15, 2019
A fun, easy read. Kept me guessing for a bit.
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April 19, 2020I love a good 90s teen horror.
March 10, 2024
Een wel heel erg simpel verhaal. Taalgebruik was ook niet geweldig.
September 12, 2024
3.5 stars. A nostalgic reread. Trying to rate it as my younger self would have 😄. Unrealistic for sure, but still a good time.
September 2, 2025
Fun, but definitely takes a long time for anything to really happen. It got very Scooby Doo at the end there.
September 28, 2008
I read this because I love Richi's writing, but I was as impressed as I was with Trick or Treat.
July 13, 2012
Quite a good book, yes there were errors through a lot of the book, but it was still quite a good book..
I liked the surprise ending..
I liked the surprise ending..
August 23, 2015
This was a good book.
June 25, 2023
A gothic veiled YA thriller. Some really great scenes and visuals.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews