I’m not a huge fan of the creepy kid trope. The parents were horrible. While it was definitely eerie and suspenseful, something was just missing from the narrative for me.

This is by no means a good book.
The plot is completely hokey, the characters are one-note bit players, especially the wannabe-Steve-King numpty of an MC, and the writing style hovers between pretty decent and writing workshop overload. What sets this apart from the legion of other dumb novels and elevates this to three stars is that in its own stupid way, it's actually fun to read.

So, your spouse is now in a position to singlehandedly keep your family afloat, freeing you up to finally pursue your dream of writing. Which, it seems, you never actually got around to trying your hand at before, at least not in a serious way, despite the fact that, you know, writing fiction literally just takes some time, a pen/computer and a bit of perseverance, but hey. There you are, finally, a writer!
At least, that's how you introduce yourself to your spouse's colleagues, the neighbors, the police and whoever else is unfortunate enough to ask; which in itself already turns this story into a major cringe-fest. "Oh, you're a writer! Anything I've heard of?" Um, no, you're still stuck on the first couple of pages of your first draft.
But! All of a sudden, the Chance of a Lifetime comes your way, when some chick you know sets you up for a meeting with this agent chick she knows so you can pitch your novel, and baby, that's not just any old agent, it's a Legend. It's The Agent. It's the one all the literary big boys are falling over themselves for. So now you know that 1) you absolutely HAVE to finish your book in time for the meeting, which incidentally is (literally) 29 days away (again: FIRST DRAFT, couple pages, no real clue about the book or writing itself), and 2) this novel is completely bonkers. Mr Wirt's writing knows exactly two settings, super-low stakes (pages and pages of domesticity-related non-events -- Craig whipped up some macaroni and cheese with chopped up chicken nuggets mixed in.) and total overdrive. There's nothing in between.

Also, and this really made me scorn-laugh, this is a male author's book on a male would-be writer's conundrums, so of course the MC's wife is totally understanding when MC Craig has trouble handling things on the home front: "'I appreciate that you're the one taking care of [daughter Alice] all day and handling the rest of the home stuff at the same time, all while finding the time to write your book.'" Newsflash: this is what women artists have been doing since the Stone Age, with no loving spouse patting them nicely on the head for it. It's called having a family. Putting your own needs on the back burner is kind of a prerequisite, it's not even close to some heroic measure. But hey, Craig made Alice a sandwich and set up the TV for her, what a great dude.
In fact, he's so great that his wife sings his praises not just once, but repeatedly: "'Honey, you contribute every day. You're here with Alice. You're making lunches, dinners. Doing laundry. If you weren't here, the place would literally fall apart. Don't for one second think you aren't doing most of the work in this family, and don't for one second think I don't realize that.'" WHA???? I mean, WHAAA??????? Good lord, the man's practically a saint! And: "most of the work", when the wife is busting her ass at some medical-research firm, coming home late every night and spending weekends giving presentations and stuff??? Get real, Mr Wirt.
Also, let's just for a sec inverse the gender ratio here and have a husband say this stuff to his wife -- absurd, right? In a woman, the effort is taken for granted, no, it's EXPECTED, no further mention necessary. In a man, it's so fantastic that the working spouse basically collapses in gratitude and respect to the point that she's coughing blood. Maybe I'm being mean here, but I suspect that Mr Wirt is the kind of guy that expects flowers and a medal for emptying the dishwasher and heating some tomato sauce for dinner; how else do you come up with sexist dross like that.
(By the way, Craig's reaction to that near-orgasmic endorsement of his domestic excellence? "Craig leaned his head back and blew out a breath. 'I know, but...'")

It's not even like Craig's actually a decent dad (or house husband), he's forever plunking the kid in front of some Disney movie or downright kicking her out of the house to play in the garden, just so he can work on his Great American Something, and when things don't work out and he's starting to fall behind on all counts so much that his wife suggests hiring someone for the child, he turns up the 'tude: "'I'm not going to be a stay-at-home dad who has to hire a nanny. How would that look?'" I'm sorry, Craig, who gives a shit? Want to write your novel or not?

