The Half Burnt House
By Alex North
Blurb
Katie always looked after her beloved younger brother Chris - until she left him alone for one selfish afternoon, and their picture-perfect family fell apart. Although Chris survived the attack, the scars ran deeper than the ones left across his face. Now they're adults, and they haven't spoken in years. Then she gets a call, from Detective Laurence Page.
Page is facing an unusually disturbing crime scene. Alan Hobbes, a distinguished and wealthy philosophy professor, has been brutally murdered. Hobbes was living in a sprawling mansion - but one that remains half-ruined by a decades-old fire, wind and rain howling through the gaping, creaking roof.
Page only has one suspect: Chris, caught on CCTV at the house. But he has plenty of questions. What could cause a man as wealthy as Hobbes not to repair his home? Why did he seem to know his death was coming, yet do nothing to stop it? And why was he obsessed with a legendary local serial killer?
But Katie only has one thing on her mind. She knows this is her last, best chance to finally save her brother, and make up for her negligence all those years ago.
But she can't possibly imagine just how much danger he's in...
Our Review
"If you could see the future would you want to?"
I was well and truly freaked out by The Whisper Man, a rare thing for me as most horror books do not scare me. Alex North has done it again though. I found The Half Burnt House to be every bit as eerie and fantastic as The Whisper Man.
Kate and her boyfriend Sam are very much in love but her parents disapprove. Kate knows her parents love her less than her brother Chris but she still can't help herself from following their rules until the day she decides to rebel with disastrous consequences as Chris is brutally attacked.
As an adult Kate hasn't spoken to her brother for many years. When he becomes a suspect in a murder investigation kate knows she must try to right past wrongs.
This book was so cleverly written, posing and answering questions about determinism and choice. I spent the whole book feeling like there was something happening just out of my comprehension. I had no idea what was going on for most of the book but this wasn't a bad thing and all the loose ends tied up eventually.
"Whatever would happen would happen. The Story was already written and it would unfold in the way it had been intended."
I am sure you will love this book when you read...after all do you really have a choice?
Our Final Rating...
Read & Shared 61 Times.
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