This novel was nothing like I was expecting, despite having read the precis.
That said, the writing style was extremely engaging and I did enjoy it.
A short book, it was an easy family drama read which enabled me to relax and escape over Christmas.
Many thanks.

4 Stars from me

There is something so desperately creepy and uncomfortable about this book.

For me this story took several unexpected turns and I found much of what happened to be quite incongruous and unpredictable.

Stephanie was an unusual character to follow and she made some really odd decisions. 

Her son, Danny, was a lovely character. His storylines were nicely handled and very engaging to read. This was a softer and more sensitive side to this depraved little tale.

The Locked Attic shines a light on the old adage that you never fully know what goes on behind closed doors. Every second that Stephanie spent in that house was a second too long for my comfort zones!

I remain baffled by the relevance of the issues at the power plant, but maybe that's just me.

Overall, the book was way less about a locked attic than I thought it would be!

Also, I love the cover.

Wishing you a happy Jólabókaflóðið #Jolabokaflod this #ChristmasEve

The Locked Attic is a riveting and layered psychological thriller with well-crafted characters that keeps you in suspense. The story is primarily told from Stephanie’s POV, beginning with her waking up in the hospital disoriented. Each chapter jumps in time, giving a new piece of the puzzle and building the story.

I feel like so many reviews of this book give everything away, so I will keep things vague. The title of the book and blurb don’t do this one justice. It’s much more layered and deeper than I expected. The story dives into some extremely interesting relationship dynamics (husband and wife, mother and son, two families who are neighbors) and it keeps you guessing and in suspense. I flew through this book and when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it, trying to guess exactly what was going on.

I loved the relationship between Danny and Jonathan and thought that B.P. Walter did an excellent job handling it with care and authenticity, as well and giving the reader appropriate closure.

Some reviewers mention that there were things in the story that seemed random or unnecessary to the overall story (like the explosion) and I disagree wholeheartedly. I loved that this honored the way that life can be, the reality of it, where there can be random things that add to the overall confusion and craziness of things and provide opportunities that wouldn’t normally be there. For me, it added depth and made it more atmospheric.

The big reveal was slightly underwhelming and I wish it would have been taken a step further. Janet’s reaction when Stephanie wakes up had me on the edge of my seat and I felt that it could have been explored a bit more. The ending, while satisfying, felt a little abrupt. (That’s all I can say without spoilers).

But overall, I loved this book and highly recommend it. This was my first B.P. Walter book and I will definitely be reading more of his books in the future! I’m in love with his writing style and how well thought out and well-crafted this story was.

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and B.P. Walter for the opportunity to read and review this gem!

The Locked Attic is a dark thriller that doesn’t give much away about the attic until the final chapters.
Stephanie is the main character, she has just lost her husband and son in a car accident and is struggling with Danny’s (her son) life before he died and is determined to find out what happened. There is an explosion and they are told to stay in their houses but Stephanie goes across the road for a multitude of reasons that become clear as the story progresses. The neighbour’s are weird but their son Jonathan was Danny’s best friend and she feels here is a good place to start. Little would prepare her for what she witnesses in that house and changes her life.
This was a decent thriller, I liked how revelations were drip fed so there was always something going on. The neighbours were awful and I felt sorry for their children but the end chapters gave hope that three characters were going to recover from this ordeal. The attic was just something you wouldn’t want to think about at all!!
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins One More Chapter for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I'm unsure of how I feel on this one. It's told in three different timelines, before the explosion, day of explosion and after explosion, mostly told from Stephanie's point of view. We also have the POV of her son Danny, who I will say was my favorite of them all. This is not a thriller or much of a mystery, it flows more into impact of relationships and consequences. As with the author's last novel, The Woman on the Pier, the "Pier was not central to the story until the end and the same here. The "Attic" was not really prevalent to the last few chapters. Both also had a form of an event that seems like it will be central to the book but isn't. I feel like maybe the marketing of these seem a little more skewed as they are again more relationship/domestic driven. It took me a bit to get into but once I got into it I couldn't put it down but felt a bit let down by how it all played out. I do enjoy the writing style but how the plot plays out while good it seemed it went down a different path then what I was thinking.

