This book has good pace but I struggled to connect with the characters and follow what was happening with interest. Real potential but something missing for me

Fabulous plot which I could not put down. Brilliant characters, and twists and turns. Highly recommend to other fans of this genre!!

It is definitely creepy and well written BUT
* I could not relate to any of the characters
* The flipping around in the beginning was confusing
* I didn't enjoy the narrative format of the story....prefer more action not telling
* It just was not for me

Thank you (DNF)

There is nothing like an attention-grabbing thriller that once you start reading, you do not want to put down, and so I decided to take a chance on Fiona Cummins' The Family Next Door. Unfortunately this didn't quite hold my interest the way I hoped.

Everyone in this neighborhood seems to have their secrets, some darker than others. A serial killer is on the loose and the most recent victim was the husband of DCI Wildeve Stanton, both police officers assigned to the case. Having stalled in their investigation, the police are desperate for a lead. Each of the dead have their faces painted and are dressed immaculately, earning the killer the nickname of the Dollmaker.

The narrative alternates between the killer and other residents in the neighborhood, several of whom could be behind the deaths. I never felt like I got to know any of the characters to any real degree, perhaps because there were so many. It was not too hard to figure out who was behind everything, but there was plenty of suspense and tension throughout, especially the closer we get to the reveal. During the early parts of the book, I found myself wondering where the story was going, and was glad when the pieces finally started coming together. While I did enjoy The Family Next Door to a certain extent, it did not completely win me over in the end.

Initially I found the story confusing - it seemed a little all over the place. But then it started coming together and it was hard to walk away from. There are a lot of secrets on the this small street, everyone has one and each will ultimately be revealed.

This book is grab you by the guts good. It is told so well and it is very page turning. There’s creepiness, menace and horror.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel for an honest review. This was my first novel by this author, I genuinely enjoyed this authors style of writing. I hope to read more of her work. I loved the dark, horrifying killer. The best crime novel I’ve read this year. Super creepy and dark! I totally recommend.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.5 Hearts I liked most of this story. The reason I say most is there is a bit of what I would call “horror” and it was really descriptive. A bit too descriptive for me. I have never been a fan of horror movies. I enjoy suspense and I liked the suspense part of this book and the story was interesting but the horror was just too much.

Taking the horror out of it I liked the characters and I think I would enjoy the same story told with less graphic details.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Lots of different people telling the story which is based in a neighbourhood regarding the residents that live there. Lots of secrets . You have to be on the ball because the story is told by so many different people . The storyline was good though. Great twist. It had me frustrated in parts though.

I really enjoyed this one. It was creepy and dark in all the best ways. I wasn't sure what to expect with the book description but I was definitely surprised at how intense the story got. Very much recommended!

Garrick and Olivia Lockwood along with their 2 children were ready for a new start at life. The only way they were able to afford 25 The Avenue in Essex was due to the bodies being dumped in the park by the house, so how could they pass up such an amazing price? There’s a serial killer on the loose, dubbed by the media as “The Dollmaker”, the cause of death is unknown but all the bodies have one thing in common, the eyes have been removed and replaced with glass eyes. Just as the Lockwoods are pulling up to their new house, they hear sirens in the distance, next thing the know the police and forensics show up, a 5th body has been discovered.

Wow! Fiona Cummins had me on the edge of my seat, there was no sleeping to be had, I devoured this book in one sitting.
Thank you Netgalley for a chance to read this book. I gave it 5 stars!

Much odder and darker than I expected from the blurb, so maybe my expectations ruined the reading experience. Wasn’t a stand-out in my mind

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Family Next Door by Fiona Cummins.

A new family has just moved into the neighborhood,un-reluctantly at best. But desperate and hard times call for tough measures. Watching them move in is the neighbor serial killer who has been reeking havoc on this quiet neighborhood for quite some time now. And they have plans for this family.

This was okay, it kept my attention overall, but it was also really easy to forget it the minute it was over. I felt like it defaulted to a tired prose, so there was nothing that really stood out to me. It would be a fast and fun beach read though.

The Family Next Door is a fast-paced, creepy thriller about a serial killer in a neighborhood and the family that moves into their new home after bodies are discovered in the woods behind it because if this hadn't of happened, they couldn't afford it. Readers will wonder which of the neighbors could be the murderer. Highly recommended to readers looking for a strong, spooky thriller. Be sure to check out The Family Next Door today!

Author: Fiona Cummins
Genre:thriller
Pages:400
Rating:5
For Sale: Lovely family home, ready for your updates. Friendly neighborhood setting close to park; secluded.

If not for the bodies discovered in the woods behind their new home, Garrick and Olivia Lockwood couldn't have afforded to buy number 25 The Avenue. It's the fresh start they and their two children badly need. Soon, these terrible crimes will be solved, they tell themselves, and once Garrick has remodeled, he's confident they'll sell the house for a profit.

But the darkest secrets can reside on quiet, ordinary streets like this--behind the doors of
well-kept houses and neighbors' friendly faces. Secrets that can destroy a family, or savagely end a life, and will surface just when they're least expected .

My thoughts
Would I recommend yet? Yes
Will I read anything else by this author? Yes
Get ready to meet a new kind of killer ,a killer that is creepy, and dark and twist in a way that their not afraid to let out secrets that aren't even theirs to tell all the while their watching from the shadows and planning their next move.And speaking of moving, would you move to a neighborhood where everyone has secrets, that even an unknown killer knows, and even then is it safe to trust anyone there.I guess the big question would be could you trust any of them and I do mean any of them from the creepy doll maker, to the nice old couple who lives beside you, or even the mailman who delivers your mail.Unfortunately I can't answer that question for you.But I can say this if you ready to get lost into a story that has a lot of misdirection and twist and turns and pulls you into the story from the first page then this is the one for you.Because once the secrets start coming out you won't know who is telling the truth or who to trust in fact all you can do is set back and enjoy the ride and hope your not the next victim.With that said I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read and text it.

