The Silent House by Nell Pattison is a debut novel. 

It has a unique twist on the mystery/thriller aspect as all the family are deaf.

I enjoyed the way it was done and it was written very well and kept me gripped.

The Silent House is Nell Pattison’s debut thriller, based in Scunthorpe, England, with a stunning premise and an inclusive and memorable cast. It really doesn't feel at all like her first published novel. The Hunter family are part of the local deaf community and their worst fears are realised when they wake up one morning to find an intruder had entered the house during the night and brutally murdered their daughter, Lexi, in her bed. Of course, because they cannot hear this makes them incredibly vulnerable to being targeted this way and poses the question of whether this was merely opportunistic on the intruders part or whether it was someone who knew they would not be heard. British Sign Language interpreter Paige Northwood is immediately called in to assist the police in communicating with the seemingly devastated family. Despite her pure intentions Paige begins to receive death threats telling her to back off the case and soon after her sister is involved in a hit and run and someone attempts to mount an attack on her. What on earth is going on and who exactly is involved?

This is a bold, exciting and thoroughly engrossing read and although it begins slowly and doesn't quite grab your attention as rapidly as some other thrillers it soon picks up in both pace and intensity. It is a captivating and enlightening story in equal measure and explores a shocking and grisly crime and its effect on the tight-knit community in which it occurs; it is told from the perspective of an author who is herself part of the deaf community. It's deeply chilling and introduces an engaging new heroine who I hope we see more of. The mystery unravels as time goes on with plenty of twists to discover. I simply love how Pattison has been able to produce such a gripping story and at the same time is able to highlight the under-represented deaf community; I even learned some new information about what it means to be deaf as sprinkled throughout are facts on the realities of living with profound hearing loss. A refreshingly original take on a police procedural and a clever, sinister and immensely terrifying read. Many thanks to Avon for an ARC.

I found this book to be haunting. I personally find it hard to communicate with deaf people, much more than most other disabilities. The whole idea of being in silent world frightens me. Imagine being able to sleep through someone killing your child - no matter how much noise they make.

Like I say haunting - and a very good read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read an advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. Paige is a sign language interpreter and is called in to help the police with a murder investigation. A deaf couple have woken up to find their little daughter has been brutally murdered in her bed. Obviously they would not have heard if an intruder broke in to the house. Could they be responsible for the death of their own child? Paige knows most of the people involved, as her sister is deaf and they both go to the Deaf Club. Soon she finds herself much more involved than she should be, and she starts receiving threatening messages. When her sister is the victim of a hit and run, and she herself suffers an attempted attack, she knows she has to fin the person responsible. This is a good read which will keep you guessing. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
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Me again, review below for ‘The Silent House’ and next up and ANOTHER new author to me
Stephanie Hart whose ‘Risking It All’!

‘The Silent House’ by Nell Pattison published by Avon Books on March 1st

400 Kindle Flicks

Different, well firstly this is the author’s debut and it takes every reader into the world of being deaf, most of the characters are deaf and so there is a lot of info and reference to the world of deafness that includes signing and ‘deaf clubs’ and interpreters and how,for instance, the only non deaf family member copes, all of which as a reader I appreciated, there is nothing better than reading a book and gaining knowledge into a world we know little or nothing about
I liked how the author kept deafness as a positive thing, well maybe non negative is a better way to say it if makes sense

The story itself starts very scary as a youngster is murdered at home and a sibling witnesses it, of course as everyone in the house is deaf no one else hears a thing and it really is then your typical ‘whodunit’ with many characters coming and going and of course all of them seemingly having a motive

Paige is a signer and interpreter and as such unwillingly gets drawn in to the murder investigation as she helps the Police with interviews and solves the mystery

I kinda guessed who it was at about half way but there were an array of viable red herrings before and after

The story is good and as said the authors writing on the subject of deafness is to be commended, the actual writing style was at times basic but a worthy first book and in such a busy marketplace it has the added extra of being different

7/10
4 Stars

The hunter family are deaf. They don't hear when an intruder comes into their home. They know nothing has happened until the morning when they awake. The police have to bet Paige Northwood, an interpreter for the deaf, so that they can interview the Hunter family. Paige thinks the Hunters are hiding something, holding something back. The deaf community fall under suspicion. But who as guilty of killing a little girl?

