4 creepy unsettling stars.

From the moment I started this book, I had the shivers. Danger was present, and the tension was palpable. The imagery that lingers on in my imagination and continues to freak me is not the fear of being alone in the dark, but the chilling thought that you might NOT be alone.. Thanks for that Andrea, a new level of jitters unlocked :O

I loved the characters, the glimpse of their younger carefree years versus their present-day lives. The setting of an ordinary home, which should symbolise safety and comfort, was brilliantly transformed into a labyrinth of fear and danger. I thoroughly enjoyed the suspenseful guessing game of what was really happening, and the rollercoaster ride between everyday moments and heart-pounding tension kept me hooked.

Highly recommended for fans of psychological thrillers and anyone looking for a book that will keep them up at night, both from the suspense and the fear of hearing a creak in their own house.

I was drawn to Someone in the Attic, because of the title, it had an uneasy feel to it. This very much set the tone for how I felt, while I was between the pages.

The latest strange TikTok craze has been inspired by a TV programme. Suddenly everyone is sharing unnerving clips of supposed masked intruders, dropping down from attics.
Anya is having a relaxing soak in the bath, before meeting up with her friends. Her boyfriend is away, so she is enjoying her alone time; little does she realise, she is not alone.

I must admit that I did find myself walking up the stairs at night, paying far more attention to the loft hatch than I would normally. The author deftly plays on all of our fear. That while we are safely asleep in our beds, someone is wandering our home, watching us, watching our children.

This chilling thriller was twisty, with plenty of misdirection, and absolutely held my attention, while still feeling very plausible. The characters were well written, and fully formed in my mind. I was fearful for them, constantly changing my mind on ‘whodunnit’. Apart from the obvious crime storyline, it is a story of friendship, guilt and how hard it is to navigate the pitfalls of adult life.

Someone in the Attic is my first read by Andrea Mara, but definitely not my last. I found myself hooked from the very first page, to the last, the countdown of minutes instantly drew me in. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and highly recommend this 5⭐️ gripping read.

Every time I read a new book from the ridiculously talented author that is Andrea Mara I think this has to be her best yet that there is no way her next book can top it and then she goes and does just that. The fact that I read this new book way before publication day in June and am not leaving writing the review on the long finger is testament to how brilliant Someone in the Attic is. There was no way I could leave this languishing on my Kindle for several months before reading it as it was calling out to me. Plus I had seen some early reviews for it that had nothing but good things to say about this tense and thrilling story so I knew it was one I was going to enjoy. I started it late one night and literally was inhaling chapters. It really is a just one more chapter kind of book and then you realise you’ve read more than half of it. The fact my eyes were tired was the only reason I put the book down and the next day I devoured it in short odour until I reached the conclusion.

A sinister opening has the reader sitting up and paying attention and this compulsion never wavers from this point right until you reach the final word. Anya’s partner is away and she is relaxing after work in the bath but suddenly the attic hatch opens and a figure emerges. Minutes later Anya is dead. Well, if that is not a creepy and terrifying opening than I don’t know what is. I’ll never look at the attic hatch in the same way again and this feeling only further increased as I delved deeper into the story. Why was Anya killed and who was behind it?

We are then introduced to Julia who has just moved back to Dublin from America. She has two children Isla and Luca and is divorced from her artist husband Gabe but they have an unusual living situation in that they have two homes. One family home where one parent is always with the children and the other parent stays in an apartment when it’s not their turn to be with the kids. From the outset, there are hints that their return from America was maybe not one that was planned for a long time but rather circumstances there forced them to leave as they had no other option The specific details of this are revealed over time and they are expertly woven in with the overall plots within the book of which there are many but at no time did it ever feel complicated or convoluted. In fact it just grew more and more intense with every chapter and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Julia is practical, sensible and efficient but when her daughter shows her a video of their house taken from the attic showing rooms and downstairs. She is seriously freaked out and even more so when she discovers how Anya passed away. Julia puts it down to a show that is going viral on TikTok and thinks nothing more of it but soon more videos start to appear and there is no solid answers only more and more questions. Luca says that there is a man in the attic and that at night he comes to his room and he is convinced that everything he is saying is true. He sticks firm to what he is saying but the adults brush aside his concerns despite the mounting evidence. It really is beyond bizarre all the little things that start to occur that on their own wouldn’t warrant any attention but the fact that so many strange things start to happen in Julia’s gated community that she can’t find immediate answers for well surely she has to act especially when it really starts to affect her family.

