Tension builds slowly and deliberately in The Cottage, a domestic thriller by Shamus award winning author Daniel Judson. Kate’s husband was killed two years earlier in a home invasion so she is understandably frightened when she sees strangers in her yard. The guest cottage on her property has been vacant since an argument with her sister Rebecca left them estranged. Although Rebecca has asked to use it, Kate rents the cottage to Jack, recently relocated to the area. Now the trespassing and vandalism get worse, punctuated by nighttime hang up calls. Kate relies on her father-in-law Leo and friend Eddie for help. Even with extra security, the terrifying harassment continues. Who would want to hurt Kate and why?

The mounting suspense and Kate’s relationship with Rebecca kept me reading The Cottage. However, the story seemed too long in places. I think, at 442 pages, it would have benefitted from careful cutting and editing. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Daniel Judson for this ARC.

Kate Burke has suffered from PTSD ever since the night her husband was murdered in a break in. Refusing to move out of the house that's belonged to her family for generations, she can still picture his broken body every time she goes into the backyard. Waking one night to vandals on her property, she agrees to taking a tenant in the cottage on the property. An extra set of eyes wouldn't hurt to make her feel more secure. But even after Jack moves in, strange and sinister things keep happening. Does she have a stalker? What do they want from her? And will she and her children ever feel safe at home again?
This book was dark and creepy and just when I thought I had it figured out, there was another plot twist. And now I'm sitting at home alone, jumping at every noise, feeling totally paranoid.
I received an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

This didn't work for me, unfortunately. The pacing was far too slow and the attention to irrelevant detail, like whether or not the father-in-law sprayed the swing set bolts with WD-40--great God a'mighty--took me out of the story. Also taking me out of the story? Its setting on Old Town Road. Me and the horse I rode in on say c'mon now.

Kate Burke is a widowed mother suffering from PTSD as a result of her husbands murder during what appeared to be a home invasion.

Two years later, Kate is awakened in the middle of the night by a sound outside. Someone has vandalized her property. Convinced someone is watching her, Kate decides to rent out her estranged sisters cottage for the summer. The cottage is located on Kate’s property.

Confident that she made the right decision, Kate should feel safe. Instead, the vandalism is getting worse. In addition, Kate is reviving mysterious, anonymous texts and calls, which get increasingly disturbing and creepy.

Who is targeting Kate and why?

This thriller was creepy and atmospheric! My heart beat faster with every turn of the page as a result of the creepy events happening to Kate. It freaked me out so much that I had to double check my doors were locked.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

What an awesome experience this book is! OMG. It was so fast paced and unapologetic. I can't even begin to imagine how scary it is to be stalked in my own home. Kate is such a brave character and I really connected with her. The writing of Daniel Judson was so realistic and it depicted an event that could happen in real life, to normal people. I love this book, kept me on the edge for two days. Brilliant!

The Cottage by Daniel Judson is a slow burn thriller revolving around Kate and her family. After her husband was murdered by intruders, Kate has been living alone with her two children, twins aged 12. A series of triggering events take place and she has no clue who the perpetrators are. Is it her estranged sister? Her new neighbour? Some troublesome teenagers? Or something sinister lurking in the woods.

It rarely happens that I just don't know how I feel about a book.
The premise had me intrigued with the first 50 pages creeping me out. The author did a good job of building the suspense. However, the book starts to get boring in the middle with a lot of dialogues between the characters and nothing much happens at that point in the story.

It is unnecessarily long at 443 pages and the author could have easily chopped about 50-100 pages. I would say the plotline had great promise but it really did not get there at the end.

I recieved an eARC from @netgalley in exchange of my honest review. The Cottage comes out today 11/2/21.

This book was too much of a slow burn for me. While I appreciated the build up, I prefer this type of sub genre thriller to be a little more developed and faster paced. It’s a long book (in pages) and lost my attention in spots, where I wasn’t able to be fully invested in the who and the why of the plot.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review (electronically). The main character has a cottage that she uses for renters and guests...is there someone else there? Who has been playing tricks on her and her family? How did her husband really die and why? Is it a friend? A foe? This story, a mystery, has the elements of almost a ghost story...it is a journey with the characters that is fun to take...yet sometimes not so much. Don't miss this one although the story does move somewhat slowly at times...

This book reads like stage directions. I wanted a story, not a play. The creep factor was definitely there. I wasn't thrilled to know the who through the entire book. Every time a new clue came up it was glaringly obvious what was going on or at least by whom. There was no chance I was going to get to the end and find I was wrong, and I wasn't. There were some detailed conversations with this character that went far beyond what anyone would consider a "normal" conversation. There was one interaction with this character that went into so much detail that it also revealed much of the why, also the details were long and boring. I scanned through most of it as I realized that while it gave much away it also wasn't the true root of why.

A creepy and unsettling story about a woman being stalked. It is certainly an entertaining read but nothing particularly original to set it apart from other books of the genre. 3.5 stars

Every once in a while you come across a book that just doesn't fit you. This is the book for me that I just couldn't get through.

