Come A Little Closer by Karen Perry is a psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.
The story was dark and chilling and I didn't know what was going to happen next.
Leah and Jake have moved into the basement flat of a large house and are happy to finally be making a life together.
The owner of the house Anton has just been released from prison after spending nineteen years for killing his wife.
As Leah and Anton begin to become friendly her relationship with Jake suffers.
I was invited to read this book by the publishers and I really enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK - Michael Joseph for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Leah and Jake after courting for 5 months and in love are thrilled when they are offered a basement flat in Mark's dads house. The story then starts slowly. you know a crime has been committed. Mark's dad Anton has just been released from prison for the murder of his wife, Charlotte, which he claims was carried out by an intruder. Neighbours are not happy he has been released and Leah and Jake are unaware. Gets very creepy as Anton who has been warned to behave, gets friendly with Leah who incidentally looks like his dead wife and Leah herself is harbouring a secret that Jake does not know about. The story is told from several points of view and flashbacks. The story comes together, you are kept guessing until the ending which was a little disappointing.

The beginning of Come A Little Closer will grip you so make sure you put your life on hold before starting this! A lovely summers day and a young boy appears in the local park covered in blood and says “Help me.”, what a brilliant start to this story!

Full of atmosphere, the burning question of “Did Anton kill his wife?” will make sure once you’ve began you can’t put it down!

I was left disappointed by the ending but it’s still a solid story. A strong 4/5!

Whenever there is a new Karen Perry book it feels like Christmas and my birthday in one go and I have to start the book immediately!!

What a beginning!! A boy appears in the park covered in blood saying “Help Me” you had me hooked from there on!!

Leah and Jake move into the basement of number 14, the house belongings to Anton who has recently returned to the area often years of being away, we soon find out where he has been!!

Leah and Anton become friends and share their secrets, is it just a coincidence that she looks like Charlotte the wife he was accused of killing!!

This story is told from 3 people’s perspectives, Hilary, Anton and Leah.

I loved this book, I was gripped from the first page and read it practically in one siting. It was a chilling read that gave me goosebumps as I found it to be eerie and creepy without being predictable.

10 out of 10 from me loved the twist at the end.

Karen Perry has delivered another 1st class psychological thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this book. From the opening paragraphs I was gripped.

Anton has recently returned. We aren’t initially sure where from, though we certainly have our suspicions! Leah and Jake are moving into their first home together- a basement flat in Anton’s house. Leah has secrets and the author skilfully keeps us guessing until the end.

This is a creepy and unsettling book with eerie and well written characters. I haven’t read any of Karen Perry’s previous books, but I enjoyed this one so much that I’ll be looking them up! Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

This is a clever, well written novel in an overly saturated market where they seem ten a penny. Perry has a superior writing style that avoids falling into cliche and manages to convey tension within a tight story line. I really enjoyed this one.

I have read and enjoyed books by Karen Perry previously and this was no difference. I felt it was a good portrayal of what it feels like to have been released from prison following a lengthy sentence. I didn't find that there were any particular twists or shocks in the book. It was pretty obviously the way the book was heading but I still found that the journey to ending was an enjoyable read so I am happy with that.

Ah ha, a psychological thriller that is genuinely tense and menacing with a delicious drip-feed of emotional chills? Yes please! Perry has managed to side-step some of the worst flaws of this genre which has become ubiquitous and frequently both silly and badly written. I'm not claiming that this is 'literary' - its intentions are other - but it is pulled together with intelligence and a lovely slow-burn feeling of increasing claustrophobia and tension - we know something terrible is going to happen, and who to - but where is the menace coming from?

This book capitalises on the inherent forced urban intimacy of neighbours where houses divided into flats allow us a far closer look into our neighbours' lives than we might like. There's a creepiness that seeps through these pages, and the characterisation is layered enough to have me changing my mind more than once about recently-returned Anton...

The narrative bypasses the go-to structure of multiple 1st person narrators and time-based sections: instead it's focalised through just three characters, all 3rd person, and memories are deftly woven into the main story to give us all we need to know about the past.

I was a little disappointed by the ending which feels driven by the need for a final 'twist' rather than psychological truth - but at least it's not completely left-field.

Overall, a superior little chiller - the sort that makes you hope your commute home might be delayed so you can read a little bit more!