SYNOPSIS
This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.
All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies
You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, something lies buried. But it’s not what you think…
MY REVIEW
Where to start with a review of this book, it’s a difficult one, as I don’t want to give away any spoilers as to what is going on, so it sort of makes it harder to say too much. Except for the writing is exceptional as is the story.
This is not your typical horror story, or not the type of this we are used to reading. It is not predictable in any way. It is engrossing, and intriguing. Told initially through three points of view Ted, Olivia and Dee. Later in the story we see some viewpoints from Lauren.
It’s clear which character is talking at each time, each has their own distinctive way of telling their part. But how reliable are they as narrators? Olivia is certainly a different narrator as you will find should you decide to read this book, which I do highly recommend if you love a horror story, or even a mystery.
Lulu had gone missing after a visit with her parents to the lake, Dee Dee had wanted a break from her sister, deciding to go for a swim she ignored her parents telling her to take Lulu with her, well she didn’t ignore them really it was more a bit of selective hearing. But when she returned back to her parents slightly later than she should have done she thought they were in a panic over her, but Lulu was missing.
Ted is with his parents, his mother a nurse, his father is his father, Ted adores his mother despite the fact he is at times embarrassed by her especially when they are out and she is giving them jars of baby food to eat. Why is the. Mother dismissed from her job? The chihuahua lady who lives next door is insistent that his mum should complain, as she is the best employee they have.
As the story develops we go back and forth in each characters timelines gradually learning bits about each one from their past from growing up and how they get to be where they are. Some things start to come to light as you get nearer to the end, with some fairly big reveals, to say too much would give too much away. But this is one of those stories that you really have to stick with and follow. Who do you feel for? Dee who lost her sister and spends years looking for her, her despair at the police officer handling the case. Ted whose photo was put on the front of a newspaper as he was asked questions? Olivia? Lauren? Where is Lauren’s mother.
This will have you gripped, it will make you wince at parts but which bits are true? Which bits aren’t? Read on!
I thoroughly enjoyed this, I had ideas who I thought did what, I had some right but mostly wrong. The wind was howling outside, the rain hit the windows followed by hail, it was the perfect time for me to read this book, I found myself finishing it at 3 in the morning, how could I sleep until I had the ending. I think this is going to be a big book to look out for in 2021. After all Stephen King has rated it saying ‘I haven’t read anything this exciting since Gone Girl’ High praise indeed.
I would like to thank #netgalley for an eARC of this book, but also #tandemcollectiveUK and #Viper.books for an ARC to allow me to take part in my first read along on Instagram which I thoroughly enjoyed. I hope to be able to take part in more in the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catriona Ward was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen and Morocco. She read English at the University of Oxford, and spent several years working as an actor in New York. Her first novel, Rawblood, was published in 2015, and was a WHSmith Fresh Talent title. Ward won the August Derleth Award for Best Horror Novel in 2016 at the British Fantasy Awards for Rawblood, and again in 2018 for Little Eve, making her the first woman to win the prize twice. Little Eve also went on to win the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award for best novel, and was a Guardian Best Book of 2018. Her next novel, Sundial, will be published by Viper in 2022.
Purchase Link
Publisher: @viperbooks / serpentstail
Author: @catward66
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