Digital List Price:	$17.99
Kindle Price:	$9.99 Save $8.00 (44%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add an

audiobook with Audible narration for $12.99

Audiobook Price: $22.04

Save: $9.05 (41%)

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Eric Rickstad

+ Follow

More books from this author

Lie In Wait (Canaan Crime Novels) Kindle Edition

by Eric Rickstad (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.0 2,618 ratings

Part of: Canaan Crime Novels (3 books)

See all formats and editions

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Silent Girls comes another unforgettable thriller set in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, featuring Detective Sonja Test

Even in a quiet Vermont town, unspeakable acts of the past can destroy the peace of the present.

In the remote pastoral hamlet of Canaan, Vermont, a high-profile legal case shatters the town’s sense of peace and community. Anger simmers. Fear and prejudice awaken. Old friends turn on each other. Violence threatens.

So when a young teenage girl is savagely murdered while babysitting at the house of the lead attorney in the case, Detective Sonja Test believes the girl’s murder and the divisive case must be linked.

However, as the young detective digs deeper into her first murder case, she discovers sordid acts hidden for decades, and learns that behind the town’s idyllic façade of pristine snow lurks a capacity in some for great darkness and the betrayal of innocents. And Sonja Test, a mother of two, will do anything to protect the innocent.

“Gripping, topical, and wrenching—everything you want in a top-flight mystery.”—Meg Gardiner, Edgar® Award-winning Author

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Gripping, topical, and wrenching- everything you want in a top-flight mystery. I didn’t see the gut punch ending coming, even as it tumbled into place. Great stuff.” — Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award-winning author

“A brilliantly crafted crime novel. Lie in Wait’s whiplash pacing and disturbing psychological profiles will grip readers until its startling conclusion.” — Lisa Turner, Edgar-nominated author of The Gone Dead Train

“Another gem. Rickstad invented his own genre with The Silent Girls and Lie In Wait ups the game. Gripping. Deft. Unexpected. Surprising. Readers will be glad he took them on this ride.” — Drew Yanno, author of In the Matter of Michael Vogel

“A flawless mystery, brilliantly told, with a twisted, spiraling plot that gets under your skin and sends your nerves into overdrive.” — Classic Book Reader

“Every bit as excellent as The Silent Girls. Engrossing, riveting, and re-readable. Don’t miss out — Mallory Heart Reviews, 5-star review

“Sure to be another bestseller. Eric Rickstad is back in force...clearly on his way to becoming a classic, master storyteller.” — Pop Mythology

Praise for Eric Rickstad’s — New York Times bestseller The Silent Girls:

“The Silent Girls is Vermont’s own True Detective...Three-dimensional characters, a moody rural-noir vibe, and a compulsively readable story make this a stunner of a crime novel!” — Steve Ulfelder, Edgar-finalist author of Wolverine Bros. Freight & Storage

“Eric Rickstad’s The Silent Girls is a bone-chilling mystery...This well-crafted book will have you staying up late, turning pages and afraid to turn off the light. ” — Paul Doiron, author of The Poacher's Son

“Finely drawn characters, a narrative that beguiles and surprises and stark, poetic writing make for a novel as dark and brooding as its rural Vermont setting. The Silent Girls is both an exceptional detective story and a terrifying meditation on good and evil.” — Roger Smith, international betselling author of Wake Up Dead

“The Silent Girls is a thrilling ride to very dark places. I kept turning pages, scared of what I’d find but compelled to look. It’ll keep you reading all the way up to its shattering conclusion.” — Jake Hinkson, author of Hell on Church Street and The Big Ugly

From the very first, a feeling of dread crept over me and stayed with me until the end, and remains with me days later. The Silent Girls is love and terror, a mix of intense feelings that seeps into your heart and does not go away. — Stephen Foreman, author of Watching Gideon and Toe Hold

About the Author

Eric Rickstad is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of The Silent Girls, Lie in Wait, and Reap, novels heralded as intelligent and profound, dark, disturbing, and heartbreaking. He lives in his home state of Vermont with his wife, daughter, and son.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00UG8RP8G
Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks (September 1, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2587 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 459 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #149,063 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #355 in Read & Listen for $14.99 or Less
- #644 in Horror Suspense
- #744 in Read & Listen for Less

Customer Reviews:
4.0 2,618 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Eric Rickstad

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Eric Rickstad is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Canaan Crime Series novels, which includes THE NAMES OF DEAD GIRLS, THE SILENT GIRLS, and LIE IN WAIT. These dark, psychological page-turners with a dash of the Gothic are set in remote, northern Vermont, and have been heralded as masterful, disturbing, profound and heartbreaking. Rickstad's first novel, REAP, was a New York Times Noteworthy Novel. His latest novel WHAT REMAINS OF HER will be published July 24, 2018.

