Vanessa SavageRezensionen
Autor von The Woman in the Dark
Rezensionen
It has it all, what appears to be the perfect family, but in reality they are facing underlying stress, a mental ill wife, self-destructive teenage children, deteriorating marriage and of course, the move into The Murder House!
As with all books in this genre, things are never as they seem but sometimes, just sometimes, they are exactly that! I mean, who would expect The Murder House to be a perfect family home and a fresh start for them all? But can a house really have influence over the occupants and their actions? How much influence does our upbringing and past have on our futures?
Sarah, a once young colourful aspiring artist looking forwards to her future painting her way around the world. Her best friend and fellow aspiring artist Caroline, never a fan of Patrick but who has supported Sarah as best she can. Patrick, the older professional career and family man, who had an idyllic upbringing, brought up in a perfect house by the sea and who loves his wife and children. Joe their 17-year-old son, also a promising artist who has yet to find out Sarah is not his real mother and finally, Mia, the 15-year-old daughter who has always been a daddy’s girl.
All have their own story, their own problems that all culminate and come to a head inside the murder house!
Although Patrick is the only family member that wants the move and the fresh start the family all agree that they will try to make it work and to make the house perfect again just as it was when Patrick first lived there. It will be a monumental task for them all, the house has been neglected since the family before were all murdered in that house, damp patches and mould on the walls, rotting window frames, cold spots in certain parts of the house, not to mention the noises an old house can make don’t go anyway towards helping the new occupants to settle in to their new house.
Sarah becomes convinced someone is watching the house ever since they moved in, but is that just her imagination as Patrick suggests? And then what of the odd items left on the doorstep? A seashell? Living that close to the beach doesn’t sound that strange but then things begin to escalate as both Sarah and Patrick’s sanity and reality being to deteriorate.
Who’s perception is in fact reality and who’s is reality slipping away from them?
Will the house always be The Murder House or can it become the perfect family home they wish it to be?
With some plot twists to be expected and some that come as a shock, this is a psychological thriller not to be missed!
The Woman in the Dark will be published in the UK on 10 January 2019
A big thank you to Vanessa Savage, the publishers Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
It has it all, what appears to be the perfect family, but in reality they are facing underlying stress, a mental ill wife, self-destructive teenage children, deteriorating marriage and of course, the move into The Murder House!
As with all books in this genre, things are never as they seem but sometimes, just sometimes, they are exactly that! I mean, who would expect The Murder House to be a perfect family home and a fresh start for them all? But can a house really have influence over the occupants and their actions? How much influence does our upbringing and past have on our futures?
Sarah, a once young colourful aspiring artist looking forwards to her future painting her way around the world. Her best friend and fellow aspiring artist Caroline, never a fan of Patrick but who has supported Sarah as best she can. Patrick, the older professional career and family man, who had an idyllic upbringing, brought up in a perfect house by the sea and who loves his wife and children. Joe their 17-year-old son, also a promising artist who has yet to find out Sarah is not his real mother and finally, Mia, the 15-year-old daughter who has always been a daddy’s girl.
All have their own story, their own problems that all culminate and come to a head inside the murder house!
Although Patrick is the only family member that wants the move and the fresh start the family all agree that they will try to make it work and to make the house perfect again just as it was when Patrick first lived there. It will be a monumental task for them all, the house has been neglected since the family before were all murdered in that house, damp patches and mould on the walls, rotting window frames, cold spots in certain parts of the house, not to mention the noises an old house can make don’t go anyway towards helping the new occupants to settle in to their new house.
Sarah becomes convinced someone is watching the house ever since they moved in, but is that just her imagination as Patrick suggests? And then what of the odd items left on the doorstep? A seashell? Living that close to the beach doesn’t sound that strange but then things begin to escalate as both Sarah and Patrick’s sanity and reality being to deteriorate.
Who’s perception is in fact reality and who’s is reality slipping away from them?
