OVERALL RATING:
7 out of 10

PLOT:
8 out of 10

CHARACTERIZATION:
7 out of 10

PRIMARY ELEMENT:
6 out of 10 for its thrill

WRITING STYLE:
7 out of 10

PART OF A SERIES:
No.

HIGHLIGHTED TAKEAWAY:
Like with all other books by Mark Edwards, the highlighted takeaway is the end. There are very few writers who can conclude a thriller with a real surprise, but Edwards manages to do so consistently.

WHAT I LIKED:
The story doesn’t slow down for a single moment, in spite of being based on such a simple premise.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
Oddly enough, Elliot. Although his character was developed well and a lot of his behavior made sense because of that arc, he seems too submissive to be real. It made it a little hard to associate with him because I genuinely could not imagine any person being the way he was.

WHO SHOULD READ IT:
Anyone who enjoys thrillers. This is a different style of thriller, but definitely keeps the pages turning.

WHO SHOULD AVOID:
Anyone who does not enjoy psychological thrillers, or stories based on characters who are just plain sociopathic.

READ IT FOR:
An interesting and not-too-commonly-done take on the thriller genre. With so many thrillers out there, this one is a fresh (albeit slightly disturbing) read.

Here to Stay was published on 1st September 2019. If you haven’t tried Mark Edwards yet, this is as good a place to start as any.

So deliciously creepy. An excellent example of how when you marry someone, you marry their whole family. And when they start to take over your life and your home, what do you do? Really interesting premise and a very good read.

Here to Stay by Mark Edwards

Mark Edwards has an amazing way of sucking me into his novels so quickly that I’ve devoured half of it in one evening. I became so invested in Elliot’s life, that I almost need therapy afterwards!

Elliot is a self-made man, with a business promoting science within schools and a house he has worked on till it’s perfect. He loves his neat, well-ordered, existence. It’s just him and his cat Charlie, and he is friends with Amira his business partner and George his next door neighbour. Gemma comes into this quiet existence like a whirlwind and although Elliot doesn’t know much about her, he does know he loves her. They get married only eight weeks after meeting and although friends worry they have rushed into it, they are happy. Soon after, Gemma’s parents come back into her life. They have been living in France with Gemma’s sister Chloe and seem to be leaving in a hurry. Gemma says it will only be a couple of weeks till they find their own place. Elliot lets them stay, but they arrive with Chloe seemingly in a fever and immediately start treating the place as if it is their own. Lizzy is allergic to Charlie and Elliot suspects she has been locking the cat flap to stop him coming in. Jeff is loud and messy, leaving dishes everywhere and having the TV on too loud. But Elliot has been alone for a long time since the death of his parents so he does find it hard to share space and it’s only for two weeks isn’t it?

Even though I’d expected some of what transpired, the book still kept me gripped. I hated Lizzy and Jeff with a passion that could only come from someone who’s lived alone for six years and now shares a bathroom with four people. It becomes claustrophobic as every ones of Elliot’s senses are invaded; the noise is intolerable, the smell of Lizzy smoking out of the window, the piles of mess everywhere and his constant worry about the welfare of his cat. I felt the panic and his feeling that his haven is being invaded and will never seem the same for him again. I suspected Gemma, her brother Stuart and even Chloe who seems stuck on her sickbed in a catatonic state. It’s clear from very early on that the mystery of why the family are here hinges on Chloe’s testimony, but so far she can’t or won’t speak.

Disturbed by the feeling of having someone in his house he’s still not met, Elliot tries to talk to Chloe. He is so worried about her physical state he asks his neighbour George if he would pop round and check on her. George is a retired GP and he manages to pop round at just the right moment to see Chloe. Unfortunately, they are discovered and while Jeff shouts and wakes the rest of the house, Elliot notices that Chloe whispers something to George. Elliot is still unsure about exactly what is wrong in the family and wonders if he’s jumping at shadows, but there are tiny clues. Why does Gemma have scars across her stomach that she never talks about but touches every time she’s nervous? Why does no one talk about their life in France and why did Chloe’s parents follow her out there? One evening the four of them go out for a meal and Gemma chokes slightly, but cowers as her father gets up to help her. Little does Elliot know that when they return, he will make a discovery that changes everything.

There were moments of this book when I found myself livid about Gemma’s parents. Every time Elliot thinks of something that will get rid of them I felt so relieved, then so frustrated when he realises it won’t work. It’s as if what Gemma says is true - in her parent’s world everything is upside down and the normal rules don’t apply. They are like whirlwinds and everything that gets sucked in is destroyed. I won’t write more for fear of ruining all the twists and turns to come. This is a book where you have to know the ending and you’ll keep reading till 3am to find out. I believed in the characters, even when their behaviour was completely unbelievable. Be prepared to shake with rage as these cuckoos carry out their awful plan and Elliot desperately tries to find a way out.

