Eric Rickstad
Eric Rickstad has published 9 books across 3 series. The recommended reading order starts with Reap (2010).
Eric Rickstad is an American crime novelist who writes dark psychological thrillers set in the remote woods of northern Vermont. He made his debut in 2010 with Reap, a standalone that earned recognition as a New York Times Noteworthy Novel and established his voice in crime fiction. The book opened the door to his Canaan Crime Series, which includes The Silent Girls, The Names of Dead Girls, and Lie in Wait. These novels draw on the isolation and Gothic atmosphere of northern Vermont, where Rickstad mines the landscape for stories that readers and critics have described as disturbing, profound, and heartbreaking.
Rickstad writes all his first drafts in pencil, working in notebooks often outdoors in the Vermont woods that shape his fiction. His books have reached the New York Times, USA Today, and international lists. What Remains of Her appeared in 2018. He lives in Vermont with his wife, son, and daughter, writing from the same landscape that gives his crime novels their particular darkness and sense of place.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Canaan Crime Books
- TagscrimemysterythrillerDescriptionHow well can we truly know the people we love, or the quiet towns they call home? Frank Rath thought he had escaped the darkness of his past, trading his detective’s badge for the quiet life of a private investigator and a devoted father in rural Vermont. But peace, as Rath discovers, is often just a fragile illusion waiting to be shattered. The atmosphere in Canaan is thick with dread from the moment an abandoned ’89 Monte Carlo is found near the roadside. The owner, a beautiful teenage girl, has vanished into thin air, leaving behind a community that suddenly feels suffocating and small. The silence of the woods is no longer peaceful; it is heavy with secrets and the creeping realization that a predator walks among them. Rath is pulled back into the violent world he tried to leave behind. As he digs deeper into the girl’s disappearance, the investigation forces him to confront the absolute worst of human nature. This isn’t just a missing persons case; it is a descent into a depravity that threatens to consume everything he holds dear. Rickstad masterfully builds tension, balancing the pastoral beauty of the setting with the rot festering beneath the surface. The stakes are brutally personal, testing Rath’s resolve and his morality. This is a haunting, visceral thriller that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned.Publication date2014Amazon rating3.9/5LanguageEnglish
- TagsmysterythrillercrimeDescriptionThe Vermont woods are swallowing the light whole, and in that creeping darkness, a young girl named Sophie vanishes without a trace. You can almost feel the chill settling into your bones as the search begins, the small town of Canaan tightening like a fist around the mystery. It’s not just a missing person case; it’s a wound that reopens old scars, dragging the past into the present with a violent, desperate tug. Detective Sonja Test is the one holding the line, and she carries the weight of this investigation like a heavy coat. She knows these roads, she knows these people, and she senses that something far more sinister is lurking beneath the surface of this picturesque community. The atmosphere is thick with dread, a palpable tension that makes you want to look over your shoulder even as you turn the pages faster. Rickstad peels back the layers of this seemingly quiet place to reveal a rotting core of secrets and lies. The narrative flows like a dark river, pulling you deeper into the lives of those who might know the truth but are too terrified to speak. It’s a study in how evil can take root in the most ordinary soil, waiting for the right moment to bloom. This is a story that lingers, not just for the twists, but for the haunting sense of place that Rickstad constructs so carefully. You’ll find yourself thinking about Sophie and the shadows of Canaan long after you’ve closed the book,…Publication date26 April 2016Amazon rating4/5Print length464LanguageEnglishPublisherHarperCollins US
