tapping_the_source's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Well written, plot driven page turner with an interesting central premise which is enjoyable to read but didn't quite grab me in the way some of her other books have done. Entertaining but kind of forgettable
affiknittyreads's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to start by saying what I wish I had known going into this: THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH. There were chapters of this book that described various disgusting, violent and/or creepy things in such graphic detail that I actually got nauseous. I almost gave up on the book several times.
Two things kept me reading. First, the central premise of the novel is an interesting one, but it takes WAY too long to set it up and get to the real story. Second, there are several surprisingly sympathetic characters and I wanted to know what happened to them.
I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it had been half as long, without so much gratuitous grossness.
Two things kept me reading. First, the central premise of the novel is an interesting one, but it takes WAY too long to set it up and get to the real story. Second, there are several surprisingly sympathetic characters and I wanted to know what happened to them.
I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it had been half as long, without so much gratuitous grossness.
mistylyn's review against another edition
4.0
This novel was a surprise for me—I expected a quick read that wouldn’t necessarily immerse me in the pages but was instead pulled in to an intoxicating tale of secrets, lies and murder. The characters here were developed with beautiful cruelty—a young woman of color trying to outrun her debilitating past; a woman mired so deeply in her own history that she rarely leaves the comfort of her home; and an on-the-lam former bookkeeper who fleeced her former boss and carries with her the burden of bearing witness to his murderous predilections. Other characters are presented as archetypes and referred to by generic titles such as Landlord and Lover, each creepy and disturbing.
Whilst the story is told in a whirlwind of intertwined events that at times were too often beyond the realm of possibility, the author manages to keep the reader turning the pages. Red herrings abound, but the reader discovers the thinly veiled truth about the primary murderer’s identity at around the 60% mark. It’s at that point that I felt things began to come apart a bit. The unraveling of the last 40% added more balls for the writer to juggle instead of more fully exploring one track. A more defined focus on even one or two of the murders/circumstances/corpses would have certainly provided enough of a catalyst to bring this to a close. Instead, bodies are mummified, crushed into dust, left to putrefy and blown to smithereens, by a cast of unlikely participants. Four stars for the brilliant character development and the author’s ability to spin a yarn, but the too-convenient and seemingly rushed ending, coupled with just too much going on at once kept this from the five star bar.
Whilst the story is told in a whirlwind of intertwined events that at times were too often beyond the realm of possibility, the author manages to keep the reader turning the pages. Red herrings abound, but the reader discovers the thinly veiled truth about the primary murderer’s identity at around the 60% mark. It’s at that point that I felt things began to come apart a bit. The unraveling of the last 40% added more balls for the writer to juggle instead of more fully exploring one track. A more defined focus on even one or two of the murders/circumstances/corpses would have certainly provided enough of a catalyst to bring this to a close. Instead, bodies are mummified, crushed into dust, left to putrefy and blown to smithereens, by a cast of unlikely participants. Four stars for the brilliant character development and the author’s ability to spin a yarn, but the too-convenient and seemingly rushed ending, coupled with just too much going on at once kept this from the five star bar.
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
What a great story! Gripping, very, very well-plotted and full of suspense, this is one of those books you simply can't stop listening.
Fair warning, though, there are VERY graphic descriptions of the doings of a very sick serial killer, so if you have a weak stomach, maybe you better just skip those :P
But I really enjoyed it. I liked the structure, the way in which the story is told, and how, slowly, all the secrets are reveled. Be ready to be surprised, because you most certainly will be.
The characters are all interesting, all complex, all hiding something and I got very invested in their fates.
This is my first book by Alex Marwood, but it won't be the last.
Imogen Church does a good job with the narration.
Fair warning, though, there are VERY graphic descriptions of the doings of a very sick serial killer, so if you have a weak stomach, maybe you better just skip those :P
But I really enjoyed it. I liked the structure, the way in which the story is told, and how, slowly, all the secrets are reveled. Be ready to be surprised, because you most certainly will be.
The characters are all interesting, all complex, all hiding something and I got very invested in their fates.
This is my first book by Alex Marwood, but it won't be the last.
