The Family At Number 13 – S.D. Monaghan
The most perfect lives can hide the darkest secrets…
Mary has everything. Beautiful and rich, she lives on an exclusive street in the heart of the city, in a house with gorgeous views and an immaculately maintained garden. Her life looks perfect.
But behind closed doors the truth is very different. Her husband Andrew barely speaks to her, spending his days down in the basement alone. Her teenage nephew is full of rage, lashing out with no warning. Her carefully constructed life is beginning to fall apart.
And then someone starts sending Mary anonymous notes, threatening her and her family…
Everyone has secrets. But is someone at number 13 hiding something that could put the whole family in danger?
My thanks to the Bookouture team for my review copy and the chance to join the blog blitz
This is a tricky wee review to write as the need to avoid spoilers is at a premium…such is the way with twisty and unpredictable stories. What also makes it tricky is that there are several characters in the book who get to take the lead narrative and I didn’t warm to any of them very much. But that’s not a complaint, it is what drives the story onward.
As the story begins to hit its stride we meet Connor. He is a psychiatrist and is not having the best of days, he has just tried to move on one of his patients having reached a point where he felt he could no longer offer the support the patient needed. Unfortunately the patient is not happy with Connor’s decision and the suggestion to end their sessions ends badly. The patient is a rich and influential man his threats to ruin Connor for abandoning him do not make Connor feel any better about his decision.
But things start to look up for Connor – an unexpected opportunity to relocate to a new property in a seemingly idyllic neighbourhood almost seems too good to be true. He can move his practice to one of the rooms in the large house and work from home – saving on office rent and making his workplace more appealing for prospective clients. It should possibly not come as too much of a surprise to learn that the move does not work out well for Connor and soon he finds he has made a terrible decision.
The interaction between the majority of characters in The Family At Number 13 will treat readers to a series of fractious encounters. Tensions run high throughout and if you enjoy the uncertainty of not knowing what the author will throw at us next then this is the perfect read for you. I was kept on my toes keeping up with some of the twists and turns in this story.
Not one for the cozy crime readers – lots of unpleasantness going on in The Family At Number 13. A dark thriller indeed.
The Family At Number 13 is published by Bookouture and is available in paperback and digital formats and can also be ordered as an audiobook. You can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Number-13-absolutely-psychological-ebook/dp/B07B6BPHLV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524949225&sr=8-1&keywords=the+family+at+no+13