Will the house always be The Murder House or can it become the perfect family home they wish it to be?
With some plot twists to be expected and some that come as a shock, this is a psychological thriller not to be missed!
https://debbiesbookreviews.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/the-woman-in-the-dark-by-van...
The story unfolds not only through Hanna's eyes, but also those of Sasha's. From Sasha's perspective, we are able to see the events unfold that lead to the point at which Hanna discovers this sinister publishing on the dark tourism website. Sasha, also a teenager herself, is trying to figure out who she is, and why she feels such a kinship to her estranged sister, and in trying to unravel her sister's life, she uncovers a few family secrets along the way.
The story, as it unfolds, is actually quite interesting - and a few chapters into Sasha's story, I could sort of predict where the story was going. It is still a well-paced story. But I think the reason I did not give it a five star is that when I read the synopsis, I imagined a lot more of the creepy moments that were promised by the bit that was the "dark tourism", I expected to read and find a lot more about that than this book mentioned. I would have loved to see more development, and a little more elaboration on that aspect of the book. Otherwise, overall, a pretty good mystery!
"A family with a secret. A past about to catch up with them."
Hanna has had a very rocky relationship with her family over the years and now barely sees her dad, step-mom and younger sister Sasha. But when she sees a picture of their home alongside a horrific headline on a 'dark tourism' website, she tries immediately to get in touch with them....and can't reach them. And so begins a roller coaster of a read.
Savage plays her clues close to her vest, eking out the details of the reason why Hanna is so unwelcome in her family home and village. And fair enough, it goes both ways. Her father is very unlikable. That thread runs parallel to what's happening in the present. Has her family been harmed? Where are they?
The supporting players give us a wide group of suspects, with each one with something to hide, to lie about. Who can Hanna trust? I honestly had no idea of who was going to be the culprit until the last few chapters.
I thought the dark tourism plot device was a unique and frightening idea. Savage's carefully given clues, twists and revelations kept me reading 'just one more' chapter 'til the late hours. Both Sasha and Hanna have voices. As a reader we can see the danger in Sasha's actions and what might unfold. My attention was held through to the final pages. There are a few bits that ask the user to suspend disbelief, but they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. Another great read from Savage.
If you like a nail-biter, page-turner, this was a pretty good one.
For some strange reason, a woman agrees to move her family into her husband’s old childhood home. Despite the previous occupants being murdered there. Despite it being known as the murder house. Despite the fact that she, and the children, hate the house.
This immediately tells you what to expect. What I did not expect was that the author was trying to recreate elements of The Shining. In Wales. Unsurprisingly this did not work.
I was promised a chilling psychological thriller with hints of gothic style haunting. I ended up with a disappointingly unbelievable attempt at gaslighting, which quickly became repetitive and boring. The characters were very unlikeable. The protagonist was weak and pathetic. Even her one true friend was not realistic and would have moved on a seriously long time ago. The ‘bad guy’ was obvious from the start, as was the husband’s mania. The ending was also a little too convenient and dull, and with the haunted elements suddenly glossed over and forgotten.
Unfortunately, this had all the usual cliches without any of the fun.
A decade ago, Tess sister was found dead in the woods. She, to this day still believes it was murder, but the police closed her case as an accident. She fell down a small ravine and hit her head on a rock. Black and white. Cut and dry, case closed. But Tess has never been convinced that Bella slipped and fell on her own, that someone at least had a hand in helping her fall to her death at the very least. At the time there were other girls who were missing, and bodies that had turned up and a killer had not been found. Tess thinks Bella was one of the victims.
Tess has been informed that her step-mother does not have much time left, and it is time for her to come and visit and say her final goodbyes. Tess cannot stomach the thought of going back there, it will only dredge up that horrific night, and Tess has done a pretty good job of blocking it all out. Almost everything about that night is a big gapping black hole. The last thing she remembers is being at the wedding and kissing a boy, and someone carrying her up to bed. The champagne had all went to her head that night.
