The definition of the up-all-night thriller. Heartpounding and unputdownable. A masterclass in how to write an unreliable narrator.

When I started reading this one I thought how in the world is this going to be this long? It starts right off with the mom seeing a guy who has broken into their house in the middle of the night. They are out in the country, no neighbors super close, it is a snowstorm with lots of snow already on the ground and not much chance for her to fight him off or escape by car (most of her weapons are on the other side of him as is the car). So I was really curious where this would go to make this a full length book. Well it didn't go as I expected and I enjoyed that. There were a lot of flashbacks, some added to the story, some not as much. I found the second half more interesting as I liked the type of story it was.

Now even though I enjoyed the story the writing was just okay. Like I said there were flashbacks that didn't seem to add anything, there was a lot of the main characters thinking things to herself which was alright, it was okay. The story itself I enjoyed enough to keep reading even though the writing wasn't amazing. And I would definitely be interested in reading more from the author.

A mother and her two children are grieving the loss of their husband and father who died in a tragic accident in the home.
One night when the children are in bed, the mother hears a noise that isn't part of the usual household nightly sounds, so she goes to investigate.
She soon realises that they have an intruder, and that her choices are limited. Should she hide, run or fight for her life?
What can I say? This is a real page turner! An edge of your seat, cat and mouse thriller, not to be read on your own, amd I enjoyed every page.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone whol loves this genre, and I will be on the lookout for other books by this author.

The premise and the initial part of the book where a mother is trying to protect her children by hiding under the stairs from an intruder is claustrophobic and terrifying. However for me, the book went downhill thereafter, possibly because it’s written in the third person with no names and this gives it an impersonal touch. The flashbacks meant that the tension was lost in the middle of the book. Although the early chapters will stay with me, I’m afraid the rest, for me, wasn’t memorable.

Thank you to Tracy Sierra, Penguin Books and Netgalley for my advance copy.

Thanks to @penguinukbooks and @vikingbooksuk for approving my read/review request on @netgalley!

Whew, I went on a rollercoaster of emotions and opinions while reading this book. I ended up really liking it though!

In the beginning, I felt the POV the author chose was a bit disconnected and jarring. It's written in third person omniscient and the author never reveals any of the names so it distracted me from the tension and made it harder to put myself in the main character's shoes.

The main character didn't seem to be in the driver's seat of her own life so the POV lack of names enhanced that in a clever way, but I still think it could have been more gripping and emotional if we were reading it in her voice. Or, it could have been powerful if the author revealed her name towards the end.
I also found it a bit repetitive and slow at times and then it would speed up for a couple of pages and then drag again. It was hard to stay interested but I'm glad I did!

The last 40-50% of the book was much more riveting. felt way more connected to the main character and sympathised with her so much. The amount of gaslighting alone was so frustrating that I couldn't put the book down because I had to know what happened.

Overall, this was a good read. Slow to start but it redeemed itself! And of course, I loved the stormy, snowy atmosphere!

This book promised much from the synopsis, hence the request to review. It was quite tense and intriguing for about the first 30% but my interest quickly waned when it became rather dull and boring. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me.

I enjoyed this one, it had my heart trying at times. A house invader and the family evading him by stealthy hiding? Perfect.

What a ride.
A mother with two young children go through traumatic experiences, one after the other.
Sierra's craft is sorcery. It is cinematic and yet keeps a literary quality, the unique strengths of novels at all times, especially when it comes to internal monologues.

The ending was so satisfactory. Had this book ended, about 20 pages or so, earlier, and we did not get the ending, my rating would have been lower because then part of the authenticity would have lacked.

I am a reader who thinks of many possibilities and opportunities especially when reading about different narrator POVS, and reading thriller/mystery/horror/crime books, hence I do not look for crazy and unpredictable twists, but at the same time, very predictable twists are against the nature of mystery books and whodunnits. This one balances POVS, internal monologues, twists and several possibilities rather well.

I personally enjoy long books too because of how they have more room to deal with more plot and characterisation.
This book would have been pretty much the same experience had it been a bit shorter or of similar length but with more subplots to complicate it. The latter option would have been a different story and book, I admit. Yet, I still think despite being a page-turner and an enjoyable read that does not drag and makes use of flashbacks rather well, either it could have been shorter, or we would have had a bit more exploration of other plot elements and characters that make us forget about the Corner, be sure who is telling the truth etc.

And a spoiler after this - please do not read further if have not read the book. I did not fully buy the older the sergeant being so blunt with the main character. I expect there would be psychiatric supervision around such a situation, and he should not be able to say what he had said as an accusation. I may be wrong, but if this is the procedure in real life, I found it non-ideal. The mental health services, police and law must have procedures to work together and for the well-being of everyone involved. In that case, the sergeant was too direct, even if had he been right.

