#
The thing I like about novels by K.L. Slater is their subtleness. The stories are almost pedestrian but they are loaded with tension, and this one is fully loaded.
David is a slightly strange middle aged man who lives at home with his mom and her new partner. David has autistic tendencies, he hates change, he’s very methodical, socially awkward, and he’s a bit voyeuristic. He sees himself as a one man neighbourhood watch.
His nextdoor neighbour is the widowed Cora. David counts her as one of, if not his only friend, so when Cora takes in a lodger David becomes worried.
Holly is the lodger. At 28 she has just moved back to her old home city of Nottingham after 10 years in Manchester. As the story moves on it is apparent that Holly moved away because she lived in a home where she felt unwanted and unsafe. But what she found in Manchester was worse, and now she’s run away from there, but why back to Nottingham. As the story unfolds Holly’s Manchester years get told in her memories.
She is paranoid somebody is watching her and that her Manchester life is hunting her down.
Holly and David develop a friendship, but who is helping who. Is one, or the other, actually more of a danger than a friend.
If you want a book that’s going to keep you turning the pages, and keep you guessing right up till the end, you’re going to love this book.
I have tried to find the right analogy to describe this book, but I keep going back to one that sounds negative. It’s like the Chinese Water Torture, but in a good way. There is a constant drip of information, and each drip builds up the tension. The story builds and builds without any specific key moment; but that constant drip is really mounting the tension in one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read.
The end of this book is nothing short of stunning. The last two chapters twist the story in a direction I never saw coming, but it makes perfect sense.
What a book.
Pages: 350
Publishers: Bookouture
Publishing Date UK : 2nd March 2018
nigeladamsbookworm 