A mother protecting her children when she hears an intruder in the night come into her house, made for a pretty good plot however I found the story slow going and found myself frustrated at the flash back scenes. Its wasnt a bad read, it just didnt hold my attention as well as I hoped it would for a suspense thriller

Definitely not one to read when you’re home alone!

A truly gripping read - you’re flung straight into the action, and my gosh there are so many twists and turns that what seems like it’ll just be a fairly interesting thriller turns into something so much better! Definitely an author to look out for

Many thanks to Net Galley and Penguin General UK for ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This story grabbed my full attention to begin with. A mother is home alone with her two children when she becomes aware there is an intruder in their home. There is a secret hiding room and she urges her children to creep into with her, they must be silent as she does not want him “the Corner” to discover them. The mother breaks out whilst the Corner is upstairs and goes for help, she is scantily dressed so pulls an old fur coat on as it’s freezing outside with snow on the ground
No one in the story has a name which I found a bit odd. The main character, the mother gives herself a hard time, her husband is dead, her father-in-law is horrible and seems to want to discredit her, the police don’t believe her, are treating her like she is a hysterical woman with a vivid imagination
I didn’t like any of the characters, or the way the story went between past and present, I persevered to the end, though some parts were very dull, however the ending did save the story a little. I didn’t enjoy this book but I seem to be in the minority.

This novel took a while to get going for me, but it's an intriguing premise. An intruder enters a home in the middle of the night, forcing a mother and her two young children to conceal themselves in a tiny, cramped area of the house where they can't be found. The descriptions of the mother's fear and the stifling claustrophobic atmosphere are brilliant. Whilst the three are stuck in their hidden place, the intruder can be heard exploring the house and calling out for them – these parts are really creepy and sinister. We also learn more about the family and their situation through a dual narrative of the mother reminiscing about past traumas. Although the experience is terrif­ying, the mother starts to enjoy the lack of control and say in what happens to her and her children. I'd say this is an interesting take on a cat and mouse thriller, with discussions of grief, body image and the classic unreliable narrator thrown into the mix.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing book!
I was thoroughly engaged throughout this book and I didn't want to put it down! The author captured my attention from the get go! Five stars from me :)

I thought this was an intriguing mystery thriller that pulled me into a world of suspense and secrets.

This was an impressive debut and unique in its premise, it’s rare I find a book that I get totally submerged in and cannot think of anything else! This is the one though.

The story is that a woman is home alone with her two small children and she hears an intruder in the house. It’s a nightmare scenario and you find yourself feeling that it’s you there as the author is so detailed in her description.

Its edge of your seat stuff and I could not put it down, cannot wait for her next novel!!!

This one will blow you away and I cannot give it enough stars!

A tense ,gripping read that leaves you wondering right to the end if the mother is making things up or is this really happening

Highly recommended

Could not put it down to start with, lots of twists and turns , a troubled main character, , suspicious police, grieving father in law and innocent children

By fluke, I have managed to read a few books this year that are unique. Night Watching is one of them. One of the main reasons that this book is different to many is that only one of the characters had a name. That person is the intruder, who either exists or is part of the narrator’s imagination. He is known as Corner. A strange name but he is known as that because of the narrator’s daughter who is convinced that she has seen him watching from a corner. Or is that also part of the narrator’s imagination?

The narrator has had a difficult life, the circumstances are revealed throughout the entire novel but all of them had made her a strong character even though she did have issues. She had vitiligo, and was treated with disdain and in some cases contempt because of it. She should have been able to ask for help from people who she could have classed as family but one of them in particular was vicious towards her. She tried to do the best for her family though, without them, and when faced with danger she did what she could do to keep them safe. Or is none of this real?

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this novel so much was because I had no idea whether I could believe her. There wasn’t that many of the other characters in the novel who did, even before the night where she felt a risk. It is only towards the end where the reader finds out whether anything is genuine.

There are a lot of books now that feature unreliable characters. Some are good, some not so good. This novel is superb and one of the highlights of my reading year so far.

WOW! This book was breathtaking from the start. I found myself holding my breath as I was reading.
It's written as a 3rd person, no names are mention and the story flits from the nightmare in the house with the children and back in time to the mums past. It's a fantastic book with a great ending!
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin General UK-Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business.

