Call Off the Dark

by Hallie Shepherd

A haunting, atmospheric debut thriller with a love story at its heart, following a feisty young woman caught between her husband and a mysterious stranger who disturbs their off-grid life in rural Washington.

Helen and Tyler were soulmates, a couple with a storybook beginning and an enduring bond, until Tyler’s sudden murder shattered her world. Numb with grief and desperate for escape, Helen impulsively marries Wade—a near stranger—and goes off-grid with him to a farmhouse in rural Washington, far from her polished Seattle existence.

By day, Helen, who definitely wasn’t built for canning food and sewing dresses, contemplates setting her garden on fire. By night, she faces down insomnia and PTSD with her collection of poems by Plath and Poe—and daydreaming about her past with Tyler. But the routine of her “trad wife” life is broken when an unexpected traveler Isaac, Wade’s broodingly mysterious brother.

Wade is stunned—Isaac died in a horrific farm accident years ago—and he quietly insists to Helen they are in danger. Helen isn’t sure what to believe. Has Isaac truly come back from the dead? Is Wade manipulating her fragile grip on reality? Or is her mind turning against her? As her suspicions close in from every side, Helen must navigate a maze of secrets, grief, and uncertainty—where trusting the wrong person could be fatal.

A stunningly original debut, Call Off the Dark blends a heart-piercing love story, immersive psychological drama, and spine-tingling thriller, resulting in a multilayered, transportive narrative that reminds us of the magic in human connection and that our truest partners in life can keep us tethered to the world, even from the grave.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Audiobook

352 pages, ebook

Expected publication September 22, 2026

About the author

Hallie Shepherd is an author, screenwriter, actor, and producer. Her debut novel, Call Off the Dark, blends psychological suspense, gothic tension, and a deeply felt love story.

Originally from a tiny town in the Pacific Northwest, Hallie grew up running around in the woods, shooting “short films” with her friends on a video camera, and writing a weekly column for the county newspaper.

Her background in film and television influences her love of cinematic novels that balance pacing and atmosphere, as well as storytelling that moves between genres rather than staying inside a single box. Her favorite books are those with gray-area complexity that reveal both darkness and light.

Hallie now lives in Los Angeles with her filmmaker husband, where she continues writing stories for both page and screen.

Hallie’s Website
Follow Hallie on Instagram

Reviews

[MarilynW]

Call Off the Dark by Hallie Shepherd

I'm really dipping my toes into horror right now and I've learned I can't expect to know what is going because we are not going to get answers (or answers that make sense) when it comes to this kind of horror story. So I just took it all in and really was horrified for a number of reasons. One reason was that Helen goes from her interesting (although sometimes boring) big city life and jumps head first into being a subservient, way off the grid, lonely housewife for a man she surely doesn't love and maybe doesn't even like at all.

I love country living but I'd never want to give up myself to become whatever Helen has become but she is dealing with major grief after being present for the brutal murder of her first husband, Tyler, in that big city they had loved so much. Losing her husband, especially in such a violent manner, did something to Helen's brain and heart and when she has a chance meeting with a stranger named Wade, she is primed to make a very impetuous change to a life that had become meaningless and worthless to her.

In her new life in the middle of rural Washington, where Helen rarely sees anyone, Wade likes it that way, so he even makes sure she doesn't get to go to town much anymore. Helen doesn't help her mental health by reading Plath and Poe. She can't sleep, her mind wanders back to Tyler all the time, and she knows she's made a huge mistake becoming an "insta trad wife" but she doesn't have it in her to do anything else. Helen does know her something has to give and it just may be her sanity.

Then Wade's brother, Isaac, shows up and things take a turn for the worse mostly, but at least it's different. The thing is, Wade says his brother is dead, he was there when Isaac died, and something is very wrong for this dead man to be in their house, talking to them, flirting (maybe) with Helen, and wavering between menacing and friendly. So, is Wade crazy, is Helen crazy, and what's up with brother Isaac? There is a little bit of Helen that wasn't even happy in her past life and that had me wondering about her in this life. Has she lost touch with reality? It was hard to relate to Helen, who was too different from me before the trad wife transformation and then once she is Wade's wife, I could see how Helen could go crazy by the smothering life she is living with Wade. Who is real, what is real, and is there any escape? I like the way the story ended because it surprised me. I certainly would have had no idea where to go with what was going on.

