At this point in time, brilliant and remarkable noir psychological thrillers are hard to come by. The market feels a little saturated. However, Anna Downes "The Safe Place" is a total stand out. Tons of tension building and twists and turns had me completely enthralled with this novel. Downes slowly and tantalizingly drops the individual puzzle pieces to the story of Emily and the bizarre situation that she's gotten herself into. This one is completely unputdownable and I'll be grabbing everything that Downes writes from now on!

The Safe Place isn’t so safe! Oh my, how I loved this complex roller coaster of a ride! I went into this totally blind and so happy I did! The characters are revealed peeling layer by layer to really find out who they are. Shocked, thrilled and mesmerized I was with each chapter. Once I started, the more further the mystery the harder it was to put down! I thought many times I knew what was going on and I actually had no idea what was to unfold! I highly recommend this story to readers who love thrillers, who love the mystery of a unique story like this!

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review. Three and a half stars out of five! I was only sort of invested in the story and then bam! I was hooked for real at about 70 % into the story. And then I felt a little like the end fell a teeny bit flat for me. I did enjoy reading this and am glad I did read it. I do think I would recommend this one as a quick beach read. And I do wish I was in the pool on the cover of this one right now! Ha.

An interesting, suspenseful read but was expecting something creepier. A down-on-her-luck Emily is offered a too good to be true job and ends up discovering that something is very wrong. Life or death wrong and involving a helpless child, which brings back hidden traumas of her own. A slow build up with insinuations along the way and a pretty good ending.

Emily has always felt a little out of place and never quite sure of herself. Her move to London to follow her dream of becoming an actress has been a disaster. She has been forced to resorted to temp work in order to make ends meet. After being fired from her current job as a receptionist, she is unexpectedly offered a job to work for a wealthy family on an isolated estate on the coast of France. Facing eviction from her apartment as well as a dwindling bank account, Emily takes the job with very few reservations. She is delighted to find that the estate is almost like a fairy tale, and the owners are charming and elegant. Finally, Emily’s worries seem to be behind her – until she begins to realize the estate is more like a prison, with secrets that Emily feels compelled to investigate.

The Safe Place is a solid thriller, that is well-told and slowly builds to the final chapter. Even though I didn’t overly-sympathize with the characters, the story was so well-written that I didn’t have to. As a result, I enjoyed the unique storyline, the descriptions the author provided, and the believability of the story. Very well-done for a debut novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

I did not like this book. For a whole bunch of reasons. It was too much unbelievable tidbits of information thrown together and I just did not buy it. The characters were not well thought out. They were cardboard caricatures and every last one of them was unlikable. The book was too long. I skimmed to the end because I wanted to know what happened but then I missed it. Maybe? I don't know. Anyway, I felt like this book was a hot mess and I'd like my time back.

This was such an enjoyable read! I loveeeee when stories introduce us to stunning, almost otherworldly settings... especially when they hide dark secrets. MY FAVE. *insert evil laughter.* The Safe Place does just this, with its picturesque, isolated French estate. I love the premise -- Emily, out of work, hopeless, and too ashamed to ask her family for help, accepts a job with a strange set of stipulations. She'll receive a full salary along with free room and board in the guest house of a beautiful mansion. All she has to do is keep the family company and help with renovation tasks... and keep quiet about her job.

It was fun picturing what it would be like to sit in the sun eating fancy food and have an entire guest house to yourself... and just as fun anticipating what secrets the main house -- and its inhabitants -- could be hiding. I loved Anna Downes' writing style and ability to make the reader feel like they truly were in a beautiful villa on the coast.

The thriller plot-line itself was fairly predictable for me personally, but I found myself enjoying how it played out nonetheless. This was a solid debut novel and I'd love to read more from this author in the future! 3.5 stars.

