“Everyone who lives at 23 Beulah Grove has a secret”.

Hi Bookworms! here’s a bone-chilling novel that I recently finished, it’s called “The Killer Next Door” by Alex Marwood. Yes, the title is as intriguing and gruesome as the story. It circles around the lives of the six residents, namely;

Cher: A teenage runaway with attitude issues.

Vesta: An elderly woman who seems to have lived in the boarding house for forever and has monetary issues.

Collette: The main character who’s running away from someone or something, and whose real name is Lisa.

Hossein: A middle eastern refugee who just wants to forget.

Gerard: A recluse and a former music teacher.

Thomas. Another oddball who also likes to keep to himself and is currently occupying the attic.

Together with their creepy landlord Roy Preece, this is a story of a harrowing life in the city of London, where the residents live in a Victorian-style but dilapidated boarding house. All of them have secrets to hide, and all of them seem to be running away from their sordid past. Preferring to forget and remain incognito. Most of the time, they like to keep to themselves and are always wary.

The residents seem to enjoy the anonymity that the building has offered, yet things aren’t always what they seem. There will be a terrible accident that will unite them together, and one of them is hiding a very deep dark secret. Much darker than what each of them already have. This is a tale of life, secrets, friendships, love, reality, wickedness, obsession and murder. This aint’ a tale for the faint of heart, not even for someone with a weak stomach. The details of the story are lurid, grotesque and almost scary.

Even though the story was intriguing and had a pretty satisfying ending with a good twist, this was a slow read for me. I like the whole concept of the story but it transitions from one event to another very slowly. The audiobook was the same, even though I kinda like the reader because she has different voices for each character. Yet still, the book was told in the third person being from the point of view of each character, and I still find that to be kinda hard to connect. Just not a fan of the third person narration, and it was also hard to follow as to who was who in the story. The first half was quite monotonous and the story starts to take hold almost at the end of the book. There’s few twists, but they weren’t so mind-bending. Some arguments were already expected and the overall pace of the book could need a little more push.

Overall, the book is riveting enough and the author truly captures the thoughts and struggles of each character while depicting the plot as realistic as can be. A good series adaptation would be great. I heard James Franco might be starring on it. I really hope so.

Have you read this book?

To purchase this book on paperback, click HERE.

To read via kindle, click HERE.

To listen to this novel via audible, click HERE.

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