REVIEW: Lead Me Home by C.S. Savage

Lead Me Home by C.S. Savage

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 30th September 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

It's hard to believe that LEAD ME HOME is the author's debut novel. It is disturbing, psychological and completely intriguing.

Clancy is an overworked psychiatrist, in a thankless job with an even more thankless boss. Rowan is her 18 year old daughter with an abusive boyfriend but who doesn't want to be alone. Beth is a psychiatric nurse recently diagnosed with Bipolar who doesn't feel "normal" on her medication and when she stops taking it, begins to feel that she is being followed.

Three women whose lives intersect with one another as they each try to find some meaning in their lives. Who are unaware of the sinister consequences that lay in store for each of them.

Whilst Clancy is a hardworking single mum doing her best for her daughter and her patients, it seems she can do nothing right. Both in the eyes of her boss and her daughter. She tends to want to go the extra mile for her clients which gets her into trouble with her boss and leaving her daughter feeling as though she doesn't matter as much as her clients. It is how they come to meet Beth, a psychiatric nurse but also a patient, who doesn't feel safe in her own home...so Clancy takes her home where she can feel safe. And she does. Rowan isn't thrilled to begin with, as while her mum is always bringing work home, THIS gives new meaning to the concept. But it is also against the rules.

Rowan is your typical teenager you just want to slap half the time. Stuck in an abusive relationship with boyfriend Vic, she remains so because she doesn't want to be alone. But then she meets a handsome guy online, and despite being years older, Rowan isn't swayed by warnings from her best friend Amy or Beth, whom she also confides in. We initially learn just his first name, but I had a hunch as to who he was which turned out to be right. But having dumped Vic once and for all, Rowan threw herself headlong into this new relationship without heeding her friends' warnings. But what was this guy really up to? What did he really want with a girl almost half his age?

Beth is someone I really liked. She is incredibly troubled who wants only to feel safe and loved. As a psychiatric nurse she is familiar with mental illness but despite being diagnosed with Bipolar herself, she feels her medication numbs her too much and that now feeling much better, decides to stop taking it. It isn't long before she starts to feel as though she is being followed, that someone is watching her and feeling unsafe in her own home. She tries calling her best friend Suze but having been through it all before even Suze is quick to judge and soon Beth feels evenmore alone. When Clancy offers to bring her back to her house, Beth jumps at the chance despite not wanting to put her out or cause any trouble. Clancy had one condition - Beth MUST take her medication, which she agrees. It isn't long before Beth begins to feel safe and even loved in Clancy's home, and she fears the time when she must return to her own.

But in the midst of these three women's is a stalker. Who is he watching? And why?

Told from four different perspectives, without losing any sense of the story, each chapter is clearly titled as such making it easy to follow. Clancy, Rowan and Beth each have their voices in the story with the fourth being that of an unknown subject - the stalker - giving it a creepy and incredibly sinister feel.

Whilst I guessed the identity of both Rowan's new boyfriend and the stalker, I wasn't sure exactly who the stalker was after. And it certainly didn't spoil the read for me at all. I thoroughly enjoyed every sinister moment of it!!

LEAD ME HOME is a compelling read from the start. The fact that it surrounds mental health is both intriguing and impressive, making it a stand out read in this genre. Highly recommended!

REVIEW: Mother by S.E. Lynes

Mother by S.E. Lynes

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 28th September 2018 (could not finish)

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Purchase: Amazon

★ 0-1 stars

The synopsis for this book sounded incredibly intriguing but sadly it did not follow through. I have no idea what was happening as there is an unknown person narrating for much of the book. According to several reviews there are a couple of other POVs as well but from where I was sitting there was only the one. And I had no idea who it was or how they related to Christopher. At first I thought it was his birth mother, then I thought a psychologist (judging by some of the questions) but whoever it was seemed to be hospitalised. I have no idea at any rate.

I was disappointed because I really did want to delve into Christopher's past and discover more about him and how he truly fit in. But after 10% of trying to grasp the confusing storyline, I gave up. For me, if a book doesn't grab me that far in without any promise then it's just time to move on to something that will hold my attention.