Publication September 22, 2026

Thank you to William Morrow, SOTC Early Read, and NetGalley for this ARC

[Dutchie]

After losing her husband to a senseless act of violence, Helen moves to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and adopts a simpler lifestyle. She has remarried and is trying to move on, but everything is upheaved when her husband‘s brother shows up out of nowhere.

Where I think this book really excelled was showing the grief and loss that Helen felt. By having the past timeline showing how she and Tyler met gave a good snapshot as to who she was as a character and what she was feeling with her grief. I found those parts of the novel had the heaviest emotional impact. I thought it gave a good reason for why Helen chose to move to the farmhouse, isolated deep within the woods, and adopt a tradwife style of living. The setting was loaded with atmosphere, and the choice of poetry that Helen read gave it an extra eerie flair.

Where I feel like it lost me a little bit was with the supernatural elements, as well as Helen’s relationship with Wade and Isaac. I just didn’t find it believable. Not the supernatural elements, the actual relationship piece of it. Maybe because I didn’t get enough backstory on Wade that I had a hard time relating to that relationship. As for Isaac, I think that relationship is going to be a little tricky with readers. I feel like they’ll either love it or hate it. While I liked his role in the novel, I wasn’t a fan of his relationship with Helen. It was odd. But these are all just personal preferences as always.

While for most of the book I found it impossible to put down, around the 65% mark it started to drag a little bit for me. I think maybe the combination of all the different genres didn’t work 100% in this case, but it was still a very compelling read.

This is definitely a good debut novel and an author to be on the lookout for.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

[Liana Gold]

3.75! Helen's husband Tyler is murdered. She is devastated and can't cope with grief, so she married a man she barely knew and goes to live with him in Wyoming. She's feeling the isolation of their farmhouse and things become even weirder when Wade's brother, Isaac reappears. The thing is.. Wade claims Isaac died in an accident many years earlier..What is going on?

Isaac warns Helen that she is in danger. Helen is caught between a lie and a truth.. is she hallucinating? Is grief getting to her? Is it affecting her mental state? Or is Wade manipulating her?

The audiobook is great! Pressley always delivers. FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW





Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow and the author for an early ARC.

Many thanks to HarperAudio for an early ALC.

Narrator: Brittany Pressley
Duration: 10 hours 30 minutes
Speed: 1.75-2x


Publication date: September 22, 2026

[Gabby]

Ughhh, I wanted to love this, but this was not for me. The romance in this book was so insta-love, and I didn't love Helen as a protagonist. I loved that this took place in Washington, and it even mentioned Fairhaven and Bellingham, which was so cool! But I wanted so much more from the plot. This book is very readable though, I devoured this audiobook in two sittings.

Here's the vlog where I read this one and a few others: https://youtu.be/21KG6qZUzKQ

[Devin The Book Dragon]

Call Off the Dark is a brilliant, genre-bending novel that caught me completely off guard.

Featuring a dual timeline, the story balances a sweet, meet-cute romance in the past with an eerie, unsettling horror narrative in the present. Think Emily Henry meets Melissa Albert, as weird as that sounds. Layered beneath the atmospheric tension is a deeply moving exploration of grief and trauma, handled with a quiet, profound simplicity that really sticks with you.

If you enjoy off-the-grid survival elements similar to The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, atmospheric dread, and stories that use horror as a lens for real-world emotional weight, this is a must-read. It’s a unique, quiet banger of a book, and Hallie Shepherd is definitely an author I'll be watching closely in the future. 4.5/5 stars!






Thank you to Jen at William Morrow (Harper Collins) for sending me an ARC copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This sounds so gooooooood.

[Rebecca]

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Thanks to all!

I gave it 4/5 ⭐️
I enjoyed:
- the atmosphere and location. I Love a story based in the woods and the descriptions in this book were really pretty. Picturesque.
- Tyler and Helen’s love story. I like a duel timeline and getting to look back at how they met/fell in love made me understand Helen’s grief more because I could feel how much she loved him.
- I love these new books with like a trad wife element- but I like that in this one Helen doesn’t ever act like she just lovessss living like this which is refreshing.
- That i wasn’t sure till the end which way things were going to go. I kept changing my mind on how it would end .