So, that's Craig. Craig is about the dumbest character I've come across in a long, long time. Craig is writing a novel on his laptop, but it has never occurred to him to, you know, do a backup or something? (For some reason these people seem to never have heard of cloud storage. They also never use the internet, it looks like, so that actually figures.) Then one day he almost spills his drink on his keyboard and has a full-blown epiphany that is trumpets and horns and Technicolor widescreen: he needs a USB stick! He could, of course, upload his work in progress to one of the myriad online file storage options that are out there, but that thought never crosses his mind, Craig is a hardware kinda guy.

Craig's ideas on how to write a bestseller are pretty colorful as well. Let's see what Craig's Guide to the Writing Life looks like: first, you need a decent record player. (Yes. Record player. Like, for vinyl LPs. Because nothing helps you stay in the flow more than having to turn over a record in the middle of a paragraph.) Craig got himself a nice desk chair for that as well: "Craig pushed back from the desk and rolled over to the turntable spinning along the far wall. It was a Marantz 6200, the crown jewel of his meticulously curated writing office -- a splurge he'd told Courtney was essential because proper writing music was incredibly important."
You know, Craig, you could have just gotten a Spotify subscription and a nice set of speakers instead. Especially since you're so very particular about what it is that lands on that turntable -- here's the CraigsGuide Part Two: "Craig's daily music selection was fairly scientific. It had to be upbeat to push him forward, ideally matching the mood of whatever scene he was writing. An action beat needed to feed off something aggressive like the Replacements or Hüsker Dü, but if his main character needed to wallow in his own misery, only something like the [sic] Cure would get Craig into that headspace."
Genius. So once you got your serious writing music down and that vinyl all lined up, let's move on to the topic of helpful substances: coffee.
"He'd never really drunk the stuff before he'd started on his book, so he was still getting used to the caffeine boost. When he was at the computer, he thought of it as writing fuel." Man, gotta watch it with that java! At first he's careful not to overdo it, sticking to one (1) cup a day, but as the story progresses poor Craig ends up on a fairly slippery slope, regularly ingesting -- gasp -- two cups of the stuff (he's sleep-deprived! He's stressed!) and once even getting a third.
The whole coffee thing apparently even messes with Craig's memory; the liquid he almost spills on his laptop earlier is water ("His hand jumped and knocked the bottle onto the desk. Water poured from the mouth, and Craig scrambled to pick his laptop up before the tide hit."), but when he replays that scene in his mind a couple of chapters later, his beverage has mysteriously turned into coffee (!): "He'd spilled coffee across the desk and barely rescued his laptop in time."
(Or just maybe it's all down to the author, who seems to have forgotten that he told us this same thing while it happened, so now we get to hear it again like we're some kind of memory-impaired goldfish: "Seeing his book's life flash before his eyes like that spurred him to start saving a backup file on a USB drive." Yes. Thank you. I remember. This is a 280 page read, my attention span is quite up to that.)
Writer's block? Happens to the best of us, and as Craig knows, the only way through is through: "He jammed a finger down his literary gullet and typed whatever he vomited up." Ew. I'm not reading that, dude.
And that's it. Decent turntable, record collection, coffee and if possible a USB stick, that's all you need to write a bestselling novel. Craig certainly doesn't seem to write from an outline; in fact, it's never made clear what his book is actually about, just that he's having trouble hitting his daily word count. I would have liked to get some idea what a guy like Craig considers a bestseller-worthy manuscript, one he believes in so much that he's willing to show up for his agent meeting with nothing more to show than a rough draft. Or even just, you know, "the first few chapters". Because of course you can always "have the rest finished by the time she was ready to see the whole thing", which, in all fairness, amounts to "once hell freezes over", so Craig is probably on the right track here.