Eleanor is a friend of Julia and Anya’s whom Julia is getting to know again. She is shocked that Anya has passed but over the course of the book she turns out to be a brilliant friend to Julia as she too is sucked into the drama. Eleanor is opiniated, dramatic, bossy, loud, loyal, kind and good. Really, all the characteristics you would want in a friend but Eleanor too harbours her own secrets and at various points we go back in time to when the friends were much younger and something happened that still has them being weighed down. The only negative I found with the book was this aspect of the storyline. I understood it was there to help the reader to get to know more about the friend group when they were younger but to be honest I was far more interested in what was going on now and if Julia would discover who was behind the videos and the strange little things happening in and around her home. These little vents really had me on edge and the tension, suspicion and intrigue grew the further I read. My head was spinning but in the best of ways trying to figure out who was behind everything and why. Time and time again it seemed very clear cut as various characters were introduced and you thought it had to be them. Surely there was no other answer but Andrea had everything so expertly plotted out that she was taking her readers on an adventure with so many twists and turns that the answers were never going to be clear cut or given away so early on in the book. Everyone needs to be watched in this outstanding and magnificent read. Absolutely, no one is above suspicion.

Andrea Mara is unbelievable. I really don’t know how she does it. One minute she has you convinced so and so is responsible for everything and then the next paragraph has you completely changing your mind and thinking how could I have thought that person was the culprit. She leads you up so many paths only to reach dead ends but it’s not frustrating in any sense of the word because as soon as one door closes another one opens and off you go again in another completely different direction. Yes, I had a sense of smugness in that I thought I had it all worked out fairly early on but that feeling was quickly quashed as firm and solid evidence is presented as to why you are wrong. Just like Julia, you are on a rollercoaster that just seems to go higher and higher and getting more dangerous and to get off is impossible until the truth has been revealed. My opinion and reasons for believing someone was behind all the sinister events changed as quickly as I was able to turn the pages and that’s what made this fresh, exciting and innovative.

To say this book was a page turner would be an understatement. It was delicious, enthralling and all I wanted was more, more, more. I loved the inclusion of the epilogue at the end detailing what happened to all the characters after the events. You don’t usually find something like that in a book in this genre but it was very welcome and really helped the book come full circle. All I can say is I wish Andrea Mara’s books came as quickly as I read this one but sadly that is not the case. Do yourself a favour come publication day and grab a copy of Someone in the Attic, this is a terrific book that will have you racing to the end with your heart thumping. I hope Andrea Mara is hard at work on her next book at the risk of sounding like a broken record this one will take some beating.

Anya is enjoying a relaxing bath before meeting old friends when, through the open bathroom door, she sees the loft hatch open and a masked figure drop down, then seconds later she's dead. Julia has returned home to Ireland after living in San Diego with her family for the last twenty years, she's arranged to meet up with old friends, Eleanor and Anya for drinks when her teenage daughter Isla shows her an online video of a masked figure coming out of a loft, then she suddenly realises why it looks so familiar, because it's her loft, in a house that's in a gated community designed to stop intruders getting in. Who is this person and how did they get in, when only she, her ex-husband Gabe and their housekeeper have keys?

This latest thriller by Mara grabbed hold of me from the first page and didn't let go till the last, it's a fast paced, tense and creepy thriller which involves a game called 'The Loft' where people film videos of a masked person appearing from people's attics and then upload them to TikTok, but what started off as a prank turns serious when it appears to be happening for real in Julia's house and I really felt for little Luca throughout this story. This is a dual timeline story, set predominantly in the present day but part way through the author takes us back to when the girls were younger, which Julia and Eleanor think has some bearing on what is happening today and Julia is desperate to discover what's going on and why she's being targeted. There's not many stories that really freak me out but this one did and I'm really glad that my loft hatch is bolted from the outside! I've loved all Mara's books so far and this was no exception, another great read which kept me second guessing throughout.

I'd like to thank Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads.

A family move back to Ireland following an incident in the States. Gabe and Julia are divorced, but they share custody by spending 5 nights in the house with the children while the other sleeps at an apartment, then swapping.

However, a new trend on the internet is to film someone dropping out of the attic into a house. And suddenly Julia realises their house is on the tape. Julia has reconnected with her old school friends, only to find Anya dies the night they were due to meet up. This series of events escalates and the tension mounts as Julia tries to discover what is happening to her family - her children are distraught and frightened.

The denouement generally works well, although there are a few coincidences that stretch credulity, but overall its a tense read that kept my attention right to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Andrea Mara never disappoints when it comes to a gripping thriller, especially if you love an Irish setting like I do!

Someone In The Attic is another tense read. It's very creepy in places and the final chapters had my heart racing.

However, there is a lot going on in this one! There are a lot of characters and it took me a long time to remember who was married to who, especially as there's some overlapping and everybody seems to be meddling in each other's business.