One review I read said that there were three POVs - Christopher's, Ben's (whoever that is) and the unknown narrator. But the confusing thing was that when the POV shifted, there was no warning and no indication who was narrating. I guess you just figured it out as you read. I don't like that. Each POV, in my opinion, should be titled for easy reading and flow. So when I read that, I lost what little interest I had in continuing.

It is disappointing as it was the first of S.E. Lynes' books I had tried and unfortunately it doesn't give me much hope for her others. Having said that, I WILL try another book by the same author down the track and see how that goes, but as for this? Far too confusing to work out exactly what was going on, who was who and where it all fit in.

REVIEW: The Friend by Teresa Driscoll

The Friend by Teresa Driscoll

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 27th September 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★ 4.5 stars

As with Teresa Driscoll's previous psychological thriller "I Am Watching You", this book begins on a train. Having loved her first book I was really looking for to THE FRIEND.

We meet Sophie who is hundreds of miles away from home when she receives a call that two boys have been in serious accident - and one of them is her son Ben. Problem is, no one knows which boy is which, and the person who came in with them is even more seriously injured and unable to help. A person who Sophie trusted with her son. Her new friend Emma.

Sophie met Emma Carter over a crashed furniture truck and a bag of parsnips when Emma and her son Theo moved to the quaint little village of Tedbury, Devon. They bonded immediately, and the boys become fast friends. But not everyone takes to Emma. When Sophie's husband Mark meets her, he appears to take an instant dislike to her. Then when her good friend Helen comes to visit it becomes clear she isn't keen on her either.

Why does no one else trust Emma? Are they jealous?

When there is a suspicious death in the village involving one of their friends, many eyes turn to Emma who was the last person see with the victim and his wife. And Sophie mentally kicks herself for putting Emma in that situation.

Then when Sophie and Mark visit Cornwall with Ben, Sophie catches a glimpse of a striking red coat on the cliffs...and a woman who looks like Emma. But it can't be Emma. It's just someone who has a coat just like hers.

Told in alternating chapters of TODAY and BEFORE the story unfolds from multiple POVs but mainly Sophie's and an occasionaly glimpse from Emma. The suspense has you on the edge of your seat in the TODAY chapters as we see Sophie struggling to get any information about Ben, and her need to get to the hospital in record time. The tension builds far more slowly in the BEFORE chapters as the story begins when Emma moves into the village, to where we begin to wonder who Emma really is and why she has moved to Tedbury.

I love books told in "flashback" as pieces of the story unfold bit by bit to become a bigger picture in the present tense. It is clever, suspenseful and even a little scary in part.

THE FRIEND has you questioning just how well you know someone, as well as yourself, propelling you from that first moment all the way to the startling conclusion you won't believe.

Another brilliant psychological thriller from Teresa Driscoll. Highly recommended.

REVIEW: Liar by K.L. Slater

Liar by K.L. Slater

Genre: Psyhcological Thriller, Domestic Thriller

Read: 23rd September 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

Overbearing mother or obtrusive new girlfriend?

I honestly don't know where to start. LIAR is just brilliant! When I started the book I expected it to be a tad mediocre as the narrative switched between the two battling females in Ben Jukes' life. However, it was anything but. I thought it would just be a battle of wits between Judi and Amber and their disturbing hatred of the other, but it turned into so much more.

Unlike other books, LIAR begins at THE END and then swiftly takes us back to THE BEGINNING where it all starts. But don't worry - it doesn't give anything away. You know what happens but not to whom or who was responsible.

Families are complicated. And mother-in-laws are often referred to as "the other woman" in one's marriage/relationship. So what does that make a new girlfriend?

Meet Judi. She has always been the matriarch of her family and yet as meddlesome she might appear to be she does actually care for them. Married to Henry for some 3 decades, she had two sons - David and Ben. We learn early on that David died as a teenager yet the details surrounding his demise are a bit sketchy at first though we do discover them in due course. So that leaves Ben, the apple of her eye. He relies heavily on her in caring for his two sons - Noah and Josh - since losing his wife two years previously. Caring for her family appears to be her whole reason for living as her relationship with husband Henry is barely existing.

