Newly widowed and trying to cope with her grief, Winnie Mae Chisholm moves from Tennessee with her teenage son, Pax, to Oregon, hoping the change will let them both heal and move on. She’s warned when buying their new home that the next door neighbor, Mr. Fisher, is a famous recluse and no one has seen him in years, but that’s fine with her—she’s looking for quiet.
She’s not going to get it, however, because when Pax meets the neighbor, he discovers that the reason Mr. Fisher hides from the world is that he isn’t actually from this world. He’s been stranded for decades and he’s trying to get home, and he could really use some help.
Abruptly part of the best-kept secret on the planet, Winnie Mae and Pax have to protect Mr. Fisher from a nosy neighbor who would ruin his work and doom him to die among aliens, but they also have to ask themselves: How far would they go to escape their grief? Would another world be far enough?

I was trying to decide whether to continue with Kevin Herne’s Iron Druid series ( I enjoyed ‘Hounded‘ but the next two didn’t do much for me) when I stumbled across his 2024 novella, ‘The Hermit Next Door’.

I was intrigued by the premise and hooked by Annalee Scott’s narration on the audiobook sample. I put my other books aside and spent a pleasant afternoon listening to the novella.

I liked Winnie Mae Chisholm’s sense of humour, which shone through even as she dealt with her grief over her husband’s death. Her relationship with her teenage son felt positive, pragmatic and believable. I enjoyed watching her deal with an intrusive neighbour and an overbearing school principal with steel beneath her Southern charm. I admired her refusal to be cowed when the people around her used redneck stereotypes to judge her and her son. 

The initial encounter with the reclusive neighbour next door was very well done. I liked how, once Winnie Mae overcame the shock of discovering Mr Fisher’s true identity, she remained focused on practical questions, the answers to which would protect her and her son. 

I was disappointed by the ending. The final transition felt rushed and over-simplified. It was like moving from a nuanced portrait to a roughed-out sketch. The ideas were fine, but the delivery was threadbare.

Even so, it was an entertaining read. It reminded me how much I enjoyed Kevin Hearne’s humour. I think I’ll give his short story collection, ‘Oberon’s Bathtime Stories’ (2025) a try.