Tess comes to terms that it is the right thing to do, and goes back home. The nightmares become worse, her sleeping is all a mess and piece by piece that night slowly snakes it way back into Tess’ memory and with everyone back home, it’s creating animosity and hard feelings amongst all. Fingers are pointed, questions are asked and whispers of the truth are across the lips of those who were there that night.
Can Tess finally dredge up her memories of that night. What happened? Who was all involved, and why Bella. What really happened after the wedding? Who was the boy she kissed and why? What was she doing in the woods, and why did Bella take her there? So many questions, and so many missing answers. A body is also uncovered during this time, and that is all it takes for the police to bring that night back to the forefront of everyone’s lives.
Can the truth finally be sought? Will the killer of those girls finally be found out? Will the truth about the step-brothers emerge, or who their father truly was? Where is he anyways? The web of lies seems to become even more entangled with every question the police ask until finally Tess is forced to confront her memories.
Thank you to Grand Central publishing for the free book! This was a very good read, and with each chapter you finger pointed to the next suspect right along with Tess until it all finally unfolded. What was supposed to be a happy wedding day, turned into a nightmare with the death of a daughter, Tess’s sister.
The two girls were actually sisters - Tess and Bella. They were found in the woods - Tess unconscious and Bella was dead. Tess has no memory of what happened - then or now, ten years on. She moved to the city and rarely ventures back home. It is only when her stepmother Julia is dying that she goes home to help her father. Well, that and the chance to escape the bit of trouble she's having at work.
Tess is a decidedly unreliable narrator. She has no memories of the past and she often can't tell if the ones she does have are reality. Now, I felt like I should be on her side - she's suffered many losses over the years. But, there's just something about her I didn't like. Her thinking is sometimes skewed and her actions are just a step off. More in some cases. Upon arriving at her childhood home, she discovers that Julia's sons have arrived as well, bringing with them two others that were part of Bella's circle of friends. Savage does a great job of creating some truly odious characters. Their actions and dialogue had me questioning everything. As the past is relived through Tess's memories and present day interactions, the reader will be hard pressed to decide who is telling the truth, who is lying and what actually happened that day in the woods. Everyone is a suspect over the course of the book.
The plot is one I've read before in various forms, but Savage does a good job putting her own spin on things. The relationships between the characters was very well done. And Tess's mental confusion as well. The final whodunit was as I suspected, but I still enjoyed the journey there.
ARC from Netgalley.
This story was excellent. A creepy murder house, a husband with questionable motives and his family trying to make sense of it all.
The Rest of It:
This is a very difficult time to read. Everything is a distraction and I was having such a hard time getting back into a reading routine. However, one of my students dropped this book off for me and it was exactly what I needed to get excited about reading again.
Patrick and Sarah along with their two older children, move to Patrick’s old, childhood home. The moment it came up on the market, Patrick put his regular life aside, and threw all of their savings into the home so it could be his again. Wanting to re-live the wonderful childhood he had there, he forces the rest of his family to uproot their lives to make his dreams come true.
But the house is not the quaint seaside home you’d imagine. It’s known as the “murder house” because of the family that lived there before. Sarah is hesitant to move, given the house’s history, but Patrick insists and bad things happen. Behind its peeling plaster are hidden messages. There are cold spots throughout the house and rot that they can’t rid themselves of.
This story reminded me a lot of The Shining. Nevertheless, it had me flipping the pages pretty fast and I like how the ending came together. There are secrets, and supernatural elements and I like how art was incorporated into the story.
If you need a quick read to take your mind off of things, I recommend this one.
For more reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.
Before Patrick thrust this idea on Sarah, they were happy. However, her mother had died months before, and Sarah went into a deep depression and even suffered a breakdown. She never quite came out of it. At some point, Sarah apparently overdosed on sleeping pills. Patrick then insists that this might be the perfect time for their family to start over. Despite Patrick's exuberance, Sarah insists she didn't try to kill herself, and their teenage children don't quite believe it. The children, and especially Sarah, are nowhere near as excited as Patrick to move.