Meet Amber. Young, beautiful and mysterious. A woman with a past we know nothing about to begin with. A woman who is not who she seems. A woman intent on worming her way into Ben's life and his affections, whilst in the process systematically shutting Judi out. Yes, Amber is conniving. Yes, she is hateful. But why? What is her reason for doing this? Did she just wake up one morning and decide 'this is what she wants' and set about destroying a mother's relationship with her son and grandchildren? Whatever the reason, Judi is the only one to see Amber for who she is with Ben and Henry both blinded by her dazzling smile and looks. Which then begs the question - how is it that only Judi can see through her?

Then meet Ben. He's sandwiched in the middle of these two sparring women. His problem is he loves both of them and wants dearly for them to both get along...but it's just not happening. He has no idea why his mother hates his new girlfriend as in his eyes Amber is doing everything she can to appease his mother and get along with her. He sees Amber a kind and generous woman just trying to do her best for everyone. But Judi is staunch in her opinion and is devastated that Ben is allowing Amber to come between them. In the end it can only drive a wedge between them all. And who is the one least likely to come out on top?

Both Judi and Amber evoke a range of emotions that will send most of us into cardiac arrest. From almost the beginning, I hated Amber. With a passion. To the point I wanted to hurry through the book just be rid of her. I felt tainted and almost like I needed to shower after being in her presence. As Judi is the primary narrator, it is Judi we form a bond with, it is Judi we sympathise with. And to begin with, I actually did like Judi. I could almost taste her Sunday lunches, which my dad said was a big tradition in England. But then we begin to see a different side to her as we watch her slowly unravel. Even from within her perspective we could see that something isn't quite right. We begin to see that Judi is in fact quite controlling and when that control starts to shift into Amber's hands, Judi's life unravels in a monumental way.

In the end, both of these women are largely unlikeable. Both will do anything to get what they want. Shocking secrets and lies - even I didn't see coming - could change everything for them. But who is the liar?

Told from multiple POVs - Judi and Amber mainly - LIAR is superbly written. It is simple yet intruiging, and best of all - the chapters are nice and short which I finds only adds to the suspense and making it an easy yet compelling read. 

What may have began as mediocre ended up being one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever read! K.L. Slater does it again and does not disappoint. Highly recommend!

REVIEW: I Know You by Annabel Kantaria

I Know You by Annabel Kantaria

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 20th September 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★ 4.5 stars

#WhoCanYouTrust?

I KNOW YOU is an intruiging psychological thriller that predominantly revolves around the use of social media, and while there have been a few books in this genre centring on the topic, this one does it rather brilliantly. It shows us how we allow complete strangers to know almost every aspect of our lives without actually knowing anything about who is following us. It really makes you stop and think about just how much we share online.

I wasn't sure what I would think of it when I started as it is a bit of a slow burn to begin with - with Taylor being somewhat #DesperatelyAnnoying with her constant need to post absolutely everything online - but it does begin to build and hooks you in before you know it. It's not action-packed but it is rather compelling.

Taylor is the main protagonist and having recently moved from her native USA to the UK with her husband Jake, the story revolves around what has become her somewhat mundane life. She misses her family and friends back home, but eager to make new friends in Croydon, she joins a walking group where she meets Simon, a strange man and a loner who is the sole carer for his elderly father, and Anna, also new to the area and also expecting whose husband is away for months at a time. Trying hard to become Anna's new best friend, Taylor takes on (what I thought) the almost "stalker" persona that the internet so easily provides by searching her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - friending her immediately - and even googling her home address, mapping out the directions from her own house to Anna's door. When you hear it like that, it does sound rather creepy. But Taylor is desperate for friends, and her desperation really comes across in the early pages which I found a little irritating at times but then I realised that I am familiar with that same need. I meet a new friend, I search them on Facebook as well - not to be creepy but tokeep in touch. So I get it. Just when it is actually put down on paper (or Kindle) it really does look desperate.

However, Taylor has made a big move across the world away from what she knows to somewhere she doesn't know - in an effort to save her marriage. You see, shortly before the move Taylor discovered Jake had been cheating on her, so the move back to Jake's native UK was an attempt to help save their marriage. Added to that, Taylor is also pregnant with their first child. So it is a chance for new beginnings all round.