Imogen Church does a good job with the narration.
maga82's review
2.0
Jest mi strasznie głupio po przeczytaniu tej książki, ponieważ zewsząd bombardowały mnie jej pozytywne recenzje tymczasem ja pozytywnych odczuć za bardzo nie mam.
Jak na kryminał czy thriller jest według mnie nieco za słaba. Nie ma w niej sensownego napięcia, jakiejś wartko toczącej się akcji czy innych tego typu rzeczy, które powinny budować dobry kryminał.
"Wypadek" o którym mowa w opisach książki jest mocno groteskowy i o ile faktycznie sprawiedliwości stało się zadość, że stało się to wszystko tak jak się stało, to jest to takie nieprawdopodobne, że aż trochę śmieszne.
Jeśli jednak spojrzeć na książkę trochę bardziej jako na powieść o społeczeństwie czy o ludzkich sekretach, to książka jest nieco ciekawsza. Autorka dużo pisze o angielskim społeczeństwie, świetnie rysuje te tajemnicze postacie oraz to miejsce w którym mieszkają. Odór i mrok kamienicy wręcz wylewają się ze stron książki.
Jak na kryminał czy thriller jest według mnie nieco za słaba. Nie ma w niej sensownego napięcia, jakiejś wartko toczącej się akcji czy innych tego typu rzeczy, które powinny budować dobry kryminał.
"Wypadek" o którym mowa w opisach książki jest mocno groteskowy i o ile faktycznie sprawiedliwości stało się zadość, że stało się to wszystko tak jak się stało, to jest to takie nieprawdopodobne, że aż trochę śmieszne.
Jeśli jednak spojrzeć na książkę trochę bardziej jako na powieść o społeczeństwie czy o ludzkich sekretach, to książka jest nieco ciekawsza. Autorka dużo pisze o angielskim społeczeństwie, świetnie rysuje te tajemnicze postacie oraz to miejsce w którym mieszkają. Odór i mrok kamienicy wręcz wylewają się ze stron książki.
beckylej's review against another edition
4.0
23 Beulah Grove may not be the most charming or quaint home, but it's a home nonetheless. Each of the tenants has their own reason for being there - cheap rent, history, no references required... but all of them share one thing in common: they detest their landlord. Unfortunately it's the price they all have to pay for a rental that suits their needs. And it's the one thing that ties this strange group together.
What they don't know - what they never suspect - is that one of their housemates is a killer.
The Killer Next Door is such a multi-layered thriller! Each of the housemates has their own tale: Cher is a teenage runaway; Collette witnessed something that's left her on the run; Hossein is a political refugee... six of them in all, and each with their own unique story to tell. But none of them is in any position to mess with the landlord. And he's a real gem! Randomly raising rents, neglecting upkeep, and worse, the man knows that none of them really has any other option. He's just biding his time, collecting cash under the table, until his elderly, rent-controlled, basement tenant is forced to leave and he can sell the place.
Unfortunately the landlord isn't the worst of the lot. Collette moves in when Nikki disappears. Everyone assumes because she'd struggled with the rent that she up and left. Her quick departure leaves a vacancy that Collette is quick to fill. The reader soon learns, however, that Nikki never left. She's still at Beulah Grove, the latest of a handful of women who have fallen victim to a truly twisted killer. This killer lives alongside Collette and the others, performing his demented rituals behind closed doors while presenting a facade of normalcy to those around him.
The events at Beulah Grove are really a disastrous set of circumstances and the reader does begin with the knowledge that everything is going to come crashing down around the tenants. Playing witness as it all happens is a bit ghoulish, but it's also wickedly suspenseful.
Marwood's latest is a deliciously paced thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat - and will probably make you look at all of your neighbors just a little differently!
What they don't know - what they never suspect - is that one of their housemates is a killer.
The Killer Next Door is such a multi-layered thriller! Each of the housemates has their own tale: Cher is a teenage runaway; Collette witnessed something that's left her on the run; Hossein is a political refugee... six of them in all, and each with their own unique story to tell. But none of them is in any position to mess with the landlord. And he's a real gem! Randomly raising rents, neglecting upkeep, and worse, the man knows that none of them really has any other option. He's just biding his time, collecting cash under the table, until his elderly, rent-controlled, basement tenant is forced to leave and he can sell the place.