Things I didn’t enjoy as much-
- This was more literary the first half of the book which wasn’t bad it just took a while to get to the “thriller” part of the book.
- This book is ultimately about Helen and her grief but I would have liked a little more on Wade and Isaac.

[Cathy]

4.5 ⭐️ I have read a lot of thrillers and a lot of romance novels. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the two combined but I loved it. The author did a great job exploring the blurred line between fear and lust. I felt so trapped in the house with Helen for a majority of the book and understood why she chose her personal methods of escapism, even if risky on many levels. There were also deep themes of friendship, love, trauma, regret, and insanity. Very well done!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

[Bookish_Aly_Cat]

This was such a delightfully weird read! This atmospheric thriller drew me in right away and just kept getting better as the story progressed. It had me wondering what was real and what wasn’t up until the very end.

I enjoyed the dual timeline, as it provided insight from the past as well as what was currently going on with the characters. This was definitely one of those stories where the past was important in order for everything to click in place at the end.

The off-grid lifestyle Helen and Wade decided to partake in did a good job at creating an isolated and atmospheric setting for the story. This certainly added to the eeriness when Isaac came into the picture.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it for a while.

Read this if you like:
→ Off-grid lifestyle
→ Love story
→ Mystery
→ Stories about grief

Thank you @Williammorrowbooks
for the gifted copy of the book.

[Christine]

Thank you HarperAudio Adult and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. 3.75⭐️ Brittany Pressley was an amazing narrator for this story!

Helen was such an interesting and complex FMC! Some decisions made were questionable for sure, however understandable for a woman in the throes of grief.

The setting in which the story takes place is definitely mysterious and creepy – and I actually liked the supernatural aspects, as it fit well with the narrative (if not also making it the reveal a tad predictable). Overall, this was a good read!

[hollyreadit]

5 star book review: I am SHOCKED this is a debut. I picked this book up yesterday and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. This was such a unique story about grief. It had genres of romance, thriller and a bit of horror sprinkled in there and I could have read 500 more pages of Helen’s story. I loved the flashbacks, and was completely heartbroken for Helen throughout the entire story. This is going to be a top read of the year, if not my number one.

[Angelie]

I often go into ARC’s reading only the blurb so that I can give an unbiased review as possible.

With this novel I didn’t get very far. For starters, the writing style was not for me. Too much describing and less experiencing, but the main character was so unlikeable, making super stupid choices right out of the gate, and I really had no empathy for her. She married a man, but not for love, while still grieving the loss of her ex-husband. It’s not the 1800’s where women have less agency. Then she chooses the trad wife life with him, but somehow is getting painted as a victim. Boohoo, I honestly think that set up is enough for me to hope she has a bad life.

Then we hit the seance stuff, which is not my forte, so opted to read reviews to see if there were redeeming aspects to this book. There are some favorable ones, but reading the content others wrote about ghost/demon/paranormal erotic scenes, I have opted to DNF this one. I imagine if I continued it would be a 1 star, but I won’t rate on GR due to not reading enough. The amount I did read, I did not enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.

[Gabby Hurley]

4/5

Thank you NetGalley, William Morrow, and Hallie Shepherd for gifting me with this ARC to review. Despite me taking a minute to get into the story, I really ended up liking it!

Liked:

-Helen is a very painful ball of grief. I felt so bad for what she had to go through with witnessing Tyler die and watching the future she’d planned with him die too. Despite me not losing a significant other, I did lose my dad as a teenager and I related so much to the pain, anger, emptiness, and sadness that Helen was going through. I’m glad that she’s now able to fully process her grief and start letting go so she can learn to live again.

-supernatural elements are our friends. I always enjoy a good mystery with some supernatural elements thrown in the mix. I think the author added the right amount of it in the story. If it leaned more towards supernatural I don’t think it would’ve worked well with the whole story of Helen processing her grief funny enough.

-flashback moments. I truly did love seeing Helen and Tyler’s love story bloom. Sometimes you just find the right person and it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to you. They deserved so much more time with each other, but I think it really does reinforce the idea of living everyday like it’s your last, because we don’t know when death is going to come for us in the end.

Disliked:

-it was a slower start. I don’t mind that typically as long as there is at least some interest in dialogue or something going on between characters. Wade and Helen were really like two people living around each other, not with, if that makes sense. Until Issac showed up I didn’t know if I was going to end of liking this story as much as I did.

