A slowly menacing novel that is also a meditation on relationships. When the story opens, Jake and his (unnamed) girlfriend are driving through a winter storm for dinner with his parents at the farm where he grew up. It’s a relatively new relationship—she’s meeting his parents for the first time. She has secrets and he has secrets; given that, do they have a future, and when will she know whether to stay or go? Things get increasingly odd—his parents are strange, unhappy people and their home is cold and unwelcoming—but she wants to stay positive, to give him and his family the benefit of the doubt. On the drive home, her misgivings boil over and Jake’s truth is revealed. Reid builds a mesmerizing tension until you want to shout at the girlfriend, “something is wrong, find another way home!”