What a brilliant book. Gripping from the start, and totally believable, which made it all the more dark. Couldn't put it down, and would have read it much quicker was it not for work! This will stay with me for a while!
Highly recommended!

I’ve read a lot by this author and always thoroughly enjoy his work. This current offering is no exception.

Elliot meets the love of his life, Gemma, and after a near death experience decides to propose early on in their relationship. Marriage appears blissful until Gemma invites her parents and sister to stay with them upon returning to England from years of living in France. The arrangement is loosely made for a few weeks until alternative accommodation has been sought however, the in-laws don’t appear to have any intention of moving out and sinister events start to occur.

I could envisage this book being made into a film with Colin Firth playing Elliot! Most definitely a book to read.

Many thanks to the publishers and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love Mark Edwards books and this one really did not disappoint.

Talk about gripping and edge of your seat psychological thriller.

This book was devoured in one sitting, only moving to refill my coffee cup!

I absolutely loved it and have recommended to others already!

I have come to the conclusion after reading this book and The Magpies, that Mark Edwards is definitely one of the most underrated authors in fiction today. I read a lot of thrillers as they are my favorite genre of books and this one was my favorite of the year. My love for this book wasn't because of the twists (because I guessed most of them), but even with guessing them, I wanted to see how everything played out. This book was written extremely well, the words flowed quickly and the story progressed at a fast pace. The characters in this story were some of the most despicable that I have seen...it made me very thankful for the in-laws that I have. I've been hard-pressed to find an unputdownable book recently, but this one fit the bill...when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it and talking about it to others and eagerly awaiting when I could pick it up again. I highly recommend this one!

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a crazy ride this book was!

Elliot marries Gemma only to have her parents move in with them. Talk about the in-laws from hell. The entire book, I loathed the parents and was disgusted with the things they did to make Elliot and Gemma's life miserable. It was a book that I couldn't put down. The twist at the end was fabulous...did not see that coming. This is my first read from Mark Edwards, but it definitely won't be my last! Loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the advanced copy for an honest review.

Yikes! I found this a hugely uncomfortable read. It made me feel angry, disgusted and horribly uneasy. The writing is great, the plot gripping, there are loads of real shocks along the way and in typical Mark Edwards style, everything is not quite as it seems…
What an awful scenario. Elliot’s ghastly in-laws are absolutely shocking and it’s difficult to understand how they produced his wife, Gemma. What’s worse, they have moved in with them, into the childhood home Elliot so lovingly restored - and he can’t get rid of them. (I loved the irony of the street name!) I could barely read some of the scenes, so insensitive, crass, depraved and awful were they. And Gemma’s very odd sister, Chloe, was not much better, although in a totally different way. What on earth was wrong with her?
This is a sinister, blood-curdling, unsettling book, peopled by a bunch of unlikeable characters. If you need to like the lead characters, this book is definitely not for you! In-laws Jeff and Lizzie are almost caricature-like in their awfulness. Gemma remains a bit of a mystery. I wanted to shake her for not dealing with her parents. Having started as a fun, strong, likeable character she turns into a useless, shrinking violet in their presence. Elliot isn’t much better. Far too nice and polite, he keeps on second-guessing himself. By the time he actually starts to try to get rid of the in-laws from hell they’re already wrecking his life and marriage.

Usual Mark Edwards fashion, this was great. It was fast paced, filled with unexpected twist. A real fun read.

This book started out really good, it was all very intriguing and unputdownable. I couldn’t resist wanting to know what happens in this story of the in-laws from hell. They are truly some of the most despicable characters I’ve met in fiction. Some of their antics left me feeling disgusted and uncomfortable. The book really made me feel the anger and frustration of the main character as if everything is happening to me, too.

Aside from that, the book is pretty much predictable with no real plot twist that I couldn’t see coming. For a main character who is supposed to be a “genius” scientist I guess I was expecting that something more wild will happen. There is no satisfying/redeeming scene, it was all just one hot mess at the end. I would say that the beginning was the best part of the book.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow another brilliant read from Mark Edwards! I haven’t whizzed through a book this quickly in a couple of months, this was a very fast paced thriller keeping you guessing and wanting more after each chapter. So happy I read this one

