The Resident – David Jackson
THERE’S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN
AND HE’S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE
Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. With a trail of bodies in his wake and the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that he can drop down into all the other houses through the shared attic space.
That’s when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing is playing games with his victims – the lonely old woman, the bickering couple, the tempting young newlyweds. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet…
Do you fear The Resident? Soon you’ll be dying to meet him.
My thanks to Viper Books for my review copy and for the opportunity to join the blog tour.
Thomas Brogan. Serial Killer. Star of The Resident. This is his story, no detective being tormented by an elusive character leaving cryptic clues to taunt the police. No reporter chasing down a story and stumbling across a killer’s legacy. This is Brogan, a dangerous killer who from the opening pages is on the run as his latest murders have been discovered too soon. Brogan is on the run and the police are hot on his tail.
Fortunately for Brogan (and for the story) he eludes capture by hiding in an abandoned house at the end of a row of terraced properties. Seeking a safe place to lie low he makes his way to the attic space and makes a fascinating discovery – he can access all four houses in the terrace by moving along the loft space. Brogan’s first thought – he can find more victims to have fun with.
How do we know Brogan’s thoughts? Well author, David Jackson, shares Brogan’s inner dialogues – he talks to himself (argues frequently). We hear Brogan’s thought process, his internal debates over the next course of action and his common sense telling him what he should and should not consider to be his next move. This works well for driving forward the story. If nobody knows Brogan is in the loft and Brogan doesn’t have his conversations with himself then it would be difficult for the reader to understand why Brogan is acting the way he does because Brogan has a plan and he plans to have some fun while he waits for the coast to clear.
There is nothing of interest in the abandoned house which Brogan used to access the loft space. The other three houses in the terrace offer much more interesting fare. There is the elderly woman who only gets visited by her carer each day. The arguing couple who seem best ignored and the young professional couple in the last house. They have so much potential for Brogan and he plans to mess with their heads before he ends their lives.
Brogan is not a likeable character and his actions when he comes down from the attic space into the houses below re-enforce what a loathsome character he is. He purposefully stirs up disharmony in the young couple’s marriage. He digs into their secrets when they are out and moves items around their house. He steals food from all the houses where he can but soon finds an easier way to get the grub he needs. Being Brogan this involves upsetting another character in the book but this means little to him as the end result works to his advantage.
Following Brogan’s activities had a very real “one more chapter” dilemma, I just didn’t want to take a break from the book. I am very much a fan of serial killer stories and The Resident has a very different feel from the “normal” murder tales because the reader travels with the killer. I powered through The Resident in very short time and was nicely caught out by a few of the unexpected details which arose. It’s different, it zips along at a cracking pace and I loved it. Five star thrills once again from David Jackson.
The Resident is published by Viper and is available in physical and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083ZL59H9/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