But of course this is not a satire on some suburban loser's lofty ambitions, it's a thriller, so right when Craig can't handle wasting any more of his precious time on his seven-year-old instead of drinking 1 cup of coffee/listening to something sufficiently upbeat/adding to his word count, along comes the caricature of a miniature Michael Myers to take her off his hands. Now that kid Levi is not spooky, he's not weird or strange or kind of offputting, he's a full-blown squirrel-killing mallet-swinging cat-hanging mini maniac complete with dead eyes and expressionless face, or, in Craig's view, "a little awkward". And Alice likes him! And, as everybody knows, especially news aficionados and readers of true crime: "Kids were good judges of character, able to take people at face value without all the prejudices and baggage that adults bring." Which is why kids never get murdered or bully each other or feel afraid of people who look "different". Yeah, solid child psychology here, Mr Wirt.

Trouble is, once Craig's had enough of Levi and his awkward ways, he can't get rid of the boy! And what's more, the kid seems to be wandering in and out of their McMansion unseen, and he's messing with Craig's head and his cereal and his bedside drawer where "they kept a few things he wasn't about to explain to a nine-year-old boy" (which to me was about the only truly intriguing thing in the whole book -- Jesus, what's in that drawer??? We never get to find out), and Craig is utterly, utterly helpless to stop any of the madness because it always comes down to Levi's word against his, and of course everybody always believes the nine-year-old, so what can you do?!
Well, for starters I would have installed motion-triggered flood lights all around the perimeter of the house. Also, a fence. And some trail cameras. But, you know, that's just me, and as it turns out, the family McMansion comes complete with a pre-installed security system that just needs to be activated. Which, apparently, Craig completely forgot about until nearly the end of the story, but of course the poor guy has a lot on his plate, daughter and writing and trips to the grocery store and all.
Yup, this is a dumb book.

On the technical side, the plotting is fairly clunky -- Craig completely casually mentioning his and Alice's deadly fish allergy in Levi's presence feels less like Chekhov's gun on the wall than a hefty baseball bat to the head, same for the USB stick that contains CRAIG'S ONLY BACKUP COPY of his great novel, wouldn't you know it, and that he conveniently keeps right next to his laptop in plain sight -- good idea? You decide. In fact, most, if not all of the plot hinges on the MC behaving like an idiot.
For some reason Craig, hitherto paper-thin like the rest of the ensemble, gets a sudden injection of backstory out of nowhere in the middle of the book when all of a sudden he develops some serious feels regarding Levi and something Bad that happened Back in Craig's Childhood, leading to Repressed Guilt and some half-assed attempt at mystery that reads like someone close to author advised him that "no really, it's a great book, honey, but maybe you could add some, I don't know, explanation...? So we know why Craig behaves the way he does?" (Because he's an idiot, that's why.
Also, that backstory turned out to be pretty lame as well.)

The writing itself, sheesh. The first handful of chapters read fairly well, incidentally (Craig's ideas on how to pitch a manuscript come to mind), but after that things nosedive quickly. The prose is okay for the most part, but stylistically it gets more and more unhinged the further we progress. The writing is just not that great. Some examples?
"The warm water of unconsciousness swirled around Craig as he floated down in a much-needed river of sleep."
"Craig couldn't control the kid's family situation, but if he could be a positive influence while he played with Alice, then that was something he was willing to do." One of the he's here is Craig and the other is Levi -- I'll let you work out who's who. Clumsy, clumsy writing.
Someone's "eyes frosted over with accusation", a voice has a "serpentine tone", which apparently is supposed to signal anger.
"Disappointment fell across her face like rain."
"[H]er lips were little more than a pink line where smiles usually lived."
"The guilt was a backpack full of sand hanging on Craig's shoulders."
Seven year old Alice speaks with the voice of a thirty-year-old woman: "'I just wanted some privacy so I can change.'," "'Sorry to wake you, but I'm hungry and I wanted to have breakfast.'"
And so on and so on.

That said, I had fun reading this, for all kinds of reasons. It's stupid, but at least it's not boring.
Also, the cat lives.

