With its relentless pacing and shocking twists, this expertly crafted thriller delivers an unforgettable experience that will leave you reeling and wanting more.

I really like the premise of this book, and the writing is good. The characterization of the main character, Gil, is excellent although his neurotic anxiety and self absorption make him annoying to spend time with. Unfortunately there simply isn't enough content in the story to carry the weight of words. After an intriguing start, it plateaus completely and loses even a semblance of impetus. I'm afraid when I reached the lengthy bit where Gil tells us all about the trials of becoming a writer I lost all interest and abandoned it, at about the 40% mark. Thrillers need to thrill, and in order to do that they need to maintain a faster pace and a greater sense of mystery or ambiguity than this one does.

A car crash kills Matthew's parents. He must live with his uncle Gil and his family until he turns 18. Matthew is a troubled teen whose mother and uncle split over a childhood event. Gil and his wife, Molly, are worried about this troubled kid joining them. His politeness surprised them. Matthew will eventually show himself.

This book promised to be an excellent thriller, but I disconnected from Gil and it just felt like a lot of pages of whinging, flashbacks, and little substance.

I understand where the author was going with this, but the tension and paranoia in every word make it unpleasant to read. I wasn't moved by or invested in Gil; I just wanted to get to the end. Though well-written, the overall vibe and predictable plot make this a chore to read.

I enjoyed this story but it could have been so much more. The tension and suspense was too often interrupted with flashbacks that largely did nothing to further the narrative and the ending fell rather flat for me. Gil was rather one dimensional in his attitude to an older Matthew which also affected the psychological gameplay between the two thereby lessening the possible tension between them. Some questioning on Gil’s part around his own motives and beliefs would have strengthened his reactions. Some clever editing and adding some nuances to Gil’s character in particular could have really made this a heart-stopping read.

Well if you want to ruin a long hot day at the beach try reading this book. It’s not that it’s not a great book because it really is. It’s just that I was so caught up in the tension of the story I didn’t want to do anything but read all day. So despite my partner getting annoyed with me I have to say my day was brilliant.
The plot is so refreshing and original and the authors obvious love of fiction as a genre made the style a delight. I’ve read some of the other reviews and I’m amazed everyone hasn’t given it five stars. I certain will be doing.

Gil knows his nephew Matthew is dangerous. The signs were there early - on a family holiday Gil's daughter was discovered nearly drowning at the bottom of a swimming pool, while Matthew looked on from the deck. Now seventeen, Matthew is orphaned when his parents die in a car crash. He must leave his Upper East Side Manhattan life behind, to live with Gil, his wife and daughters in rural Vermont. He is insolent, bored, disconnected. At least that's Gil's take. To the women in the family he is charming, intelligent, wry. But when he disdainfully joins Gil's writing classes at the local university, Matthew's fiction shows a vivid and macabre imagination spilling onto the page. Matthew is clearly announcing his intentions to Gil, taunting him before he does something awful to his family. But why is Gil the only one who can see this? As Gil begins to follow Matthew around, his own behaviour becomes increasingly unstable. Is he losing his mind? Which of the two of them is likely to kill someone? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve been in a massive reading slump lately and this kind of fast paced fun was exactly what I needed to get out of it.

I actually wish this book had been longer. I felt like we were just getting to know Gil and Matthew and then it was all over.

I read this in another review but I did find Gil’s focus on money and how not-well-off he was grating while he lamenting about his kids being in private school and all the land they had in Vermount. Give it a rest, Gill.

My only criticism was I didn’t like the ending but I won’t say any more than that! I also did not like what I’ll call the epilogue.

I’m not a big thrilled fan but this was fun and pacey and got me out of my slump!

4 stars

This book is a hard pass for me unfortunately, the writing is too repetitive with the phrase ‘the boy’ being used over 300 times and said boys name being used over 700 times. It just doesn’t flow. It is written in first person via Gil’s pov and he is paranoid from the get go at Matthew coming to live with him but never seems to confront him or talk about this issue.

He obsesses and follows him and it is just so repetitive.

I could not enjoy this one unfortunately.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC it just didn’t suit my taste but others will enjoy this one.

This started off quite slow and I did start to wonder if it would be my kind of thing. But in the end I think the slow start was needed. We needed to get to know this family and it’s past. We needed to know about Matthew and what his part was to play. But I’d say by about 1/3 of the way through, it starts to pick up.