[Trisha]

oooh this one sounds good!! Pub date: 09/2026

** ARC REC"D THANK YOU! **

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

[Cassie]

Call Off the Dark is an interesting, ambitious, and ultimately, for me, kind of odd novel about the grieving process.

The main character, Helen, was married to her soul mate, Tyler, until he was tragically murdered. To escape her all-consuming memories and crushing grief, Helen rushes into a second marriage with a man named Wade, who takes her to live off the grid on a remote farm in the Washington wilderness. Helen loses herself in a life of cooking and cleaning and gardening, but then Wade’s brother, Isaac, arrives at the farm, which upends everything – because Wade insists that Isaac is dead.

Unfolding on dual timelines, we follow the course of Helen and Tyler’s relationship, which is juxtaposed with her current “tradwife” life with Wade. The past and present structure shows how much everything has changed for Helen, including her mindset and mental health. Her past was happy and free and full of love; her present is restrictive and claustrophobic and hopeless. Isaac’s arrival brings tension and a mounting sense of dread to the present narrative, which made it much more appealing to me than the past; after a while, the past timeline began to feel like filler, just marching towards its inevitable conclusion.

I found both of Helen’s husbands uninteresting – Tyler because he’s too perfect, and Wade because he’s too one-dimensional. Isaac is fascinating, despite (or maybe because of?) the fact that he remains mostly an enigma. Helen is a complex protagonist, and I enjoyed watching the fluctuations of her character arc throughout the book. She’s an effective conduit for exploring grief and healing, trauma and PTSD, and resilience.

I thought the supernatural element, while interesting, could’ve been handled with more finesse. I wanted a clearer explanation for what happened at the end of the book; it ultimately felt muddled and left me frustrated, confused, and kind of annoyed.

Ultimately, I really liked the ideas Hallie Shepherd presented here, but I didn’t completely vibe with the execution of those ideas. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and William Morrow for the early reading opportunity.

[Amy]

Call Off the Dark had so many individual elements that worked for me, but unfortunately they never quite added up to a completely satisfying read. Hallie Shepard is a strong writer, the premise immediately intrigued me, and the isolated rural Washington setting creates this wonderfully stifling, uneasy atmosphere. There’s a sense throughout the book that something isn’t quite right, and I really enjoyed that underlying tension.

I do think it’s worth noting that despite being marketed as a thriller, this never felt like one to me. There are absolutely unsettling moments, mystery surrounding what’s happening, and some paranormal elements, but the pacing is much more of a slow burn psychological drama. The strongest part for me was actually the exploration of grief and loss. Helen’s grief is woven into everything, the choices she makes, her relationships, her memories, and even her ability to trust her own perception of what’s happening around her.

Unfortunately, the slow pace also worked against the story at times. Parts dragged for me, and by the final stretch I found myself more ready for it to end than eager to discover what happened. I was hoping all of the strange pieces and unanswered questions would eventually click together in a way that made the slower journey worthwhile.
Instead, the ending left me feeling more confused than satisfied. It felt muddled and a little too unexplained for my taste, especially after spending so much time waiting for answers. There’s plenty here that I admired, the writing, atmosphere, unusual premise, and thoughtful examination of grief in particular, but overall this landed squarely in the middle for me.

Perfect for readers who love:

* Slow burn, atmospheric fiction
* Isolated rural settings
* Stories centered on grief and loss
* Psychological uncertainty
* Paranormal elements
* Unreliable perceptions
* Unsettling rather than action packed reads
* Genre blurring stories

[DeAnn✨deannsreadingriot✨]

Thank you @harpercollins for the gifted audiobook...this is my honest review.

📖 CALL OFF THE DARK
🎧 10 hrs 10 min | 🗣️ Brittany Pressley

✌️ VIBE CHECK ✌️
🔀 Dual Timelines
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 Romantic Suspense/ 🤏🏼🌶️
😞 Grief, Loss & PTSD
🤨 Haunting/Alluring
🆕 Debut novel

🫖 THE TEA
Desperate to escape a horrific tragedy, Helen impulsively marries a near-stranger and moves to isolated rural Washington. Quickly she starts to question everything, including herself, her husband, and just exactly who she can trust in the dark.