Tony Wirt's "Just Stay Away" is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

When the Finnegan family moves to a new neighborhood in Minnesota, they hope for a fresh start, but their peaceful existence is shattered when their daughter, Alice, befriends the mysterious neighbor boy, Levi. Craig, a struggling stay-at-home dad, is racing against time to finish his book, but his efforts are hindered by Alice's demanding nature. Initially relieved that Alice has found a playmate in Levi, Craig soon realizes that there's something unsettling about the boy when their cat is found in distress and Alice is injured. As Levi's behavior becomes increasingly disturbing, Craig finds himself locked in a battle of wits with a child who seems devoid of emotion. His credibility is called into question as he struggles to convince others of Levi's malevolent nature, leading to tensions within the community and his own family.

Reminiscent of William March's "The Bad Seed," "Just Stay Away" is a suspenseful story filled with twists turns that will leave you breathless until the conclusion. While there are moments of frustration as Craig's decisions and actions may leave you questioning his judgment, this is a must-read for fans of gripping thrillers.

When the family moves to a new neighborhood, they hope to meet new neighbors and give their 7 year old a playmate.
Craig works from home as an author, and with a deadline approaching he is relieved when 9 year old Levi seems to just pop out of nowhere and show their daughter some interest.
Craig soon begins something is wrong with Levi, but no one else sees it.

4/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I was excited to get this based on the premise alone. The story was very repetitive and frankly quite boring. Huge disappointment

Craig is a stay-at-home dad. He is also an aspiring writing and determined to finish his novel over the summer. His seven-year old daughter, Alice, complicates things as she wants to play and is quite noisy, making writing difficult. One day, Levi, a child who lives in the neighbourhood, shows up in the backyard to play with Alice. Craig is happy - this means that Alice has someone to play with while he concentrates on writing his novel. However, as time goes on, Levi's behaviour changes. He is no longer the shy little boy that Craig first met. Strange things also begin happening around the house. Craig is convinced that Levi is behind everything. But is Craig just paranoid? After all, a child couldn't be behind all of this, right?

Starting with the good - I chose to read this one because of the premise. It sounded really unique, disturbing, and suspenseful. I also really enjoyed Wirt's writing style. Easy to read and flowed well. It is also super quick.

Craig was a SUPER frustrating main character. His decisions as a parent were ridiculous. For lack of better words, he came across as an idiot! Every decision that he made had me wanting to bang my head. I get that main characters have flaws and other issues, but this was next level and led to making this book hard and unrealistic to read at times.

I also kept waiting for something to happen. There are actually very few suspenseful and thrilling parts. Most of the novel is Craig starting his day wanting to write his novel and sending Alice outside to play.

I would not bother reading this one. It is a frustrating and annoying read!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the book, I kept turning the pages to find out if Craig was right about Levi, or if the boy wasn't doing anything wrong. Stories like this usually leave me stuck reading and this one was no different. The premise of the book is good, but sometimes Craig acted like the child in the book and not the adult.
I will definitely read other books by the author!

What a super interesting read! This was very different to other thrillers I have read. The writing has a great pace and was easy to dive into. I absolutely loved the way the writer has created the character, Levi! What a crazy series of events. I would have loved to learn more of his back story and his parents. But overall really enjoyed it.

SERIOUSLY.THIS.BOOK.NEEDS.ALL.THE.HYPE.

Dont believe me? Read it for yourself and tell me I'm wrong

Wirt really captures your attention and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the entirety of this 287 page thrilling masterpiece.

No doubt questioning the main characters sanity as well as your own the whole way. Is this really happening or is it just sleep deprived paranoia!?! ITS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL.

While also shedding some light on realistic challenges and emotions a stay at home parent may experience made me feel so seen.

I had absolutely no problem tearing through these pages in one afternoon. I could not put it down.

AND OH YEAH, did I mention CREEPY KID VIBES

A huge thank you to @netgalley @wirter for the advanced readers copy. I loved this so much and I can't wait to see whats next 🖤

Creepy kids are the best! This was an intense book and I would have enjoyed it more if Craig wasn't such a crummy dad.

I thought this was a fantastic book! It was a book that kept me wanting to read and not put it down! I was really shocked at some of the items that happened in this book but it was a fun read! I really liked it alot.

