I loved a stranger on board by Cameron Ward so I was excited to be given the opportunity to read this one - and it didn't disappoint!
A tense and atmospheric read that will make you question everyone. It's well written and highly descriptive of the terrifying bush fires.
Huge thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook.

What an intense read! The tension started building up and didn’t stop. I had no idea who Jess could trust, I’m not even sure if I trusted her!
Set in Australia with bush fires raging, a seemingly easy house sitting job turns into a fight for life or death and not just from the fires!

A very interesting and pertinent read at the present time. The descriptions of the wildfires were brilliantly done and terrifying and the story was well told and enjoyable, albeit it did drag a little in the middle. Ultimately, some likeable (and some not so likeable) characters and a good ending. Recommended.

This was a slow read at the beginning and really started moving along about half way through. I liked the storyline and the tense build up the book had. The book was also very descriptive, so I could really envision everything while reading it.

As the tension built I found myself turning the pages faster, thinking I had the culprit but then I kept changing my mind.

This was a good read and I think it would make an excrement film.

Thank you to Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A wild fire swirls around the the Australian coast closing in on a huge house that itself harbours dark, dark secrets.

This cracking reads conveys a sense of unease with a pleasing number of twists and turns and then more turns and twists.

Well worth a read.

Jess is a Met Police analyst and after a traumatic event in her life she decides to resign. Her friend has informed her that there is a job going as a Caretaker for a property owned by missing Billionaire and tax dodger and for insurance purposes someone needs to look after the property in her home country in the remote Australian outback.
But Jess thinking that she can relax and recuperate from her troubles, gets a surprise when she starts getting several visitors to the property asking to shelter from the bush fires that lands around her.
Thank you, Penguin Micheal Joseph for a copy of ‘The Safe House’ by Cameron Ward. He is a new author to me and read the blurb and it intrigued me. But Wow this was better than I thought it would be, it was different to what I was expecting. At first this was a slow burn but as you got into it, it turned into a tense and suspenseful locked room mystery. Who are these visitors and who can she trust to help escape the bushfires that coming towards her? This is a great read. 5 stars from me.

Met Police Analyst Jess is still in shock after her life fell apart in spectacular style.
When a friend offers her the chance to house sit a remote property in her native Australia she
agrees thinking some time alone is just what she needs.
Wildfires are raging in the outback but Jess is confident they are miles away and the property is safe.
Then the first stranger arrives seeking refuge and Jess feels she has no choice but to help. The fires are getting closer and more people turn up.
Suddenly they are trapped, surrounded by the fast moving flames and with no way of contacting the outside world.
When one of the guests goes missing, Jess begins to wonder if she is in more danger from the fire or from the people she was trying to help.
This well written, intense, atmospheric thriller kept me guessing until the end. I could almost feel the heat from the fires and the fear of being trapped in them had me breathless at times.

If you have read Stranger on Board you will be able to guess from the start that everything wasn't going to go right, but the premise of the story was that an Australian woman (Jess) who was working as a police analyst for the Met in London, had come through a traumatic event in which the person she thought that she loved had just died, and she still blames herself a little.
A contact of her obtained for her a cosy little job of house sitting a plush mansion in South Victoria, in the 'middle of nowhere'. Solitude for two months to recharge her batteries.
When wildfires break out all around her, you could tell that things weren't going to go as smoothly as she hoped.
It turns out that Jess was not alone, and more people started turning up. As Australians don't turn fellow Aussie's down she offered them all shelter in the Safe House.
A lot of the action was predictable, but there were enough twists and turns to allow the novel to be called nail-biting.
There were some incidents that would have been comic if they weren't tragic.
I think that this style of writing enhances the thriller, and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to the author for another good read and to the publisher for an advance reader's copy for honest review.

This book really made me feel uneasy (I think that was the plan), as someone who likes a lot of people around them, the isolation aspect had me spooked. Then the strangers turning up and the bushfires had me feeling uncomfortable. It is great to get a book that challenges your emotions through a good story !
Great writing.

Wow! What a brilliant book! I loved every page.
Jess has been entrusted to house sit (for insurance purposes) in a magnificent home in the Australian wilds, which is owned by a missing multi-millionaire. She is looking forward to the solitude, and in taking time out to get her head straight after walking out on her job as a police analyst in the UK.
However, all is not as it seems and this safe house is not as safe as she hoped.
There are news bulletins warning of raging wildfires around the state, and people are being evacuated. Still, this house is protected by a wide firebreak, and sprinklers so Jess feels secure in these safety measures.
One by one, several strangers arrive at her door, seeking refuge as the roads have become unpassable, and they need somewhere to ride out the firestorms. Reluctantly, Jess allows them to stay, but ensures they are kept downstairs and away from her bedroom which she locks up at night to ensure her safety.
Who are these people, are they the strangers they first appear to be, or is something else going on?
Things take a sinister turn when a body is discovered, and Jess has no idea who she can trust.
The wind direction has changed and there is now no time to evacuate so she finds herself trapped with these people , one of which she suspects is a murderer.......