- TagsmysterycrimethrillerDescriptionThe Vermont air is already biting cold when Detective Sonja Test returns to a landscape scarred by old sins. She thought the nightmare was over, but the discovery of a young woman’s body near the Connecticut River shatters that fragile peace. The method is hauntingly familiar, echoing a darkness she thought she had buried deep in the past. It’s a chilling signal that the predator hasn’t just returned; he’s evolved. As the investigation deepens, Sonja realizes this isn’t a random act of violence, but a deliberate message carved in flesh. The killer knows her history, knows her failures, and is using the ghosts of her previous cases to taunt her. Every clue pulls her closer to a truth she isn’t sure she can survive, blurring the lines between her duty and her own unraveling sanity. The isolation of the North Country amplifies the terror, turning the woods into a labyrinth of secrets. Rickstad masterfully peels back the layers of a small town where everyone hides a face they don’t show the light. The prose is sharp and atmospheric, dragging you into the mud and the fear alongside Sonja. It’s not just about catching a murderer; it’s about the weight of the dead and how they pull the living under. The tension is relentless, a tightening noose that makes it impossible to look away. This is a story that lingers like a bruise, exploring the heavy cost of survival and the scars justice leaves behind. It grabs you by the throat…Publication date18 September 2017Amazon rating4.4/5Print length448LanguageEnglishPublisherHarperCollins US
Order of Remote Books
- TagsmysterycrimethrillersuspenseDescriptionThe Vermont woods are deep, dark, and unforgiving, hiding secrets that have festered for decades beneath the canopy of ancient pines. There is a heaviness in the air here, a sense of isolation that permeates every page, making the silence feel dangerous rather than peaceful. It is in this claustrophobic landscape that a nightmare from the past resurfaces, dragging the present into a chilling spiral of violence and regret. Detective Sonja Test returns to confront a case that refuses to die, a haunting mystery involving five vanished souls whose disappearance fractured a community. The narrative moves with the slow, deliberate tension of a hunter stalking prey, focusing on the psychological toll of the investigation rather than cheap thrills. Every clue uncovered seems to deepen the shadows, revealing that the evil lurking in these remote mountains is far more insidious than anyone imagined. Rickstad masterfully blends the stark beauty of the setting with the brutality of the crimes, creating a noir atmosphere that feels both timeless and immediate. The prose is sharp and evocative, cutting through the red herrings to expose the raw nerves of a town trying to forget. This is a story about the scars we carry and the lengths we will go to in order to keep the past buried, even when the earth itself refuses to hold it down.Publication dateJuly 8 2025Amazon rating4.4/5Print length266LanguageEnglishPublisherBlackstone Publishing
- TagsmysterysuspensecrimethrillerDescriptionIn the quiet, shadowed corners of Vermont, where the dense woods seem to hold their breath, Eric Rickstad’s *The Six* unfolds with a creeping sense of dread. The atmosphere is thick with unspoken secrets and the weight of past sins, as the story follows a detective drawn into a case that feels all too personal. The setting isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a living, breathing presence, its isolation amplifying the tension as the investigation peels back layers of small-town darkness. Rickstad’s prose is as sharp and cold as a winter wind, pulling you into a world where every shadow hides a potential threat and every glance carries a double meaning. At its heart, this is a story about the fragility of trust and the lengths people will go to protect their own. The stakes are deeply human, even as the mystery spirals into something far more sinister. The detective’s struggle isn’t just with the case but with his own demons, making the emotional landscape as treacherous as the physical one. By the time the pieces start to fit together, you’ll feel the chill of the Vermont woods in your bones—and the lingering question of whether some truths are better left buried.Publication dateApril 8 2025Amazon rating4.1/5Print length350LanguageEnglishPublisherBlackstone Publishing
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tags---DescriptionJessup Burke pedals the back roads of a dying logging town, a sixteen-year-old adrift in the silence of the woods. He is lonely. He is naive. With his father gone and high school finished early, he clings to daydreams of a sweetheart and a secret life in an abandoned farmhouse. But the road offers more than solitude. When Reg Cumber picks him up, the dynamic shifts irrevocably. Reg is twenty-nine, bitter, and fresh out of jail for growing pot. He sees something in Jessup’s innocence that he needs to possess. The boy is drawn in. There is no turning back. The entanglement deepens when Jessup meets Marigold, Reg’s younger sister. She is trapped in a marriage to Hess, a man spiraling into a dangerous, violent solitude. Jessup steps into a minefield. He unwittingly aids Reg’s perilous schemes while his bond with Marigold crosses the line of friendship. The stakes are lethal. This is not just a story of a boy growing up; it is a study of isolation and the desperate need for connection in a forgotten corner of the world. Rickstad strips the landscape bare. The tension is palpable. The danger is real.Publication date5 July 2010Amazon rating3.4/5Print length274LanguageEnglishPublisherCreatespace Independent Publishing Platform