When a mysterious neighborhood boy befriends his young daughter, stay-at-home dad Craig considers him a godsend—until it becomes clear that there’s nothing angelic about him at all.

Craig Finnigan is determined to finish his book this summer, but being an aspiring writer while wrangling his seven-year-old daughter is not easy. So when Alice makes fast friends with a neighborhood boy, Levi, Craig is happy she has a distraction from her constant visits to his home office. But that happiness soon turns to misgivings as Levi’s behavior evolves from that of a shy, odd boy into something far more disturbing.

Strange noises in the middle of the night and things disappearing from their home could be explained away—maybe it’s the water heater, or maybe Craig simply misplaced his flash drive. Craig can’t explain his paranoia, but he feels sure Levi is behind it. As Levi’s visits to their backyard become more and more frequent, Craig finds himself the unwilling participant in a game he never asked to play…and one he’s not sure he can win.

Really enjoyed this story. It was a nail biter of a read. Will recommend to those who love thrillers.

The author skillfully builds tension as Craig grapples with his growing suspicions about Levi, questioning whether the odd occurrences are mere coincidences or part of a more sinister plot. The narrative keeps us on edge, exploring the fine line between paranoia and a genuine threat. It is a gripping tale of suspense and psychological unease, showcasing the authors ability to craft a compelling and atmospheric thriller that delves into the complexities of trust and fear.

Good characters and solid 4 star story. A bit is unbelievable but it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed this book. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This book has it all: enough suspense, creepy child, pretty girl in possible danger, family/police/etc-who-does-not-believe-the-mc, and so on!

Craig, the main character, works from home and balances housework, his daughter, and his own work. I experienced this too and totally associated myself so mostly Craig’s behavior didn’t surprise me at all.

He got Levi, a neighbor boy who comes to the house to play with Craig’s daughter. Finally, Craig can have more time to write! But something is off, Levi acts weird and somehow creepy. So Craig decides to stop Levi from coming but the boy doesn’t think so…

The perfect popcorn thriller! I was pissed off at Craig’s wife and police but later realized the story just won’t happen if things go a different way.

Enjoyed a lot!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. All I’m going to say is instead of me binge listening to only this, I found myself listening to my music more often. Until I was searching for Kindle for other things to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC copy of this one (out now!!)

First, oh my goodness I don't know if I have ever disliked the actions and thought process of a character more than I did with Craig from this book. He literally drove me insane!!!!
There seemed to be such a disconnect in the families involved in this story also.

Creepy kids are fun to read/watch, but this book drove me crazy!!!

Craig is a stay at home father trying to meet a deadline for his first novel. The thinks he’s found the perfect solution to keep his daughter occupied, the neighborhood boy but what starts out as innocent fun turns dark. how far will Craig go to prove this 9 year old boy is not as innocent as he appears?

I thought this was a very interesting plot. Craig was very frustrating though, at first he ignored all the red flags boy was giving in order to have time to work on his book!!

This was a ARC from #netgalley

Craig is a stay-at-home dad trying to balance writing and parenting, so he’s happy when his daughter makes a new friend who can keep her occupied. But he starts seeing signs that this friend is no ordinary child…and could, in fact, be dangerous.

I was riveted by this story and couldn’t stop turning the pages. The author did a great job of making the setting and characters feel real, and of slowly building the tension. I did find the main character and his hands-off approach to parenting to be very unlikeable in the beginning, and I had trouble sympathizing with him. However, I don’t think we’re meant to see him as a good parent at the start of the book.

Overall, this is the kind of fun thriller that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to a friend.

I really enjoyed this storyline, Craig was a bit of a self absorbed father/husband. When he met this creepy child that came to play with his daughter and all the red flags went up he still allowed his daughter to play with him so he could keep her occupied while he worked on his book.. I truly thought at one point that Craig was having a mental breakdown and that he was imagining all the things that were happening, he was obsessing over that creepy child. Very good read and seems like the author left the door open for a sequel book if he chooses to continue the storyline.