Amber Miller is ready to start her new life after splitting up with her ex husband; she has a new boyfriend and is excited to move away and begin a new future with her two young sons. All she has to do is sell her house, pack up and make the leap of faith – but someone or something is making that house sale excruciatingly difficult. She decides to hold an open house, secretly snooping at the 13 potential buyers with her door camera, starting to feel increasingly unsettled when only 12 people leave her house at the end of the day… But the nightmare is only just beginning.

If you like creepy, unpredictable mysteries then stop everything and pick up this book! This is the first book I’ve read in a while where I genuinely had NO IDEA what was going to happen, or how the narrative would play out. The book sounded super interesting by the blurb, but it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, and I loved that it went in a different direction to the cliché route it could have taken. Sam Carrington is great at building the tension, dropping seeds of doubt with every single character – making you question everyone, scrutinise their motives and try and solve the mystery yourself. Every suspect had just enough weirdness to be dodgy, while still not making them too OTT to be unbelievable or sway you totally in a specific direction – either as a red herring or to be the obvious suspect. I loved that alongside this, Sam Carrington still made a lot of the characters likeable; because although they had motives, they all had very genuine reasons for the way they were, which humanised even the ‘bad guys’ throughout the book.

For me, the ending is where it all went a little bit South, which I wasn’t expecting because up until the conclusion I was ridiculously hooked. Without giving too much away, the end just felt like a really ridiculously convoluted conclusion – which detracted from the well crafted simplicity of the beginning of the book. The end literally went from 0-100, unearthing this huge, grandly elaborate plan – almost feeling like the author couldn’t quite decide on a succinct ending! The saying ‘too many chefs spoil the broth’ definitely rang true here! However, I did like that the characters she created still kept you invested enough to make me almost scream every time Amber made another stupid decision! It really felt like you’d been taken along the journey with them – which for me, is a true sign of a good writer.

The Open House is a really easy to read, unsettling thriller – taking the reader on a multitude of twists, turns and shocking revelations. I blitzed through this book insanely quickly, needing just one more chapter to try and figure out where the narrative would go! I’m definitely looking forward to checking out more Sam Carrington books; but in the meantime, brb gotta go and check that I’ve locked all my doors and windows…

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for my advanced reader copy! 💕

What a great thriller of a book! This book had me hooked from the very first page until the very end. Great plot with lots of twists and turns and will keep you guessing. My first book by Sam Carrington, but will definitely not be my last.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

In all honesty it was hard to decide who was a goodie and who a baddie in this rather convoluted tale. And even at the end I'm still not totally sure.

The premise was excellent but I found myself getting cross with Amber and her dithering attitude to all the peculiar events happening; to me she came across as a rather unsympathetic character - perhaps if we had had more back story about her separation from Nick I might have understood better, but from what I see, he had an affair, she kicked him out , they got divorced ... all rather too sudden. She clearly loved Nick but saw him as flawed, could she not forgive? And her rapid infatuation with Richard and her decision to uproot to go to him - all to implausible in such a short time.

Despite my misgivings I did find the book entertaining and I was keen to find out how the various plots got resolved - sadly the denouement seemed rather rushed and I felt a little cheated when all was revealed.

Nonetheless my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a quick read. I read this book for review for Netgalley. It is a character driven novel with a predictable ending. Much deceit in the story line. That bothered me with the ending. No real accountability.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the eARC
Release date: 10-DEC-2020

A compelling story with creepy moments and a shocking end.

Nick and Amber Miller are divorcing and selling their Devon family home so that both can move on with their lives. But despite the desirable location, the house isn’t selling. It seems that someone doesn’t want the house to sell. When Amber’s dodgy estate agent suggests an open house event, Amber agrees as long as she’s not there for the event but worries about their gossiping neighbours attending and snooping around their home.

The book takes a suspenseful turn as Amber watches the guests arrive via her doorbell camera phone app.
She watches as thirteen people enter her house that afternoon, and only twelve leave. Her youngest son starts having night terrors of a man standing over his bed and a number of strange things start happening around the house.

Amber makes some decisions towards the end of the book which left me scratching my head as I believe that these decisions were out of character for her. There are also one or two things at the end for which I had to suspend my beliefs in order for all the loose ends to be tied.

An entertaining and engaging read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the copy of The Open House. This is a voluntary review.

