There is a chilling thread of menace that runs through this book - ratcheting up the tension and unease as the story progresses. You may not like Alison or Patrick or Carl (I didn't) - but I defy you not to be gripped by an addictive narrative that twists and distorts their lives and any understanding of truth. Read at speed - there really isn't any other way.
View Blood Orange
In this compelling mystery story, the reader becomes the detective, as a grim history of family secrets and thwarted lives spanning the twentieth century is gradually revealed in flashback. Can you piece together the jigsaw of clues and objects from the past, speaking to you beyond the grave, to discover the identity of the old woman in the mortuary?
View The Other Mrs Walker
Creepy thriller about an abduction, partly narrated by a small child - Lisa. In this case the house in the woods is lived in by a male ‘witch’ with a God syndrome - with Lisa is his 'Gretel' victim. Also it is about family values and the power of the media to manipulate people’s opinion of the crime. The voice of the child makes it even more haunting and I finished this in no time.
View Dear Child
To fully appreciate this novel the reader is asked to accept that a innocent prank can result in misery and madness and that responsible adults may not appreciate the significance of the joke. Told in the first person by 'Smudge' an identical twin, she describes how the prank results in her descent from delinquency to insanity. Strong characterisation, fast paced, brilliant on family dynamics, extremely disturbing but totally compulsive reading.
View Beside Myself
How does a young doctor feel when things go wrong and a patient's life is at stake? I shared Nancy's suspense through the examination of such a case by the medical authorities, her patient clinging to life. My anxiety was heightened by her own life story from childhood to the crisis, and because her patient has undergone an abortion. We are not invited to condemn or approve the procedure, which makes the book all the more thought provoking
View Dirty Work
A claustrophobic and gripping read with an intense combination of pace and beauty which really worked for me. As the temperature rises, the threat of collateral damage radiates from every page. This book grabbed my moral certainties and bounced them off the walls. Rachel spoke directly to me - but could I trust her - and what would I have done in her situation - as a mother, as a teacher?
When Aliide Truu discovers a bruised and bedraggled young girl asleep in her garden her natural suspicion gives way to her inclination for compassion. Hearing the voices of both Aliide and Zara we discover that the two are linked by a secret and shameful past. This book gives an uncomfortable glimpse into a world where suspicion and fear are everyday emotions - it's hard to believe this is the twentieth century.
View Purge
Rose, a feisty 82 year old struggling with dementia, is convinced that something sinister is going on in room 7 of her care home. Catherine is the self-obsessed young care aide that Rose must convince to take action, before they are both in danger of a fate not only worse than death, but horrifyingly deadly. This chilling but compulsive mix of psychological suspense, horror and black humour leads to a shocking climax that will leave you stunned.
View The Exit
This diary style narrative introduces Mia and her husband Roy and weaves itself around their intimate and familial relationships. Smoke and mirror deceptions emerge as the pacy story gathers momentum across a few short months. Their once seemingly happy lives are laid bare amid a growing tension and sense of foreboding. The revealing of once hidden truths makes the navigation towards acceptance and forgiveness a shocking and dangerous journey.
View Your Truth or Mine?
This terrifyingly plausible account of the metamorphosis of the perfect nanny into a murderer is really a 'whydunnit' and one I found very, very convincing. The book will, I feel, haunt me for a long time.
View LullabyYou won’t find the biggest bestsellers on Whichbook as everyone knows about them already. But you can use your enjoyment of a current bestseller to see titles with a similar mood that you might try next.