Unfortunately the landlord isn't the worst of the lot. Collette moves in when Nikki disappears. Everyone assumes because she'd struggled with the rent that she up and left. Her quick departure leaves a vacancy that Collette is quick to fill. The reader soon learns, however, that Nikki never left. She's still at Beulah Grove, the latest of a handful of women who have fallen victim to a truly twisted killer. This killer lives alongside Collette and the others, performing his demented rituals behind closed doors while presenting a facade of normalcy to those around him.
The events at Beulah Grove are really a disastrous set of circumstances and the reader does begin with the knowledge that everything is going to come crashing down around the tenants. Playing witness as it all happens is a bit ghoulish, but it's also wickedly suspenseful.
Marwood's latest is a deliciously paced thriller that will leave you on the edge of your seat - and will probably make you look at all of your neighbors just a little differently!
loftedpigeon's review against another edition
4.0
Not for the faint of heart, grisly from the get go
si0bhan's review against another edition
3.0
Alex Marwood is an author to have caught my eye a couple of times in the past, but it’s only when I needed another book to complete a deal that I picked up The Killer Next Door. As the book had caught my attention a few times, I decided it was time to take the leap and see if it was what I was hoping for.
In truth, I was rather let down by this one. If I’m being brutally honest, this book spent a lot of time sitting around the two-star rating. It was more of a two-point-five-star rating in the end, and a part of me decided to round up – if only because it was marginally better than the books I usually hand out two-star rating to.
I think my biggest issue is that I went in expecting something completely different to what I was given. The title alone was enough to put ideas into my head. Unfortunately, the attention to the killer next door – the part of the story I was interested in – seemed to get lost under all the other stories going on. This was less of a thriller, and more of an insight into the lives and secrets of those living within an apartment building. It just so happens that one of these people, to spice things up a little, is a serial killer.
Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of attempts at the thriller aspect. Not only do we have a serial killer, we also have a run in with a gang. However, neither really lived up to the full potential. I wanted to be sucked into this one, yet I was more than capable of putting the book aside and doing something else.
Partly, it’s because I did not care for the characters. None of them interested me all that much. Partly, it was because of the writing. We seemed to shift from third person to first person within chapters, from perspective to perspective within chapters. It wasn’t the type of writing for me.
However, I can appreciate how things came together in the end. That is what had me rounding up to a three-star rating. It may not have been the explosive read I had been hoping for, but it came together better than I’d expected.
Although I have a mild interest in another Alex Marwood book, I doubt I will be picking it up any time soon.
In truth, I was rather let down by this one. If I’m being brutally honest, this book spent a lot of time sitting around the two-star rating. It was more of a two-point-five-star rating in the end, and a part of me decided to round up – if only because it was marginally better than the books I usually hand out two-star rating to.
I think my biggest issue is that I went in expecting something completely different to what I was given. The title alone was enough to put ideas into my head. Unfortunately, the attention to the killer next door – the part of the story I was interested in – seemed to get lost under all the other stories going on. This was less of a thriller, and more of an insight into the lives and secrets of those living within an apartment building. It just so happens that one of these people, to spice things up a little, is a serial killer.
Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of attempts at the thriller aspect. Not only do we have a serial killer, we also have a run in with a gang. However, neither really lived up to the full potential. I wanted to be sucked into this one, yet I was more than capable of putting the book aside and doing something else.
Partly, it’s because I did not care for the characters. None of them interested me all that much. Partly, it was because of the writing. We seemed to shift from third person to first person within chapters, from perspective to perspective within chapters. It wasn’t the type of writing for me.
However, I can appreciate how things came together in the end. That is what had me rounding up to a three-star rating. It may not have been the explosive read I had been hoping for, but it came together better than I’d expected.
Although I have a mild interest in another Alex Marwood book, I doubt I will be picking it up any time soon.
mloucks's review against another edition
5.0
I would recommend this book if you like true crime and horror novels. Just to warn you it is a tad graphic at times and to me somewhere surprising. I really enjoyed this book.
missnformed's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
You will need to take notes. There are so many twists and turns. As soon as you think you've figured it out...you haven't.