I loved this author's first novel, but have been a bit underwhelmed by this one and the second one. While it held my attention it just doesn't have the depth I am looking for. As I said before I enjoyed Danny's and Jonathan's storyline but Stephanie, her husband along with the neighbors seemed very one dimensional. Also the author eluded to the explosion but to be a topic mentioned frequently especially as a notated timeline I was expecting more on that front.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This really was a 2.5 star for me but the quickness of it and writing style made me jump up a half star.

Thank you #Netgalley for the copy!

Another thriller from B P Walter that I could not put down. At first I found the timeline a bit scattered but then once the characters developed it starts to click. We follow Stephanie and Danny (mother and son) over the course of a few years, there are flashbacks from both characters. Stephanie is trying to connect all the pieces as to why her son became depressed, how/why he passed away and what did their neighbors have to do with it. We jump back to different scenarios and how the neighbors across the street had affected each of their lives both good and bad.

When Stephanie and Pete move from London into a nice neighborhood, Stephanie is delighted to find that their neighbors across the street, Janet and Richard, have a son, Johnathan the same age as their son Danny, 16. Now, Danny has a friend with whom he can start his new school. Janet and Richard also have a daughter named Mimi.

The story switches back and forth in time (a pet peeve of mine and it only serves to confuse the reader).

The story follows the friendship of Danny and Johnathan which is tender and sad. Then, Pete and Danny are killed in a car crash leaving Stephanie alone and bereft. As neither of her parents live nearby and her in-laws are too posh to be bothered with her, she is alone in her grief.

When a power station close by blows up, Stephanie is afraid to stay in the house by herself so she goes to Janet and Richard’s house. That’s when a lot of secrets come out and so does the violence.

I cannot take this any further due to possible spoilers. Suffice to say that this is a dark and depressing story that readers need to realize before starting it. For me, this author's books are hit and miss. Sorry, not a favorite here.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I get that thrillers thrive on secrets, but this story was full of rather obvious secrets. Not only that, the secrets were dangle in front of me like a carrot in front of a donkey; they were clearly just used to make me turn the pages.

I didn't mind the non-linear storytelling. I was much more peeved that the two POV read very similar; shouldn't a teenager sound different from his mid-thirties mother?

And why was the secret in the titular Locked Attic not the main topic of the story? The title and blurb are misleading.

I really liked the author's The Dinner Guest, but his last book The Woman on the Pier and this book didn't really work for me.

This book was just okay for me. I didn't feel it was very suspenseful and it wasn't very exciting. I liked the lgbtq rep but then it just made me sad that the kid died for no reason. I felt the reveal of what was locked in the attic was weird but not creepy enough for my liking!

I believe this has been touched on in several reviews already, but the blurb and the title for this book are very misleading. It's also not really a "thriller", but more a domestic drama. That being said, I thought the storyline was really good and the writing well done. I never once lost interest in going along the journey to find out what was going on here. I will also say, that there are explosions that are featured heavily, but I'm not sure what they add or why that was chosen, other than as a mechanism to conveniently give a reason for our main characters being able to interact and things to come to a conclusion. And what was in the "locked attic" plays such a minor role and was rather a letdown at least for me. I know it probably sounds like I didn't like this, but I truly did. I really appreciated how carefully the story between Jonathan and Daniel was handled - in fact that was probably my favorite parts of this book.

The Locked Attic by B.P. Walter was a very interesting book it took me a while to put things together but when I did, it turned out to be a really good by creepy book, so stick with it, This book is full of twists and turns. and it follows Stephanie when she wakes up in a hospital, Each chapter reveals more and more of what led her to this moment in hospital, hence why it took me a while to get into this book.

I really enjoyed BP Walter's The Locked Attic, slowly putting the pieces together to work out mysterious events of the past. Tension filled and suspenseful, this is more of a slow burn than a fast paced edge of your seat ride. The different timelines add a level of intrigue. I would definitely recommend this book!

