The House: The BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick
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By Simon Lelic
avg rating
4 reviews
THE OBSERVER THRILLER BOOK OF THE MONTH
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
The perfect couple. The perfect house.
. . . The perfect crime.
Londoners Jack and Syd moved into the house a year ago. It seemed like their dream home: tons of space, the perfect location, and a friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.
So when they made a grisly discovery in the attic, Jack and Syd chose to ignore it. That was a mistake.
Because someone has just been murdered outside their back door.
AND NOW THE POLICE ARE WATCHING THEM.
This thriller will hook you and not let you go. Perfect for fans of He Said / She Said, and The Couple Next Door
What authors and readers are saying:
‘DELICIOUSLY DARK AND CLEVER WITH A SATISFYING TWIST. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED’ Mark Edwards
‘AN INTRICATE AND POWERFUL THRILLER’ Tana French
‘HUGELY GRIPPING AND SPOOKY AS HELL’ Mark Billingham
‘TAUGHT, TENSE AND TERRIFYING, I LOVED IT’ Sharon Bolton
‘O.M.G . I just devoured this gem…Perfect execution of a psychological thriller right here.’ Reader review
‘A brilliantly tense and shocking thriller. I literally couldn’t put it down!’ Nuala Ellwood, author of My Sister’s Bones
‘This terrifying thriller sent shivers through me’ Jane Corry, author of My Husband’s Wife
‘A bundle of creepy chills, perfectly timed for Halloween . . . Read it’ Thriller of the Month, The Observer
‘Deeply creepy . . . This clever, twisting plot, told in convincing voices, will haunt you in the very best way’ The Sunday Mirror’
An intriguing and suspenseful read’ Cath Staincliffe
‘Brilliantly dark and gripping…Plays on the fundamental fear that the building blocks of our existence – home, relationships, family – may not be as secure as we like to think’ Thomas Mogford
‘Clearly influenced by the great Alfred Hitchcock, this is not so much a ghost story as an homage to the master’s expert touch with dread’ Daily Mail
‘Creepy and totally gripping. A real page-turner. I loved it’ Claire McGowan
TweetReviews
I enjoyed the narrative style of this book and I felt I was getting to know the characters better this way. I wasn’t sure where it was going in parts, but then it joined up for me around two thirds in, when I had a good guess at what might happen.
After a restless night, at about three in the morning I picked up The House to read, and found myself with the character Jack, also awake and hearing a noise in his house. After spooking myself out a little following the similarities, I put the book down with the thought of reading it at a more appropriate time when I wasn’t going to scare myself stupid. Only, when I did go back to it, I was left feeling really flat. I know it specifically states it wasn’t a ghost story, however, I feel like a whole lot more could have been done to blur the boundaries between the two genres of horror and crime. It started off well, but I was left a little disappointed overall.
I love crime fiction, but sadly this has to be one of the weaker ones of the genre that I’ve read. I did enjoy the dual narrative at first, but that soon became tedious as I didn’t find any of the characters likeable. Although it could be argued that Syd isn’t supposed to be likeable, I found her so obnoxious that I struggled to force myself to read her sections of the book.
Some of the ideas in the novel were good, but rather than grounding them in reality, they became farcical and implausible.
The House is an easy read in the sense that it doesn’t take long to finish and it isn’t exactly taxing, but neither is it challenging or exciting. The plot is predictable at points and the big twists were fairly obvious as well.
Sorry, but it doesn’t deliver a strong enough narrative or characters for me.
A book that finished in a different place to where I felt it could have gone. I felt that this book started really well but sort of fizzled out. I didn't warm to Syd very much sadly but an okay book to read.
A fast-paced and gripping thriller, with lots to think about.