2.5/5 The Open House started out strong- complicated family dynamics, an impending divorce and move, and a Grandma who doesn't want to give that up. Perspectives switch between Amber (the Mom), Barb (Nana), and an unknown person. Amber hosts an open house and 13 people go in, but only 12 come out. Cue major creepy house incidents!

Early on I guessed some of the twists, but at the end there was more than I bargained for. I felt about 3/4 of the way through the creepy, mysterious factors began to decline and instead the ending felt a bit ridiculous to me more than shocking or tantalizing. I was sad! The author did a great job of creating a fantastic atmosphere for strangeness, and the moments of terror were written so well. Unfortunately, the ending did not do it for me and ruined the building of this story. There was just too much happening.

I couldn’t resist the idea of this book, or the beautiful cover. I really like images that contain doors, I don't know why, but I do.

When I read the blurb, I thought this book was going to be about a murder...that the person who entered the house didn't leave because they were killed somehow while viewing the house. I couldn't be more wrong...(although death is a topic within this book)

I was completely engrossed by the first 90% of this book. There were quite a few things Amber had me a bit cranky about, silly decisions or unrealistic ones, but that didn't stop this book from hooking me in and entertaining me.

I had a few suspicions with the story about who was doing what and a few of my suspicions were correct, I think it would be impossible to guess all of the twists and turns in this story, so any reader will still have a few surprises in this book. This book has twists upon the twists and is completely entertaining.

This book is not very plausible, but that doesn't matter to me, because its fiction, I do not need my fiction or my fictional characters to be plausible.

Pick it up if you are after a book that is quick and easy to read and will keep you guessing right to the end.

Oh nooooooo! I was enjoying myself so much but WTH kind of ending it was!
Why something starting sooooo good, smart, nail bitingly, gut twistingly exciting turns into something frustrating and disappointing!

After a few pages later, this book started blinking and giving me signal that I’m holding a true five starred mystery in my hands.

You know I love twists, surprises, jaw dropping, heart shattering, eyes popping , breath holding WTF moments! When a book gave me more of them and author’s IQ at least 10 points higher than me, I tell myself, “yes, I’m so close to fall for this book!”

I can truly admit this book’s beginning gave me those picture perfect signals:

The delicious, well calculated twists that killed my spidey spider senses! ( nearly half of them slapped me against my face but I didn’t care, I screamed: bring out more!)

Great characterization, Agatha Christie vibes meets whodunnit theme, intriguing mystery
Fast pacing, whirlwind, jumpy story telling.

A catchy, fresh storyline: MCs Amber and Nick want a divorce, selling their family house to go their parted ways after getting their equal share but nobody shows any interest to buy the place. So they should stop being prideful and organize an open house event by ignoring their noisy, prying people who are soulmates of Gossip Girl (I’m taking this back after remembering the real identity of Gossip Girl! Dear Penn Badgley , what have you done? ) 13 people attend to the open house event and one of them cannot leave the place. Creepy, disturbing and extremely entertaining, isn’t it?

But when we reach the last third, the book’s direction changes ( you keep asking yourself, it starts so good, it moves so fast but where will it end? I hoped it wouldn’t reach at someplace unacceptable but it did! )

And at the end, our heroine makes a decision makes you SCREAM and hate the guts of her. Yes, Amber, you are big disappointment and I barely hold myself not to beat the hell of you!

Don’t get me wrong! The author is so smart puppet master pulling the strings of the characters at the right time and presents us unique, enjoyable, original, promising story but I wish the ending could be different and Amber makes another decision!

I’m cutting my points because of the unsatisfying ending but I have to admit this normally deserves more than three stars ( especially first half) but there’s an important fact I have to emphasize: this kind of moving thriller highly deserves better heroine and fairer ending. So I’m giving 3.25 stars!

I’m looking forward to read more works of the author.I truly enjoyed his writing style and I’m so open to read his other novels with better conclusions.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for sharing this intriguing arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Wow, another compelling British mystery that kept me swiping my Kindle all day long.
Amber, a newly divorced mother of two is trying to sell her home so that she can move with her new beau and her children to a village hours away. Something is frightening her and her children as items become missing, broken, or moved around her home. Is someone hiding in her home, is she being gaslighted, or is something supernatural going on. Why do her boys insist that a man stares at them as they sleep?
Chapters are short and leave you waiting to swipe to the next page to answer your questions as quickly as possible. I was able to guess the identity of one character, but the twists and turns and the final explanation made this book a great read.

