BOOK DESCRIPTION
Just outside the city – any city, every city – is a grand, spacious but affordable apartment building called The Beresford.
There’s a routine at The Beresford. For Mrs May, every day’s the same: a cup of cold, black coffee in the morning, pruning roses, checking on her tenants, wine, prayer and an afternoon nap. She never leaves the building.
Abe Schwartz also lives at The Beresford. His housemate Smythe no longer does . Because Abe just killed him. In exactly sixty seconds, Blair Conroy will ring the doorbell to her new home and Abe will answer the door. They will become friends. Perhaps lovers.
And, when the time comes for one of them to die, as is always the case at The Beresford, there will be sixty seconds to move the body before the next unknowing soul arrives at the door. Because nothing changes at The Beresford, until the doorbell rings...
The Beresford was old and grand, the kind of building that you don't expect to see near a modern city. The building's exterior had gone through some alterations over the years, the hodge podge nature of its styling reflecting in the multi - cultural of its residents over time. As with many old buildings, The Beresford had a chequered history, hundreds of stories with branches whose tendrils stretched across the passage of time. The building had seen many residents come and go over the years, some moved on and carried on with their lives whilst others mysteriously disappeared. If you weren't the right fit for The Beresford, then as the lyrics of the classic song by The Eagles go 'You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
The plot of this dark, spine chilling story centre's around the inhabitants of the five apartments that were situated on the first two floors of the building,one of whom was the owner and keeper Mrs May. No one really knew how old Mrs May really was but she was very sprightly for her age and could very often be found pruning the roses that grew around the building. Mrs May was a complex character whose demeanour and attitude changed faster than it took her to pull up a weed in her beloved garden. She was a fantastic character but the way she floated around the building, seemed to appear out of nowhere and knew about everything that happened within the walls of The Beresford was seriously creepy and just a tiny bit stalkerish.
The residents who occupied the apartments throughout the book were a mixed bag of individuals, each with their own personal, realistic backstory and reason for renting a apartment in the building. Some of the characters were really likeable and whilst they were travelling to what they thought was the opportunity to escape their pasts and restart their lives, I was screaming don't do it in my head, just turn around and get as far away as possible. One of the characters who stood out for me was called Gail, she was another complex character who I had mixed feelings about, there was times when I felt sympathy for her and times when I thought she was quite unlikable.
Interspersed throughout the book was chapters that were voiced from the perspectives of Mr and Mrs Conroy, a God loving couple whose daughter had left home looking for freedom and adventure, moved into the Beresford and then mysteriously disappeared. The couple loved their daughter and were determined to discover what had happened to her. Would they discover the truth or were they destined to regret the day that they knocked on The Beresford's front door?
The Beresford is a extremely well written, fast paced, addictive read that rockets along due to its short, snappy chapters that give the captivated reader a very bad case of just one more chapter syndrome. It's a dark and mesmerising blend of horror, psychological thriller and religion with a added dash of humour that had me glued to my kindle from the first page. The thought provoking plot raises questions about the existence of God and the devil, good vs evil and heaven and hell. I really really enjoyed this suspenseful, gripping read and think it's worth far more than five stars, very very highly recommended and definitely going to be one of my favourite reads of this year.
AUTHOR BIO
Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. Will’s latest title published by Orenda Books, Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year and for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell. Good Samaritans was a book of the year in Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express, and hit number one on the eBook charts.
PUBLICATION DATE: 22 May 2021
PURCHASE LINK...
PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT THE POSTS OF THE OTHER BLOGGERS WHO HAVE STOPS ON THIS BLOG TOUR
Thanks for the blog tour support x
ReplyDelete