All Things Cease to Appear

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Brundage

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

A dark, riveting, beautifully written book—by “a brilliant novelist,” according to Richard Bausch—that combines noir and the gothic in a story about two families entwined in their own unhappiness, with, at its heart, a gruesome and unsolved murder

Late one winter afternoon in upstate New York, George Clare comes home to find his wife killed and their three-year-old daughter alone—for how many hours?—in her room across the hall. He had recently, begrudgingly, taken a position at a nearby private college (far too expensive for local kids to attend) teaching art history, and moved his family into a tight-knit, impoverished town that has lately been discovered by wealthy outsiders in search of a rural idyll. George is of course the immediate suspect—the question of his guilt echoing in a story shot through with secrets both personal and professional.

While his parents rescue him from suspicion, a persistent cop is stymied at every turn in proving Clare a heartless murderer. And three teenage brothers (orphaned by tragic circumstances) find themselves entangled in this mystery, not least because the Clares had moved into their childhood home, a once-thriving dairy farm. The pall of death is ongoing, and relentless; behind one crime there are others, and more than 20 years will pass before a hard kind of justice is finally served.

A rich and complex portrait of a psychopath and a marriage, this is also an astute study of the various taints that can scar very different families, and even an entire community. Elizabeth Brundage is an essential talent who has given us a true modern classic.

©2016 Elizabeth Brundage (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Mesmerizing . . . Extraordinarily gripping and suspenseful . . . A beautifully written novel that works on many levels. It is thoughtful and lyrical, a penetrating study of a psychopath and a deeply disturbing portrait of a doomed marriage, but also a meditation on the deceptiveness of all appearances and on ‘the big fairy tale of America.” —Kate Horsley, Crimeculture

“A marriage, a sociopath, a family destroyed by the economy, the things we do for love—all finely drawn. . . . All of the [cast] are sympathetic and suspicious in equal measure, a result of Brundage’s ability to peel away the onionskin layers of emotion that define any relationship. As the clues accumulate and the killer is revealed, the truth becomes both horrifying and inevitable. In the end, justice is done and redemption found, though not at one might expect, which makes the book all the more satisfying.” —Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times Book Review

“A beautifully written treat. . . . as much a disturbing portrait of family and town life as it is a provocative mystery.” —Estelle Tang, Elle

Slow building mystery

Book starts out slow but like a spider weaving its web the families of the story begin weaving you in. About half way in you are totally wrapped in the web of innocence, cruelty, survival and death, and you can not stop, you have to go on to find out what happens to the Hale boys, Katherine and Franny and George. The ending leaves you angry! You want George to suffer and you want JUSTICE for Katherine!

Having gone to Russell Sage College in Troy, NY the references to landmarks, streets in the area is a teasing treat for someone who once knew the area. Hope author gives another book about Franny, the Hale brothers and Willis so we find out what happens to them







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really disappointing ending.

the jumping timelines were sometimes hard to keep up with as there were no separation of the current and past. main characters husband (antagonist) was an absolutely reprehensible character. he was a truly horrible person. the ending is very abrupt, there is no real resolution at all.

Highly recommend.

Fantastic book, richly drawn characters and plot. Listened non-stop.
Looking for more by this author.

Waiting for Something to Solidify

Brundage begins with an enticing and eerie Epigraph:
"THIS is the Hale farm. Here is the old milking barn, the dark opening that says, Find me. This is the weathervane, the woodpile. Here is the house, noisy with stories....Always the farm sings for us, its soldiers and wives....Then there were others--there have been many--who have taken, who have stripped and pillaged....Whatever they could, they took. Leaving just the walls, the bare floors. The beating heart in the cellar."
She goes on:
"We wait. We are patient. We wait for news. We wait to be told. The wind is trying to tell us. The trees shift. It is the end of something; we can sense it. Soon we will know."
Later, "the house sat there grinning," the house seems defiant "dressed in police tape," curtains blow "ghostlike," the husband thinks he sees the form of his recently murdered wife at the door to their bedroom.