THE LOCKED ATTIC is a new mystery thriller by British author B.P. Walter

His Novels Include:
A Version of the Truth (2019)
aka The Couple's Secret
Hold Your Breath (2020)
The Dinner Guest (2021)
The Woman on the Pier (2021)
The Locked Attic (2022)

This is my review of The Locked Attic.

The story opens with Stephanie in the hospital in pain, with vague memories, after a series of explosions in the area. She doesn’t understand why she is here, but slowly she starts to remember

The novel alternates back and forth in time between the main characters. Stephanie is happily married to her older husband, Pete, a university professor, with a sixteen-year-old son, Danny.
They were new to the neighborhood, having moved from London to start a new life.

They soon are introduced to their new neighbors, Richard and wife Janet with son Jonathan (Danny’s age) and older sister, Mimi. Danny and Jonathan attend the same school and soon become friends, with Danny having a hidden crush on Mimi.

But then Danny starts acting weird and is totally withdrawn spending most of his free time in his bedroom. Stephanie tries to get Danny to talk, but he refuses to open up.

But then a tragedy hits the family… Pete and Danny have been killed in an explosion.

Stephanie knows that Jonathan knows more about why her son was so withdrawn before his death, and she is determined to find out the truth.

This was a well-written psychological thriller with a twisted ending.

Many thanks to harpercollins.co.uk and Net Galley for my digital copy.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect out of this book but the blurb drew me in. I definitely wasn't disappointed by the clever storyline and the well developed characters.

This book is told in different timelines which I think worked very well as a mechanism to disperse information gradually. The main character, Stephanie is living alone at the beginning of the book. It's clear that at some point, she had a husband and son but you don't know what happened. The story goes back and forth to explain the different facets of the story. The main focus of the book is that Stephanie is convinced someone watches her from the house across the street and she believes there is something in the attic that they are hiding. Ultimately, she thinks it holds the answer behind why her son was acting strangely all of a sudden for a period of time. Thus, she becomes obsessed with uncovering the mystery no matter what.

The book is full of mystery, heartbreak, twists and turns. It's cleverly written and keeps the reader guessing while also still evoking strong emotions. I was impressed with the overall product and it exceeded my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I tried to read this and I just wasnt super into it like I thought would be. May pick it up at a different time.

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins and One More Chapter for this book.
I’m torn! The idea was good but for me there was something missing. I felt sorry for Stephanie, but Franklins just didn’t sit right with me.
Well written though and I would read more by this author, but there was just something not quite right and the ending was just lacklustre.

OH MY!!! this was an intense heart pounding, dark reading keeps you on your toes! I was hooked and couldn't put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Having recently read The Dinner Guest, I knew I wanted to get stuck into this one. And I did really enjoy it - it has a completely different plot to The Dinner Guest, with less of a mystery at it's centre and instead has strange, and slightly disturbing turn of events that happen around the main character.

I found this book quick and easy to read, it was definitely enjoyable in that regard. However, I think I would have liked a thicker plot, something to get more stuck into and really make me concerned for the characters. The ending definitely felt rushed in that regard but it didn't put me off in how much I enjoyed it and I can't wait to read more from this author!

I enjoyed more the plot in this book and felt upset for Stephanie's loss however at times I was getting confused as too much was going on and the timeline was jumping back and fourth. Over all it was ok but not a great read for me

Thank you #netgalley #harpercollins,onelastchapter and #bpwalter for a chance to read and review this arc.

We follow Stephanie, her husband and teenage son in this story. They have moved recently to a very affluent suburb, befriending the Franklin family across the road. They are a little strange but both have teenage sons who attend the same school and who have become fast friends so they make an effort to be friendly with each other.

Right from the first chapter we know that something tragic has happened to Stephanie and her family. Told from duel POVs, we find out what has happened in the following chapters, all culminating in a shocking conclusion.

I liked this book. I did think it was going to be a different story based on the synopsis, something a bit creepier and thriller like. Instead it read more like a drama with a few thrilling twists. Not terrible by any means, just not what I was expecting.
There are a lot of time jumps and duel POVs which get a bit confusing at times. I really enjoyed the character development and suspense which lead to a great final chapter.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.