Soon after moving to the neighbourhood Taylor also meets exuberant Sarah from down the road and her rather snobbish friend Caroline, who she discovered went to primary school with her husband Jake. Given Jake's history Taylor begins to wonder just how well they knew each other and if she should be worried. The fact that Jake spends a lot of time away from home for work only adds to her growing worry. This only intensifies when Jake and Sarah start spending a lot of time together on the "pretense" of planning her birthday dinner. Then throughout the said dinner, Sarah drunkenly makes a continual play for Jake in front of the horrified guests, with Jake seemingly oblivious to her overt flirtations, everyone's discomfort and Taylor's humiliation. Is he having an affair with Sarah?

Then Simon starts to get creepy and turns up at her place with gifts for her baby. Isn't that just too weird? Anna doesn't like him from the off and tells Taylor so but Taylor feels sorry for him. Still, his job is a forensic hacker and he can find out anything about anyone online, so it's no mystery as to how he found Taylor's address.

Then Anna starts getting strange phone calls, and gifts being left at her door, and she begins to get the sense that she is being watched. One day she rings Taylor in a panic telling her that someone has been living in her shed. Taylor races around to support her friend, but upon inspection of the shed herself, she wonders if Anna isn't just imagining things being alone in her house all the time. She offers to have her come and stay with her for a while. It's that night that Taylor goes into labour and Anna stays with her throughout until the birth of her son. Sadly Jakes misses the whole event.

Taylor is thrilled to meet her newborn son, whom they name Joseph (Joe), but in the weeks after appears to suffer from post natal depression. Plans are made for her to take Joe to the US to meet her parents but they go awry when he and Anna disappear from the airport and Taylor begins to realise that maybe her friend's paranoia about someone watching her all this time was not just paranoia but very real.

Who has taken Anna and Joe? Where are they?

I KNOW YOU is mainly told from Taylor's persepctive throughout though every few chapters we are privy to the somewhat nasty thoughts of a mystery person, written in a kind of manifesto to Taylor which she is not yet privy to. But as the story unfolds we realise that someone is not who they seem. But who is this person? And how do they know her?

I love the way the story is written and how it all unfolds. The threat Taylor is under and the person watching via her social media. So who has it in for her? Although the "manifesto" of sorts that is also being written alongside the story, it doesn't indicate at first just who it refers to but I guess it is clear that the recipient of that rage and those words is in fact Taylor - but there are a number of candidates for that role as we try to work out just who it could possibly be. There is also an undertone that I clicked onto right away - that every player in the story is either expecting or maybe wanting a baby - with a couple having a tragic baby past. So it could be anyone...couldn't it?

So where does social media come into it, you say? While my review hasn't said much about it rest assured it does play a big part. Taylor lives her life through social media, hashtagging everything and everyone, to the point that Jake often referred to her need as some kind of addiction. The sense you get when reading the "alter chapters" is that this person has picked up everything about Taylor's life online, so that when it comes to the reveal near the end, Jake is mortified to discover just how much of their lives Taylor DID post online. Is nothing sacred? he screamed at her. And that is what role social media plays in society today. No, nothing is sacred anymore. Anything and everything is free game.

I honestly didn't know what I would think of this book but it turned out I really enjoyed it. I guessed a few bits along the way, and mis-guessed others, but that's half the fun of reading this genre. It is difficult NOT to give too much away because so much does take place.

I KNOW YOU is a slow burner to start with but when it picks up pace, it really picks it up. You won't want to put it down!

I was a little disappointed in the ending, but then again I asked myself, how would it have ended otherwise? With so much damage done, how could anyone pick themselves up after that? So I guess the ending was appropriate for this story, even if a little disappointing.

#HighlyRecommend!

REVIEW: The Stranger by Kate Riordan

The Stranger by Kate Riordan

Genre: Historical Mystery, Gothic

Read: 16th September 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

THE STRANGER is a breathtaking story set in 1940s Cornwall, both atmospheric and haunting. It is something of a historical mystery with a plenty of secrets. It actually had a feel of Daphne de Maurier's "Rebecca" as I read it, with even a touch of Danvers in Payne and old Mrs Fox, and was like reading a modern day du Maurier but better.

