Iain Reid

Jake and his girlfriend are on a drive to visit his parents at their remote farm. After dinner at the family home, things begin to get worryingly strange. And when he leaves her stranded in a snowstorm at an abandoned high school later that night, what follows is a chilling exploration of psychological frailty and the limitations of reality. Iain Reid's intense, suspenseful debut novel will have readers' nerves jangling. A series of tiny clues sprinkled through the relentlessly paced narrative culminate in a haunting twist on the final page. Reminiscent of Michael Faber's Under the Skin, Stephen King's Misery and the novels of José Saramago, I'm Thinking of Ending Things is an astonishing and highly original literary thriller that grabs you from the start—and never lets go.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

A taut, psychological mind-bender from the bestselling author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things. We don’t get visitors. Not out here. We never have. In Iain Reid’s second haunting, philosophical puzzle of a novel, set in the near-future, Junior and Henrietta live a comfortable, solitary life on their farm, far from the city lights, but in close quarters with each other. One day, a stranger from the city arrives with alarming news: Junior has been randomly selected to travel far away from the farm...very far away. The most unusual part? Arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, Henrietta won't have a chance to miss him, because she won't be left alone—not even for a moment. Henrietta will have company. Familiar company. Told in Reid’s sharp and evocative style, Foe examines the nature of domestic relationships, self-determination, and what it means to be (or not to be) a person. An eerily entrancing page-turner, it churns with unease and suspense from the first words to its shocking finale.

A Novel

Penny, an artist, has lived in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She is resigned to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made, unbeknownst to her, for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many “incidents.”

Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny—with a growing sense of unrest and distrust—starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging, or is she an unknowing participant in something more unsettling?

At once compassionate and uncanny, told in spare, hypnotic prose, Iain Reid’s genre-defying third novel explores questions of conformity, art, productivity, relationships, and what, ultimately, it means to grow old.

We Spread

The author, accepting a part-time job near his childhood home, describes his experiences after he moves back home to live with his parents.

A Year in the Life of an Overeducated, Underemployed Twenty-Something Who Moves Back Home

One Bird's Choice

Selected for The Globe 100 Books in 2013. In The Truth about Luck, Iain Reid, author of the highly popular coming-of-age memoir One Bird's Choice, accompanies his grandmother on a five-day vacation -- which turns out to be a "staycation" at his basement apartment in Kingston. While the twenty-eight-year-old writer is at the beginning of his adult life, his ninety-two-year-old grandmother is nearing the end of hers. Between escorting his grandma to local attractions and restaurants, the two exchange memories and she begins to reveal details of her inspiring life story. Told with subtlety, humour, and heart, this delightful comic memoir reflects on family connections; how we experience adversity, the passage of time, and aging; and most importantly what it truly means to feel lucky.

What I Learned on My Road Trip with Grandma

The Truth about Luck

Un thriller psihologic surprinzător despre cea mai complicată dintre relațiile pe care le putem avea: cea cu noi înșine. Un roman în stil gotic modern și captivant, care se instalează negreșit drept în inima genului horror. Reid construiește tensiunea așa cum Edgar Allan Poe își construiește zidurile din cărămidă de la subsol. – Wayne Grady Un roman savuros de bulversant, pe care nu știi unde să-l încadrezi. Este inteligent și îi face pe cititori să rămână în priză până la final. – Vancouver Sun Unul dintre cele mai bune romane de debut pe care le-am citit vreodată. Iain Reid a plăsmuit o carte mică în dimensiuni, dar feroce în conținut, al cărei suspans continuu crește și tot crește până la ultimele pagini, dezvăluind un final vizionar și chinuitor. – Scott Heim Jake. Iubita lui. Împreună, şi totuşi fiecare singur. O maşină. Un drum de ţară interminabil, labirintic, nefast. Un monolog plin de angoase şi de întrebări existenţiale. Noapte. Frig. O fermă izolată. Părinţii lui. Un Apelant misterios. Frici şi îndoieli nerostite. Tensiune crescândă. Un om de serviciu. Furtuni de zăpadă şi crize declanşate de gânduri ce nu-ți dau pace. O școală veche. Coridoare straniu de pustii, pe care parcă le cunoști dintr-o altă viaţă. Fugă. Iarăşi fugă. Alegeri imposibile. Ciclicitate. Sfârşit. Ca o piesă de teatru aproape mută, cartea lui IAIN REID te absoarbe în vâltoarea bizareriilor şi a enigmelor ei, pentru ca apoi să te arunce afară tot neinițiat. La final ești și mai debusolat, şi mai contrariat decât la început. Rememorările naratoarei şi dialogul paralel al celor două instanțe străine care vorbesc parcă dintr-un viitor deja întâmplat alcătuiesc intriga desfășurată în mai puţin de douăzeci şi patru de ore. Douăzeci şi patru de ore fatale.

Mă gândesc să-i pun capăt

A taut, psychological thriller from Iain Reid, “one of the most talented purveyors of weird, dark narratives in contemporary fiction” (Los Angeles Review of Books).

Severe climate change has ravaged the country, leaving behind a charred wasteland. Junior and Henrietta live a comfortable if solitary life on one of the last remaining farms. Their private existence is disturbed the day a stranger comes to the door with alarming news.

