First a thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I kept waiting for the anxiety to start. But it never really happened. It was a simple murder mystery. Not really any twists and there was very little detail about the woman on the porch. Maybe if the author had gone into more of the story of the kidnapper (no spoilers) and the girl from the porch it might have been more interesting. As it was it was more about the neighborhood and neighbors being suspicious of the other neighbors. IDK. I was hoping for more from this author as he has written with Stephen King in the past. Maybe because it is a shorter book, 150 pages, the author didn't have the time to add details. I say 2.5 stars rounded up.

What a clever story. The Girl on the Porch kept me on the edge of my seat. This is the first time I've read a book by this author and hopefully not the last.

3 stars. Interesting premise, but unsatisfying conclusion and reveal. Review to come.

Due to being a high school teacher, I often fall behind on writing reviews. Here are my initial thoughts.

Loved it! I'm a big fan of everything Chizmar rights. He has a knack for bringing small-town's to life.

I've read many of Chizmar's books/novels. While I don't think this is his best, I really enjoyed it. Suspenseful, scary, realistic situations.

The Girl on the Porch by Richard Chizmar
This is the first time I have read anything written by Mr. Chizmar but it definitely won't be the last! This was a quick read novella that holds your attention from page 1. From seeing a scantily clad woman on your porch with a shackle hanging from one wrist ringing your broken doorbell you have to start looking at your neighbors and friends through clear eyes to figure out who could have been capable of horrible deeds done to the girl. Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers and Mr. Chizmar for this book and letting me leave my honest opinion.

Published by Subterranean Press on August 31, 2019

Repeated rings of a doorbell go unanswered until Frank Urban rolls out of bed and finds nobody at the door. In the morning, his wife Angela texts their neighbor. Sarah Tucker remembers hearing their dog barking during the night, so after reading the text she checks the footage on their home’s security camera. The camera shows a young girl on the porch, obviously scared, who appears to have escaped captivity. The police are baffled.

The video goes viral and the town panics. About half of The Girl on the Porch — the good half — is taken up by the police investigation and gossipy neighbors who are looking to cast blame for the mysterious girl’s fate, whatever it might have been. Intermittently, we learn of events that might either be threatening or misperceived, some focused on the Tuckers: a footprint outside a window, a man who seems to be paying undue attention to the Tuckers’ daughter.

The second half reveals the fate of the girl in the video. The story then focuses on the wife of a main character who, along with the police, begins to suspect that her husband may have been responsible for what happened to the girl.

While The Girl on the Porch sets up an intriguing mystery, the mystery’s abrupt resolution leaves too many threads untied. The resolution gives the impression of a story that was written on the fly by a writer who eventually realized he had no idea how to end it. Fortunately, this is a novella, so I didn’t feel that my relatively brief investment of time in the story was entirely wasted. I haven’t read anything else by Richard Chizmar, but given the novella’s first half, I’m sure he’s capable to stronger work.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

I received a copy of this in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Wow. What a great book. I love that the storyline was realistic and seemed ripped from the news.. [ pretty sure it was? ]. the author is very talented.

The Girl on The Porch was my first novella, and it left me unsatisfied. I thought it was a great idea for an exciting thriller, but in the end, I wanted more. I was missing the deepness of the plot and the well-developed characters. What had a promise of being a creepy and unnerving read ended up being just an OK story with an underwhelming ending. Maybe I am just not the right audience for novellas, and I need a full novel to appreciate the author’s work, or maybe it was just not the book for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Subterranean Press, and the author for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

You know, I think I’d go 4.5 stars overall. I liked the brevity and the pace, but at times I wished he’d flesh out the characters a bit more. Would have made the reveal a bit more impactful. Also SO thankful I didn’t call the reveal correctly cause sometimes that wouldn’t ruin it for me, but in this case it would have.
Overall absolutely loved it! Was 100% into it and read it fast!

This book was a first for me by this author.Caught my attention from the very first page and i liked most of the book. It was very short 110 fast paced story and left me with alot of unanswered questions. Thanks to Subterranean Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Subterranean books, Richard Chizmar and Netgalley. This story held some promise with the chilling description and strong imagery. I wish it had been more fully executed because it was a good beginning to a story. The characters were likable, and although predictable, the story showed promise. The ending is what killed it for me. I wanted so much more from the story. The ending was abrupt, and I would have loved to have seen a more complete wrap-up to the story. I like Chizmar's writing, I just wish he would have put more of it in the story.

This book comes in a whopping 152 pages. It is definitely one of the shortest books I have read if not the shortest (excluding books made up of several short stories).

Initially, I didn’t really like this book simply because I felt I was left with so many unanswered questions.

My friend and co-creator, Kim, have a podcast called Books Don’t Review Themselves. We both got a copy of this book on Netgalley with the intent of reviewing it an episode of our podcast. After we sat down and had a conversation about this book, I slowly felt my 2 stars turn into 3 stars, with me landing on 4 stars.