Three women arrive at Penhallow Hall as "Land Girls" in the role during the war. Eleanor and her feisty controlling mother have opened the doors of their sprawling house to Diana, Rose and young Jane who, in their roles as Land Girls, plant and grow vegetables to aid the war effort. But it's not all smooth sailing. Each of the girls, as well as their hosts, bring their secrets with them to the Hall and will lead to a dramatic conclusion which may surprise you in the end. But one thing is for sure - none of their lives will ever be the same again.

This atmospheric story will draw you in from the very beginning as you step back in time and watch the drama and secrets unravel. There is a cast of complex characters you will either be cheering on or want to give a good slapping.

For me, the most irritating character was Diana Devlin. The story seemed to primarily centre on her for the most part. She is very much a troubled young woman with a somewhat sad and disturbing past. However she enjoys playing "the socialite" and at times appears to be looking down on the other two. She bores very easily and when Rose fails to live up to her expectations she abandons her and latches onto Jane. She spends most of her time delving into things that don't concern her, wanting to root out some interesting titbits and liven things up around the dark and boorish Hall. It's this interference that causes some horrific consequences for the innocent people in her need for drama.

Rose is my favourite, I think. She has ties to Cornwall having spent a beautifully memorable summer in a cottage just near the Hall when she was 16. It is something that has remained with her - both in her heart and memory - as being the last with her mother and the summer she fell truly in love. However, some sixteen years later she is now married and her husband is in the Navy while she does her bit in the land army. Her marriage is not an overly happy one, though it's not a sad one either. They just seem to exist together and despite her husband being away fighting the enemy, Rose finds herself drawn to that summer back in 1924 and her first love. One day on the bus to Fowey she spots Sam, her first love, in the street her breath is taken away. She can't find the words to speak and yet as if drawn to her, Sam looks up and sees her. He smiles that smile that has lived in her memory all these years and says he has never forgotten her. Then as the bus she's on moves away she whispers "I will find you." Can she recapture that love and the girl that she used to be?

Then there is Jane, a small dark and young boyish looking girl with an air of familiarity about her. She arrives a little later than Rose and Diana, and does her best to keep to herself. It is soon revealed that she is the granddaughter of old Mrs Fox, matriach of the Hall, and niece to a somewhat nervy Eleanor. And while it is later discovered that she is only 15, Jane says little but gets in and does the job she is there to do as a Land Girl.

And then there is Eleanor. She is a very nervy character, easily frightened and often teary. She relies heavily on her husband Gerald who dotes on her despite being in London much of the time. But Eleanor has secrets. And it is these that have eaten away at her and kept her mother nipping cruelly at her heels. Penhallow Hall is actually Eleanor's but her mother rules the place.

Diana makes it her mission to find out every little thing she can about everyone, regardless of the consqueneces. She even makes up a few little white lies for another's "own good", in her opinion, not caring whose toes she steps on in the process. She follows both Rose and Eleanor on their respective retreats - Eleanor to her little boathouse and Rose to Vennor - and slowly unearths their secrets.

The story unfolds for the first part with excerpts of Diana's diary thrown in between the atmospheric lead-up to her sudden disappearance and discovery of a body on the beach. It is haunting, sometimes threatening and even claustrophobic in parts with the feeling of something "not quite right". Diana likes to push the boundaries. She is a reluctant land girl, unwanted at home by her mother, with really nowhere else to go. Her diary reveals secrets she has no wish to share, as the main story continues to build up to the penultimate climax of the second part.

The scene is extremely atmospheric. I know I keep saying that, but it tuly is. It has that haunting feel with the threat of war just across the channel and with it also hitting London, and yet Cornwall seems so far removed from it all. Despite the blackout curtains put in place each night, this only adds to the tension of the story and gives it that real claustrophobic feel, and it is apparent that tragedy will be an inevitability. I love the way the sea, the weather, the landscape and the war all become woven into the story to give it that atmosphere. I could hear the waves crashing, smell the ocean, feel the sun and the rain upon me as I walked the coastal path with them. It felt as if I lived and breathed this story, not just read it.