A tense and suspenseful nail-biter. In the middle of the night, during a blizzard a mother is at home with her young children when she realises they are not alone. An atmospheric read that unfolds at a cracking pace.

Really loved this book, one of my favourite I read over the last year. Extremely vivid descriptions and character building, really interested in reading more by Tracy Sierra.

So tense, so unexpected. I couldn't put it down! I will be recommending this book all spooky season.

A great book
Will have you hooked from page one
And holding your breath a lot of the time
Plenty of twists
Looking forward to her next book
Thanks NetGalley

Very engaging but definitely not one to read when you're home alone! Really enjoyed it and will look out for more from the author.

By the time I got around to reaidng this book the hype machine was in full flow with authors and readers I admire telling me this was one of the best thrillers they had ever read. That is the main reason I persevered with it despite finding the authorial voice jarring. The names of the narrator, her husband and children aren't given, which kept reminding me I was Reading A Book when I just wanted to lose myself in the story, I'm not sure this device adds anything to the book. As a psychological thriller it really delivers and is especially good on the way women are ignored and gaslist by everyone from their families to medics to police, and it's impressive how the author makes the reader subtly complicit in second-guessing the narrator.

Oh my, what an incredibly tense novel this is. ‘Nerve-shredding’ is a term which is often used, but I don’t think it’s been more apt than to describe this story. Whilst it’s not horror, the tense opening chapters had me wanting to sleep with the light on – it was unnerving.

This book builds up the tension and doesn’t let up. It starts with a relatively simple line “There was someone in the house.” But what does that entail? A woman, living alone with her two young children, a blizzard raging outside, suddenly realising they’re not alone in their own home. A desperate scramble to hide, to protect, a mother’s instincts driving her through the terror. And all the time, the footsteps get closer. There’s someone in the house. What does he want? How will they survive? The book leads the reader through the action moment to moment as the family is holed up in peril, and it makes excruciating reading.

Somewhere around the middle of the story, the tone and pace changes a little. As opposed to staying in the present moment, there’s a lot of looking back on how our protagonist got here, her history with her ex-husband and the personal trauma she is trying to move on from. The constant flashbacks do feel like they detract a little from the present-day action, but they do help to give context and draw a portrait of a fragile woman who may be at breaking point.

As everyone seems to be against the protagonist, the question of an unreliable narrator comes into play and I had no idea which way this story was going to go. With tension continuously building, so that even the reader doesn’t know how to trust, this makes for a clever, nuanced and multi-layered debut.

A intense creepy atmosphere kept me on the edge of my seat for this one!
Heart pounding, intricately plotted & enraging at times.

A creepy and horrifying tale, which made me so anxious...

Imagine, you're alone in your remote house with your two young children during a blizzard, creepy enough right?! Now you see a man standing on the stairs..what would you do?

This kind of thing terrifies me! The thought of something happening to my children makes me want to throw up, but to have that threat in my own home, awful!

So I probably shouldn't have started reading this when I was camping, reading in my darkened tent, every shout made me jump!

The start of this book was incredible! The writing was so good-inside the head of the mother, I could feel the terror, anger, love, sadness and doubt. I really enjoyed it, no I didn't, but I was obsessed with this book, and also didn't want to read it! The way it made me sweat, but simultaneously gave me chills...

I didn't give it five stars because of the gaslighting during the middle part of the book. I absolutely know that it's a relevant and integral part of the story, but it made me so uncomfortable. I guess the first part was really frightening, but the scariest part was the gaslighting, how easily doubt was cast, how easily sanity and mental health was questioned. The after effects, and the impact of that?!

I really liked how it ended and would recommend this to anyone looking for a suspenseful psychological thriller, with elements of horror. This author managed to scare me and fill me with panic! 👏

This is not a book to be read late at night when you are on your own. It is quite a simple storyline - a mother, alone in a remote house with her two young children during a snowstorm, hears an invader entering her house. The pace is quite slow, which helps build up the suspense and the tension, but can at times come across as long winded and frustrating.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review a copy of this book.

I struggled to get into this book at first as the way the opening scene panned out confused me a bit but as the plot unraveled I found I was hooked.
The bleak scenery painted a lonely and hopeless picture whilst the characters were well written and the build up of tension perfectly executed.

A mother is forced to the breaking point when her life and the lives of her children are threatened by an intruder.

The synopsis of this book had me hooked right away, this book was dread inducing but this isn't your typical thriller. This book is VERY slow paced. There are a lot of flashback scenes that bogged the plot down and pacing was definitely an issue with the current scenes as well, our MC would spend 4 pages contemplating what to do but only 5seconds would have passed in the story, This book is VERY inner monologue heavy, which I think also hindered the pace and my personal enjoyment of the story.

This is still a very solid debut in the suspense category.