Happy publication day to ‘The Island’ by Catherine Cooper. Thanks to NetGalley for my opportunity to read this book ahead of publication – opinions are entirely my own.
I’ve loved Catherine Cooper’s previous novels – tight and twisty psychological thrillers set in such great locations as a French chateau, a fancy ski resort or on board a luxury cruise ship. With that in mind, I was very keen to visit (from my armchair, obviously!) the latest high-end setting, a sumptuous and exclusive Maldives resort in ‘The Island’.
I’ll admit I totally judged a book by its cover with this one – a spooky hotel with a maze in front of it? Yeah, I’m in! I hadn’t read any books by Louise Mumford before but I’d definitely read more.
I absolutely loved the idea of this book! A thriller that takes place on the remote set of a horror film – what a great idea. I’d read one of Catherine Ryan Howard’s previous books (’56 Days’) set during Covid lockdown so I knew that I was in safe hands…if anyone can pull off some bogglingly high concept ideas then she can!
This is an intriguing idea for a thriller; a couple leave New York to go to a remote house for some romantic time together. However, the book opens a few days later with the police finding the house covered in blood and ransacked. Clearly, something violent and disturbing has happened within the walls of the modern holiday home…but what? This fills in the missing gaps of that story.
I devoured Cooper’s first novel, ‘The Chalet’ in one sitting during a heatwave – and I’m pleased to report that ‘The Chateau’ was every bit as gripping! This is another one that I sailed through with remarkable speed.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to the lovely people at Harper Collins for inviting me on the blog tour for ‘The Therapist’ by B A Paris, a tense psychological suspense novel that is out today!
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘The Watchful Neighbour’ by Debbie Viggiano. Today is also the publication day of this book so do buy your copy now!
This is a blog tour for Rachel’s Random Resources and I thank Rachel and the author for my copy of the book for review. As always, opinions are my own.
From the Publisher
When Jade Ferguson’s affair with a married man abruptly ends, she’s devastated.
There is no quick fix for a broken heart. A fresh start is required.
New job. New home. New neighbours.
The residents of Gresham Terrace seem pleasant enough.
Except for one…
An absolutely gripping debut psychological thriller.
I do like a psychological thriller – something creepy and tense that doesn’t end with the main character’s husband being a secret killer! It seemed a no-brainer when I was invited on this tour – no serial killer husbands in sight!
In this story, Jade Ferguson finds herself down on her luck. Her affair with a married man has got her fired, she had a breakdown and he never even left his wife as he promised (shock!) She finds herself in a little rented house on Gresham Terrace and working in a job she hates to make ends meet.
Jade’s suspicions are raised about a man called Greg Good who is the local Neighbourhood Watch contact and who just happens to be her neighbour. She is sure that he is being a little too watchful over her and hates the fact that he is a key holder for her landlord…
As Jade’s certainty grows that Greg is causing trouble, the other residents of Gresham Terrace can’t seem to see the problem. So is it all in Jade’s mind?
What I liked about this book was the fact that Jade is established as an unreliable narrator from the beginning. She has spent time in a psychiatric unit prior to the events of the novel and the reader is never sure what is her own paranoia and what is real. This continues all the way through the book as strange things happen and the reader is kept in the dark about the truth. This kept me guessing and I liked the fact that I was never sure!
I also liked the fact that the action nearly all takes place within a few homes in Gresham Terrace. This gave the book a claustrophobic feel as Jade and her neighbours navigated their relationships with each other. Indeed, there are few outlets for Jade to discuss her feelings as she is presented as not getting on with her work colleagues and not being close to her family – this made it more tense as the reader constantly questioned what the sane onlooker would make of her behaviour.
The plot itself is clever and constantly twists away from what is expected – all the little things that happen to Jade seem to escalate but might have rational explanations (up to a point). It certainly kept me turning the pages as I was keen to know what happened.
My only quibble was that I guessed some of the ending but I’m not giving any spoilers to explain that further!
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers that feel tense and claustrophobic – this one has a small cast but Viggiano is excellent at making us constantly question our feelings about all of them!
About the Author
Prior to turning her attention to writing, Debbie Viggiano was, for more years than she cares to remember, a legal secretary. She lives with her Italian husband, a rescued pooch from Crete, and a very disgruntled cat. Occasionally her adult children return home bringing her much joy… apart from when they want to raid the fridge or eat her secret stash of chocolate. Tweet @DebbieViggiano or follow her on Facebook!
Welcome to my first blog tour post! Today, I want to talk to you about the psychological thriller ‘The Child Who Never Was’ for damppebbles blog tours.
The Blurb:
Her child has been taken. But no-one believes her.
Sarah’s beautiful baby son Oliver has gone missing. And she will do anything – anything – to get him back.
But there’s a problem. Everyone around Sarah, even her beloved identical twin, Evie, tells her she never had a son, that he’s a figment of her imagination, that she’s not well, she needs help.
And on one level, they’re right, Sarah does need support. She has suffered massive trauma in the past and now she’s severely agoraphobic, very rarely leaves the house, avoids all contact with people.
But fragile though she is, Sarah knows deep in her heart that Oliver is real, that the love she feels for him is true.
And that can only mean one thing – someone has been planning this. And now they’ve taken her baby.
The stunning psychological thriller with an ending you won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of K.L Slater, Mark Edwards, Alex Michaelides.
My Review:
Although slightly outside my usual genres, I was intrigued by the premise and had to find out what happened! I love a story with plenty of twists and hoped that this would keep me reading – and it certainly did!
The story opens with Sarah utterly convinced that her toddler, Oliver, has gone missing. She has vivid recollections of giving birth to him, his bedroom, his speech patterns… However, everyone tells her that he never existed and that he is a figment of her imagination. Sarah has mental health challenges after an earlier trauma in her life and now rarely leaves her house, so is Oliver merely a result of this? Sarah is unconvinced and will go to extreme lengths to prove that her child has been taken.
The central characters in the novel, Sarah and Evie, are twins and they are beautifully contrasted. Evie is composed, in charge of the sisters’ architectural business and mother of her own toddler, James, while Sarah is the opposite: struggling with her mental health, bossed around by her sister and childless. It is this sense of opposition that drives the narrative on and the reader is not quite sure where their sympathies should lie for a large proportion of the book. The fact that Sarah is the focal character is especially clever as she is a notoriously unreliable narrator and so the reader is unsure what to believe.
The narrative does have plenty of twists and turns that kept me interested in this story of the two sisters, a lost child and mental health issues. The loss that Sarah feels is convincing and compelling – it is impossible not to feel for her, even as you also have to balance this with her own psychological issues. The opening scene is also – no spoilers – an absolute gem and I was desperate to know how this fitted in with the rest of the story.
Overall, this is a pacey and engaging read. It’s certainly worth clearing the diary for as you will not want to put it down until you know the truth!
About Jane Renshaw:
Jane Renshaw
As a child, Jane spent a lot of time in elaborate Lego worlds populated by tiny plastic animals and people. Crime levels were high, especially after the Dragon brothers set themselves up as vets and started murdering the animals in their ‘care’. (They got away with it by propping the victims up with Plasticine and pretending they were still alive…)
As an adult, she is still playing in imaginary worlds and putting her characters through hell – but now she can call it ‘writing’ and convince herself that she is doing something sensible. In real life, she has a PhD in genetics and copy-edits scientific and medical journals.
Jane is the author of Watch Over Me. THE CHILD WHO NEVER WAS will be her second novel published with Inkubator Books.