💭 MY THOUGHTS
Wow, what a unique, genre-bending debut! I am usually pretty hesitant when thrillers try to mix in a romance, but Shepherd completely nailed it here. This book is a dark, atmospheric blend of psychological suspense, paranormal elements, and deep emotional trauma.
She handles topics like grief, loss, and the psychological fallout with care while keeping the tension high. Both timelines were strong, which can be hard to pull off, but I was fully absorbed in both. The mystery really builds chapter by chapter, and when you mix in that unexpected bit of spice, I was totally sold. 🙃🔥

🎧WHY THE AUDIO?!
I loved this narration. Brittany Pressley nailed the tone. The story is so atmospheric and haunting, and her light, smoldering breathy voice matched that moody, confused energy of Helen perfectly. Definitely grab the audiobook if you can.

⭐ FINAL VERDICT | 4.25🌟
It’s a total vibe! Dark, unique, and even a little salacious. This debut absolutely delivered one heck of a genre-bending ride. It’s a yes for me!

DeAnn @deannsreadingriot 🖤

#Bookstagram #BookCommunity #ThrillerBooks #BookReview #AudiobookLover

[Kandace]

Helen and Tyler were soulmates, living their best lives together in love, until Tyler's tragic murder. Wanting to escape her grief and remembrances of Tyler, Helen impulsively marries Wade (basically a stranger mind you) and goes to live with him in his farmhouse in remote Washington. She wasn't made for a simple existence, though. She faces insomnia and PTSD while living a sort of tradewife lifestyle until Wade's mysterious brother Isaac shows up. The only problem? Isaac was supposed to have died years ago in an accident. Wade says they're in danger and Helen thinks he's crazy. Helen doesn't know who, or what, to trust. Trusting the wrong one could be a fatal mistake.

3.25/5 stars. This was good for a debut!! I honestly struggled with how I wanted to rate this. It turned from a story about a grieving woman into something paranormal, which I hadn't expected. That didn't take too much away from my enjoyment, and I liked who Helen chose to trust at the end. I think her character arc was written exceptionally well for who she was.

[Karen Bullock]

A weirdly odd yet atmospheric tale combining suspense, horror and supernatural phenomena all while surrounding insurmountable grief.

A tale that shows two characters dealing with the aftermath of the deaths of loved ones/family. Each character shows extremely different phases and one is much more unsettling than the other.

Helen’s collected memories of her first husband, Tyler, reads like a rom-com. Light hearted, giddy and the blossoming passion of a first true love. Her decision to marry Wade, makes one wonder how in touch with reality she was at the time. Wade, grapples with the death of his brother, Isaac-until Isaac shows up at the farmhouse, in the middle of nowhere.

Is Helen able to understand the ramifications of marrying an almost complete stranger? Quickly agreeing to move off the grid? And yet, still pining for Tyler? And is Wade still Helen’s protector as he continues to believe his dead brother wants revenge?

Thanks to William Morrow Books for this arc, extremely different but a great read!

[Marisha (MarishaReadsALot)]

Unsure if I finished this book or if it finished me. FRTC

[Julie]

So im going to be in the minority here. There were lots of moving parts to this and it was very disconnected. I went in blind and knew it was a thriller. Thats it. Kept listening to it hoping i could make sense out of it. It didnt really come together and to be honest, i'm not sure what this book was really about, what was the point?

Audio was good

Thanks NetGalley and Audio for this ARC.

[Shannon Cilento]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5 rounded up

“Finally, he asked, ‘What do you want, Helen?’ Oblivion. Peace. Quiet. Noise. Revenge. Joy. Excitement. Death. ‘Will you just hold me?’”

WOW okay I actually loved this. So different and original. Writing and dialogue, both inner and external were outstanding. A commentary on grief add the complexity of existing as a woman in this world, and throw in an unreliable narrator and I was spellbound. Couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Judy Collins]

Can you ever really outrun your past?

A new marriage, an off-grid farmhouse, and a dead brother who just walked through the door. Hallie Shepherd’s debut Call Off the Dark is the ultimate atmospheric slow-burn. Plus, the audiobook narrated by Brittany Pressley is a must-listen!

Intro
"Call Off the Dark" is a haunting and genre-blending debut novel by screenwriter and producer Hallie Shepherd. After the honor of receiving both an (ARC) and (ALC), I had my first experience with Shepherd's storytelling. This novel is an incredibly unique psychological suspense story that heavily relies on its claustrophobic setting and offers an intense exploration of trauma.