The abbreviated synopsis, taken from Amazon:

“When the Tuckers; next-door neighbor mentions someone rang their doorbell late the previous night, Sarah and Kenny Tucker check their Home’s security camera and discover something shocking: the doorbell ringer also visited their house and it wasn’t a teenager playing a prank, but instead a terrified young woman with a shackle hanging from her right wrist. She anxiously pressed the doorbell again and again, glancing over her shoulder as if someone was coming for her, before giving up and taking off into the dark.“

Interesting stuff right? Sucks you right in like an episode of Criminal Minds. I left the story wanting more, however the more my friend and I talked about it, the more I realized that could very well be the author's intention.

Today we live in a world of instant gratification. We always want to know what is going on, why, how it happened, and who is involved. However, the sad reality is… do we really know our neighbors? I don’t know about you, but when I bought my house, I didn’t receive any ‘welcome to the neighborhood pies’ nor did I introduce myself.

That being said, you learn just enough about each couple and their family to get through the story, but not enough to play the game of ‘guess who’ that we all usually play while reading a thriller/suspense/horror.

Unfortunately, I can’t say too much without giving away important details. What I will say is that this book is a quick, enjoyable read that left me feeling unsettled. Unsettled in the way of wanting answers, but also how much we think we know about the world that surrounds us when in actuality we know so little.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this. It drew me in quickly and had me hooked from the start. I couldn't put it down! My only complaint was the ending seemed kind of rushed and left me wanting more.
Thank you to NetGalley, Richard Chizmar, and Subterranean Press for gifting me an e-copy of this novella in exchange for an honest review.

This had fine writing and a great premise but it wasn’t all that satisfying. There are quite a few characters to keep track of and none of them (beside Sarah and Kenny) are remotely fleshed out. This did allow for many red herrings but as you know in these cases those aren’t the characters that we should be looking at...

There is a lot of day to day minutia (at least for a story this size). It doesn’t advance the story or the suspense. There is no alternative point of view (other than a page or two snippet from the perpetrator and they weren’t enlightening- at least to me).

Because of all this, when the conclusion is reached it really isn’t satisfying. You don’t really see how the detectives figured it out. More importantly, you have no connection or understanding of the character that commits the act (the why, how, ...). So I feel like what was the point of it all? The paragraph about Natalie was spooky and did allow it to close on a creepy note but way too little, too late.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Subterranean Press for a copy in exchange for a review.

Where and who did the Girl on the Porch flee from and where is she now?

Angie and Frank Urban were awoken by their doorbell frantically ringing at 3:30 a.m. By the time Frank opened the door, their porch was empty. The next day, their neighbors Sarah and Kenny checked their security camera. They saw a scantily clad girl on their porch frantically ringing their broken doorbell. The police are called and the video goes viral. As time wears on, all the neighbors begin to suspect one of their own.

I loved Gwendy’s Button Box and was looking forward to reading the Girl on the Porch. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by the simplistic characters and whatever is the opposite of a compelling plot. It also had no dynamic tension. It was missing the creepy horror atmosphere of the previous story I had read by the author. Just a missed opportunity. It should have been longer so we could hear the characters’ histories. Or it should have been shorter to punch up the tension. At this length, it’s a miss for me. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Thanks to Subterranean Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

THE GIRL ON THE PORCH by Richard Chizman is a well-written and fast-paced novella. Kenny Tucker comes downstairs for breakfast and finds his wife Sarah on her phone. Their neighbor has mentioned that someone rang their doorbell multiple times around 3:30 AM but they did not see anyone when they got to the door. Sarah checks their security video and finds a young woman with a shackle hanging from her right wrist pressing their broken doorbell repeatedly before leaving. Sarah and Kenny call the police and an investigation gets underway.

Thus starts an interesting take on the neighborhood where she was last seen. The plot is suspenseful, emotional, impactful and thought-provoking. How well do you really know your friends, neighbors and family members? How would you react in this situation? Would you be supportive of others or would you be gossipy or perhaps suspicious of everyone? How will it affect the lives of those that live in this typical suburban neighborhood?

To me this was a suspenseful mystery rather than a thriller and it is very character driven through the voice of Kenny. While the police are active and on the case, they are secondary to the people living in the neighborhood as the search for the girl is underway.

This story line kept me fully engaged and turning the pages to determine who the girl on the porch was and who her captor was. I do feel that the story could have been longer to provide more detail leading up to the finale. Despite several red herrings, the ending seemed rushed and without the normal reader cues. An extra 10-15 pages leading up to the end could have delivered a more impactful finish and answered some of the whys.

While this is the first book that I have read by Richard Chizman, I look forward to reading more of his novels.

Many thanks to Subterranean Press (@SubPress), Richard Chizman and Net Galley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

For those who are unaware, this is a novella...only 108 pages.

I believe I'm in the minority on this one...I quite liked The Girl on the Porch. It's short, sweet, creepy, and red herrings abound. I honestly had no idea which direction the conclusion was heading.

Would I have liked a bit more meat to the story? I'd say so, yes. But ultimately, I still thought it was a fun, little read. 3.5 stars rounded up.