I loved The Collector and this one too. Right from the beginning I was nervous because one of the narrator’s voices was a bit flowery which is not my style. I also stumbled for a minute with the switches between narrators and timelines. That didn’t last too long but long enough to mildly irritate.

This will give you a good ride and some surprises. This has some great writing. The premise is fantastic. You have to stick with it as it takes a minute but trust me, it’s worth it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Kensington Books for a copy in exchange for a review.

EXCERPT: ....no one noticed a small girl - the youngest of the group - back away from the puppet theatre with its dead crow's head and limp feathers, stumbling over her best shoes, finding her way to a storeroom that should have been locked.

No one saw her scramble between the old boxes and piles of dust sheets, tears wetting her face, or stopped her squeezing through racks of fraying costumes, spiderwebs catching in her hair, until she found herself crouching behind a deep, wooden chest, curiosity driving her to open it.

No one noticed her at all.

Until the screaming began.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: For Sale: Lovely family home, ready for your updates. Friendly neighborhood setting close to park; secluded.

If not for the bodies discovered in the woods behind their new home, Garrick and Olivia Lockwood couldn't have afforded to buy number 25 The Avenue. It's the fresh start they and their two children badly need. Soon, these terrible crimes will be solved, they tell themselves, and once Garrick has remodeled, he's confident they'll sell the house for a profit.

But the darkest secrets can reside on quiet, ordinary streets like this - behind the doors of
well-kept houses and neighbors' friendly faces. Secrets that can destroy a family, or savagely end a life, and will surface just when they're least expected . . .

MY THOUGHTS: Creepy. Menacing. Dark and disturbing....

I took today off work in part so that I could finish this book. I think I did the same for her other novels, Rattle, and The Collector. Also creepy, menacing, dark and disturbing.

There are several different timelines in this story, giving us insight into the background of the killer, but we don't know who s/he is. The clues to the killer's identity are skilful but ambiguous. There are several people who fit the bill. I must have discarded three or four suspects before I selected my final one, and still I got it wrong.

I found The Family Next Door hard to settle into to begin with. The chapters are very short with many different narrators, and jumped about a bit too much for my liking. But by the time I was half way through, I had become accustomed to the writing style and I couldn't put it down. I found myself thinking, once or twice, that Ms Cummins could give Stephen King a run for his money characterwise.

Heart-pounding stuff.

This novel was previously published under the title 'The Neighbour'.

#TheFamilyNextDoor #NetGalley

❤😱❤😱❤

Some snippets I would like to share with you:

'....our secrets are never as well hidden as we think they are. A freeze framed expression. A forgotten newspaper photograph. A bloody secret buried beneath layers and layers of paint.'

'Smoke. Mirrors. Secrets. Lies. We believe what we want to, don't we? Our version of the truth. But there are many layers, many truths. We sift and curate and cherry-pick the parts that best suit the face we present to the world. Nobody is a true version of themselves. Everyone pretends.'

'...so much of the ugliness of her job was found not in city alleyways or late night street stabbings, but behind the mown lawns and washed cars and laundry on the line, the mundane and everyday. Inside lives quietly lived.'

'Grief was a complex emotion. It was possible to laugh, to go to work, to eat, at the same time as waves crashed against you, threatening to dash you against the cliffs and overwhelm you.'

THE AUTHOR: Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former Daily Mirror showbusiness journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing A Novel course. She lives in Essex with her family.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Kensington Books via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Family Next Door by Fiona Cummins. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system, please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage

People coming and going are always a curious affair. In The Family Next Door things keep happening on this street or lane in this supposedly average place. I found the character a bit off and the story a long winding road to absorb. This was a hard read but once you committed to the story it kept your attention..

I have read and enjoyed Cummins' series, starting with The Collector. And initially, I expected this to be a part of that. But, this is a standalone title - one that was actually published earlier in the UK under the title The Neighbour. Unfortunately, my disappointment over this not being a continuation of the series did somewhat spoil the beginning to me. But by the second half of the book, my spoiled expectations were long forgotten as I started to genuinely enjoy this quite a bit in its own right!

Set on the Avenue in Essex, this little street is surprisingly full of secrets. Just about every household on the block harbors some sort of hidden activity or past. The book shifts from various perspectives starting from the day the Lockwood family moves in - and alternates between the "Now" where a serial killer knows his spree is up and is preparing for the police to arrive.

The plot keeps the reader guessing, as there are multiple plausible possibilities for the killer's identity- there's the creepy older man who makes dolls, the vulgar one with the telescope, the postman who seems to only ever be delivering mail on their street... The sort of omniscient writing style does take a little bit of getting used to - and I definitely love the prophetic role of the Magic 8 ball here! It's an entertaining novel and one that I really did enjoy - despite my reluctance at first. I saw some of the twists coming, but there were plenty of surprises that I didn't expect, too! I am looking forward to seeing what Cummins will write next! Hopefully next time there isn't such a lag between the UK and US publications!

My first read by Fiona Cummins and it did not disappoint! A psychological thriller with elements of horror and intense suspense combine to keep you reading into the night - but not too late or you won't be able to sleep! Awaiting her next...