It’s not this full on gory scary thriller. It’s soft than that. It’s that on-edge thrill, when you’re waiting and waiting for something to jump out at you. And whilst I don’t believe it ever got to the satisfying climax, it is in the waiting that you feel the thrill.

The three main characters - Molly, the mother, and her daughters Chloe and Ingrid - didn’t quite hit the mark with me. Perfectly acceptable characters, but they held no substance. I was expecting more resistance from them, but they just sort of plodded on in the background.

Even Matthew, to a certain degree, was pushed to the background. He was a well written villain, cold and calculated, luring you into a false sense of security, but I felt more could have been made of him. His background is mentioned but never fully explored.

The stand out character is definitely Gil. I liked this battle he had with himself. It’s slow and steady and you can see descent into madness, this withdrawal into himself.

I felt the focus was unbalanced. There’s a lot of focus on things such as Girl’s youth and career, and his and Molly’s relationship, but it felt unbalanced considering the blurb is all about Matthew and his evil tendencies towards the family. But this isn’t used enough. I was expecting more of that, with some background in for context, but it more felt like a literary excavation, rather than a thriller.

It plods along and then suddenly it comes to an end and you’re sat there a bit bemused, There’s a fair bit of ambiguity. You are left to decide who and what to believe, which is quite nice. I’m often on the fence about writing decision. I quite like being able to make my decisions, but with a thriller, I want the author to finish the story for me, otherwise you’re left a bit in the dark and unsatisfied.

I definitely felt it got better as it went along. Whilst I enjoyed reading it, I wasn’t enamoured with the first half, it just felt too safe. I just wanted more. More of everything. It’s a bit too tepid.

This was an amazing book but it did take me a few false starts before I really got into it. It is entirely character based. Not much actually happens so if you want murder and twists and action..... try a different book. This was more of a character study and a look into the characters themselves and what they may be capable of. It was really raw and deep and it definitely makes you think. I really can't think of any other book I've read that has been like this! The tension os so masterdully crafted throughout and you just never quite know whats actually going on. I'm not even sure how I feel about it now that I've finished it to be fair, it's one of those books you finish and just need to process for a minute. Incredibly compelling and beautifully written. I expected a thriller hut this is just completely elevated and that title doesn't do justice to how cleverly written the book is

A flaw in the design made me think of that movie, We need to talk about Kevin, and I would imagine more people will draw a comparison to this

However, the story was still enjoyable and I would recommend this!

DNF at 40%. I just can't do it anymore. This is so repetitive. Almost half way through and absolutely nothing happened. It was just the uncle worrying about what his nephew 'might' do based off his past behaviours and a couple of flashbacks. Bored out of my mind.

Just a brilliant book. It's the sort of novel I have a love-hate relationship with. Gill is convinced his nephew is a killer and psychopath but everybody thinks Gill is obsessive and becoming undone by this.
I was so frustrated for Gill that nobody could see past the facade of charming Matthew and just kept blaming Gill.

Highly recommend this book

Gil Duggan is a creative writing professor at a small college in Vermont. He lives with his wife Molly and their two teenage daughters Ingrid and Chloe. Gil's career as a writer didn't exactly flourish and they are ekeing out an existence in their small town when Gil's sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident. He is named as the guardian of his 17 year old nephew Matthew. Gil has reservations. He has been estranged from his sister for nearly 7 years after he an incident/accident where Matthew almost killed his youngest daughter. However, his sister married a multi-millionaire and in addition to family duty, there is the incentive of a sizable monthly stipend to care for Matthew, and it's only until Matthew heads off to the Ivy league, fully paid-for

So he takes in his nephew despite his misgivings, and is annoyed by how easily charmed (fooled?) his wife and daughters are by Matthew. He feels that Matthew is taunting him by presenting a false facade to hide his inner psychopath. Matthew has enough credits to enroll in Gil's creative writing class where he turns in some disturbing assignments. Gil becomes unhinged and starts following Matthew around. Is Gil right, or is he paranoid? Is he truly stable?

This was well-written and suspenseful and I fully enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was such a good read that I couldn't put down. It is beautifully written with a compelling storyline and well developed characters. It was brutal and raw at times but that is part of what made it so good. I really liked it.