Junior has been randomly selected to travel far away from the farm, but the most unusual part is that arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, Henrietta won’t have a chance to miss him. She won’t be left alone—not even for a moment. Henrietta will have company. Familiar company.

Told in Reid’s sharp and evocative style, Foe examines the nature of domestic relationships, self-determination, and what it means to be (or not to be) a person. An eerily entrancing page-turner, it churns with unease and suspense from the first words to its shocking finale.

Ég er að spá í að slútta þessu

JEG OVERVEJER AT GØRE DET FORBI er en spændingsfyldt og nervepirrende thriller om en biltur, der får fatale konsekvenser. Jake og hans kæreste er på vej hjem for at besøge hans forældre på deres afsidesliggende gård. Da en snestorm bryder ud, tager parret en uventet omvej og strander foran en tom high school og søger tilflugt indenfor. I dagene efter efterforsker politiet et mord, der er sket på samme high school. Men hvem er offeret? "Romanens konstruktion er fantastisk og usædvanlig ... særdeles ubehagelig at læse men umulig at lægge fra sig." – Booklist "Denne uhyggelige debut kortlægger en foruroligende rejse, hvor filosofi og frygt mødes ... Du har lyst til at skrige: ’Løb for livet.’ Og fortælleren kan høre dig. Hun hører bare ikke efter." – The Independent

Jeg overvejer at gøre det forbi

FINALIST FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARDS “Highly accomplished and fascinating” (The Globe and Mail), “insidious, unsettling” (The Guardian)—critically acclaimed novelist Iain Reid follows an elderly woman into a mysterious care home during the later stages of her life. Penny, an artist, has lived in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She is resigned to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many “incidents.” Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny—with a growing sense of unrest and distrust—starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging or is she an unknowing participant in something more unsettling? At once compassionate and uncanny, told in spare, hypnotic prose, Iain Reid’s “exquisite novel of psychological suspense” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) explores questions of conformity, art, productivity, relationships, and what, ultimately, it means to grow old.

"We don't get visitors. Not out here. We never have. In Iain Reid's second haunting, philosophical puzzle of a novel, set in the near-future, Junior and Henrietta live a comfortable, solitary life on their farm, far from the city lights, but in close quarters with each other. One day, a stranger from the city arrives with alarming news: Junior has been randomly selected to travel far away from the farm...very far away. The most unusual part? Arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, Henrietta won't have a chance to miss him, because she won't be left alone--not even for a moment. Henrietta will have company. Familiar company"--

Kristi Charish

Kathleen Grissom

Richard B. Wright

Sally Christie

Robert Pobi

Amy Stuart

Joan Crate

K.A. Tucker

Susan Philpott

Ann Yu-Kyung Choi

Complete with new beginnings and the promise of satisfying endings, The Look Book sampler offers the best in fiction from across the Simon & Schuster Canada Spring 2016 list. This array of debut authors and perennial favourites will allow you to step back in time with our historical fiction, time travel with our fantasy writers, fall in love with our inspirational romance, marvel at our literary stylists, and be enthralled by our dark thrillers. If you would like to learn more about any of our authors or the titles featured, please visit us at SimonandSchuster.ca, follow us on Twitter at @simonschusterCA, or like us at Facebook.com/SimonandSchusterCanada. With chapter excerpts from the following Spring 2016 new releases: Dark Territory, by Susan Philpott He Will Be My Ruin, by K.A. Tucker Owl and the City of Angels, by Kristi Charish Black Apple, by Joan Crate Still Mine, by Amy Stuart Glory Over Everything, by Kathleen Grissom The Rivals of Versailles, by Sally Christie Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, by Ann Y.K. Choi Nightfall, by Richard B. Wright Mannheim Rex, by Rob Pobi Umbrella Man, by Peggy Blair I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid

Spring 2016 Fiction Sampler

The Look Book

The author of the “evocative, spine-tingling, and razor-sharp” (Bustle) I’m Thinking of Ending Things that inspired the Netflix original movie and the “short, shocking” (The Guardian) Foe returns with a new work of suspense following an elderly woman trapped in a mysterious facility. Penny, an artist, has lived in the same apartment for decades, surrounded by the artifacts and keepsakes of her long life. She is resigned to the mundane rituals of old age, until things start to slip. Before her longtime partner passed away years earlier, provisions were made for a room in a unique long-term care residence, where Penny finds herself after one too many “incidents.” Initially, surrounded by peers, conversing, eating, sleeping, looking out at the beautiful woods that surround the house, all is well. She even begins to paint again. But as the days start to blur together, Penny—with a growing sense of unrest and distrust—starts to lose her grip on the passage of time and on her place in the world. Is she succumbing to the subtly destructive effects of aging or is she an unknowing participant in something more unsettling? At once compassionate and uncanny, told in spare, hypnotic prose, Iain Reid’s “exquisite novel of psychological suspense” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) explores questions of conformity, art, productivity, relationships, and what, ultimately, it means to grow old.

With remarkable, masterful skill, Iain Reid builds a plot thatsteadily crescendos into a harrowing endingone that will haveyou at the edge of your seats and one that you will never see coming.Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut.Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel will pull you in fromthe very first page]]and will never let you go.

Iain Reid

Books

Your next favorite book is out there