Hallie Shepherd with Katie Campbell — 'Call Off the Dark: A Novel'

Third Place Books welcomes debut author Hallie Shepherd for the release of her novel Call Off the Dark, a haunting, atmospheric thriller with a love story at its heart, following a feisty young woman caught between her husband and a mysterious stranger who disturbs their off-grid life in rural Washington. Katie Campbell, KUOW reporter and co-host of the Meet Me Here podcast, joins in conversation.

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About Call Off the Dark. . .

Helen and Tyler were soulmates, a couple with a storybook beginning and an enduring bond, until Tyler’s sudden murder shattered her world. Numb with grief and desperate for escape, Helen impulsively marries Wade—a near stranger—and goes off-grid with him to a farmhouse in rural Washington.

Trading her polished Seattle existence for a tradwife life of canning vegetables and sewing during the day, she battles insomnia, PTSD, and haunting memories of Tyler at night…until Wade's brother Isaac shows up. The problem: Isaac died years ago in a farm accident, and Wade insists they're now in danger.

Helen isn’t sure what to believe. Is Isaac back from the dead? Is Wade manipulating her? Or is Helen's mind unraveling? As her suspicions close in from every side, Helen must navigate a maze of secrets, grief, and uncertainty—where trusting the wrong person could be fatal.

A stunningly original debut, Call Off the Dark blends a spine-tingling thriller, an immersive psychological drama, and a heart-piercing love story that reminds us of the magic in human connection and that our truest partners in life can keep us tethered to the world, even from the grave.

Hallie Shepherd is a screenwriter, actor, and producer. She co-owns Fireshoe Productions, whose projects have featured Academy Award–winning actors and received U.S. theatrical distribution. She has written and acted in films distributed on Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, Amazon Prime, and Paramount+. Call Off the Dark is her debut novel. Hallie grew up on a farm in a small town in western Washington, an upbringing that inspired the Pacific Northwest setting of Call Off the Dark. In college, she spent two years pretending she would stick with her computer science major before giving in to the inevitable and graduating with honors with a B.A. in English from Western Washington University. For over a year after college, she lived only a mile away from Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. It was one of her favorite places to discover new books and spend time on the weekends. Hallie now lives in Los Angeles with her filmmaker husband, where she is always at work on her next story.

Katie Campbell is a digital editor and reporter at KUOW, Seattle's NPR station. In 2024, Katie created the KUOW Book Club, featuring stories and authors from the Pacific Northwest. She's interviewed numerous luminaries in the region, including Sonora Jha, Lynda Mapes, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe, and Daniel James Brown. All readers are invited to join the KUOW Book Club at kuow.org/books. She also covers books and the local literary scene for Seattle Now Arts & Culture on Sundays. Originally from Florida, Katie is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism.

About Third Place Books

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events