We are introduced to Elliot, a quiet unassuming scientist and a special needs teacher. He is the proud owner of a lovely home that he has recently renovated and shares it with Charlie, his cat. He marries Gemma after a whirlwind romance of only a few months, so his life is complete. But his world comes crashing down when her parents and sister return to England from France and have nowhere to stay, so Elliot invites them to stay at his house. He soon realises that he has made a big mistake. I really felt for Elliot as he realises that they are the in laws from hell and wonders how on earth he is going to get rid of them as they are reluctant to leave and also what secrets are they hiding from him. This is a very tense story, a little unbelievable near the end, but I still give it five stars as it kept me gripped to the end,
Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another great read from Mark Edward's, full of tension and suspense! Elliott is a decent hardworking man, who works hard and has bought and restored his beautiful house. When he meets Gemma he is caught up in a whirlwind of romance and they marry in almost immediately. They marry and settle into domestic bliss not really knowing each other. After a small time Gemma asks if her family can come and stay as they are returning from France and need accommodation. He agrees and her parents and sister move in. Her parents are slobs, very evasive about their past, her sister doesnt come out of her room and Gemma is on edge all the time and is drinking more than before. Soon strange things start to happen in the neighbourhood and Elliott is convinced his in laws are involved but how can he get rid of them?
I loved this book, it is creepy and full of tension but you cannot look away. Another triumph from Mark Edward's. Thank you to Mark, Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I completely agree with another review that this has knocked the Magpies from pole position. It's just genius and beautifully written. Full of massive twists that you wouldn't spot in a million years. Love love love!

This book kept me guessing to the end. There were so many twists and turns and just as I thought I knew what was going on there would be another one. I felt bad for Elliot and the destruction of his life, I really wanted a happy ending for him. I look forward to Mark Edwards next book.

Great book, I couldn’t put it down. I was hooked from the first page. Lots of twists and turns to keep the reader enthralled.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Mark Edwards for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

My thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing a free copy of “ Here to Stay” to read and review. And enjoy.

“Here to Stay” the latest novel by Mark Edwards ranked as one of the most frightening books I have read in a long time. The story was not about zombies, nor vampires, not even about crazed politicians with very plastic morals running amok. No, worse: it was about the in-laws from Hell.

The book began with Elliot standing in the front garden of the Victorian house he had personally restored. Located in a lovely, quiet neighborhood of London, Elliot’s house and garden and those of his neighbors, was open that Sunday for strollers’ viewing. Just as he was about to lock the garden gate for the evening, an attractive young lady walked into the garden. She expressed her admiration for the beautiful grounds, and remarked how she admired vintage old houses. Taken with her and bursting with owner’s pride, Elliot showed her the house. They had tea. He invited her out for dinner. Months later, Elliot and Gemma were. married.
Everything was going as well with the young marriage as one could expect. The only cloud was that Gemma looked distant and troubled at times. Elliot realized how little he knew about her past life. What, for example, caused the faint, white lines of scarring on her abdomen? Why did she never mention her parents? Then she did- that morning when she told Elliot her parents were returning to the UK from France and would be staying at their house for “a bit”. until they could find new lodgings. Elliot , taken aback by Gemma’s our-of-the -blue announcement, nevertheless was encouraging. It was the biggest mistake he could ever make.
From the moment Jeff, Lizzie and their younger daughter Chloe, walked in the door, Elliot sensed that the visit was not going to work well. Far from being welcoming, Gemma is cold and abrupt with her parents, indeed fearful of them. They are brassy, bossy, messy, interfering and disruptive. Sister Chloe is withdrawn and almost catatonic - just a touch of the flu, mother Lizzy dismissed. There was something dangerous, something wrong about them

As the days became weeks, Elliot grew disturbed by the in-laws behavior and, most importantly, their effect on Gemma. She began to drink heavily and to withdraw emotionally even more.Were Jeff, Lizzy and Chloe ever going to,find a place of their own, he wondered. Why, they replied, we like it right here. They were “ Here to Stay.”
I began reading the book one evening after dinner and was so deeply engrossed that the pages flew by. Mr . Edwards knew exactly how to slowly amp up the tension. He put this reader inside the main character, Elliot, completely as his doubt tuned to fear and then to absolute horror at what the his new family members were doing to his and Gemma’s life together, and worse, what damage they were capable in the future. He wondered what they had done in the past to damage their children so much that they hated them?
There was a sense of brooding inevitability in the book, an intensity that compelled this reader to keep reading. The book finished in the only way it could, but it left a sense that even then, the aftereffects of the family from hell’s visit had not ended. They were “ Here to Stay”.

Warnings for the sensitive: No sexual content of note, and no egregiously nasty four letter words that I recall. It is an intense, scary story though.
Oh, one personal note, that you may not want to read , though I do not think it is a spoiler: what annoys Elliot more, the in-laws treatment to his wife or of his beloved house? Just pondering....

I loved Here To Stay. For me, this is probably Mark Edward’s best book since The Magpies. I was completely hooked and could never work out where it was going next.

After a fairly uneventful life in his beautiful Victorian house on Cuckoo Lane Elliott meets Gemma and, following a whirlwind romance, marries her. When Gemma asks Elliott if her parents can move in with them for a couple of weeks he has no idea what he is letting himself in for.

A chilling, tense psychological thriller, full of twists and turns, with a number of unlikeable characters, particularly Jeff and Lizzy Robinson, for whom the term ‘in-laws from hell’ was coined!

Mark does it again! Always love Marks books and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. Loved the characters and didn’t expect the twist at the end. Excellent page turner and 100% recommend