**Many thanks to the publisher for my advanced copy.

One morning, Sarah is reviewing the door camera footage after the dog had been barking in the middle of the night. She sees a young barefoot woman with a shackle on her wrist run up to the door and try to ring the bell (which had been out-of-order for some time), then leaving. "The Girl on the Porch" becomes an overnight viral news story, on all the major networks and throughout social media.

Gradually, the paranoia increases among the neighbors and friends - Tom is quiet and lives alone; Paul was loading something into his trunk that was the size of a body - until everyone is suspicious about everyone else.

This was well-written, but I had a couple problems with the story. The ending seemed a bit rushed, and while they were worried about their safety, I feel like Sarah and Kenny weren't concerned enough.

Have you ever read a book so thoroughly unsure of what it was supposed to be that you had to go back and read the synopsis to see how it was being marketed and to whom? According to the publisher’s description, The Girl on the Porch is a thriller, and a harrowing one at that, “A rollercoaster ride of compelling twists and turns,” they claim. Thank God for marketing writers, because I would not have picked up on any of that from the text itself.

The Girl on the Porch is a thriller without any thrills. As far as a rollercoaster…well, picture a rollercoaster low to the ground, maybe about half an inch high, without any bends or turns or loop-de-loops, and instead of racing along you’re stuck in a creaky old car that barely nudges itself along the track. There’s no acceleration, no sense of excitement or adventure, but sweet fiddling Jesus Christ are you ever glad when it’s over, even if all your left with is the demand for your time and money back, eager to go find an actual, honest to goodness real goddamn ride!

I guess you can kinda sorta tell this book is meant to be a thriller, and marketed toward what the publisher must think is still the big trend in thrillers, since its title belongs to the burgeoning and overused formula of The Girl / With Something / Who Did Something / In-On-Or There Abouts Somewhere. This book’s initial premise is one of promise, and according to Richard Chizmar is based on a true story of a home security camera’s late-night recording of a woman in chains appearing on the porch. It’s a frightening event to be sure, one that’s ripe with all kinds of storytelling possibility. Unfortunately, the author here proceeds to drains this premise of any potential, excitement, or mystery. Chizmar takes this great idea and then frames it in the most plodding and boring way possible.

Is this book a thriller or a mystery or a real-life horror? No. Sadly, The Girl on the Porch is little more than a mundane suburban melodrama about neighborly worries and baking cookies out of guilt. It could have been a truly compelling mystery if seen through the eyes of the detectives that operate here on the periphery. It could have been an engaging thriller if the central character, Kenny, seemed even the least bit interested in trying to figure out who’s following him or leaving footprints in his wife’s garden. Instead, he’s more eager to mow his lawn. Yes, dear readers, Kenny is such a boring-ass, milquetoast protagonist that his greatest joy in life is doing yard work. Next to watching football, it’s maybe his greatest passion.

There’s a mystery man stalking this small suburban neighborhood in the wake of this unknown woman briefly appearing on Kenny’s doorstep before disappearing into the night again. Imagine how interesting that aspect of the story could be, and then nix all that from your mind entirely because instead you’re going to read about poker games, yoga classes, high school football practice, and Kenny’s favorite reading chair when he’s not cutting the grass for the bulk of this slim novella’s hundred-some pages.

Chizmar had a really neat concept here and then deliberately decided to tell it in the most mundane, antiseptic, and dullest ways possible. There’s no sense of engagement in the material here, and certainly no reason to even try connect with it. There’s no growth and certainly no arc or journey for any of the cast, and the characters are forgettable paper-thin cardboard cutouts who do next to nothing for the entire story. We do get a few very, very, very, very, very brief glimmers of interest, though, such as a too short but legitimately scary moment around the half-way mark that ultimately, like the rest of this book, ends in cliched disappointment. It’s such a small moment of potential, but ends up being little more than a cock tease in a narrative that suffers from a serious case of erectile dysfunction. This is a story that never once rises to the occasion and instead is content to be a sad, limp, shriveled up disappointment.

What’s worse is that I actually like Chizmar quite a bit. His collaboration with Stephen King for Gwendy’s Button Box was stellar, and his chapters for Serial Box’s Silverwood: The Door, Season 1 were standout entries. I’ve dug most of the short stories I’ve read from him in various anthologies. Even when I found some of his lesser works, like Widow’s Point, to be overly familiar and formulaic, I still found certain things to appreciate and had a good time reading them. Not so with The Girl on the Porch. I found myself on the verge of quitting this book several times, I was so fed up with its go nowhere, do nothing attitude, but mustered through since it’s such a short read. Then, several times I became actively angry at this book for wasting so much of my time with its utterly passive pointlessness.

If The Girl on the Porch is meant to be a thriller, then it’s the most lackluster and impotent one I’ve ever read. If it’s supposed to be a mystery, then it’s one in which not a single one of our central characters seems even the least bit interested in solving. For an author as good as Chizmar, it’s painful to see him slumming it here, and so meekly too. I had high hopes for this one, but, sad to say, this is easily the most disappointing book I’ve read this year.