The Hook
What do you do when you escape your deepest grief by running away to an off-grid farmhouse with a near-stranger, only for his "dead" brother to walk through the front door?

Elevator Pitch
Following the brutal, unsolved murder of her soulmate Tyler, a devastated Helen impulsively marries a man named Wade and flees her life in Seattle. They move into an isolated, off-grid farmhouse in rural Washington where Helen tries to force herself into a quiet life of domesticity.

But her fragile reality shatters when Wade’s brother, Isaac, suddenly shows up at their home. Wade insists that Isaac died years ago in a horrific farm accident. Trapped in a web of shifting truths, Helen is forced to figure out if she is being manipulated, if a dead man has actually returned, or if her own grief-stricken mind is completely unraveling.

Setting
A remote, deeply isolated, and rustic farmhouse in rural Washington state.
The oppressive wilderness serves as a double-edged sword—offering a hiding spot from the outside world while building a thick, inescapable atmosphere of paranoia.

Vibe
Moodily gothic, heavy with quiet dread, and deeply melancholic. A psychological slow-burn that feels like The Turn of the Screw crossed with a modern homesteader nightmare.

Genre
Gothic Psychological Suspense / Atmospheric Mystery / Ghost / Horror

Themes
~The weight of grief: How the trauma of a sudden loss can completely warp a person's judgment and reality.
~Isolation and control: The dangerous vulnerability of cutting oneself off entirely from society with a partner you barely know.
~Gaslighting vs. psychosis: The terrifying ambiguity of not knowing whether to trust your own senses or the people around you.

Standout Characters
~Helen: A fiercely resilient but deeply broken protagonist who is utterly ill-suited for her new "tradwife" lifestyle
~Wade: Helen's secretive new husband whose protective nature borders on terrifyingly controlling.
~Isaac: The brooding, enigmatic brother who shouldn't be alive, injecting an immediate spark of danger into the house.

Author Writing Standout
Hallie Shepherd’s screenwriting background shines brightly through her cinematic pacing and hyper-visual prose. She expertly crafts a highly restrictive, three-character bottle-thriller setup that relies entirely on tension, subtext, and the unsettling gray areas of human behavior [h].

Takeaway
You can change your name, your clothes, and your location, but you can never successfully run away from a ghost.

Title Significance
Call Off the Dark acts as a desperate plea from a protagonist suffocating in her own grief and trauma. It represents Helen's struggle to find a literal and metaphorical light when she is surrounded by the darkness of her past, the isolation of her present, and the secrets of her new family.

Metaphor
The off-grid farmhouse is a beautiful velvet trap. It looks like a peaceful sanctuary of self-sufficiency from the outside, but once the doors close, it becomes a cage where reality can be altered by whoever holds the keys.

Why You Should Read
If you enjoy thrillers that focus heavily on character psychology, dark atmosphere, and emotional depth over cheap jump scares, this debut delivers beautifully. It is a fantastic entry point for readers who enjoy gothic-tinged mysteries with a complex romance at their core.

My Thoughts
The Tradwife Trap: When Going Off-Grid Goes Horribly Wrong
Ghosts of Washington: Hallie Shepherd’s Chilling Debut
Trust No One: The Fine Line Between Grief and Madness

As my first book by Hallie Shepherd, I was deeply impressed by her ability to sustain such a high level of quiet discomfort throughout the story. While the pacing leans more toward a slow, deliberate boil rather than a breakneck action flick, the mystery surrounding Isaac's identity kept me guessing. The audio narration truly elevated the entire experience for me, cementing it as an incredibly solid introduction to a promising new voice in thriller fiction.

Verdict
A masterfully executed, spine-chilling excursion into psychological isolation that establishes Hallie Shepherd as an immediate powerhouse voice in modern gothic noir.

Recs or read alikes
~The Farmhouseby Chelsea Conradt
~When She Was Me by Marlee Bush
~Whispers of Dead Girls by Marlee Bush

Audio Standout
The audiobook edition from HarperAudio is an absolute masterpiece, earning a flawless 5/5 stars solely due to the brilliant performance by Brittany Pressley (a favorite). Pressley is an elite narrator who elevates this psychological slow-burn into a deeply immersive, claustrophobic experience. She masterfully captures Helen’s profound grief, the haunting weight of her PTSD, and the escalating terror of her situation with raw, emotional precision. Her vocal choices create an intense friction between Helen’s external attempts to stay calm and her shattering internal panic. Pressley doesn't just read the script—she completely embodies the paranoia of the farmhouse, making it impossible to stop listening.