Rickstad lives in Vermont with his wife, son, and daughter, and writes all his first drafts with a pencil in notebooks, often outside in the Vermont woods.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

2,618 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Isabel Baeta Marques

All and all I very much enjoyed it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is another solid book I read from this author. It was cleverly paced, interesting all the way and twisted enough to keep us guessing even if at some point we could all point to the end. It could have been more generous with the lady detective - I couldn't find her as much consistent as I have with Frank Rath in "The Silent Girls". All and all I very much enjoyed it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Caitlin Best

Great read!

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

I first became a fan of Eric Rickstad when I picked up " The Silent Girls" on a whim. I was blown away by the main character, Rath, and delighted to find that another character from that book would be starring in this book.

Both books have undertones of social issues, and Rickstad's descriptive prose lends itself to a terrific story and well developed characters. Overall, I'm impressed, and can't wait to get my hands on more of his books and characters.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

A Customer

Good murder mystery - beware for animal violence

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2017

Verified Purchase

I really liked Eric Rickstad's semi-related book "The Silent Girls" (set in same town and also featuring same Detective Sonja Test, although she was more of a supporting cast member in "The Silent Girls").

Let me start my review by sharing this important information - there is a lot of violence to animals in this book. I know a lot of people, like myself, are especially 'sensitive' to such matters, so I want to let anyone that is considering this book know that. And yes, of course there is violence to people, or at least a person, but any idiot knows that going in, since the plot of the book is ABOUT a murder. So that's no surprise.

So, otherwise, the book was well-written I thought, the characters are all complex and none of them are really stereotypes or cheap cliches (save maybe one exception, but not a main character). Their motivations and actions are completely believable and understandable. There's no moments of "Yeah right, that would never happen" in Mr Rickstad's books. No too-convenient coincidences or anything like that. So I appreciate that.

As far as the suspense or mystery, it did keep me guessing. You just don't have enough info to know who the "villain" is, so you have to keep reading until the end. So I suppose that's a good thing as well.

I will say I felt like this book was a little long or slow-going... maybe because I stopped reading about halfway through for a month or two and then came back to it. Or maybe I stopped for a month or two BECAUSE it was slow-going. Who knows. Once I picked it back up though, I finished it in a day. There just seems to be a lot of rumination. And I hoped the plot and pace would pick up a bit as we reached the climax, but I don't know if it did appreciably. "The Silent Girls" was better paced, I thought. More actually suspenseful.

I would not say "Lie in Wait" was suspenseful, just a mystery to unravel.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Very good read

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed most everything about this story. On several occasions, the suspense kept me from going to sleep at a reasonable hour. I think this could become a very enjoyable movie!
I don't know who proofread it, but there were words that were incorrectly used. "Here me out" made me cringe, and lots of phrases punctuated as complete sentences were a bit distracting, but I enjoyed the book all the same.

Helpful

theraven

Small towns have big secrets

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016

Verified Purchase

A terrific story about a young detective involved in her first murder case. Despite pressure from a senior detective to accept his view of the case she continues to pursue leads until ultimately the case comes to a conclusion. The plot and subplots are excellent. The characters are easy to like. The book is easy to read and there are many surprises. If every book I read was as good as this one I would be very happy. You will definitely get your value for your money with this book.

Helpful

Jerrica Benton

Not bad, not his best

Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

It was a good book and I read relentlessly, but I kind of just shrugged at the end of it. Too many meaningless story lines introduced and.....

Spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler

----
------

----

The character introduced in one of the last acts didn't seem to fit, even though the character should have. And why the bad guy didn't recognize the other two integral players is beyond me. There were a few things that didn't add up but I guess I wasn't invested in the characters enough to care.

Rickstad is a great author and I'll read anything he writes, but this was not his best.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Kevin

Get Ready for an Exciting Ride!

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

This author really knows how to keep your interest. Just when you think the story is reaching an end, he puts in another interesting twist that keeps you interested and surprised. He introduces subtle clues that seem meaningless but come into play later in the story. Well written, entertaining, and suspenseful. I plan to read his other books to see if they are as good.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Good story but horrible editing.

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

I liked the story but the editing was so bad I almost stopped reading it several times. It was so distracting. I can't believe no one noticed that before it was published..

10 people found this helpful

Helpful