I DNFd this at about 25%. The writing is fine but It was too slow for my liking and I was having a hard time connecting with the story and characters.

This was a book that I just could NOT get into. Choppy writing that didn't seem to move the story at enough of a speed to keep me interested. PTSD, vandalism, multiple characters, paranoia, no sleep, possible stalkers...it was a lot of....stuff. Too many plot points.

I think it could have been cut down into one line, one simple story - the PTSD - and gone from there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

If you had a cottage near your house, would you rent it out?
The cottage, not bad at all. I did the stupidest thing you can do, I viewed some reviews before I started reading. Regrets with capitol R. So what happened was that I started reading with a little prejudgement. Sincere apologies to the author.
Next thing I know this really is a rock solid thriller. Almost all ingredients I crave in a thriller are there.
●suspense
●under your skin
●making you check your windows and doors
● make sure your curtains are closed

I would definitely recommend the cottage to my fellow readers and book addicts.

DNF

I am thankful to have received this ARC, but for some reason, it is not going to be one that I am able to finish. It saddens me because I have read books from Mr. Judson in the past and really enjoyed them. Maybe its me, maybe not, but for whatever reason, this is not a book that I can continue with.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

The Cottage, by Daniel Judson, is a psychological thriller with plenty of family drama and a touch of romance, thrown in. There's a good twist near the end too. I had a really hard time getting into the story. It seemed to move pretty slow but eventually I was invested. While I found the main character, Kate, to be self righteous & judgemental, I couldn't help rooting for her and her family.
Kate Burke lives with the awful memory of her husband being murdered after a break in 2 years ago. When she starts hearing noises during the night and then discovers the bizarre things that the vandal has been doing on her property, she's fears the worst.
At a suggestion from her father in law, Kate rents out the small cottage at the front of her property. Maybe an extra person living nearby could help. With all the support that she's receiving from family & friends, she should be feeling safe but things are getting worse.
To try an ensure her & her children's safety, she asks her estranged sister to come stay for a while. Maybe she'll come up with the solutions that Kate's family needs.

It took me awhile to get into this book, but I am glad I kept with it. Sometimes the slow build will pay off, and I found the story to be different enough than other thrillers that it held onto my focus once I was in. I think maybe the writing style was what caused me to struggle in the beginning with connecting to the story and really diving in, because the flow was a little choppy.

The Cottage by Daniel Judson tells the story of Kate, a widowed mom of 2. Her policeman husband was killed 2 years prior during a home invasion. Kate and her kids are slowly coming back to a normal life. Suddenly, out of the blue, the cottage behind her house gets vandalized and she starts getting threats and texts and menacing phone calls. What is going on? Something similar happened right before her husband was murdered. Is the same thing happening again?
On the advice of her father-in-law, she decides to rent the cottage out in hopes that will deter the vandals. Too bad it doesn't work. The drama only escalates. Kate decides to reach out to her estranged older sister Rebecca for help. Kate and Rebecca have a very complicated past and haven't spoken in years. Rebecca was horrible when they were teens and drove their grandparents (their legal guardians) to an early grave. Kate has always held a grudge about this.
I don't want to give too many more plot details and ruin it. This book was a slow burn for me. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It seemed to be a little too long. Some of it could have been cut out in my opinion. There were too many chapters where not much happened. All in all though, I recommend this book to people who love family dramas, mysteries, and betrayals. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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To say this book was a page turner would be an understatement. Judson does a phenomenal job switching between gradual and fast paced build up throughout the different segments of this story. As you get to know the characters, you enjoy the innocence and confusion of the situation at hand. Katie and her kids are easily lovable, and as the chapters unfold the details of why things are happening, you can’t help but feel heartbroken for the surplus of loss and frustration alongside the small family. This book was an honor to read. It’s well written, strategically played out, and it only goes to show that you never know what’s truly going on behind closed doors and in somebody’s mind no matter how close you are.

This is a really slow burner and if I’m completely honest, I’m particularly impatient and love the thrill kicking off from the very start so this novel is reviewed based on the fact that this wasn’t really for me. I certainly struggled to push through as the pace is quite subtle.

Whilst I definitely felt a connection with Kate and the loss she was suffering, trying to carry on as a single parent with her 12-year-old twins, I didn’t care enough to rise to the bait as to who was vandalising her property and stalking her. It the beginning, the police, who are called out by her retired police officer father-in-law, believe that it could potentially be one of her students from school. Kate’s husband, also a police officer, had been killed two years previously by an intruder.

But for me there is something missing with the suspense that I crave and unfortunately, the book lost me. There were lots of chapters where nothing happened nor added to the back story. I found some of the writing style quite difficult to know what was going on and perhaps this was the reason for the disconnect.

However just because this is not my type of book, don’t be put off by my opinions as all in all, I could see this as the perfect novel for a different type of reader.

The highlight of the book was the relationship between Kate and her sister Rebecca which is fraught with emotion and when she’s involved in the story more, I definitely sat up and took notice.