Patrick says that he has been watching the house for years, just waiting for it to go on sale. When it does, and with the sleeping pill incident, Patrick insists so the family makes the move. What a fateful move it was! From the outset, they are being watched, by nosy neighbors, but also by someone Sarah swears is watching them at odd times. Then they start getting weird offerings, or gifts, at various locations about the house. When Sarah learns that the murderer of the other family has been paroled, she is convinced that he is the one doing the strange things. Meanwhile, the teens start having nightmares.So, Sarah begins wondering whether or not the house is haunted.
What a doozy! Living in such a house, weird things happening, nightmares and a paroled prisoner make for a very wary predicament for the family. Despite a lot of twists for the reader to follow, things begin to unravel slowly and things begin to show that things were not as they seemed.
As the book progressed, I liked Patrick less and less, but still could not put the book down. This was definitely due to the goings on, how the various characters were affected, especially Sarah. Vanessa Savage has written a stunning debut thriller. It was dark, twisty and compelling. The conclusion was incredibly shocking. If this is what is on tap, I will definitely be on the lookout for more.
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for this ARC for review in exchange for my honest opinion.
When Sarah's mother dies, she falls into a bit of a tailspin. Hoping to have a fresh start and a new outlook, her husband Patrick convinces her to take her inheritance and buy his childhood home. He has such fond memories of this house and his time in it - it was 'perfect' in his words. And he wants that for Sarah and his two children Joe and Mia. But the house isn't quite perfect - it's actually known as The Murder House. Yes, a mother, father and child were murdered in the home after Patrick's family moved out.
Ahh, a nice set-up with lots of possibilities......I love a good spooky house story. But is it the house? Or the people living in it? Savage does an excellent job at keeping both options on the table.
The relationship with Sarah and Patrick begins to deteriorate, as does their own mental states. As readers, we want to shout at Sarah to just get out now. Take her kids and run. The teens are not exempted from the what's happening either. And yet, they all stay..... (and as a perquisite of spooky house stories - yes, there's a scary cellar - and you shouldn't go down there either.)
The Woman in the Dark is told from Sarah's point of view. But there's also someone else - is it the person that Sarah sees watching the house? Italicized chapters darkly hint at the past. Savage keeps the reader guessing with many supporting characters that are all just a little off. The suspense builds with many red herrings, possibilities, what-ifs and more as the book progresses. Shades of Jack Nicholson and redrum.
I found Savage's writing to be really addictive - I was always trying to squeeze in just one more chapter before putting the book down. I'm quite looking forward to what she writes next.
He sees the beautiful Victorian house he grew up in, with its pitched roof and gabled ends---a fairy-tale house before it became the county House of Horrors. He sees happy memories of a childhood lived by the sea. He doesn't imagine blood on the walls or whispering ghosts. He doesn't see the Murder House, but I do.
Sarah grew up with a mother who suffered from agoraphobia and a father who left, her childhood was less than ideal. When she meets Patrick, as a young nineteen year old, he sweeps her off her feet with his pretty face and pretty stories of a charming childhood. When he introduces her to his newborn baby boy Joe, she is swept up again. Her friend Caroline warns her that she is losing herself to Patrick but Joe needs her and she agrees to a pleading Patrick to get married. An abandoned college degree, birth of a daughter, and deep depression over her mother's death, has Sarah slowly seeing underneath all the pretty facades.
With my mother's money, I could make my husband's dream come true. But in doing that, I'd be destroying every dream of my own.