Thank you Minotaur Books for providing an advanced e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Emily could use a knight in shining armor…a fairy godmother…just a lucky break! She’s lost her job, her agent, her apartment, and she’s not in the best place with her family. But just as everything seems to be falling apart, her former boss offeres her an opportunity to spend the summer working for his family at their French manor.
The amazingly eerie manor at the French coast houses Scott, his wife Nina and daughter Aurelia. While Emily assumed she was hired as a housekeeper, she soon finds that she spends her days predominantly lounging poolside with Nina and playing with Aurelia. But things are strange with Scott’s wife and daughter, and Emily may have been less a victim of circumstance than she originally thought.
The Safe Place is an engaging thriller even if the storyline becomes a bit predictable around midpoint. I was hoping for a more stunning end, but overall it was an entertaining read and a great escape.

*I received a copy of The Safe Place from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

This was a great read, but I'm not a huge fan of the ending. Maybe I'm never happy with how good books turn out, but this wasn't the way I wanted it to. It's still definitely worth reading!

This book kept me very interested. I was completely caught off guard a few times. Did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. pleasantly surprised!

Emily is in a tough spot. She's just been fired after turning up late at work again due to an audition. An audition that led nowhere, by the way. And now her agent is dropping her as a client. What's more, she's got no money in the bank and has just been informed that her rent check has bounced and she's being evicted.

Then her knight in shining armor arrives in the form of her ex boss. It seems he needs an all around assistant/housekeeper to work with his wife and young daughter at his home in France. Emily will have room and board, access to the household credit card, and a car for her very own use. Oh, and the house, it's in paradise!

But there's something odd about the family. Scott almost never leaves London, Nina is pretty as a picture but a bit too intense, and Aurelia doesn't talk. At all. But the young girl also suffers from some pretty severe health issues too, which Emily suspects is the reason for any weirdness.

Unfortunately for Emily, she's about to learn that paradise isn't all it's cracked up to be. And if a job seems too perfect, it probably is!

Anna Downes's debut is a spectacularly page turning one!

Emily is young and somewhat downtrodden. She doesn't have a great relationship with her parents and she basically has nowhere to turn when everything goes to shit. But Scott has had his eye on her for some time.

And Scott is where the reader first begins to learn that things are...off. He comes to Emily's rescue but she's completely unaware of the fact that she's being manipulated. Plus, she has something of a crush on the man as well, which keeps her from really noticing anything off.

In fact, Emily is soon starstruck by Scott's entire family and existence. The house—actually two houses: the family home and the guest house where Emily is living and working— is amazing. The estate sits on the water and seemingly has acres of gardens, tons of animals, a pool, a fully stocked outdoor kitchen, the works. So when Emily arrives and is told emphatically that the main house if off limits, it's not that big of a deal. She understands the family wants their privacy.

All of that conspires to keep Emily from recognizing all of the things that aren't quite right. The NDA she has to sign before accepting the job, the reminders that she not post anything on social media, even the overall privacy of the estate itself is somewhat disconcerting. But again, the family wants privacy.

Chapters alternate between Emily, Scott, and Nina, which gives the reader the chance to see things that Emily isn't privy to or just plain doesn't notice at all. It also keeps the reader, and Emily, on their toes throughout the story. All in all, Downes does a really excelling job of building the suspense throughout!

If you're a fan of audiobooks, I do have to recommend that edition of the book as well! Downes herself narrates and does a phenomenal job!

Dark secrets in blissful paradise, what more could you ask for in a perfect summer read? The Safe Place is such a fun debut! I can't wait to see what Downes will do next!

<b>The Short of It:</b>

A surprising read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

<b>The Rest of It:</b>

The cover hints at something sinister going on and yet I could not for the life of me figure out what until very late in the story. It kept me guessing and I really enjoyed how it all unfolded as I eagerly turned each page.

Emily is a young, struggling actress who works temp jobs just to get by. One morning she shows up to work only to find out that she’s being let go. She can’t make the rent, her bank account is depleted and now this. What she doesn’t know is that Scott, the boss who just decided to let her go, has other plans for her.

