The atmosphere and environment as described in THE SILENT LISTENER becomes a character in this tale of a severely dysfunctual family ruled with an iron fist by the husband/ father. Lyn Yeowart sets the characters into the small community of Blackhunt, the rural setting will allow the father to be perceived as a "good" man by those outside the family while his wife and children live in fear everyday. The book opens with Joy Henderson returning to the homesite to care for her father as he lies dying. She has not returned out of affection, she wants to know why her father made the family so miserable. The book will not move backwards to the courtship of Joy's mother and how her father used deceit to bring her to Blackhunt.

this book is dark. the community is small, rural and scattered. the story as it progresses pulls the reader into the life of misery that George Henderson builds for his family. It is engrossing, how could no one outside the home see what was going on? This is definitely a GREAT book. Read it and share.

THE SILENT LISTENER by Lyn Yeowart is an intense, dark atmospheric family drama suspense. This debut author follows a family over several decades by intertwining three timelines. This is a slow burn suspense and it does take a while to sort out, but it is so well written it is difficult to put down even with the difficult subject matter and well worth your time.

4⭐⭐⭐⭐


4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

- first book read from this author and did not dissapoint . it gotten be hooked from the first chapter .
i think the ending was lacking and need more answer but probably best if there is a season 2 for this and it will be answered . well recommended thriller!

+thankyou netgalley for the opportunity

❤️shaye.read

What an incredible debut. I really enjoyed how dark and twisted this book is. I look forward to reading more from Yeowart.

The Silent Listener is a chilling psychological thriller set in the isolated Australian outback. The book moves through various timelines outlining Joy’s childhood with a monster of a father, Joy as her father lays dying and how her parents met.
I felt this book took a lot of patience as the pace was incredibly slow, not only because of the different timelines but also because the story moves painfully slowly. Despite the heavy topics covered in the book, Joy’s imagination does bring a little humour. Quite depressing overall though.

This was one heck of a book! It blew away my expectations which were low going in, as I have read many books of this nature and I wasn't sure how this author would make it feel fresh, but they sure did. Set in rural Australia and spanning three timelines between 1940s, 1960s and 1980s we follow Joy who lives in constant fear of her abusive Father, but has her 'perfect' sister Ruth by her side urging her to take revenge on their father for the turmoil they have suffered at the hands of their Father. When Joy returns to the farm many years later to care for her dying Father, he confesses to a terrible crime on his deathbed that sends ripples throughout the community. This story was full of the dark gothic writing I love. It was a slow burn and probably could have done with a little editing in places as it did seem a little long, but it was riveting nonetheless and had an icy grip on me the whole way through. The levels of tension that would build and explode then quickly recede again into the shadows and me flipping the pages ever quicker as we reached a shocking conclusion that had my jaw on the floor. If this is the level of writing we ca expect from this debut author then I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for more of their work in the future. A top notch suspense novel!

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was completely engaged in the plot and characters. It is in three different timelines which I thought might be confusing but it wasn't. Set in Australia, there are a lot of details that give us great visuals of the countryside but not too many that we get lost. The Hendersons are a farming family whose head of household is George who rules with an iron thumb. Abuse abounds and could be a trigger for some people. George also uses "religion" to lord it over all of the members of the family who all fear him. I was overcome with emotions as I read especially about Joy and how demeaning and physically abusive he was to her. But probably her emotional scars are far worse than any physical ones. This book is worth the read and I highly recommend it but possibly some might proceed with caution if they grew up with abuse.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion which I have given.

An absorbing rural crime tale that really sucks you in to the family situation. Wonderfully written.

I liked how the book flipped between timelines all leading up to the finale. The ending was well planned and executed and this was a dark and interesting journey of a read.

This book has 3 different timelines and multiple POVs which kept me super intrigued. This is a story about family and deep dark secrets. It’s a slow burn but very good. I typically read thrillers and this isn’t that and more of a dark domestic drama but I highly recommend it. It is long but stick with it as it’s a good story.

A great read with murder, mystery and multiple timelines set in rural Australia.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this book, I wasn’t a huge fan but that is just my opinion and I just can’t say I enjoyed the book and it took some time for me to finish!

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

This was a very disturbing but good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension -  impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

Rediscovering the love of thrillers has been the best thing about 2021, and this book was an amazing and positive discovery.

A dark and twisted Victorian thriller in Australia, with a slow pace (wich is not my favorite type of paces), but at the same time, a page turner. A must pick up for those who love thrillers.

A solid debut mystery set in rural Australia. The lives of the characters drew me in and kept me reading long past my bedtime.

I took too long to read and review this book, but have had life problems going on. I finally took the time to read it and I really enjoyed it. I'm always concerned with books set in another country due to different words and sayings. I did have to look up a couple things, but for the most part you could understand everything going on with out looking anything up. Chooks are birds would be the most helpful. This was a book where I was annoyed being interrupted. It hooked me in and kept me there. My heart broke for Gwen, Joy and Mark. It had a nice twist at the end. I had an inkling that there would be something along those lines, but never fully guessed it. This has child/spousal abuse as triggers in it, I wouldn't recommend to anyone that has experienced this in their life. It's so hard to imagine how someone can live like that or to hurt your loved ones like that. It's an outrage. It kept me turning page after page wanting to find out what the real story was. The ending did leave me wanting more information, but it did tie up nicely, I just wanted to know more. I will be checking out other books by this author. Thanks Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This book was really hard to read. Not because it was not written well because of the topics it covered. A girl is consistently reminded growing up she is not good enough. Worthless. Yet fast forward to her adult life and she is back where she started nursing her dad in his final days. It is heartbreaking. Hard to read. And covers brutally honest topics of abuse. It I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A debut novel from Lyn Yeowart, with echoes of Jane Harper at the start with psychological twists and turns from the outset. There's a move towards a more of a horror/ thriller midway which isnt my kind of book, with lots of violence which might be triggering to readers. Im not sure who I would be able to recommend it to, its quite an unusual mix.