The menacing atmosphere, the suggestion of a consciousness in the house, the shadowy history, all evoke feelings of another place in literature where violent happenings have left their psychic tracings -- the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. Like a tease, the titles of chapters support the epigraph, portend something frightening: Takers; The Reality of the Unseen; The Mysteries of Nature; Things Heard and Seen; Behavioral Science; Invasive Procedures; The Shadow of Death...the most telling, I will advise you, is *Behavioral Science.* For all of the tantalizing bites in the direction of phantoms and a possessed house -- it is not to be, leaving a promising mystery abandoned and a well written character study of a psychopath it its place. You might even call this a psychological thriller.

To reveal more of the story or the questionable connections of some of the characters to the farm's past, would spoil the slow *revealing* of the story, however you wish to view it -- as a supernatural tale or a psychological thriller. I'll just warn that the thrills are more like the kiddie roller coaster. But that is not a reason to pass on this book; imagine if you were on that little coaster and noticed the screws were striped bare, pieces of the track missing...it's a matter of perspective. The chills are the real deal as author Brundage unravels George's glossy facade with every page. Often, through his own words, we see the true level of his psychopathy. George describes an artist and his paintings to his class:
"...he didn't paint what he saw, but what he remembered. There's a difference. He believed memory was a lens to the soul. It's not the details that matter -- the veins on a leaf, say, so much as the implied detail, such as the changing light, the wind, the lone peasant in the distance the sense that something else is going on, some deeper possibilitly....”

The book is very well written; the characters feel real and the traits of psychopathy are chillingly accurate; the plot keeps you in a tightening grip. I had two hefty issues with this book. 1- I was okay that the book was a bit of a bait and switch (supernatural for psychological quasi-thriller) because of the skillful writing, but felt the author needed to decide whether there was a supernatural element going on or not, tie in some very loose pieces instead of straddling the genres. There was a sense that the author was not ready to fully commit to her original arc. 2- This had to be the most poorly (worst, faulty, egregious) executed crime investigation ever -- seriously.

I'm left wondering -- though it may be clearer to other readers/listeners -- exactly who is the *we* in the epigraph, what soldiers, what looters? Were spirits, like those from the Overlook, reactivated with the inherent evil of George? Has the beating heart in the cellar added another victim to its rhythmic thumping, AND whose heart is it anyway? I hope you find out.

More Drama than Scares

I was expecting a ghost story about a woman murdered in a haunted house. this is more of a drama revolving around women in failed marriages. there are a few thrilling scenes and the story is interesting but definitely more of a drama than anything else.

Incredible story

Watched the movie first then found the book - it’s an amazing well-written story. Hate George Clare!

Great book, disappointing ending

I loved this book until the ending. It was unsatisfying and felt rushed. There were few, if any, consequences for one of the most despicable characters I've read in a while.

Well written. Well performed.

The story itself was a little slow for my taste but the writing and performance were excellent. The mystery/suspense was too subtle.

Book club worthy mystery

I am a real aficionado of gumshoe mysteries. This effort by Ms. Brundage has higher literary aspirations than most. It is a mystery yes but definitely does not follow the typical formulae and tropes. The characters are believably mundane as is the plot, though a dose of spiritualism is sprinkled in. The geographical an art historical references are marvelously accurate. This can be read straight as a mystery, but reflection about the symbolism and deconstructing it is also worthwhile.

I feel guilty

After trying to listen to this, I decided to get the paperback. I couldn’t make any sense of the Audible reading. The reading seemed to be skipping around. The chapters were out of order. That’s why I give the performance such a low rating. As for the story, it’s well written, the writer has talent. But the story makes no sense. It’s set back in time, so I guess that might the reason it seems so politically incorrect and just plain dumb. I think to the modern reader’s eye it’s silly and offensive. It makes me wonder what the writer is thinking. Is she serious or is she messing with me? I’m feel guilty for enjoying this book.