This is the first book I've read by Kate Riordan, and if this book is anything to go by it will not be my last. I thoroughly and truly enjoyed it from start to finish, from beginning to end. It left me wanting more. One thing is for sure, THE STRANGER is a book that will stay with me for a very long time to come.

Highly highly recommended!!

REVIEW: The Child Next Door by Shalini Boland

The Child Next Door by Shalini Boland

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Domestic Thriller

Read: 12th September 2018

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Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

Can I give it more than 5 stars??? Wow! just WOW!!!

Having read another book by Shalini Boland I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed...and I wasn't. As soon as I began, I could not stop "swiping" the pages on my Kindle. This psychological thriller completely hooked me and I did not want to put it down!

Kirstie Rawlings is a new mum to 6 month old Daisy and is finding herself at rather a loose end on maternity leave, missing her work and friends at school. Her husband Dominic always seems to be out - either at work or training for his triathalon - and she craves some adult company.

One day whilst dozing in the lounge in front of the TV with Daisy asleep upstairs she hears a cry and some urgent whispers over the baby monitor "Let's just get the baby now and go!" Panicked, she races upstairs only to find Daisy is asleep in her cot. Then she hears the whispers again, coming from the monitor in her hand as she watches over Daisy. She realises her monitor must be picking up someone else's nearby, and rushes outside to see where the cries could be coming from. Yet she knows none of her neighbours have a baby...doesn't she?

Kirstie calls the police frantcially telling them what she heard and trying to relay the urgency of the matter. Someone's baby was in trouble! But who's?

The police take her statement and knock on the other 5 doors in their cul-de-sac. No one has a baby. But she HEARD it! And she heard someone whispering to take the baby.

When she tells Dominic, although he humours her he doesn't really believe her. Maybe it was the TV she was watching. Maybe she had a nightmare and got confused. Or maybe her imagination just ran away from her. But it isn't long before he and her best friend at #6 in the close begin to worry she is suffering from some post natal psychosis.

Kirstie begins to wonder if it isn't someone else's baby, then maybe it is her baby they are after. And so a ritual of checking every door, every lock and every window to the point she becomes obsessive and has to get up and check them again...and again. She even lays down some of Daisy's toys in front of the doorways and windows so if someone did break in, she would hear them. Soon her frustration manifests itself in screaming and yelling, and suspecting her creepy neighbour, whilst everyone else in the close just looks on and thinks she is losing it.

But Kirstie knows what she heard.

Soon Kirstie feels that no one believes her and thinks she is over reacting. She sees the neighbours looking at her, knowing they must think her a complete raving lunatic. She sees her husband steal into the pretty young woman's house at the end of the street. What is he doing in there? And why is he hiding it? Then her best friend across the way begins to act strangely around her, and then she finds something belonging to her husband at her house. Is he having an affair with her best friend? And don't get her started on her neighbour, Martin, next door. He is creepy as and she soon begins to suspect him of being at the heart of her paranoia. He is so obviously hiding something...

But why doesn't anyone believe her? Who can she trust?

Knowing she can't trust her neighbours, her best friend or even her husband, Kirstie must unravel the mystery herself and delve into the secrets of her neighbours. But as she does her life begins to fall apart. Because someone is hiding a terrible secret...and they will do anything to stop her from uncovering the truth.

The book is written in the first person from Kirstie's POV so we really get a sense of what Kirstie is thinking and feeling. We can sense her frustration and anxiety, the paranoia. The terror and fear ripple through us as we watch the story unfold. We know Kirstie isn't crazy and we're rooting for her all the way through.

Then there are the secondary characters in the neighbours of which there are plenty to be more than suspicious of...

Husband Dominic? He appears to be up to something and failing to be supportive of his wife regardless of whether he believed her or not. She needed his support, to be there for her. Instead he stopped off at the pretty young woman down the street after work or was over at her friend Mel's. I know I would be suspicious and extremely frustrated that everything else - including his blasted precious triathalon - was so much more important than his wife. Was he using triathalon training as an excuse to get out of the house and maybe seeing someone else?

Best friend Mel. I didn't like her from the off. She didn't seem to be a very good friend to begin with and seemed to only be there when it benefitted her. Always borrowing money from Kirstie and never paying it back, and the excuses why she couldn't pay it back. And then remaining friends with the woman who tried stealing Kirstie's husband before they were married? Knowing what she had done and yet she remained friends with her? I wouldn't!