He offers her a live-in position caring for his wife and daughter at his home in France. Included in the deal is a car, a bank account with plenty of spending money and a beautiful place to call home. This is the answer to Emily’s dreams and after a few weeks with the family she discovers that she loves this family and has really grown attached to their young daughter, Aurelia.

As the story unfolds, Emily becomes concerned. Something isn’t right and there seems to be many secrets that Nina and Scott are keeping from her. At one point in the story I was seriously creeped out!

I really enjoyed The Safe Place. I read it in just a couple of sittings because the story starts with a bang and right out of the gate you want to know what’s going to happen next. I am loving these kinds of reads during these COVID times. If you need a quick, riveting read to get you through the day, pick this one up.

For more reviews, visit my blog: <a href="http://bookchatter.net">Book Chatter</a>.

Emily is a mess and down on her luck...when suddenly the perfect job seems to appear. Isn't the saying if it's too good to be true it probably isn't...A quick enjoyable read and nice escape form this world during this crazy time. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea what was going on, and I just had to keep reading.

3.5, but rounded up. Not that creative, but a very pleasing read nonetheless.

Emily's life hit rock bottom, she lost her job, all auditions she tried for so far and even her agency is letting her go. That's when her former boss Scott gets her the perfect option and getaway from her life—to be a personal assistant to his wife in a secluded house in France.

Even though it takes about a quarter of the book for us to get to the famed safe house in the title, we get a glimpse of it during the flash-forward in the prologue and all the strategy Scott goes through to make sure Emily is the perfect candidate were more than entertaining.

I think the book actually loses a bit of pacing after we meet the house and his wife in real time. There we find how the couple's daughter had health issues when a baby and now the girl still seems to suffer from after effects, so his wife is very protective of her now, with the whole "safe house" project being probably to make sure the girl would be healthy. I found the relationship between the three of them—Emily, Scott, and his wife—a little cringey too, so that could be the reason this middle part of the book felt slow; that I kept thinking, can't we just fast forward this third-person embarrassment, please?

As you can already see, the book is well structured and after this "happy" part, even Emily starts seeing things aren't right at all. As a reader, you keep trying to guess what is wrong with that deal since the first page, of course. And now I know, I can't say it was surprising at all. However, I can't say I guessed it in advance either. Still, I keep feeling naive about the answer to the mystery. It was so simple, it was disappointing, actually. Because this is a book that bets a lot on the mystery, with nothing much happening before we arrive in the last quarter, that disappointment made it lose some points with me.

I'd also like to note that the I found the ending explained well the main story, but the writer left a few unanswered questions. Especially about Emily's past as a child, which she queued too many times about along the story to then not offer a full explanation.

Aside from that, the book was pretty much okay. In fact, it was above average, and that's why, despite not feeling it a full-fledged four-star, I'm sure it deserved getting the stars rounded up. It was quick to read, it kept me interested about the ending. Even if it wasn't that good a plot twist for the conclusion, it did close what mattered of the story too. And I must add, I'm looking forward to more works by Anna Downes; this was a nice book.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Downes did a nice job with the setting. I alternated between wanting to visit the house and being incredibly creeped out by it. The plot wasn't anything memorable, though.

I think all of my reviews are particularly reflective of this year. I've not had as easy a time of reading, and the books/genres I would normally turn to during this bizarre summer have been hit and miss. 
That being said, I really enjoyed the demented big staycation energy behind The Safe Place. Struggling actress/person Emily Proudman is going through it. She is fired from her job and dumped by her agent. When her former boss Scott offers her the chance to move to remote France and help his wife Nina take care of their home and troubled child Aurelia, she runs off without any real thought. This being the kind of book I love, things are not what they seem and she may or may not be in danger. 

