The Night Visitor
by Lucy Atkins
Published by Quercus (4 May 2017)
Publisher's description
Professor
Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a
high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a
talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new
bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit
and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything.
Only one
person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward
sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on
which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research
assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own.
As events
move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship
between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of
violence changes everything.
The
Night Visitor is a
compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the
question: how far would you go to save your reputation?
My verdict
The Night Visitor gripped me from the first page. This creepy slow-burning psychological thriller wormed its way right under my skin. Reading it felt like watching a scary film through my fingers, with my hands covering my face. It was unnerving yet addictive, watching the tension build up and the layers peel away.
The book is beautifully written, well plotted and well researched. It's filled with suspense, realistic (yet not particularly likeable) characters and so much depth, with references to science, academia and the publishing industry. But it's not just what's on the page that kept me on tenterhooks. It was what's beneath the surface too - reading between the lines, a sense of foreboding throughout and the never-ending feeling of menace and deception.
I was worried about how the book would end and where the plot was leading. It's rare for me to desperately want to check the ending of a book early on, just to reassure myself. The Night Visitor certainly had that effect on me. Fortunately I did manage to stop myself doing so!
This is a fabulous book - one that I couldn't put down. I highly recommend it!
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher.
The book is beautifully written, well plotted and well researched. It's filled with suspense, realistic (yet not particularly likeable) characters and so much depth, with references to science, academia and the publishing industry. But it's not just what's on the page that kept me on tenterhooks. It was what's beneath the surface too - reading between the lines, a sense of foreboding throughout and the never-ending feeling of menace and deception.
I was worried about how the book would end and where the plot was leading. It's rare for me to desperately want to check the ending of a book early on, just to reassure myself. The Night Visitor certainly had that effect on me. Fortunately I did manage to stop myself doing so!
This is a fabulous book - one that I couldn't put down. I highly recommend it!
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher.
Follow the Blog Tour
No comments:
Post a Comment