4.0
Black River Orchard
ByPublisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A small town is transformed when seven strange trees begin bearing magical apples in this masterpiece of horror from the author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.
“This masterful outing should continue to earn Wendig comparisons to Stephen King.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER AWARD FINALIST • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something besides the season is changing there.
Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.
Take a bite of one of these apples, and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.
This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples . . . and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?
Even if something else is buried in the orchard besides the seeds of these extraordinary trees: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town.
But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. It’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.
“This masterful outing should continue to earn Wendig comparisons to Stephen King.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • BRAM STOKER AWARD FINALIST • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something besides the season is changing there.
Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.
Take a bite of one of these apples, and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.
This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples . . . and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?
Even if something else is buried in the orchard besides the seeds of these extraordinary trees: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town.
But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. It’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesBlack River Orchard Reviews
4.0
“Wow. Grand slam of a book! This book is very atmospheric. Its progression through to the end reminds me of the movie Fallen (1998) with Denzel Washington. The slow-dawning horror of something malevolent spreading from host to host, undetectable until it’s too late. Black River Orchard absolutely captures that creeping, infectious dread. The apples are a vector for something older and hungrier, passing influence from person to person through a bite instead of a touch. So gloriously creepy!
In BRO the MMC, Dan Paxson, cultivates a seductive and addictive apple, The Ruby Slipper, which slowly works its dark magic on the town of Harrow. It is a brilliant unsettling premise, turning something as wholesome and beautiful as an apple orchard into pure folk horror.
Wendig really leans into the sensory experience too. The way the towns people describe the Ruby Slipper’s taste borders on rapturous, and even orgasmic. It makes the horror of what the beautiful delicious apples actually do, hit hard.
This book nails that awful feeling of watching people you thought you knew become something else, while the protagonists struggle to convince anyone that something is deeply wrong. And that ending-that-isn’t-really-an-ending where evil just… finds a new way to continue. Eeek!
Mixed with folklore, history, and family drama! I keep saying this lately but this is now my #1 favorite book ever read. It may even be one I put above The Secret Garden & Wuthering.”
Diverse representationMemorableOriginalStrong relationshipsStrong villainUnforgettable protagonistAction-packedAddictiveClever plottingEpic scopeGripping/excitingSuspensefulTwistyWell-structuredAtmosphericDarkEerieEvocative imageryGrittyOtherworldlyRusticSetting fits the storyUnique locationVivid descriptionsDenseDescriptiveOriginal
“Wow. This. Book. It had me so stressed out, but I NEEDED to finish. I wasn’t expecting the body horror but it was so good. 10/10. I already have another of the authors books ready to go.”
About Chuck Wendig
Chuck Wendig is the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers, The Book of Accidents, Wayward, and more than two dozen other books for adults and young adults. A finalist for the Astounding Award and an alumnus of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, he has also written for comics, games, film, and television. He’s known for his popular blog, terribleminds, and books about writing such as Damn Fine Story. He lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his family.
Other books by Chuck Wendig
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