Although horror legend Stephen King has recommended plenty of novels throughout his long career, 2020’s psychological thrillerThe Last House on Needless Streetis a standout.Stephen King’s 66 booksprove that the author is prolific, and his innumerable sales and solid track record of reviews prove he’s a genre legend, too.
However, whileStephen King’s many adaptationshave often been met with critical acclaim, no one could accuse the writer of failing to share in his good fortune. King regularly recommends books by other writers onXand via book cover blurbs, as well as sharing movies and TV shows that he enjoys on social media.
Before the book series spawned a successful Netflix show, King was an early fan ofCaroline Kepnes’You, and the author recommended the psychological thriller novel to his fans. Similarly, King shared his enthusiasm for a 2020 thriller novel that features one of the genre’s best endings of the last decade.
The Last House on Needless Street Is An Ingenious Psychological Thriller
The 2020 Novel Follows A Set of Strange Characters
Written by Catriona Ward,The Last House on Needless Streetis a twisty psychological thriller and unconventional murder mystery from 2020.Ward’s book follows a trio of narrators who live an uneasy co-existence in a dilapidated house, eking out an uncomfortable, unhealthy life years after one of their mothers died.
To say more would be to stray into potential spoiler territory, which highlights just how complex and clever the mystery at the center ofThe Last House on Needless Streetis. Suffice to say, the book follows both this trio of characters and a distraught woman who is obsessed with finding her little sister, who disappeared a decade earlier.
ThroughoutThe Last House on Needless Street’s twisty story, readers will be as busy trying to work out how the characters are related to each other as anything else.
When the woman moves in next to the titular home, the tension begins to ramp up as a collision between these strange characters and their watchful new neighbor grows increasingly likely. However, throughoutThe Last House on Needless Street’s twisty story, readers will be as busy trying to work out how the characters are related to each other as anything else.
There are unclear links between the book’s heroes and villains, but even the canniest reader would struggle to surmise the true connection between them before the stunning twist ending. Evengreat thriller books can falterwhen it comes to their endings, and this can often leave readers frustrated by a book that came so close to perfection.
However,The Last House on Needless Streetachieves the opposite feat. Early on, the novel feels like a quirky slice of American Gothic, as some bizarre interlinked narrators navigate their way through a squalid and vaguely menacing isolated existence. When everything comes together, the story finally comes into focus and reveals itself to be a deeper, sadder, more disturbing book.
Stephen King Recommended The Last House on Needless Street to Readers
The Novel Has Horror Elements In Its Thriller Story
King wasn’t shy about sharing his love of the novel, saying to hisXfollowers that “The buzz building around Catriona Ward’s THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET is real. I’ve read it and was blown away. It’s a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end. Haven’t read anything this exciting since GONE GIRL.”
WhileKing compared an earlier novel toGone Girlin his enthusiastic recommendation of Riley Sager’s Final Girlsfrom 2017, the comparison is apt in both cases.Final Girlsis much more likeGone Girlin terms of its story and style, as both are sleek domestic thrillers that feature razor-sharp satire of the media landscape.
However, whileThe Last House on Needless Streetis an altogether sadder and more empathetic book thanGone Girl, it has two crucial qualities in common with Gillian Flynn’s novel. LikeGone Girl,The Last House on Needless Streetfocuses on a forgotten community in middle America and the impact that a tragedy has on its residents.
Ward’s book handles some tremendously sensitive topics with real grace and a delicate touch, but the big revelation remains a jaw-dropping twist that makes a screen adaptation almost impossible.
Furthermore, likeGone Girl’s ending,the twist inThe Last House on Needless Streetkicks like a mule. Ward’s book handles some tremendously sensitive topics with real grace and a delicate touch, but the big revelation remains a jaw-dropping twist that makes a screen adaptation almost impossible.
\Without giving anything away,The Last House on Needless Streetis a rare book that needs to be read to experience the story in its strongest form. Any screen adaptation would necessarily need to make some accommodations that would prove distracting at best, and that would outright ruin the twist ending at worst.
Like many of the best thriller writers, Ward never openly lies to the reader but instead misdirects their attention throughout the novel.The Last House on Needless Street’s story is already compelling, creepy, and strangely sad long before its big twist, but the book’s ending is whatsecured the novel a definitive 10/10 thriller statusfrom critics and readers alike.
The Last House on Needless Street Has An All-Time Great Twist Ending
The Thriller Book’s Ending Is Carefully Crafted and Perfectly Executed
It is very tricky to discuss the book without getting into spoilers, but finding out the twist ofThe Last House on Needless Streetbefore reading the book would truly be a shame for uninitiated readers. All that potential audiences need to know is that the book contains some heavy themes of child abuse, child abduction, and murder.
As such,The Last House on Needless Streetis not for the faint of heart, and the ending of Ward’s book will make the preceding story significantly more emotionally devastating than viewers may have imagined. That said, the story is also peerlessly empathetic, providing insight into characters often abandoned to the sidelines of genre storytelling.
The Last House on Needless Streetapproaches a topic that is often glamorized and demonized with tact and plentiful research, resulting in a novel that feels it avoids clichés while also steering clear of offensive stereotypes. WhileKing’s movies may often be big box office successes, even he is prone to occasionally penning stereotypical characters or overly simplified depictions.
Ward’s writing remains creepy and effective, even when viewers learn the truth underneath the story.
In contrast,The Last House on Needless Streetexcels precisely because the book takes a nuanced look at a thorny subject, wraps it in the construction of a crowd-pleasing thriller, and emerges with a novel as thoughtful as it is unsettling. Ward’s writing remains creepy and effective, even when viewers learn the truth underneath the story.
WhileThe Last House on Needless Streetisn’t perfect, it is a superb psychological thriller that tackles a tough subject fearlessly. As such, it is no surprise that even an author as Stephen King couldn’t resist sharingThe Last House on Needless Streetwith his followers after that stellar twist ending was revealed.