This book was a real page turner, and I love the differing characters, from drug addicts to park rangers, and ex cops to a couple trying to save their marriage. You are left wondering who is a friend and who is a foe right until the end.
I have already read Cameron Ward's first book , 'A stranger on board' and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

"The Safe House" is a fast-paced thriller set in the Australian wilderness. Ex-cop Jess, recently resigned from the Metropolitan (London) police after a traumatic turn of events. has taken a job house-sitting a remote, high-tech, luxury property, hoping for peace and quiet. The Australian courts are confiscating the property from a missing tax-dodging billionaire owner, and the insurance requires the property to be occupied until the legal transfer is complete.

The backdrop to the story is the terrifying bush fires which rage out of control and are getting closer to the house, supposedly a place of safety due to the massive fire-break and wall around the boundary. Six strangers arrive over two days and Jess is forced to give them refuge because the peninsular is cut off by fire and smoke. It turns out that the strangers have things to hide and some may not be there by accident. But who to trust? Jess's allegiances shuffle by the hour, as do the reader's.

Jess is a great protagonist, very headstrong and determined, and more than a little impulsive. The other characters range from seedy to downright secretive and menacing. The location is beautifully described and is the local wildlife (including the snakes and spiders!)

The ending is dramatic and action-packed, and I'm pleased to say some of the characters survive to make it out. This book would make an excellent film.

A suspenseful thriller set in an isolated house in the Australian outback, this installs an atmospheric vibe from the onset which is great.
Jess, the main protagonist if you will, leaves London after a traumatic period in her life, for an extended visit home to caretake a property.
The backdrop is idyllic and quiet. Perfect to may think….but with bushfires moving ever closer and strangers looking for refuge this fast paced book builds the tension up and keeps you gripped.
Language is great, description of the bush and fires is descriptive and well written. I have lived on the edge of a bushfire and this is indeed a good description.
Recommend all to try this

A locked-room mystery in the intriguing setting of the Australian outback? What’s not to like? I could not wait to start this novel as soon as I had downloaded it onto my Kindle. The main storyline is based on Jess, a former Metropolitan Police officer, who has extricated herself from a difficult relationship to take up a post as a house sitter for a luxury villa in the Australian outback. All is not as peaceful as it With a dangerous bush fire drawing closer, Jess finds herself opening the doors to her temporary luxury surroundings to a growing cast of complete strangers. But could the real danger in fact come from within, rather than from outside? And what if Jess is plunged into an episode even harder to negotiate than the challenges that she left behind in London?

Fantastically written, this is a fast-paced thriller with a house that is anything but a safe house and some very convincing characters that I was sorry to leave behind on the last page. I rather hope Jess and some of the more memorable characters will get another outing in a sequel to this riveting thriller.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for my free digital ARC that enabled me to read this novel and produce this honest review.

After Jess loses her job in London, a friend suggests she volunteers to housesit in Australia.She arrives and finds it is a super luxury mansion and starts to settle in. Bushfires break out in the distance and people start turning up wanting shelter , but not all these people are who they say they are.Telephone and Internet go down leaving the place isolated.One guest goes missing and tensions rise.As Jess checks the property she finds there are two extra secure safes , and it looks as if somebody has been trying to open them. What is in them that is so important? as the Bushfires burn things start to look bad but eventually the fire people get through to them.

I enjoyed this thriller that wasn’t at all predictable like so many others of the genre. Full of twists and interesting turns this is an easy interesting read

Jess is a police analyst taking some time out after a traumatic relationship. She agrees to caretake a luxury but isolated house in her native Australia. It turns out the house is owned by a major criminal and has been seized by the state. Very soon, Jess is joined by strangers seeking shelter from the imminent bush fires. They all seem to have an agenda but can they be trusted? Strange things start to happen, whilst the threat of an all-consuming bush fire is present throughout the book. Add to this that Jess doesn’t know who she can trust, if anyone, makes The Safe House a tense and pacey thriller.

Tense, Compelling..
A suspenseful and atmospheric ride into the Australian outback as the reader is taken with Jess who has agreed to solo house- sit a remote and isolated, albeit luxury, property. Jess is under the impression that she is wholly alone - but is she? When bush fires begin to engulf the area it’s not too long before strangers seeking refuge begin to appear. It’s not long before there is no way out - but is the danger lurking inside worse than any outside? The author paints a perfect backdrop, a plot populated with a credible cast and an engaging and intriguing storyline. Tense and compelling.

An easy read crime thriller set in Australia. A beautiful isolated house, looking over the coast. Idyllic, but maybe not quite a safe house. I was in no doubt what was going on as the perilous situation was set up, pleasantly thinking I see what’s happening how can Jess possibly miss so many cues. Then in my mind going ‘No!, No! be careful, No!….. again and again until the end. Maybe Cameron will write more about these characters in the future; that would be something I would happily read. Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Well set and intriguing.

I found Jess’s character to be very believable and so connected with her narration.

I really like Ward’s style.

Another great book from Cameron ward. I loved a stranger on board and was very much looking forward to his second book. It did not disapoint. Working out who was the bad ones considering there are a few for different reasons never thought it be who it was. Definitely recommend reading