This book just gives you a glimpse of what it must e like to have no hearing. The worst crime imaginable happened to the Hunters. Their little girl had been murdered and they weren't able to stop the perpetrator as they did not hear them. Who would want to kill a child? What was the reasons behind it? This is a dark, gritty, tense and fast paced read. I could not read the book quick enough. I needed to know who had committed this atrocious crime. There is a few red herrings to keep you guessing. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author Nell Pattison for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A good read but a bit slow in places. This book started off a page turner but I struggled to keep reading. The plot was really good but I think that it lost its way in places. Overall though this is worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. After reading the description for this book I couldn’t wait to read it. I have to say I struggled with it and didn’t actually finish the entire book. It was very slow moving and I lost interest quickly. Unfortunately I would not recommend this book.

The Silent House is a whodunnit that I was looking forward to reading but was an ok read but wanted it to be better.
Paige Northwood is a British sign language, helping interpret deaf people. She is called in by the police to help interpret sign language for a couple where a child has been found dead in their house. This had the premise to be a great thriller and it would have been if we’d have had more depth to the characters, as it was you were left guessing about the characters as you didn’t really get to know them, wether this was intentional or not I’m not sure but for me I felt I wasn’t able to feel anything for the characters due to this. The book started off slow but did pick up pace, I guessed the right culprit before halfway but that is no fault of the book I don’t think. Paige at times was unprofessional and I think would definitely have been dismissed from this case with the meddling she did and the sister, well there was no need for her really she was just annoying.
Unfortunately this wasn’t for me this time but I still enjoyed seeing if I was right about the culprit.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book, it had a good story line., The description really interested me. The first chapter had me gripped. I guessed the ending quiet early but still worth a read. Would recommend. Thanks netgallery for the advanced copy

I've been getting more and more into thrillers in the last year, I seem to be in a mood for one at nearly all times, and when I saw The Silent House on NetGalley I nearly immediately requested it. It sounded amazing and thrilling and unique, a perfect combination. I'm sad to say it was none of these things.

Something I noticed from page one is how simple and juvenile the writing was. I am by no means an expert in this area, English is my second language after all, but the whole book read like a secondary school student wrote it. "I went there and did this. Afterwards, I did something else. I was very tired." Short and to the point sentences work in a lot of thrillers, they build atmosphere, add to the tension - there's a sense of urgency in those types of narrative. In the case of The Silent House, the simple structure made it incredibly mundane and boring. Both the plot and the writing were filled with cliches.

Yeah, about the plot... The gist of the story is - Paige is a freelance interpreter - coming from a deaf family, she's part of the Deaf community and interprets for them on different occasions. When an 18 month baby is killed, she is called to the police station to interpret for the deaf family who just lost a child.
I was really hooked on the premise, it sounded great. Unfortunately what followed was a generic mystery/thriller plot. It read like the author followed a strict plan of when to introduce a new "clue", or add something "emotional", or write in a "plot twist" (I'm writing all these in quotation marks, as I don't believe any of those ended up being what the author intended them to be). The book ended up boring, predictable and unconvincing.

I can forgive a thriller for having underdeveloped secondary characters if the main character has an actual personality, and the book is gripping and fast paced, but in The Silent House every single character felt incredibly one dimensional. I couldn't make myself care for the child's parents, or for Paige, because they felt so removed from reality and didn't feel like real people. Even when Paige's dark past (once again, typical mystery/thriller) was revealed, I only rolled my eyes. I mean, this book deals with the death of a baby - if the book was half decent, only a heartless person wouldn't be in some way moved by it. I wasn't, and I'm a big softie.
Paige is probably the most frustrating MC I've ever read from. She makes one bad decision after the other and doesn't seem to be capable of any critical thinking. I nearly DNFed the book many times while reading, because I just couldn't stand her.

I hate rating ARCs low, but unfortunately The Silent Patient was a snooze fest full of cliches and terrible characters. Actual rating is closer to 1.75 stars, but I'm feeling generous so I rounded it up, rather than down.

This novel caught my interest at first with a very creepy murder. A little girl is violently bludgeoned to death in her bed, with her siblings sleeping right there and her father and stepmother in the next room. Nobody hears a thing. How? They are deaf. Paige is the only hearing person in a deaf family, so has made a career as an interpreter. Mostly, she accompanies people to doctor’s appointments, lawyers’ offices and other humdrum business but this time she’s called in by the police to aid in the investigation, since most of the suspects are deaf. Now, this community is so small, that the murdered girl is Paige’s sister’s goddaughter, but she keeps this fact to herself. Unfortunately, after a good start, the novel quickly lost my interest. I didn’t like any of the characters at all. Granted, the suspects must be shady or the plot wouldn’t work, but when you can’t connect with the heroine, it’s hard to care about what happens. For obvious reasons, amateur sleuths are always on the brink of being nosy, but Paige is also indiscrete and whiny. It’s clear that she’s not unlikable on purpose, so that made it even harder to keep my interest. To make matters worse, I figured out what had happened almost from the start, so it wasn’t even suspenseful that way.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Avon Books UK!

