From the author of the “deeply atmospheric, breathlessly suspenseful” (Lee Child) The Storm King, an atmospheric and claustrophobic thriller taking place in an isolated boarding school during a blizzard.
You may think you know the rules. But you don’t know the Game.
After fourteen-year-old Sam is found dead at the center of a frozen pond, his boarding school does its best to move on. But as winter break begins and only three students and two teachers remain on the remote campus, it becomes clear Sam’s death was only the first move in a dangerous game.
Jon Sayers hopes to give the three stay-behind boys a cheerful holiday. But on his first night, he wakes to the sight of a dark figure cutting through the snow of the empty campus. One of the boys? His fellow teacher? Or something else entirely?
As one disturbing incident leads to another, fear spreads, and paranoia takes hold. When an ice storm cuts them off, Jon learns the boys have been playing a secret game with enigmatic rituals and rules. With secrets of his own, Jon questions not just those around him, but the darkness within himself.
With his moves running out, Jon faces an agonizing truth—there are some games you can’t hope to win, only fight to survive.
Praise for RULES OF FROST
“Expert genre-bender Duffy (The Storm King, 2018) keeps readers guessing, crafting a setting steeped in atmospheric dread and whipping paranoia and desperation into a showdown between murderous foe and fatherly love. A winner for literary thriller and horror fans that invites comparisons to The Shining.”
– Booklist (starred review)
"A perfect campus thriller that is so assured, so engrossing it is immediately apparent Brendan Duffy is a master of the genre. Atmospheric, moody, and deliciously propulsive, RULES OF FROST is part winter survival story, part suspense, but always impossible to put down. One of those rare novels that you read in a day, but remember long into the future; put plainly: a winner."
– Katy Hays, New York Times bestselling author of Saltwater
"[A] devilish thriller…Duffy expertly ratchets up the tension. With a strong reveal, three-dimensional characters, and an intoxicating wintry atmosphere, this well-crafted spine-tingler hits its mark."
― Publishers Weekly
“A chilling thriller with a warm, beating heart, Rules of Frost is a page-turning, pulse-pounding, spellbinding read that shines a light at the darkest corners of the adolescent imagination. Every Brendan Duffy novel is an unforgettable thrill ride, but this time he’s outdone himself. I never wanted it to end—and I could never have expected the shocking way it did.”
— Robin Wasserman, author of Mother Daughter Widow Wife