Under A Watchful Eye by Adam Nevill is a horror novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher (Publishers Group Canada), and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have read other books by this author and thoroughly enjoyed them. Nevill has his own style of writing, which is quite good, but can be a little intense. Not sure why, but I had problems getting into this one. The first quarter was long, and just didn’t excite me. Then it started clicking.

Sebastian Logan is a successful author of horror/supernatural books, living his life in relative luxury, in a house by the sea. He has a “part-time” girlfriend, but prefers his solitude. He seems to be at an impasse with his next novel, can’t quite get going on it. Part of the problem seems to be this shadowy figure which is stalking him. When his old university room-mate storms back into his life, Seb is not happy. He couldn’t wait to get rid of him at school, and almost ended up with him again a few years later. Looks like Ewan is planning on taking up residence with Seb yet again. It isn’t long until this manipulative man will send Seb into a tailspin. It turns out that Ewan’s drunkenness, antagonistic attitude and lack of cleanliness are the least of Seb’s concerns. Ewan has spent years researching the paranormal, particularly astral projection, and is about to involve a very unwilling Sebastian Logan.

As stated earlier, I almost put this book down. Although this is still not my favorite Nevill book, it ended up being fairly entertaining. The characters were not necessarily likeable, but they were different. Part of my problem is that I really disliked the main character. Even when he found his voice, I found Seb to be too spineless. It was always a tad too late when he stood up for himself. It is hard to truly enjoy a book when you can’t find anything to like about the protagonist. As well, I really didn’t find this book to be true horror. Creepy, yes, but not horror, but again, that may be due to the fact that I struggled with it. I did, however, really like the way Nevill ended it.

Overall, if you are a true Nevill fan, it is a must read.