The Cabin at the End of the World - by Paul Tremblay (Paperback)

About the Book

Seven-year-old Wen and her parents Eric and Andrew are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake. Their closest neighbors are more than two miles in either direction along a rutted dirt road. One afternoon, as Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears in the driveway. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen, but he's young and friendly and wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologizes and tells Wen, "None of what's going to happen is your fault."

Book Synopsis

Paul Tremblay's terrifying twist to the home invasion novel--inspiration for the upcoming major motion picture from Universal Pictures

"Tremblay's personal best. It's that good." -- Stephen King

Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin on a quiet New Hampshire lake. Their closest neighbors are more than two miles in either direction along a rutted dirt road.

One afternoon, as Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears in the driveway. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen, but he is young, friendly, and he wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen talk and play until Leonard abruptly apologizes and tells Wen, "None of what's going to happen is your fault." Three more strangers then arrive at the cabin carrying unidentifiable, menacing objects. As Wen sprints inside to warn her parents, Leonard calls out: "Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world."

Thus begins an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined. The Cabin at the End of the World is a masterpiece of terror and suspense from the fantastically fertile imagination of Paul Tremblay.

From the Back Cover

Seven-year-old Wen and her parents, Eric and Andrew, are vacationing at a remote cabin in New Hampshire. A handful of miles from the Canadian border, far removed from the bustle of city life, cut off from the urgent hum of cell phones and from the internet, they are more than two miles away from their closest neighbors.

On a summer day, as Wen catches grasshoppers in the front yard, a stranger unexpectedly appears. Leonard is the largest man Wen has ever seen, but he is young and friendly, with a warm smile that wins her over almost instantly. Leonard and Wen continue to talk and play, until three more strangers come down the road carrying strange, menacing objects.

In a panic, Wen tells Leonard that she must go back inside the cabin. But before she goes, her new friend tells her, "None of what's going to happen is your fault. You haven't done anything wrong, but the three of you will have to make some tough decisions. I wish with all my broken heart you didn't have to." As Wen sprints away to warn her parents, Leonard calls out, "Your dads won't want to let us in, Wen. But they have to. We need your help to save the world. Please."

Review Quotes

"Read Paul Tremblay's new novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, and you might not sleep for a week. Longer. It will shape your nightmares for months--that's pretty much guaranteed. That's what it's built for. And there's a very, very good chance you'll never get it out of your head again." - NPR

"Equal parts gripping, horrifying, and mesmerizing. . . . The Cabin at the End of the World succeeds in part because it trades in frights rooted (or not) in totally unprovable motivation." - GQ

"A blinding tale of survival and sacrifice that matches the power of belief with man's potential for unbridled violence." - Kirkus Reviews

"Paul Tremblay is the real deal! The Cabin at the End of the World is a heart-pounding, edge of your seat thriller that will leave you with one simple question: what would you do?" - J.D. Barker, internationally bestselling author of Forsaken and The Fourth Monkey

"Tremblay skilfully keeps his readers guessing about the reality of Leonard's ominous warning as he lets his horrifying scenario play out." - The Guardian

"[A novel] about the clash of rational and irrational, hatred and violence, prophecies and religion gone mad, and perhaps hope. The Cabin at the End of the World is a terrific, disturbing, desperate novel, one that profoundly reflects the current political climate of North America and our ambiguous times." - Mariana Enriquez, author of Things We Lost in the Fire

"The Cabin at the End of the World is a thriller that grapples with the timely and the timeless. I tore through it in record time. I just couldn't wait to see where Tremblay was going to take me next." - Victor LaValle, author of The Changeling

"The apocalypse begins with a home invasion in this tripwire-taut horror thriller. . . .[Tremblay's] profoundly unsettling novel invites readers to ask themselves whether, when faced with the unbelievable, they would do the unthinkable to prevent it." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The Cabin at the End of the World is a clinic in suspense, a story that opens with high-wire tension and never lets up from there. The blend of human horror and human heart is superb. Paul Tremblay is rapidly becoming one of my favorite suspense writers." - Michael Koryta, New York Times bestselling author

"Tremblay captures the intense emotional struggle. . . of Wen, Andrew, and Eric, while dread and terror permeate every sentence. This is a novel with the heart and tone of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, but will also appeal to fans of Ruth Ware, Josh Malerman, and Joe Hill." - Booklist (starred review)

"Tremblay once again demonstrates his talent for terrifying readers. Offering a terrible situation with no good outcome, this is the author at his best. Highly recommended for Tremblay's fans and those who relish end-of-the-world scenarios." - Library Journal (starred review)

"A tremendous book―thought-provoking and terrifying, with tension that winds up like a chain. The Cabin at the End of the World is Tremblay's personal best. It's that good." - Stephen King

"Think The Desperate Hours meets 10 Cloverfield Lane, but way, way stranger. With The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay gives us a gloriously claustrophobic and gory tale of faith and paranoia. Signs and wonders and homemade battle-axes, oh my!" - Stewart O'Nan, author of The Speed Queen and A Prayer for the Dying

"Paul Tremblay loads emotion and tension into every paragraph on every page of The Cabin at the End of the World. It is a dream come true, a heartfelt, emotionally charged journey into our worst nightmares. - Caroline Kepnes, author of You and Providence