And then there was Martin. Creepy, nosy Martin who lived next door. He was odd, to say the least. Always hankering around Kirstie, wanting her opinion on something or other, organising Neighbourhood Watch...whether he was being neighbourly or not, he was seriously "off". He made my skin crawl just reading about him.

Then there were her neighbours on the other side - the Parkfields. Headmaster of the school Kirstie works at, Stephen Parkfield, his wife Lorna, her teenage daughter Hannah and their younger daughters, Jess and Lydia. They keep themselves to themselves. Lorna always seems to have a sour expression on her face, Stephen always seems to be barking at everyone and Hannah appears to be just an angry teenager.

And what about the Cliffords at #1? The young wife is gorgeous and always immaculate, is it any wonder Dominic is popping in there on his way home from work? Especially with how dishevelled Kirstie is looking and acting these days?

And what about Callum? A young teenage boy Kirstie knows from school and had been in one of her classes. Hanging around in the fields out the back of their properties. Is he watching her?

And then...that ending!! What the...?? That came out of left field! After the rest of the story had wrapped up, I wasn't expecting that! But then...it raises yet more questions... Exactly WHAT was it "they" were hiding in there? We really need a sequel to find out. I hated that we didn't get to find that part out. It really left me hanging. And though I hate books that end on a cliffhanger when there is no follow-up, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. Shalini Boland is one of my new favourites!

THE CHILD NEXT DOOR is a fast paced thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. If you love these types of books, then you will LOVE this one. Highly recommended! Very highly recommended!

REVIEW: Lie to Me by Jess Ryder

Lie to Me by Jess Ryder

Genre: Psychological Mystery

Read: 6th September 2018

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

★★★ 2.5 to 3 stars

The premise to LIE TO ME sounded intriguing but in the end I'm not sure it totally delivered. Don't get me wrong, it was a good read and quite compelling but it didn't help that I didn't like some of the characters and I don't know...something just fell short of it being mind blowing.

So it begins with Meredith Banks, who hasn't seen her mother Becca since she was 4 years old. She has snippets of memories surrounding her but nothing more - and mostly what her father told her. Becca was schizophrenic and hospitalised in a psychiatric care home from which she escaped...and has not been seen in 25 years.

Brought up solely by her father, with whom she enjoyed a happy upbringing, Meredith returns to her family home to help her father pack the house up to move to a smaller place in the country. Whilst doing so she comes across a box marked "baby clothes" at the bottom of which is an old VCR tape with Meredith's name on and dated "1990" in Becca's handwriting. Against her father's wishes, she takes it home to watch - eager to catch a glimpse of her mother - but at the end of those three minutes Meredith's finds herself questioning what she knows and believes, and sets her on a course that will change her life forever.

Meredith begins a quest to discover if there was any truth to the strange tale her mother forced her four year old self to tell on camera 25 years ago. The search leads her to Darkwater Pool and the scene of the 30 year old murder of Cara Travers, the very name her mother uttered over and over on that tape. Is there a link between her mother and Cara? To find the truth Meredith must search through a past that isn't her own and calls on the help of her former boyfriend and police detective Eliot Myles...but she is not the only one looking...

The story unfolds between Meredith in the present and Cara in 1984. There are also several present day chapters told from the POV of Christopher Jay - the other name her mother mentioned on the tape - who was Cara's boyfriend. Although being told from a few POVs, the chapters are named with each perspective and whether it was past or present, making it easy to follow. I always enjoy stories told from various perspectives and over different times and while I did still enjoy watching the story unfold, something just felt disconnected though I can't put my finger on just exactly what that was.

I liked Meredith and as she was the main character throughout we got to know her story the most. I also rather liked Cara but she always seemed a little like an apparition and not quite real. Maybe because we always knew of her outcome from the beginning it was difficult ot connect with her. The Christopher Jay of the past and the "Jay" (as he was now known) of the present almost felt like two different people - the quiet, brooding and misunderstood young man of the past and the almost sad yet secretive and even angry teacher of the present. I didn't like Isobel from the beginning - bossy and overbearing, always having to be her way. Even when she took Meredith under her wing, I just felt it was all about "her" and what she wanted out of it.

