Published by HarperCollins,
29 December 2017.
ISBN 978-0-00-818118-5
29 December 2017.
ISBN 978-0-00-818118-5
Lily Gullick lives with
her husband Aiden in a new-build flat opposite an estate earmarked for
demolition and rejuvenation. The idea is to regenerate the whole area but some
of the inhabitants of the old estate refuse to leave. Lily is intrigued by the social divide
as the area becomes increasingly gentrified and though living in her
plush new flat empathises with the inhabitants of the condemned estate.
Described by the Guardian as an eerie atmospheric reworking
of Hitchcock's Rear Window, Lily is a detached character who watches from her
balcony window through binoculars. An avid bird watcher as a child, Lily not
only identifies species of bird inhabiting the area but uses the opportunity to
spy on her neighbours. Her character is obsessive and brooding and when a
student goes missing and then an elderly resident is murdered she takes it upon
herself to investigate. But Lily is the
ultimate unreliable narrator. Told first person present tense in journal
format, which is addressed to her father, reality and fantasy are
indistinguishable so that the reader is left wondering exactly what has
happened, how much is real and how much is a figment of Lily's imagination as
she is clearly holding a lot back.
The chapter structure counting down to the significant event
makes for a dark, intriguing and foreboding read and leads to a fast-paced
conclusion in this debut psychological thriller.
------
Reviewer Christine
Hammacott
Ross Armstrong
is a British stage and screen actor who has performed in the West End of
London, on Broadway and in theatres throughout the UK. After gaining a BA in
English Literature and Theatre at Warwick University, Ross joined the National
Youth Theatre where his contemporaries included Matt Smith and Rafe Spall. The
idea for his debut novel The Watcher came to him when he moved into a new
apartment block and discovered whilst looking at the moon through binoculars
that he could see into his neighbours’ homes. Thankfully for them, he put down
his binoculars and picked up his pen.
Christine Hammacott lives near Southampton and runs her
own design consultancy. She started her career working in publishing as a book
designer and now creates covers for indie-authors. She writes page-turning
fiction that deals with the psychological effects of crime. Her debut novel The Taste of Ash was published in 2015.
A review of The Taste of Ash
can be read here
No comments:
Post a Comment