This book was bonkers. I kept trying to guess the ending, solve what was happening. Even when I was right, I was wrong. What I enjoyed most about these characters was that they mostly felt like real people. Everyone was a little annoying and a lot selfish. I also appreciated a trip to a nightmare house in France when I'm stuck in NYC for the foreseeable future. The Safe Place was a thriller and a vacation and a modern gothic all rolled into one. A great debut and I hope to read the author's next book-hopefully far from home-next summer. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a great summer suspense novel - perfect for a day at the beach or for laying poolside. Was it anything super new and unexpected? Not necessarily, but the story was still interesting and still held my attention throughout. The setting on a remote French estate was the real winner of this book - I wanted more just for the setting!

Emily Proudman wants to be an actress, but she has lost the current job she auditioned for. Not only that, but her agent isn’t renewing her contract, and she can’t pay her rent on her apartment. To add insult to injury, now she has been fired from her temporary office job at Proem Partners. Her parents won’t even help her out, and she is out of ideas, when a job just seems to fall in her lap.

Scott Denny, who is the attractive and rich CEO of Proem Partners, makes Emily an offer she can’t refuse—a job as a personal assistant/housekeeper/painter to his wife, Nina. What’s not to like about this job?! She gets a great salary, a car, and can live rent-free at a beautiful estate in France.

When Emily arrives at Querencia, she can’t believe her luck! The estate is a paradise, and she thinks this must be her dream job! However, Nina and Scott’s daughter, Aurelia, is a puzzle—she doesn’t speak and must wear clothes covering her whole body due to being allergic to sunlight. And Nina is hard to figure out, as well. She seems nice, but emotionally distant, and forbids Emily from entering the main house. They also seem cut off from the real world since they have no Internet service and only intermittent phone service.

Emily also finds it strange that Scott never visits his family. When he does finally arrive, months after she has been there, he seems to want nothing to do with Aurelia and doesn’t seem overly happy to see Nina. She feels something is going on, but she doesn’t know what to make of it.

She eventually leaves Querencia and drives into town, where she visits an Internet café and discovers that the Denny family has a huge skeleton in their closet. After learning this, she decides she wants to leave. However, the Dennys have other plans for Emily…

In this debut suspense thriller by Anna Downes, the author has done an excellent job of world-building by giving the reader lush descriptions of parts of France. The story is told in chapters by Emily and Scott, with some backstory narrated by Nina. It is during this backstory that readers learn what transpires in the Denny family’s lives before the novel actually begins.

The main characters are intricate and authentic, which makes for absorbing, obsessive read. Emily is portrayed as weak, immature, and gullible, but she actually grows during the novel into someone who can think for herself. Scott is aloof and controlling, but not near as much as Nina, who is also desperate and conniving. Aurelia has a whole set of problems of her own, which don’t seem to improve, partially because of her mother.

The Safe Place is an oppressive, obsessive Gothic-type novel and is on several “anticipated book lists”. There are plenty of twists, turns and surprises in the story to keep readers interested, although it does drag a bit in the middle. Hand this book to your readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. I recommend it for public libraries and give it three out of five fleur de lis.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this title.

The review can also be found at readmanybooks.blogspot.com.

This debut has down on her luck Emily taking a job as a house assistant at a luxurious, remote beachside home in France. Obviously that's going to be pure bliss and nothing weird at all is going to happen, right? There is a great sense all along that something isn't right, but it's not clear what exactly is off about the family. The juxtaposition of the gorgeous setting and the "something's off" feeling made for a great story. My assumptions about where the story would go were consistently challenged as the story went in different directions. Is it supernatural? Is there something going on with the adult's relationships? What exactly is going on with daughter Aurelia? I'm hoping that Anna Downes has more stories to come!

It definitely took me a little bit to get into this one. While I enjoyed it, I felt like it took until I got 50% to 60% into the book for things to really start happening. Up until then, there was a lot of description and character development. Once the pace did start picking up, I really enjoyed how Downes was able to bring the character’s emotions and reactions to life through her writing. I could picture how frightened and upset Emily, Nina, and Aurelia were at different times throughout the novel. When they all felt frustration, it was palpable.