BOOK DESCRIPTION
They wanted the simple life. What they get is simply terrifying.
The Hendriksen family, Bram, Kirsty and their two kids, are living the dream. They have left the rat race of the big city and moved into a gorgeous, custom-built house in the Scottish Highlands. Bram has already planted up a vegetable plot and is planning to create a wildflower meadow and keep chickens and goats.
But then a dead crow appears on their washing line, their vegetables are weedkilled and someone shoots at Bertie, a gentle guide dog belonging to Kirsty’s mother.
The police say it’s nothing to worry about, it’s just bored local teenagers hanging out in the woods. But Bram is sure that more sinister forces are at work, that these events may be connected to a terrible secret in Kirsty’s past.
And he’s right. As the campaign against them escalates, the family is pulled down into a relentless spiral of terror and violence until the home they always dreamed of becomes a nightmare from which they may never escape.
No Place Like Home – the stunning psychological thriller from the author of The Child Who Never Was.
After opening with a intense prologue set on a bridge, this gripping thriller continues in chapters that are narrated entirely from the perspective of Bram, a character who, if I honest got on my nerves for most of the story. Actually, I can't say that I thought the majority of the characters were very likeable for various reasons with the exception of Linda, Willie the barman and Scott the policeman. Bram just came across as a bit of a wimp, Kirsty was as manipulative as her father David and Phoebe was definitely not your average nine year old. The character that I felt the most sympathy for was Max and I could fully understand his conflicting emotions and confusion. The poor boy was eighteen and had found himself torn between his parents who acted as if they were starring in a remake of The Walton's and his Grandfather who thought and acted like he was a distant relative of The Kray Twins. It was hardly surprising how easily David manipulated the poor boy into behaving completely out of character. David was a obnoxious, unlikable character but would be steep so low and terrorise his own daughter and her family? Could Max have been so unhappy about being forced to move away from his friends in London and live in the middle of nowhere that he was trying to force his parents to leave their new home? Or were the locals not happy about outsiders turning up and building their lavish houses in their beautiful countryside?
The setting for this book was beautifully described by the author and was like a character in its own right. The Walton's inspired house with stunning views from every window set in fourteen acres of Scottish countryside and including the families own wood. The author's writing and descriptions beautifully portraying the stark contrasts between the beauty of nature and the ugliness of the behaviour of some humans.
No Place Like Home is a intricately plotted, fast paced,very well written thriller that draws the reader in with a intense opening prologue and keeps you guessing as the drama, trials and tribulations of the realistic characters unfolded before your captivated eyes. It's a very addictive read that has a genuinely, spine chilling conclusion and would raise some interesting discussions if it was read by a book group. I really really enjoyed this fast paced thriller, very very highly recommended.
About 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. NO PLACE LIKE HOME will be her third novel published with Inkubator Books.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaneRenshaw10
Website: https://www.janerenshaw.co.uk/
Publishing Information:
Published by Inkubator Books on 18th April 2021
PURCHASE LINKS.....Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3uLT3FC
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3mJxNgO
Thanks so much for being part of the blog tour xx
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