The House on Buzzards Bay

A Novel

By: Dwyer Murphy

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

“Gothic chill wafts like ocean mist throughout this tale of college friends reuniting at an old house one them has inherited.”
—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

When a group of old college friends reunites for a summer vacation at a beach house in coastal Massachusetts, a sudden disappearance and the arrival of a seductive stranger threaten to unearth the darkest secrets of their relationships.

As they hurtle into midlife, Jim and his closest college friends get together to rekindle the bonds of their friendship in his family’s beautiful, generations-old vacation home along Buzzards Bay, the demands of work and family having caused them to drift apart over recent years. But what begins as a quiet and restorative seaside escape takes a darker turn when Bruce, an aloof but successful writer, disappears from the house without a trace, sending the group into an uneasy tension.

Meanwhile, a series of mysterious break-ins besets the town, which is the site of an old Spiritualist campground turned idyllic fishing village. After a series of uncanny disturbances at the house, Jim can’t help but feel that someone—or something—is watching them from the other side of the marsh. And with the arrival of a strange, seductive guest at their home, the group begins to question the very nature of their experiences—along with their already precarious ties with one other.

In The House on Buzzards Bay, Dwyer Murphy returns with a chilling, atmospheric page-turner that explores the bonds of friendship, the growing accumulation of life's responsibilities, and whether our youthful dreams can endure the complexities of adulthood.

Pointless

Critics like this book, but is it just because it’s weird, and they’re bored, so they think weird is good?

Our House is a Very Weird House

Slow start. Slow middle. Sad ending. Yet there was something there that kept me going. But it never came. Characters were lacking any personality. I tried this book because I thought it would be a house with a mystery. The only mystery was why I bought it.

Promises unfulfilled

The story moved slowly, with well drawn characters. There were hints of mystery and ghosts but no tension and nothing really materialized. the end was a fizzle so quite disappointing. Promises unfulfilled.

Characters had unrealistic responses to inflection moments

Slow to build to the plot, unrealistic character responses, lousy resolution. Tedious all the way around.

Intriguing

The story reminded me of my own vacation home in Lake Tahoe & all the many years & memories with family & friends & our heartbreaking decision to sell after 40yrs when my husband could no longer handle the altitude - luckily, it didn’t end the way this story did, but I can understand the finality Jim had to finish it!