We meet a young mother, alone with her children and checking on her son in the middle of the night, when she realises that there is an intruder in the house. What follows is an absolute roller coaster of a ride, as we follow her decisions and actions as she fights to keep her children safe.

To say too much could lead to too many spoilers, so I will just say that I loved this book. It was thrilling and terrifying in equal measure, and there were some sections that left me feeling physically shaken as the plot unfolder. Great, if deeply unsettling, stuff.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

It's late and she's awake, she's checking her son has gone back to sleep, when she hears footfalls on the stairs. It'll be her husband home...except it can't be him. So what now? Fight, run or hide? She only has minutes to decide.

The tension in this book from the start is unbelievable, serious regret I'm reading it at home alone and then...flashbacks. Instant interruption of tension and, honestly, some are pretty boring. Then back to the tension again but, due to the interruptions, not quite as heightened as before. Still, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Then, somehow it loses steam in the middle. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't go into details, but I liked what the author did with the middle, how the story progressed, but I think it was too long and slow and I found myself losing interest and finding it difficult to keep going. Then it ramped up again at the end.

It was difficult to bond with any of the characters, there's no names - she, him, the sergeant, the boy-faced officer, it's an unusual style and, unfortunately, makes it more difficult to care.

I'm giving it a 3.5 ⭐ but I'll round up to 4. Beginning and end were brilliant, middle would have been better if shorter/more succinct.

#nightwatching #tracysierra #netgalley

Review also posted to Goodreads, unable to link account.

I wanted to love this book, it sounded just like my type of story. However, I found it too slow paced for me and I struggled to relate to any of the characters.

I did finish it, because I wanted to find out what happened. But it isn't a book that will stay with me unfortunately. This could just be me and I am sure that it would suit other readers very well.

From the beginning I was drawn into the story. This book was an incredible read. It was action packed which kept me on alert all the way through. Beautifully evocative. After I finished the story it kept me thinking for a long time about “what if’s” in the sense it could have been set in reality. Also the thought about being disbelieved and trying to convince people you were telling the truth.

Gripping throughout and the writer created the right atmosphere throughout. I could see this book being turned into a film or play.

A very suspenseful book. It started off well and I was beginning to regret beginning reading it late at night as it told the story of a mother disturbed by noises of an intruder in the house in the middle of the night. It was tense as she looked to protect her children from the danger he represented.
This was all very well done, gripping and atmospheric but then it started to lose its way for me. I found the flashbacks, whilst informative diluted the tension and the lack of names began to grate with me and lessened the connection to the main characters. I know I am in the minority but I started to lose interest and began to skip pages which is something I rarely do.

A deeply disturbing thriller, a mother and her children are trapped in their house while an intruder lurks around the house singing nursery rhymes to entice them out of their hiding place. A good page turner of a thriller

I requested this book because some of my favourite authors had recommended it and the premise sounded very interesting. It started off strong, with a mother hearing an intruder in the house in the middle of the night and the desperation to protect her children heightened the tension. However, after this the storyline moved very slowly and I felt that the plot lacked pace. Unfortunately this story did not grip me and I didn't feel like I wanted to find out what happened. However, the writing style was good and someone could enjoy it if they like slower paced novels.

Well, what a rollercoaster of a book. The first few chapters are intense and I had to put it down and watch some children’s TV to calm myself down! What a scary start to a novel! The way the writer pulls you in so you feel the danger and fear of the main character is inspiring. However, after a while I have to admit the intensity dropped and I found the interrupting chapters of the past killed the tension for me. But the storyline kept me reading. That unanswered question of what the hell was going on had me racing through the pages. I gave this book four stars only because I wasn’t too keen on the writing style. There was too much introspection and at times the character’s thoughts didn’t make any sense and felt disjointed. This might have been to try and make her an unreliable narrator but it just had me skipping pages until it went back to the actual plot.

Nightwatching is a very tense and scary story . A young Mum is alone with her two small children in a big old isolated New England house during a snow storm and she hears foot steps creeping up the stairs !!! she is terrified but also very brave ,she is also fragile so is she imagining it ?.A proper psychological thriller with a good ending .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Claustrophobic stalker thriller - well constructed and paced. When a widow thinks she is being watched she is not believed, her daughter thinks there is a Corner man watching her. Reality will out and become a race to survive., Good read.