But this also made it a very quick read with developments happening so often. It also throws your suspicions off balance as I'm sure that I had this one pegged, but I was way off in the end!

Overall, it's a very enjoyable thriller and one I was very excited to see unravel!

This was a brilliant read! Murder, lies, deceit and revenge take centre stage in this gripping thriller.

The opening of the book had me hooked immediately, with Anya murdered in the bath by someone sneaking down from her attic, before we even really know who she is!

Julia, Anya, Donna and Eleanor (JADE) were friends at school until Donna’s tragic death and Julia’s move to the US split them apart. But Julia is home and Anya is dead.

A multi-faceted plot with plenty of clever red herrings meant that it was impossible to work out who was sneaking into Julia’s house, taking videos and posting them on tiktok - and why?

Great pacing and character development had me totally absorbed and needing to race to the end to end the suspense!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Andrea Mara and Random House for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a great psychological thriller.
The story begins with Anya being murdered whilst in the bath by a man who was hiding in her attic.
The Police don't suspect anything and conclude that she'd had too much wine and drowned in the bath.
When Julia and Eleanor hear of their friend's death they are very shocked. After losing touch for a while they start to spend more time together and we have chapters from the group of friend's past.
When Julia's daughter sees a video on Tik Tok which shows their house, she can't work out who has filmed it. Her son is convinced there is a man who keeps coming into their house through the attic and Julia becomes very concerned.
There's a few threads to this story and I loved how it all came together.
Thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

@currentlyreading__
Book 38 of 2024

Thank you to @netgalley, the publishers Random House UK and the author @andreamaraauthor for the advance copy of ’Someone in the Attic’ which I read ahead of publication tomorrow.

I read ‘No One Saw a Thing’ last year and absolutely loved it so knew I was in for a treat. This said, SITA is very different to NOSAT. Both are remarkably tense but ‘Someone in the Attic’ was so creepy. The opening chapter was amongst one of the best I have ever read. I challenge anyone not to be utterly hooked by such drama in the opening.

We have a group of women, all friends since childhood - Julia, Anya, Donna and Eleanor (JADE) and when Anya dies in very mysterious circumstances right at the opening of the book, Julia and Eleanor are rightly worried. Add to this the fact that Julia is shown a very creepy TikTok video showing someone masked coming out of Julia’s attic hatch and making their way through her house. The videos disappear before any action can be taken.

Locks are changed, Julia’s daughter is on constant TikTok watch and her young son is convinced that there is someone in the attic. Cue lots of tension, heart-thumping dramatic scenes, cliffhangers, multiple timeframes and sub-plots running thorough to keep the tension brewing.

A brilliant book which captivated me. A definite five stars from me.

#bookworm #iamreading #bookreview #andreamara #someoneintheattic #netgalley #junebooks

This book was HIGHLY anticipated by yours truly after I read No One Saw A Thing by @andreamaraauthor last year. Although both are thrillers, Someone in the Attic is very different - so don’t expect to know where it will take you.

After Anya dies under mysterious circumstances, her old school friend Julia is being haunted by a potential intruder in her own home. Julia tries to find out why she’s being targeted, while connecting the dots on the intruder’s relationship to the death of her old friend.

There are multiple storylines being played out at the same time in this book, and they all come to a head at the end of the story. Just when I thought the story was going one way, I’d be corrected and sent another way. There are a lot of twists but they all have a reason behind them, so it’s not too much (for me!). The ‘reveal’ at the end is not what I expected but makes sense.

I read this while chilling in Ibiza and I have to say it was a brilliant holiday read. It was so easy to pick up and I devoured it every time I did. I can see this one doing as well as, if not better than, the author’s last book.

Someone in the Attic is out tomorrow, 6th June. Thank you to @penguinbooksireland for the advanced copy via @netgalley! 🙏

I wanted to start by saying that this book is SO creepy but it’s also what I loved about it.

This book starts with a bang with Anya’s murder and then Julia and her daughter start discovering the chilling TikTok videos made in their house. As the story goes on, the suspense gets palpable and all you want to know is what is happening in the attic.

Gabe acting weird, the sketchy neighbors, the past storyline… All the subplots sucked me in the book even more and kept me engaged until the big reveal. I didn’t figure out who did it and with all the twist and turns I genuinely suspected every single character.

There’s a lot to say about this book but I don’t want to spoil so add it to yout tbr and read it asap, you won’t be disappointed!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a digital ARC copy.

4.5 stars.*

#SomeoneInTheAttic #NetGalley

Anya is having a bath when the attic hatch opens and she is submerged into the water and dies.
Anya's, friend Julia is shown a video, a video of her house and someone going around it filming. Then her son says there is someone living in their attic.
Is there? and why?

