Creepy story of a brother and sister living together in a big old house with some weird goings-on in the basement. The best part of this book was the "voice" of Marion, the sister, and her version of her childhood and what's going on in their current life. Good read!

3.5 stars.

The Visitors is rather unputdownable. I expected it would be more of a thriller, based on the blurb, but it was a creepy character study instead. Nothing particularly scary happens, but the entire novel inspired a heeby jeeby feeling in me.

It's about an older woman, Marion, who lives in her childhood home in England with her brother, John. From the blurb, we already know that he is keeping sex slaves in the cellar and she is, at least somewhat, complicit because how could she not notice that there are women in her cellar? The story is told by Marion as she goes back and forth between the present day and memories from her childhood. There is also an epistolary component. Surprisingly, the women in the cellar are not the focus of the novel. Rather, it's mostly about Marion, her childhood, and her family and how she came to be the sad, lonely freak she is at the opening of the story.

Wow! A totally different kind of novel - keeps you on your toes throughout. I read this in one sitting as i just had to see where the story would go. I'm really hoping Catherine Burns writes another book soon!!

This was a dark and chilling thriller! Spinster, Marion lives with her older brother John in the house they inherited from their parents--a couple who rarely showed them any affection or love. What happens when you grow up without it? You may not want to find out! Although Marion pretends not to know about "the visitors" in the cellar, she suspects foul play but refuses to cross brother John. But when a heart attack strikes, she must confront and deal with the sounds and smells emanating from the cellar; this is when her true nature comes to light. Disturbing to say the least, this novel will keep you up at night and have you checking your basement or attic when you hear a strange sound!

This book was disturbing and amazing, like a terrible train wreck you can't look away from! The protagonists are common enough that they seem harmless and boring but at the same time, unbelievably twisted and evil in their lack of morality and compassion. I felt sorry for and repulsed by the narrator almost concurrently while rooting for her redemption and condemnation. It is truly a sensational novel that keeps you interested, engaged and terrified.

A novel that pulls the reader in with its creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere but ultimately is a let down with its ending that fails to live up to its promise.

This book went no where, sloooowly. There is only so much interest in the sloggy life of our protagonist with the ominous people in the basement dangling like a carrot to us readers that one can take. I read to the end, but wish I hadn't. I'm a huge fan of thrillers and this one just didn't cut it. Characters were boring, unappealing, I hope for the authors sake that my opinion is in the minority. I feel real effort was put into this, but there was no excitement.

Two words to describe this book: SUPER CREEPY. I would have read it in one sitting if I could have. The ordinary is transformed in the sinister with spare yet descriptive prose. Comparisons to Room are solid, yet this story as its own resolution.

The reader knows basically where this is going from the beginning. You just don't know exactly how it will end. I found it excruciatingly slow to unfold, and I was really bothered that Marion, although not the brightess tool in the shed by any means, could still be so dysfunctional that she denied everything for so many years. She is as evil as her brother in her own way, and both of them are completely unlikeable.

Yikes. Disturbing.

But I will say I stayed up late to read the last 100 pages, (both because I had to know what happened and because I wanted to be done with it).

Wonderfully creepy tale of the dynamics between disturbed brother and sister and what lies in the cellar.

The blurb sounded good. The book itself not so much. 

It's dark and while the title is The Visitors, most of the book is just Marion talking to herself and wondering what her brother does in the cellar. 

It was one of those books I felt could have been a lot shorter. As it was I didn't care about a single one of them, including the visitors.

There were no thrills, no spine tingling moments. From the beginning we know exactly

what he is doing in the basement and the ending was less than satisfying.

Netgalley/Scout Press  Release September 26, 2017

Thank you so much for allowing me a complimentary copy through Netgalley for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. The story flowed seamlessly and had a dark compelling pull to keep on reading.....
"Marion is the rather mousy sister of John and they live together in a large house. Marion is rather child-like and still sleeps with her stuffed toys. She keeps to herself and rarely leaves the house. John is rather domineering and spends a lot of time down in the cellar where Marion often hears disturbing sounds. Being the timid person that she is, she would never venture down to the cellar, but voices she hears frighten her.
Then one day John has an accident which puts him in the hospital and Marion is left alone to manage the house and the visitors in the cellar. She discovers some sinister things about her brother, but then finds an inner strength to do things she never imagined she could do.
This is a dark thriller that keeps you guessing and reading late into the night."

While I think this book was well written it wasn't my cup of tea. Didn't care for the plot and some times felt there were too many details. Also there was not one likeable character in the whole novel and the character of John was such that was a horrible human being, and Marion not much better even though she was afraid of John all her life.

4 stars. This book was very disturbing, creepy, and sad. I loved the setting. Marion Zetland lives in a narrow world. Never married, she lives with her controlling brother in their dilapidated, filthy childhood home. The sympathy you feel for her turns to disgust when certain things about her character become clear. Insanity may very well run in the family.

The synopsis of this novel is very misleading, so if you're expecting a thriller with crazy twists and turns, you'll be thoroughly disappointed. Instead you'll find a slow burning novel with a little sizzle at the end encapsulated in an unsettling atmosphere and an unnerving family dynamic.

The Visitors follows Marion, a woman in her fifties living with her brother who has never experienced much the world has to offer. The novel gives an in-depth look at Marion's childhood, which gives the reader insight into Marion’s behavior. Marion had many difficulties in school, so she was often pushed aside for her more intellect driven brother, John. These scenes could have easily dragged the novel down in terms of pacing, however their subtlety creates an unsettling atmosphere. There's something not quite right about the way John is treated by their father or their mother's indifference. These scenes could have easily become tedious and annoying, but Burns threaded the narrow line of keeping the reader interested while sowing seemingly mundane information into the story.

The pace of this novel is very slow. As mentioned previously, the reader is given an in-depth look at Marion's childhood, so the synopsis of the novel doesn't happen until 3/4 of the way through the book. So, if you've found yourself 100 pages into the novel and are not enjoying it, you might as well DNF the book since there's no big finish or crazy twist at the end. At a certain point during the novel the reader will be able to clearly piece together what's currently happening and what will happen. This isn’t a negative criticism; it’s just the way the story is told. Like I said, it's a slow burn with a little sizzle at the end.

Overall, The Visitors was a nice change of pace novel. Burns sows together an interesting family dynamic that leaves the children slightly disturbed in their own ways.

A chilling read that I couldn't put down, even knowing that I wasn't going to like the end result.

Debut Novel.

Marion is in her 50s still sleeps with teddy bears, her older brother who rules the house has something secret locked in the basement. He suffers a heart attack that changes all of their lives.

Flashbacks to her memories of a lonely childhood, growing up without love, attempting to make friends, but young girls can be mean which adds to her feelings of low self worth.

After her brother's surgery- he instructs her to go in basement. So she does!

I was not blown away but I did keep reading to know the conclusion.

It does make you THINK!!

I would give this book a 2.5 stars.

When I first read the synopsis of this book, it instantly drew me in. A brother and sister still living together in the house that they grew up in and the brother keeping "visitors" in the cellar, sound like my kind of story!

This is more of a character driven story, but I kinda figured out what kind of people they were by the 3rd or 4th chapter, but it seemed to keep going with the "character building" for about 3/4 of the book. And even once you get to find out about the visitors it just really didn't pick up at all. I was hoping for a great thriller, but for me this was a bit of a snoozer.

Yes, I so wanted to love this book, and there will be others out there who will love it, but I feel that for me, it fell flat.