Special thanks to William Morrow, Harper Audio, and NetGalley for sharing and advance reading and listening copy in exchange for my honest t houghts.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars (overall)
Audio: 5 Stars
Book: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Sept 22, 2026
Sep 2026 Must-Read Books
Sept Newsletter

[Sayd]

🎧 👍
I always enjoy this narrator and her voice was perfect for our MC.
4.5 rounded up

Helen is struggling with the tragic murder of her husband. She impulsively jumps into a new marriage with Wade, a gruff, salt of the earth type. In an effort to get away from her past, they start a life off the grid. Then one day, it’s Wade’s past that creeps up on them,, and his estranged brother Isaac turns up on the farm.

I really enjoyed this story. I think for a thriller, it has a lot of nuance. Helen was married to her husband for a long time, and she doesn’t idealize her late husband in death. She shows the ups and downs of their relationship and how they’d worked through the good and the bad. She shows the connection to his family, good and bad. I particularly liked how she won over the hateful MIL and her letters to her after were a really nice touch. Helen has to contend with guilt, both for those hard times which were in reality trivial, and for decisions that her husband supported that she feels contributed to his untimely death.

Helen’s second marriage is well portrayed, especially as she works through it. She was in a dark place when she met Wade and wanted to feel anything and she was willing to take the connection she felt with him even if they weren’t compatible. I really liked the conversation that they had towards the end, about the incompatibility. It was nice that Wade wasn’t villainized, and he was portrayed with some depth (albeit flawed - Helen had her fair share of flaws too). The divorce was mature and he ended up understanding, rather than how it could have gone with him being unwilling to let her go. His red flags were there, for sure, but the author chose a more nuanced path. I liked that the author gave us insight into Wade as a man. Not just a plot device.

Throwing Isaac into the mix made for an interesting dynamic. Once I started this book, I flew through it. It is a true genre blend, and I think it was a fantastic debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharon M]

Many thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow and HarperAudio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the debut novel by Hallie Shepherd, with the audiobook narrated by the fabulous Brittany Pressley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Helen marries Wade just months after meeting him, when she was still in the throes of grief for her husband, Tyler, who was killed in a home invasion. Wade takes her to his farmhouse in rural Washington where he lives off-grid. She tries to do the trad-wife life that Wade expects, but she can't sleep and is obsessed with poems about death. Then a stranger shows up at their door, Isaac, who claims to be Wade's brother. But Wade insists that Isaac is dead. Helen isn't sure who or what to believe.

This was a slow-burn psychological thriller, with the tension ramping up throughout. From the creepy setting, to Wade's controlling nature, to the strange animal behavior, just like Helen, I wasn't sure what was real. I liked the way the story spooled out, going back in time to learn about Helen's past with Tyler. A story centered on grief and longing, all wrapped up in a horror-like thriller, this was such a strong debut that left me thinking after I finished. I listened to the audiobook and would highly recommend that format because of the fabulous narration work by Pressley. Looking forward to more from this author!

[Ashley Janel]

4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Call Off the Dark was unlike anything I’ve read before. I’ve never really ventured into paranormal stories, but wow… this one completely won me over.

I won’t lie, the beginning was a little slow for me and I almost set it aside. But once the story found its footing, it absolutely took off. From that point on, I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

The grief woven throughout this story felt so visceral and tangible. It wasn’t just something the characters experienced. It became a thread that carried the reader through every chapter, almost as if the story was gently taking your hand and guiding you through the weight of loss alongside them.

The twists kept coming, and every time I thought I had even the smallest idea where the story was headed, I was wrong. I genuinely could not predict how everything would unfold, and I loved that.

I’m so glad I stuck with this one because the payoff was more than worth it. If you’re looking for a paranormal mystery with emotional depth, compelling twists, and a story that keeps you guessing until the very end, I absolutely recommend picking this one up. I’ll definitely be recommending it to my friends.