The Hunter family is deaf and their worst nightmare happens one night. While they are fast asleep, someone kills their daughter in her room, while they sleep in the one next door. How can they not blame themselves when it isn't their fault that they can't hear. The police are called to find the killer and Paige is called in to sign and interpret for them. However, she knows of the family because her sister is the godmother of the little girl murdered. Paige becomes entangled into the cases sensing the Hunters might be hiding something, but the Police won't give her anything more than what see hears in interrogations. Who would want to murder the young girl; the answer might shock you.

The book starts off a little slow. You are finding out information as Paige is learning the information. I found Paige's sister to be annoying and unnecessary. She should understand the confidentiality that her sister is under, but she is constantly trying to get Paige to break her silence. As you learn new information to the crime, your guess of the killer will keep on changing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. This story intrigued me from the start I haven't read anything like this before and was a wonderful insight into the deaf community. The story itself was unsettling who would kill an 18-month-old child? The parents are deaf so had no idea someone was in their house. Paige Northwood is a BSL interpreter and she is called by the police to interpret for the parents and suspects. The story was fairly interesting but I did find the conclusion a little underwhelming but overall I would read more by this author.

This is my first by this author and have never read this type of novel before, it's all about a sign- language interpreter, who helps out the police with signing, as a little girl was brutely murdered in best described as the other woman's house while they were all asleep, and all being totally deaf would never have heard anything. Paige Northwood was asked by the police to interpret in sign to try and find the killer of this brutal murder and she did know the deaf community quite well although she could hear and was the only one in her family that could hear hence the sigh language. I did after a while get a bit fed up with it as it was manly interviews with the parents and suspects with a bit of danger thrown in, .no police procedures to think of just working thru the interviews the same as Paige and got the right answer and I did have the right person quite early on but needed to finish the book. I must thank Avon Books for an ARC copy to review but sadly this is not my type of novel, it is different and did make a change but not for me, and I must stress that this is my personal review as others will surely find it a worthwhile read., The author did something different and did it quite well, Well written and well co-ordinated

This was an intriguing read, a thriller set within the deaf community which made it that bit more chilling, although I did figure out who the killer was, it didn’t detract from the story and with a few twists thrown in to keep you on your toes, a solid read.

When a young child is murdered, a family is torn apart and everyone is a suspect. This book gives us a peek into a deaf community. When Paige, a BSL interpreter, gets called in by the police department to interpret the interrogations of the deaf family, she bites off more than she can chew when she becomes embroiled in the investigation. This novel had a unique premise and a captivating plot making it quite hard to put down. A very strong debut that I’m hoping will turn into a series!

I thought the premise of this novel was very good and I found the insight into the deaf community completely fascinating.

And yet, I found that I didn’t really enjoy it. I was confident that I had guessed who killed Lexi within the first third of the book (I was right) and I really didn’t understand Paige as a character. I mean, she definitely should have been sacked for meddling in a police investigation. I also thought that some parts of the narrative felt pretty drawn out.

Sorry this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Silent House is a very interesting take on a thriller. A murder of a young girl happens during the middle of the night, but no one heard an intruder. Everyone in the home is deaf. The police work through an interpreter, Paige, who happens to have a relationship with the family that is involved. This books goes through many different suspects as the police interview the various family members. There is one other catch, Paige is being stalked by the killer and warned to stop assisting the police.

I enjoyed this new component to a thriller where the absence of hearing an intruder plays such a large role. How do you stop someone breaking into your house if you cannot hear them break in in the first place? Having all of my senses intact, I can't image how difficult it would be to have a traumatizing event happen, and then relay through an interpreter my side of the story.

This book dragged on a little too long for me to be completely invested. I found many of Paige's thoughts were repeated over and over again and that got a tad bit tiring. I also wasn't completely floored by the big reveal at the end. It was kind of exactly what I was expecting from the very beginning of the novel, so that was a tad disappointing. I do read a lot of thrillers, so I generally look for the big "gasp" at the end. Overall a good storyline and decent plot.

Definitely one to read, buy for a friend /relative or just pass on.
The blurb caught my interest. The book itself didn't disappoint. Suspects kept on coming and the twist at the end wasn't what I was expecting. Great from start to finish.
I was given a pre-publication e-book, Formatting had it's problems but I was able to read past that and so glad I did. Would have hated to miss this one.
Well done Nell Pattison - look forward to reading more from you.