By: Keri Beevis ISBN: 9781804151440
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: 08/24/2023
Format: e-book
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
A dark secret. A deadly obsession. No place to hide.
Max Hunter, my boyfriend, booked the beautiful boat house on the Norfolk Broads as a surprise autumn break
A week away to heal after a fraught few months following my father’s death. A chance to put the lies and secrets behind us and to start afresh. But in the silence it feels like someone is out there. Watching, waiting and taunting me.
When strange things begin to happen, I know this isn't going to be the relaxing break it’s supposed to be.
As I become more jumpy, Max’s patience begin to wear thin. He thinks I am imagining things. But he doesn't know the huge secret I am keeping, so big it could destroy us.
I have every right to be fearful and I have to make sure he never finds out the truth. But what if I am already too late?
My Review
The queen of psychological suspense, Keri Beevis (a favorite author), returns following The Summer House (2023) and The Sleepover (2022) with her latest, THE BOAT HOUSE —a getaway week to die for in this gripping, intense, and chilling locked-room thriller.
A dark secret. A deadly obsession. No place to hide.
The author skillfully takes readers down a dark, twisty sinister path of secrets, obsession, and revenge. How well do you know the people you think you can trust?
A couple goes away for a romantic week getaway at an Airbnb boathouse on a remote lake and discovers too late it is anything but relaxing. When dark secrets of the past collide with the present, the perfect getaway becomes a nightmare.
Max and Emily have hit a rough patch in their relationship. Emily has been tending to her dad in another town. He has terminal cancer and is in Hospice. Her mom and sister died years ago in an accident, and her dad was never the same. Emily went to live with her aunt Cathy, who recently passed away. She has no family left.
Emily is stressed, and her live-in boyfriend, Max, has not been very supportive. She loves their life, and Max has always been faithful due to the issues with his parents. They also have a lovable dog named Scout.
After her dad passes, she arrives home, and Max is with Leah (his friend once again). This time she is kissing him! She has never liked Leah, and now this! She storms out and returns to her dad's house, out of town, to escape and deal with her grief. Is she safe there?
There is another back story with a guy named Connor Banks. She met him when he volunteered at Hospice reading to her dad. He is handsome and charming and seems like a great friend to lean on.
When things cannot get any worse, something horrific happens. Connor is not the man she thought he was. She is afraid to go to the cops to report him. She is fearful, and he turns into a dangerous stalker with an obsession.
In the meantime, she and Max make up, and he is no longer friends with Leah and wants to make it work. Emily keeps Connor a secret and tries to block him, and she confides in her best friend, Francesca, and they devise a plan. She knows she must confide in Max, but she fears he will not accept what has happened.
Then Max comes up with a romantic getaway week planned at an Airbmb at a beautiful boat house on the lake in Norfolk Broads as a surprise autumn break. A week for Emily to heal after her father's death and a chance to put everything behind them to start over. They take the dog with them, and they are both looking forward to the getaway. It is almost Halloween, and little do they know what horrors are in store for them.
Things do not go as planned. Someone has been in the house, and they get a strange note with a bottle of wine, not from the owners. Then someone is outside the door with a scary mask. Then when they go out on the boat, they see an abandoned small cabin directly across the lake from them that looks like squatters are staying there. Is someone spying on them? While on the boat, they see a torch inside their boat house. Then more strange and creepy things happen, and Emily soon suspects someone has followed them.
There is also something sinister about the owner and his wife drowning that was suspicious. How is all this connected? Emily does not know who to trust. Even Max is acting strange.
Then Max's car has a horrible message painted on the side, and there is a message on Emily's makeup case, and soon more sinister things begin happening, the power is cut, tires slashed, and they are trapped. And you guessed it, no cell service in certain areas.
Someone is determined to ruin their holiday, looking to exact payback for buried secrets. Who is the stranger among them? Then they come face to face with a monster. How will they escape this nightmare? Will they come out alive, and will their relationship ever be the same?
Beevis delivers yet another stellar thriller, packed with tension and twists and laced with nuanced insight and characterization—a cautionary tale. Be careful who you trust. The author is at her atmospheric best in this wickedly chilling story of a getaway gone wrong.
I think this is my favorite of hers thus far. Keri is a rock star when it comes to claustrophobic settings, evil creepy characters, and twisty plots. I love her writing style. This is my fifth book, and I look forward to reading more of her backlist.
THE BOAT HOUSE is intense; you will be glued to the pages to see how this will turn out. I read into the wee hours of the morning and could not stop thinking about it and up again to finish. Yes, it is that good!
Emily is a character you will root for, and Connor's character is so creepy and scary, and what makes him so is that this story is so realistic and could be ripped from today's headlines. I am glad we had a happy ending and 'that Epilogue!!' Will there be a sequel?
I appreciated the Author's note! For fans of authors B. A. Paris, Jennifer Hillier, Lisa Unger, Sally Hepworth, Emily Shiner, and Miranda Rijks.
I highly recommend her books if you have not read this author's work. THE BOAT HOUSE is a perfect Halloween book; also, check out THE SLEEPOVER.
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for a gifted ARC in exchange for an honest opinion. #CoverCrush #Metoo
@JudithDColins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 14, 2023
About the Author
Keri Beevis is the bestselling author of Dying To Tell, Deep Dark Secrets, The Sleepover and The Summer House. Her other titles include Trust No One, Every Little Breath and The People Next Door.
She lives in Norfolk, England, with her two naughty kitties, Ellie and Lola, and a plentiful supply of red wine (her writing fuel).
In 2022, Keri signed with Boldwood Books. Her first release with them, The Sleepover, was a top 10 bestseller in the UK. The Summer House was a top 20 bestseller in both the UK and US.
Her brand new thriller, The Boat House, is out later this year.
Find out more about Keri and her books at www.keribeevis.com or you can follow her on social media at
www.facebook.com/allaboutbeev
www.twitter.com/keribeevis
www.instagram.com/keri.beevis
