I’m a roll of good thrillers lately and am happy to report that this book goes into the list of “must-reads.”
The author did a fantastic job of laying out the plot, allowing the reader to move methodically through the plot. It never felt rushed or overcomplicated.
Additionally, there was no time wasted in getting to the heart of the story. Important characters were introduced, the tone was set, and away went the action! I liked that it got to the heart of the matter quickly and didn’t waste time with long, boring build-up.
I thought the author was very smart in how the character of Freya was portrayed to the reader. Since it was primarily from her point of view, the reader got used to her perspective quickly and was easily able to see what Freya saw.
Even as she began to have doubts about her new neighbors, it all still seemed “normal” and realistic.
And then, roughly halfway through, there is an incident that occurs which totally throws Freya’s character into question and suddenly makes her an unreliable narrator. It also caused me to wonder about the first half of the book, and how much of what she saw was actually “real.”
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There were chapters interspersed that were the inner thoughts of an unknown character. These were effective and added to the “creep factor” because both the identity of the character “speaking” and who they were referring to were unknown to the reader.
There were a couple of plot points that I thought were weaker than the others. Cathy’s part could have been a little bit more defined. I understand why she was used the way she was, but a few of her statements seemed to be essentially ignored in the overall wrap-up of the book.
In retrospect, something that appeared to be useless actually served to establish Freya’s frame of mind and her reference points for all of her actions and beliefs. That turned out to be a great insight into her narrative status and allowed the reader to question her as much as she questioned everything else.
I did guess one “twist,” but I didn’t entirely guess the reasons why, so I was totally okay with that plot point being obvious to me. And I really liked the scene with Henderson at the end. I thought it cemented that his character was more astute than he let on.
All told, this book had me questioning the reliability of just about every character and their motivations at one point or another. I liked being off-balance and thought it was a great read.
Twitter: drcjmerritt
Instagram: cjmerritt81/
Author Bio
Chris Merritt is a British author whose crime thrillers combine psychology, suspense, and characters you care about.
All his novels are set in London, where he lives. He began writing fiction in 2014, after previous careers as a diplomat, based in Iraq and Jerusalem, and later as a psychologist working with victims and perpetrators of crime. He specialised in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which sparked his interest in telling stories about how people cope when faced with extreme adversity.
Now, he spends most of his time writing novels and drinking coffee while *thinking* about writing novels. When he’s not writing, he loves climbing and playing basketball.
