Simon Lelic

**** SPOILER ALERT****

This one went down hard. I couldn't get into this at first.....by the time things get interesting, I was over halfway through the book.

The long short.....a couple...Jack and Sydney.....are buying a home...basically, they got a deal that seems to good to be true. You soon realize this isn't a fairytale couple....Sydney has a dark past filled with drug abuse, a dead sister and a severely abusive Father, who is currently in prison.

Sydney meets a young girl in the neighborhood who is also being abused. Weird things start happening...the storyline leads you to believe they could be paranormal....instead, you soon learn Sydneys Father is out of prison and harassing them. Plot twist and drama ensue. All said and done, it comes to light that Sydney killed Elsie dad to frame her Father.

The problems?......where do I start?....Lets see, the characters were unlikable.....Jack was the only somewhat redeeming addition....but even he was annoying in his weakness. Sydney is supposed to be a victim, but she just comes across as a whiney and entitled psychopath. The fact that you're obviously supposed to sympathize with her, and end the book on a happy note...her and Jack survived, they're still together, Elsie is safe..... all is well that ends well....just doesn't sit right. She planted evidence against her boyfriend at the crime scene....had her little plan backfired, he would have spent his life in prison for murder......just so she could get revenge on her dad and kill Elsie's? Why is this ok? There's also the fact that she still talks and thinks like a psychopath!

Nope, I ended up just feeling aggravated and disappointed with this one.… (mais)

Honestly I didn't really care for the way this book started off, written in the form of a journal, switching back and forth between Jack's point of view and then Syd's. A few times I wasn't even sure which point of view I was reading. I was considering giving up on it. I'm glad I stayed with it,

Jack and Syd were two broken people before they found each other. Now happily in love and moved into their new home it seems like maybe life will turn out ok after all. Except for that foul smell of death in the attic and the strange box hidden towards the back. Then there's the sound of footsteps where nobody should be walking, and the neighbor who threatens you for daring to be nice to his abused daughter. Something from the past has followed the couple to their new home and it's not the welcome wagon. This was a dark and twisty psychological thriller and the ending took me by surprise.
I received an advance copy for review… (mais)

Oh, and another present-tense narrative. Sigh. And my opinion hasn't changed. It still does not work. One star knocked off.

This is one of those thrillers where the two main protagonists know what's going on, but the reader doesn't. Which is tedious and tries your patience. That said, it is compelling.

Susanna Fenton is a counsellor and single parent to teenager Emily. She has spent fourteen years with a new identity, but when Adam goes to see her for an 'appointment', it's a consultation like no other. He seems to know an awful lot about her, her past and worse…Emily.

It's quite addictive at first because what does Adam want from Susanna, how does he know her, of her and what is his interest in Emily? But then it gets very overplayed. The reasons for Susanna's dramatic change of life and the reasons for Adam's taunting are underwhelming, if I'm honest. Neither is guilty of anything very much other than being victims of tragedy. I suppose it's a testament to the quality of writing that you are nonetheless enthralled by the unfurling of the past, what Adam wants from Susanna and if Emily is in any danger.

The strangulating present-tense narrative means the past, in order for the present-day events to make any sense, has to be revealed via Susanna's memories and Emily's diary, which is all a bit contrived and clumsy.

Notwithstanding the clunkiness, ghastly present tense, few characters that are actually likeable and the painfully slow reveal, you do find yourself unwittingly caught up in the tension and suspense.… (mais)