[Kim]

Excellent debut! This story is so haunting and atmospheric, the perfect pick for ‘spooky season’!

This is the love story of Helen and Tyler which came to an abrupt and tragic end way too soon. In the dizzying aftermath, Helen sees Tyler everywhere and longs to leave the hustle and bustle of the big city. She decides to marry and go with Wade after only knowing him for three months. His dream is to live deep in the woods living mostly off the land. When Wade’s brother, Isaiah, drops in on them, unexpectedly, Helen believes her husband is losing his mind when he claims his brother must be a ghost. Is Wade messing with her or is there something truly supernatural happening?

There are a lot of themes happening in this novel; grief, mental illness, trad wife life, and supernatural sightings, but it really works here. Tightly plotted with well developed characters, I was gripped from beginning to end. This is definitely an author to watch!

The audio narration was fantastic performed by Brittany Pressley.

Thank you Netgalley, HarperAudio Adult, and the author for this ALC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on September 22, 2026

[Kennedy]

“We don’t haunt the ones we love.”

4.5/5 ⭐️

First off, this was a debut? I will 100% be following this author’s future work.

Second, wow. I finished this book 24 hours ago and still processing everything.

This book is not going to be for everyone. How am I on one page reading about a love story unfolding and the next page there’s a horror-inducing stomach drop moment? It’s definitely a genre mix with the romance + spice + horror + mystery + lit fic and I ate it right up. It’s a story about love and grief. It’s atmospheric and character-driven. It’s a “quiet” story. Content is obviously different but I had the same feelings reading this as I did God of the Woods and Wild Dark Shore.

There were so many possible outcomes on what was actually happening here. Every chapter felt like a new layer peeled back. I loved the ending and I was actually pleasantly surprised the story went the direction it did.

Definitely recommend if you’re open to the genre-bending and you don’t mind a slow burn.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Kristin Repp]

ALC REVIEW! -The main character, Helen, loses her husband in a violent way. A few months later, she marries basically the first stranger she meets. They move off the grid and live in the middle of nowhere.

The story alternates between the past and present, showing how Helen met and fell in love with her first husband. You really get to see the difference between the real Helen and the Helen who is still grieving her husband’s tragic death.

There’s a beautiful love story in the past, while the present is filled with mystery surrounding her new husband, Wade’s, brother. Wade says his brother is dead, but when his supposedly dead brother shows up, it leaves you with A LOT of questions. 👀

This book was engaging and definitely kept me guessing. It dragged a little for me around the 65% mark, but overall, it was a unique romantic thriller with a really interesting story. The audio was well done, wish there was a male narrator but Brittany Pressley did a great job!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAdult audio!

[Chelsea (gofetchabook)]

This is my favorite thriller that I’ve read so far this year!

It was a dark and atmospheric thriller with a touch of paranormal mixed with grief and mental illness so you don’t know what is real until the end.

Helen’s husband and soulmate was killed in a home invasion and in the throws of her grief, she decides to marry Wade and goes out to live with him in the middle of nowhere, quasi off the grid and as a little bit of a trad wife.

I highly suggest you just go in as blind as possible. When Helen and Wade get an unexpected and frankly impossible visitor, everything starts to spiral and collapse.

This one was a little bit slower, but it flipped between Helen’s current life and the entirely different life she lived with her first husband, Tyler. It gets to the point where Helen starts to question her own sanity. She made for the best unreliable narrator because even she didn’t know if she was reliable.

I absolutely recommend this one!

[Kirsten Desorcy]

I listened to this book on audio. The narrator was good and it was easy to listen to. The story is not what I expected. It is classified as a horror or thriller but I felt like there was not a lot of action. The story is a deep dive into the emotions of grief, despair, loneliness and depression. The author does a good job with these themes, allowing the reader to sympathize and perhaps relate (if they've been through the trauma of losing the love of their life). I liked the flashbacks to the love story but it felt a little bit unfinished - which I guess it is... I did not like the new husband character. Run your own darn bath and make your own food... ridiculous... Also, it's ridiculous how the MC just marries someone on a whim and becomes a slave to this guy. But again... the point was to show how depression and grief are overbearing. I'd say the author did a great job with the themes, but the story didn't feel like a horror story to me. And there were some wtf moments in here lol. 3.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a complimentary advanced copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own and are in no way influenced by the author, publisher or NetGalley.