I really wanted to like this book. The description was of a perfect domestic suspense thriller and it's British and I love all of those thigs. But by the time I was 40% through the book, I ended up skipping ahead to the end to find our what happened. This book did not give much background and it was hard to like the characters. Especially a woman who would pack up her kids and move several hours away to be with her new love. That seems so strange to me, even though I read the ending. Disappointing.

The Open House centres around Amber Miller - a young mum of two who has recently split with her husband, copper Nick, and is getting ready to move to a new home with her new partner, Richard.

But the beautiful house in Devon just isn't selling. Developers are keen to get their hands on it, and the home's former owner - Nick's clingy mum, Barb - is desperate for it to stay as a family home. In fact, if she had her way, Nick and Amber would get back together and Amber wouldn't be taking away her grandchildren to another part of the country.

To try to move things along, Amber agrees to let her estate agent run an open house event (weirdly, one where just anyone can rock up and have a nosy around, without booking a time slot or registering any contact details or anything... not quite how i remember my own 'open house' event going but that is just nit-picking!)

But the open house event unnerves Amber. Spying on procedings from her doorbell app, she counts 13 people going in.. and only 12 coming out....

Thus begins a series of unsettling events around the house, leaving Amber and her boys frightened and wondering what happened to the 13th viewer?

Whilst nosy neighbours become allies, questions arise around Richard, and the mother-in-law's agenda becomes more and more questionable, Amber tries to figure out what is going on in her house and why she can't seem to sell it.

The Open House was a very intriguing read and I had a lot of fun reading it and trying to work out what on earth was going on. I do tend to spoil books for myself a lot by over-thinking about them - but then it is also a good sign that i couldn't stop thinking about it! However I did work out one of the plot twists quite early on - but there were several others that were really excellent twists that I wasn't expecting!

3.5 stars

The blurb talks about the open house event (an attempt by the heroine, Amber) to sell the house our heroine, Amber, and her two kids live in. She is separating from Nick, her husband, and plans to relocate to another city to live with her boyfriend, Richard.
So thirteen people enter the house during the event, and only 12 go out. What happens to the 13th person? Are they responsible for the strange occurrences in the house? Are they the same person who will do anything to make sure that the house doesn’t get sold?
Isn’t that an interesting premise? Coupled with the cover picture, I requested the ARC of the book immediately.
Three people narrate the story, with Amber having the maximum share. The other is Barb, her MIL, and the third person is a stranger/ killer(?).
What I like:
The character development is good. Even if I don’t relate to any of them, I can visualize the characters enact their roles. The author sets up layer after layer of suspense, building it high and high. The narration is steady (even if not seems to be happening at times). There are too many characters. But somehow, all of them contribute in one way or another. I could deduce some and was surprised by others, so that’s balanced.
The chapters are short, which made it a relatively easy read. It’s 384 pages, after all (and no, I wasn’t aware of the page count until later). For me, to touch 100 pages in 70-80 minutes means that the book is a fast-read.
What I Felt Lacking:
The climax wasn’t as impactful as it should be. It ended up more as an info-dump about the past rather than create any lasting effect on the reader. Too much was withheld until the last 20%, where it was unleashed on the reader in rapid succession.
Amber blabbers quite a lot. Yes, she is stressed and under a lot of pressure, but we could do with a little less rambling.
There are a lot of subplots. They are solved and interlinked, but not in a satisfactory manner. The biggest issue is, of course, the ending. It fell flat after all the high hopes. Talking more about it would reveal the story, so no more.
Overall, this is a decent thriller that could have been paced better (in terms of sharing information with the readers). A must-read? Nope.
Thank you, NetGalley and Avon Books UK, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #TheOpenHouse

I enjoyed the premise of this book. It started well, but then just went all a bit surreal for me and just not in the direction I was led to believe! There were lots of subplots which were good for keeping the reader guessing but the ending felt rushed and not very believable.

I had a plethora of emotions moving onto this read; excitement, trepidation and also apprehension. I have gotten to know Sam Carrington and I wanted to love this book because she is so lovely. Well this is not a good book...it’s EPIC!!

If you follow my reviews you will know that I am often let down or disappointed by endings. All too often authors feel the need to taint what should be a solid ending by trying too hard to leave it open for a sequel. Sam manages to not only leave the story open for further exploration, it also is perfectly finished as it is. Very cleverly written.

Sam not only lead me up the garden path but taken down the road to a neighbours!! I did however work out one vital part of the plot but with so many aspects to piece together meant I was on my toes the whole time. Just when you think you have read the mother of all reveals, Sam throws in the Daddy before dropping the mic!!!