The introduction of past lives and the possibility of Cara reincarnated as a present day character just lost it for me. I can see what it was meant to be but for me, it just spoilt it. I would just rather focus on solving the 30 year old murder and finding Meredith's mother...if she was anywhere to be found.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of who killed Cara, and I had a few suspects lined up, but towards the end it became clear to me who it really was. There was another twist thrown in that I predicted before it happened, which throws even more turmoil into Meredith's life. I kind of felt sad for her in a way.

An intriguing story of secrets and lies, LIE TO ME ran hot and cold for me throughout reading it as I really enjoyed Meredith's quest for the truth and the mystery of the past, but parts of it were just lacking where I felt disconnected and slightly uninterested. I struggled to rate this as I really enjoyed parts of the story where others I found weak and uninteresting.

The biggest letdown of this book I found to be the Epilogue. It was a real disappointment, as there was no real sense of closure - for Meredith or for readers. I thought it would tie up some of the loose ends and provide that closure but it failed in my opinion.

REVIEW: The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan

The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Read: 2nd September 2018

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

★★★★★ 5 stars

THE DOLL HOUSE is a dark and creepy tale about, funnily enough NOT a doll house, but two sisters - whose father once built them an incredible doll house when they were children.

Corrine is desperate to have a baby and has been undergoing IVF with her partner Dominic. After several unsuccessful attempts they decide to go one last round with the help of Corrine's older sister Ashley, having spent the last of their savings on previous attempts. When Corrine finds a piece of a doll house that she and her sister Ashley had as children, she takes it as a sign that she will soon be pregnant but when other pieces start appearing she begins feeling paranoid. 

But lately Corrine has been on edge what with the hormones and the desperation of wanting to have a baby of her own. So when she starts to make some bizarre suggestions of someone leaving pieces of her childhood doll house for her, of feeling as if she is being followed, that someone has been in the flat and strange goings on that she can't explain, Dominic begins to wonder whether it has all been too much for her and suggests she see someone. 

Corrine's older sister Ashley appears to have the perfect life - husband, three children and financial security - but like her sister she has troubles of her own. Her husband always appears to be working late (is he having an affair?), her teenage daughter is becoming a nightmare coming home drunk and her 9 month baby daughter is suffering from night terrors. 

The two sisters are incredibly close and call each other regularly, but each doesn't want to trouble the other with the extent of their worries knowing they each have their own problems so sadly they don't get the support they would otherwise give each other. Because both women don't seem to be getting the support from their partners. Don't get me wrong, Dominic is loving and attentive and incredibly supportive of Corrine but he does take her thoughts on the doll house a little too lightly that I felt like reaching into the pages and strangling him! But for reality's sake, I guess that is how one would react feeling that the other is too paranoid.

At the centre of this book is the girls' father who died a year before and they are approaching the one year anniversary of his death. Although he is dead, his involvement in the story is one of importance. The girls loved their father incredibly but Corrine is troubled when they visit their mother in Kent as to where all their father's belongings have disappeared to. There is nothing left of him and where is the doll house their mother is adamant is in the loft? Corrine has searched for it and knows it is not there. So why does their mother claim that it is? What is she afraid of?

THE DOLL HOUSE is a slow burning thriller but once it gets going you won't want to put it down! As the story progresses you get a real sense of foreboding and creepiness. You can feel Corrine's "paranoia" and Ashley's hopelessness. Told from various POV - Corrine, Ashley and also Dominic - we are also witness to the sad story of a little girl and her mother which becomes the story of the mystery person behind Corrine's increasing paranoia. Who are these people? And what part do they play? And who are they in the present? I easily guessed one of them but was surprised at the other. And an ending I didn't see coming!

There is so much more to say about this book but in doing so could ruin the it for the reader, so the less said the better. Believe me, although you may think I have said a lot there is still so much more.

THE DOLL HOUSE is a chilling, sinister and haunting tale that is a must for fans of psychological thrillers. I cannot believe this is a debut it is THAT good! Pick it up and I dare you to be able to put it down again.