House of Small Shadows

Brilliant book. Sinister dolls and marionettes, two obviously crazy old ladies, a creepy house and a young woman with a troubled past. Nevill creates an athmosphere that is menacing and suffocating. Reading this in bed surrounded by glassy eyed teddy bears made me just a tad nervous. That's the mark of a good book.

This is one of the books I read while doing the horrible commute on the rickety metro system between Newcastle & Sunderland. Probably not really concentrating, often falling asleep, sat next to a dribbling man or an insane whistler. To be honest I couldn't really remember much about it, hence the 2nd read.

All I can say is, WTF!! WTAF!! First half is peak Nevill, the horror is real, loneliness, desperation, feelings of failure, a life on the verge of a breakdown held together with a little bit of hope and a sympathetic boss called Leonard. Then we take a sharp turn into insanity. We've got dolls, stuffed animals, lots of rats, medieval music, vintage torture porn and poor lighting. Not going to lie, it's not an easy read, in fact it's quite an uncomfortable read. The ending does tie everything up quite nicely but getting there sure is trippy and maybe the trippiness overshadows some of the reveals at the end.