The Companion

While she was gone, I hurriedly dumped the contents of my bags into the top two drawers of the dresser. After that, which had taken maybe fourteen seconds, I wandered back out into the main part of the room and stopped short.

Agatha s chair was empty.

The whispery silence of the room turned to a roar in my ears.

I looked around but didn t see her anywhere. And there was nowhere for her to hide.

She was gone.

The door to the hall was closed I would have heard it open, right? And the bathroom door was wide open, the light on. There was no one in there.

Oh, God, I d lost her already. They were going to kick me out.

Deep breath. First of all, I didn t lose her. She lost herself. Second of all, it wasn t my job to keep her in one place, was it? What should I have done, commanded her to stay still? Wrestled her to the ground? This wasn t my fault. Of course it wasn t.

But I knew I needed to find her before Laura came back.

Could she be hiding under one of the beds?

I stared at the nearest one warily, half expecting Agatha to be hiding underneath, waiting to jump out at me when I leaned close. I crossed the room, steeled myself, and knelt down to push away the white bed- skirt and look under the bed frame.

Empty. Not so much as a single dust bunny.

I went to the second bed, knelt, and lifted the bed- spread. This time, I had no doubt that when I bent down and got my face near the floor, Agatha would come flying at me like a bat out of a cave.

Nope.

Some companion I turned out to be. I surveyed the room, wondering if Laura and John would simply send for the car and load me right back up.

I walked over to the open bathroom door and looked inside. The walls were tiled with shining squares of pale blue, the floor a spotless retro checkerboard of white and black. The toilet squatted in the corner by the bathtub

And as I looked at it, the shower curtain rustled.

Okay, I told myself. This is good. She s in the

Katie Alender (rhymes with "calendar"!) grew up in South Florida, and studied film at the Florida State University Film School. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in TV development and production for several years, including a long stint producing dog shows for Animal Planet. She penned Bad Girls Don't Die and two sequels, as well as Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer, Famous Last Words, and The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, sewing (especially quilts), practicing yoga, photography, visiting friends' blogs, and hanging out with her family.

Winner of the Edgar Award for Young Adult Fiction
GoodReads Top Horror Novels of 2020
 
[A] new life comes with a new home, where there are many things that go bump in the night. Bustle
 
The best part about The Companion is the story s ability to surprise you. Most Gothic horror tales, generally, tend to follow certain formats and include certain tropes. This novel definitely features all those elements but deploys them in such a way that you re never quite sure what you re looking at.  It constantly shifting plot makes The Companion difficult to put down, and will likely leave you reading long into the night. Culturess
 
Katie Alender delivers a suspenseful story in her latest novel that will make you never want to trust a stranger ever again Katie Alender knows how to write and she knows how to give you suspense. I would read this in the dead of night and would find my heart pounding. The Fandom
 
Margot s narration feels intimate, especially when she reflects on her potent grief, and Agatha is never used as a prop: She and Margot develop a silent communication that transcends speech. The palpable and steadily building sense of dread throughout is enhanced by a whisper of the supernatural. A pitch-perfect contemporary gothic. Kirkus Reviews
 
The suspense and chills are there, and the plot advances the story to a dramatic conclusion that, even if readers can see it coming, is still startling. This book hits all the notes of a solid thriller creepy mansion, dark family secrets, a little romance, and a plucky heroine. Fans of suspense will enjoy this outing. Alender creates another tingly tale just right for escaping into this summer. School Library Journal