Took a while to get off the ground, but once the plot was chugging along, this was a nice little read. 

A group of high school friends find a mysterious staircase in the woods—one goes up and disappears forever along with the staircase, and the rest are left wondering what happened. That is, until the staircase is found again, years later, and they have to decide if they’re going to risk it all to search for him. 

I’m not sure any book of Wendig’s could ever live up to Wanderers duology for me. The world in those books felt so expansive and thought out, and the characters so well done and complex, that all of his novels (before or after it) just feel like a let-down in comparison. 

That being said, I do think this is his next best, and really like the concept he was working with here. The bonds we made at that pivotal moment in our lives feel so much stronger than a lot of other relationships, and you could feel the intensity of their bond in this and how the disappearance of Matty only solidified their importance in each others lives (even if it didn’t seem like it at times, the Covenant persists). 

I really enjoyed the dynamic they had with each other, the complexity of being so so close to someone at one point in life, and yet then having no idea how to relate to the person they’ve become—it felt so real and relatable. That is an experience that I’m sure most people can relate to, and I think Wendig did a good job encapsulating that feeling, even though it does feel jarring to see Covid and Trump being brought up casually in novels. 

The horror was also good, and even though I found the final “explanation” kind of hokey, I loved the progression of it throughout the story and the ways they slowly explored the space. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Wendig is back in full force, and shows that true friendship sometimes means putting aside your fears and climbing the spooky murder staircase in the middle of the woods!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!