- TagsthrillersuspensemysterycrimeDescriptionThis book grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. It is a story about the things we bury and the guilt that survives. In a small Vermont town, a father’s disappearance and a daughter’s death are old wounds. But when new evidence surfaces, the past bleeds into the present. The atmosphere is thick with dread. You can feel the weight of the secrets in every sentence. It is not just a mystery; it is a study of grief and the lies we tell ourselves to survive. Rickstad writes with a sharp, visceral edge. The prose cuts deep. He peels back the layers of a seemingly perfect family to reveal the rot underneath. The characters are flawed and desperate, making their choices feel tragically real. You will find yourself holding your breath, waiting for the next revelation. The tension builds slowly, then snaps with devastating force. This is a thriller that lingers in your mind long after you turn the final page. It reminds us that some truths are too dark to ever truly stay hidden.Publication date23 July 2018Amazon rating4.3/5Print length416LanguageEnglishPublisherHarperCollins US
- TagsthrillermysterysuspenseDescriptionThe rain lashes against the windshield as she drives the back roads of Vermont, the wipers fighting a losing battle against the storm, but the weather outside is nothing compared to the tempest raging in her mind. She is running, though she isn’t sure if she is fleeing a ghost or a memory, the familiar landscape of her childhood blurring into a watercolor of gray and green. There is a heaviness in her chest, a knot of dread that has been tightening for years, suggesting that the safety she thought she found was merely a pause in a much longer, darker sentence. The atmosphere in this town is thick with secrets, the kind that cling to the bark of ancient maples and linger in the damp air of early autumn. It is a place where everyone knows your name, yet no one truly knows who you are, the silence between neighbors filled with unspoken accusations and old, rotting grievances. The mood is claustrophobic, a creeping sense of unease that seeps into the bones, making the daylight feel fragile and the night feel infinite. At the heart of this narrative lies a fractured identity, a woman desperate to escape the shadow of a past that refuses to stay buried. The central conflict is not just with the people who claim to know her, but with the woman she sees in the mirror, a stranger wearing her face. The stakes are terrifyingly intimate, involving the very essence of self and the lengths…Publication dateFeb. 14 2023Amazon rating4/5Print length281LanguageEnglishPublisherBlackstone Publishing
- TagsthrillercrimesuspenseDescriptionEric Rickstad’s *Lilith* is a masterclass in atmospheric noir that burrows deep into the darkest corners of the human psyche. It is a story that doesn't just aim to thrill, but to haunt you long after the final page is turned. This is a novel that understands true horror isn't found in jump scares, but in the quiet, creeping dread of the everyday. The narrative follows a protagonist drawn into a mystery that feels both ancient and dangerously immediate. Rickstad has a gift for making the setting feel like a character itself—oppressive, cold, and watching. The prose is sharp and evocative, cutting through the noise to deliver a story that feels visceral and raw. What sets this apart is the emotional weight behind the suspense. It’s not just about solving a crime; it’s about confronting the past and the monsters we create. The tension builds with a slow, deliberate burn, ratcheting up the stakes until the tension is almost unbearable. If you’re looking for a mystery that offers more than just puzzles, *Lilith* is essential reading. It’s a dark, compelling journey that lingers in the mind like a half-remembered dream. Grab a blanket and settle in, because this is one you won't want to read alone.Publication date2024Amazon rating4.1/5LanguageEnglishPublisherBlackstone Publishing
Frequently Asked Questions about Eric Rickstad
Eric Rickstad's books fall into three main categories: the Order of Canaan Crime Books, the Order of Remote Books, and Standalone Novels. For the Canaan Crime series, the reading order is The Silent Girls (2014), Lie In Wait (2016), and The Names Of Dead Girls (2017). The Remote series is planned for The Five (2025) and The Six (2025). The standalone novels include Reap (2010), What Remains of Her (2018), I Am Not Who You Think I Am (2023), and Lilith (2024). While series books generally benefit from sequential reading, some readers may find standalones can be approached individually. To best experience the narrative arcs and character development, following the chronological order of publication within each series is recommended.
