Whilst attending Toronto University, he had several short stories published in Canadian literary magazines, including Quarry and The New Quarterly.

He never practised law and publicly expressed his dislike for it, later stating the idea of "hopefully mak[ing] enough money to feed the writing".

[1] Pyper died at his home in Toronto of complications from intrahepatic bile duct cancer on January 3, 2025, at the age of 56.

The Barnes & Noble Review called it: "a profoundly moving work of literature that succeeds on numerous levels", and The London Evening Standard described it as "outstanding."

It was also translated and published internationally in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan and the Czech Republic.

Publishers Weekly called the novel "an extraordinary thriller", and Booklist said of Pyper: "Few are better at conveying an omnipresent sense of dread and horror bubbling just beneath life's seemingly mundane routines."

The Guardian called it: "a compelling and genuinely creepy read", and it was chosen A Best Book of the Year in the Dutch national newspaper NRC Handlesblad.

The novel was also translated and published in Greece, Holland, Bulgaria, China, Poland, Turkey, Taiwan, Spain, Russia, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and France.

The novel's film rights are held by Oscar-winning director and producer Robert Zemeckis and his company ImageMovers[2] and Universal Pictures.

[9] Pyper's seventh novel, The Damned, was released by Simon and Schuster in North America in February 2015, and by Orion in the U.K.

Kirkus Reviews called the novel: " A treat for fans of intelligent treatments of the supernatural and rock-solid writing.