Woman in the Dark, has a strong Amityville Horror vibe with elements of The Girl on the Train. The story is mostly told all from Sarah's point of view with little snatches of a mystery person's pov. If you're familiar with the aforementioned stories, you'll know pretty soon where the story is headed. There were plenty of secondary characters to try to throw you off and have you second guessing supernatural or psychological, but most of the feelings of dread found here are from the knowing what Sarah is about to go through. The writing style, especially in the beginning, used a lot of short choppy sentences that gave it a staccato flow for me. This worked and didn't work for me, not a personal style favorite but when put together with how Sarah, her husband, and her two kids are portrayed in the first half, isolated or detached from one another, the style fits. The second half flows more smoothly as the pace picks up a bit, the reader starts to learn more as Sarah and her family start to interact and blind spots from only getting Sarah's point of view, start to fill.
I'm thinking of the dozen cracks in his control that have grown since we moved here.
When the reader comes into the story, Sarah is trying to emerge from deep depression over her mother's death and a maybe suicide attempt. Patrick convinces her to give up her inherited money to buy his childhood dream home, which they can only afford because fifteen years ago, a family, except for the younger son, was murdered there. Patrick's childhood home is called Murder House. Every thing is murky for Sarah as she is on medication and trying to become herself again, this makes the story murky, along with a lot of characters. Some secondary characters worked as credible misdirections and others, like Ian Hooper convicted of one of the murders, Tom the surviving younger son, and Sarah's friend Caroline, ended up landing very flat because of how they weren't utilized correctly; introduced, tangentially boogeymen, at times forgotten, and then left to sort of drift off.
I have to face it, stop hiding. I shake my head. I always do this---eyes tight shut, hands over my ears, hoping it will all go away if I just pretend it isn't happening. I can't do that anymore.
While I mentioned the constant circling of the question between supernatural or psychological, which the story never really gives a definite answer to, and Patrick's slow unraveling sending shivers down your spine, I think a lot of women will recognize the true horror of the story to be all the gaslighting. Murder House felt like an allegoric symbol for a woman trapped, pretty veneer covering up rot, showing once again, ghosts might not be the scariest beings haunting your home.
It has it all, what appears to be the perfect family, but in reality they are facing underlying stress, a mental ill wife, self-destructive teenage children, deteriorating marriage and of course, the move into The Murder House!
As with all books in this genre, things are never as they seem but sometimes, just sometimes, they are exactly that! I mean, who would expect The Murder House to be a perfect family home and a fresh start for them all? But can a house really have influence over the occupants and their actions? How much influence does our upbringing and past have on our futures?
Sarah, a once young colourful aspiring artist looking forwards to her future painting her way around the world. Her best friend and fellow aspiring artist Caroline, never a fan of Patrick but who has supported Sarah as best she can. Patrick, the older professional career and family man, who had an idyllic upbringing, brought up in a perfect house by the sea and who loves his wife and children. Joe their 17-year-old son, also a promising artist who has yet to find out Sarah is not his real mother and finally, Mia, the 15-year-old daughter who has always been a daddy’s girl.
All have their own story, their own problems that all culminate and come to a head inside the murder house!
Although Patrick is the only family member that wants the move and the fresh start the family all agree that they will try to make it work and to make the house perfect again just as it was when Patrick first lived there. It will be a monumental task for them all, the house has been neglected since the family before were all murdered in that house, damp patches and mould on the walls, rotting window frames, cold spots in certain parts of the house, not to mention the noises an old house can make don’t go anyway towards helping the new occupants to settle in to their new house.
Sarah becomes convinced someone is watching the house ever since they moved in, but is that just her imagination as Patrick suggests? And then what of the odd items left on the doorstep? A seashell? Living that close to the beach doesn’t sound that strange but then things begin to escalate as both Sarah and Patrick’s sanity and reality being to deteriorate.
Who’s perception is in fact reality and who’s is reality slipping away from them?
Will the house always be The Murder House or can it become the perfect family home they wish it to be?
With some plot twists to be expected and some that come as a shock, this is a psychological thriller not to be missed!
The Woman in the Dark will be published in the UK on 10 January 2019
A big thank you to Vanessa Savage, the publishers Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Full review to come?