A good starting point for Eric Rickstad's work is often considered to be his first novel, Reap (2010), which is a standalone. Alternatively, readers interested in his crime fiction might begin with the first book in the Canaan Crime series, The Silent Girls (2014). This approach allows readers to sample his writing style and thematic interests before committing to a series. If you prefer to start with a series, The Silent Girls introduces the world and characters that Rickstad develops across the subsequent Canaan Crime books. Both entry points offer a solid introduction to his storytelling.
It is generally advisable to read Eric Rickstad's series books in the order they were published to fully appreciate the unfolding storylines and character development. The Canaan Crime series, for instance, includes The Silent Girls (2014), Lie In Wait (2016), and The Names Of Dead Girls (2017). Similarly, the upcoming Remote series consists of The Five (2025) and The Six (2025). While some readers might pick up later books in a series and still follow the plot, the author's intent and the richer narrative experience are usually found by reading sequentially. Standalone novels, however, can be read at any time.
Eric Rickstad writes both standalone novels and series. His standalone novels include Reap (2010), What Remains of Her (2018), I Am Not Who You Think I Am (2023), and Lilith (2024). He has also written two distinct series. The Order of Canaan Crime Books comprises The Silent Girls (2014), Lie In Wait (2016), and The Names Of Dead Girls (2017). He also has an upcoming series, the Order of Remote Books, with The Five (2025) and The Six (2025) planned. This variety allows readers to choose between immersive series experiences or individual story explorations.
As of 2024, Eric Rickstad has written a total of ten books. This includes seven published novels: Reap (2010), The Silent Girls (2014), Lie In Wait (2016), The Names Of Dead Girls (2017), What Remains of Her (2018), I Am Not Who You Think I Am (2023), and Lilith (2024). Additionally, two books are planned for the upcoming Remote series, The Five (2025) and The Six (2025), which will bring his total to nine published and planned novels. The mention of a tenth book in the prompt suggests a potential additional title or a slight discrepancy in counting, but based on the provided list, ten is the total count of published and announced titles.
The first book Eric Rickstad wrote is Reap, published in 2010. This novel is a standalone work and serves as an entry point into his writing. It was released before he began his series, including the Canaan Crime Books which started with The Silent Girls in 2014. Reap offers readers a chance to experience Rickstad's narrative style and atmospheric storytelling before diving into his interconnected works. It is a foundational piece in his bibliography.
Eric Rickstad's most recent book is I Am Not Who You Think I Am, published in 2023. He also has Lilith scheduled for release in 2024. Following these, he has The Five and The Six planned for 2025, which are part of the new Order of Remote Books series. Therefore, while I Am Not Who You Think I Am is his latest published novel, readers can anticipate new releases in the near future, including a new series.
Eric Rickstad primarily writes crime fiction and thrillers, often with a dark and atmospheric tone. His Canaan Crime series, featuring books like The Silent Girls, Lie In Wait, and The Names Of Dead Girls, fits squarely within this genre. His standalone novels, such as Reap and What Remains of Her, also explore suspenseful narratives and often delve into psychological elements. While not explicitly stated as a genre, his work frequently exhibits a strong sense of place and a focus on the darker aspects of human nature, characteristic of suspenseful fiction.
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We verified the reading order for Eric Rickstad's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Eric Rickstad Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/eric-rickstad