Wow! What a thrilling read.
I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of this book and those last few chapters were so intense! What I really loved about this book is it kept you guessing all the way through. You think you’ve worked it out, but the twists keep coming.

I didn’t work out the ending so it was a fun reveal!

I would definitely recommend this book.

You thought you were home alone? Think again....

This book is not the first of Andrea Mara's that I have had the absolute pleasure of immersing myself into but my word, it is definitely one I will not forget. The start of the book was quite slow and I was wondering how the narrative strands would fit together. The change in time perspectives gave great backstory to the characters and I found myself feeling more on edge as the narrative progressed because of this.

This book was super creepy, heightened by the constant sounds coming from the attic, the videos spotted by Julia's daughter on TikTok, and the pure fear that Luca feels when discussing 'someone being in the attic'. This concoction of things just made this book give me goosebumps.

I enjoyed the sheer amount of plot-twist moments, from disloyalty to deceit and more, this book packed a punch.

Someone In The Attic was a cracking read.
The book is based around Julia, her ex husband, Gabe and her two children. They have come back to live in Ireland from San Diego to escape an incident involving their daughter. They are renting a house in a gated community as money is no object as Julia has just sold her business for millions. They have only been back a short time and Julia’s friend from school has died, there were four of them in their gang but now there are only two. Julia’s daughter finds on TikTok a video of their house being filmed by someone coming out of the attic, her son says he’s seen eyes through the air vent in his room and is struggling to sleep. Locks are changed but the videos still keep coming. Who is it and what do they want?
This book from the first chapter hooked me right in, I thought my heart was going to explode due to the stress. It was a book of lots of twists and turns and I didn’t guess who it was at all. There were lots of people it could have been as even the neighbour is acting weird so you do find yourself questioning everyone. A really twisty read that I enjoyed.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this author's previous book, No One Saw A Thing, and also loved this one Soneone in The Attic. There was suspense intrigue and menace throughout the book. There were so many revelations that kept on coming, I just had to keep reading to find out the answers to everything going on. Brilliant read! A solid 5 star read

Absolutely loved this book it kept me hooked from start to finish. Quite spooky in places and really got into my head. A great edge of your seat thriller not to be missed.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Andrea Marr has an uncanny knack for tapping into your darkest fears and turning them into the plot for compulsive twisty thrillers. Someone in the Attic is her best yet. Do not read when you are alone in your house. I couldn’t put this down. Brilliant!!!!

Anya is enjoying a relaxing bath when she hears a noise in the roof. Through the open bathroom door, she sees the attic hatch swing open, and a masked figure drops to the floor. Thirty seconds later, Anya is dead.

Anya's old school friend, Julia, sees an online video of a masked figure climbing out of an attic. She suddenly realises why the footage is eerily familiar: it was filmed inside her house in a luxury gated community, designed to keep intruders out.


The story centres around Julia and her family who, through forced circumstances, are back in Ireland after living in San Diego. Ex-husband Gabe is happy enough because the new house in the gated community of Brentwood, has a studio for him to paint in. Youngest son, Luca, would be fine if he could find pizza like they did back home. However daughter Isla is really miserable- she's been dragged from her friends and the sunshine to a life in Dublin and if all that wasn't bad enough someone is putting creepy videos from inside her home on TikTok. Julia was happy enough to come back but that's before she sees the videos and finds out that her one time friend, Anya, is dead.

Excellent. Highly recommended for existing fans of Andrea Mara or those who really love a good, twisty thriller.


Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, for an advance copy in in exchange for a fair honest review

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Julia and her ex-husband Gabe have just moved back to Dublin from San Diego. They share a townhouse and an apartment with their kids on alternate days. When their daughter sees a video shot inside of their actual townhouse, starting from the perspective of leaving the attic, they want to attribute it to the latest TikTok challenge, but how come their pictures and furnishings are in the video? They grow more and more paranoid as time goes on and new videos keep appearing and start thinking someone actually may be lurking in their attic.

This one does get off to quite a start with the murder of Anya in her bathtub. Turns out she is an old friend of Julia's, but her death is ruled an accident and no one thinks any more about it. After the initial murder, I got bored for a little bit. It felt like a lot of repetition with the videos and searching the attic. What I did like is that there were a lot of possible suspects. Gabe was acting weird. The neighbor's husband was sketchy. There were two other neighbors behaving oddly and to top that off, Anya and Julia's old friends group was involved in something regrettable in the past, but we don't know what. The inclusion of all of these people kept me guessing and once they actually started exploring these avenues, I regained interest in what was happening. Overall it was a pretty good read.