When Adam and Jess Wylie, along with their three children,
move into a grand Victorian villa in an exclusive area of Nottingham it feels
as if their dreams have come true. The house is run down and will need a lot of
work done on it but they are prepared for the time and effort it will require.
What they didn’t bargain on was finding a strange collection of everyday
objects in a hidden room, and the nightmare that would follow.
You begin to get a sense of terror when on the first night
in their new home their youngest child wakes screaming, convinced there was a
man in her room. From this moment on I wasn’t sure if I was reading a thriller
or horror. The situation becomes even more disturbing when they discover a
camera lens hidden in a tree, pointing directly at their property.
Adam is determined to solve the mystery of the hidden room
and its collection of objects. It is easy to understand his tenacity, or
stubbornness, to figure out who is responsible for the nightmare he and his
family find themselves in. Even as the menace intensifies, and the police show
little interest in the terrifying events the family has had to deal with, Adam
is almost alone trying to protect his family. As the search for answers
broadens Adam is also doubtful about who he can trust.
The story is so well constructed that I had an inkling
pretty early on as to what the story is about but the who, how and why are a
complete blank, and there was still plenty of doubt about whether I was right. Twists
and turns galore, with the sense of menace never letting up for a moment, meant
that I was reading this into the early hours of the morning (not the best time
to read such a creepy story). I was desperate for the family to solve the
puzzle of the mystery room but could happily have read on for another 200
pages.
The Dream Home by T. M. Logan will be
published on 29th February 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format.
My thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre Books for a review copy.
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