I didn’t need to worry about giving a bad review, this is by far the best thriller I have read this year, if not ever! I enjoyed every moment of this chilling, tormenting, dramatic tale. It’s not often I’m so torn between putting a book down in fear and picking it up as curiosity is too much. Well Done Sam - you smashed it!!!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC, I will say I’m sucker for books with twists and turns that leave me saying “wait, what?” And this was one of this books. Amber is looking to sell her home, one that belonged to her ex husband and his family. A meddling mother in law, a nosey neighbour and an estate agent who’s intentions don’t seem entirely pure; a cast of characters who don’t seem to want to let go of this house. Amber continues to become frustrated, wanting to sell this house and start life with her new man; but then strange things start happening. Is she loosing her mind or is someone trying to stop her from selling the house. And why? This family is full of secrets, who can you trust, what’s lying beneath the surface and what secrets does that home hold.

This book was just crazy, my heart was pounding in parts and my mind kept changing in what I thought the course would take. Amber is going through a divorce and trying to sell their family home, when there are no leads the estate agent suggests an open house, should be straight forward right? Only 13 go inside, but 12 come out.. is the 13th person still inside.. highly recommend and thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

THE OPEN HOUSE
BY SAM CARRINGTON

This was a very interesting and intriguing story by author Sam Carrington. He sure had my rapt attention from the very beginning. His new book is called "The Open House." It sure had me wondering what I would do in Amber's position. I would like to get myself one of those spyware doorbells that act as a camera that connects to an application on your k that records everybody that enters and leaves my house like Amber the main character in this unnerving story.
It really did scare me for most of the book because of all of the strange things that were going on in Amber's home.

Amber and her husband Nick have divorced because he spent all of his time at work and then he cheated on her and she found out. It is an amicable divorce and they are still on good terms. She decides to go along with her real estate agents idea of having an open house because nobody has shown any interest so far in buying except some shady developers who want to tear down all of the homes and subdivide the land and gardens and build more homes on less land. Her mother in law named Barb sold the house to Nick and Amber who have two young sons.

So Amber agrees to have an open house even though she thinks a lot of her nosy neighbors will go just to snoop around. She really is in a hurry to sell so that she can split the proceeds with Nick and use her half of the money to move in with her new love interest named Richard whom she met on Facebook but he lives far away. Her half of the money will allow her and Richard to get a place of their own if they both pool their money together.

Amber watches thirteen people enter her house but only twelve people leave from her doorbell camera on her phone. I would not dare to go home if that was me but she does and all of these strange things keep happening. She hears creaking sounds on her stairway while she is in bed. One of her son's says he sees a man watching him at night. This was a spooky read until the ending which sort of ruined the promising premise.

Her mother in law Barb makes an extra key sneakily after Nick changes the locks on the front door. Her real estate agent is taking his time returning her key. This was an incredible story that was so compelling that I couldn't put it down until I got to the last 80 percent mark. I found the ending was just too weird and it went from a phenomenal read to a feeling of disappointment. I would rate this 3.5 stars rounded up for the 80 percent that was so unique and intense that I read way past my scheduled time and was disappointed that I didn't stick to my schedule because I had things that I wanted to do.

I am on the fence about recommending this because while it was a worthwhile read the ending just seemed too far fetched for me to believe. I realize that this is just my opinion and that others may love the book. I really wanted to keep on loving it right through to the end. The character's were interesting and the premise was quite good. If you think you would like this don't let my review stop you. Read other reviews and if you decide to read this then I hope you enjoy it. I wish the author every best wish on success with this novel. I am glad that I got to the bottom of what was a creepy story in a good way.

Publication Date: December 10, 2020

Thank you to Net Galley, Sam Carrington and Avon Books UK for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheOpenHouse #SamCarrington #AvonBooksUK #NetGalley

Family secrets never end well...especially in mystery books! This is a great read with many interesting characters that alternate narrating. A simple open house turns into a much more complex mystery.

If you're looking for a quickie thriller, this would fit the bill soundly. It has twists, turns, and pretty unexpected happenings. However, I found the pace to feel a little off, and the beginning and ending didn't really feel cohesive. A lot was also just assumed and many things were kind of just let go in the end, despite the end just being a lot of exposition. Would have liked it to unfold a little more naturally.

I loved the premise of this book. I loved the first half of it as well! The second seemed to really drag on for me. I thought the ending was so far fetched that I just lost interest.