The Red House: Discover the new gripping and twisty psychological thriller for 2024

Considering I can be quite a fussy reader and often have a 'type' of book I prefer, the reason I really enjoyed The Red House is for its differences.Perhaps due to age, I can appreciate references to older style computer games better and therefore it was nostalgic... Or, perhaps it was just that I was drawn into the mystery and trusted nobody apart from the main character.For this review, I will provide my likes and then a few even better if thoughts. There will not be any major spoilers as such:Likes:1. The computer game...2. The use of snakes (I used to hate them but in this book the use of and imagery associated added a creepiness that worked well - I have written my own piece previously with such imagery)!3. The idea that anyone could be guilty...4. The different character sections and varied timelines due to this.5. The ending and the twist (although I had guessed some of it).6. The main character - I find this REALLY helps me to enjoy a story!Even better if:1. I don't know much about Prosopagnosia (aka face blindness) but I DO know teaching experience that I learn voices, not just faces of my students...so it bugged me that Eve couldn't use this to help her...because if she could, well...I said no major spoilers!This element seems a bit of a stretch, and, from research I have carried out, the use of voices IS one of the techniques it suggests sufferers to use. I understand why Eve doesn't (the story needs this) but I wish it was referred to more specifically as there were a few times, during reading, that this frustrated me.2. This happens in many stories and was something that a Uni tutor once fed back on during my own work...be careful not to remove the reader too far from the action. As much as I DID enjoy the different timelines and sections, there were times when I wanted to stay with Eve, see what would happen next. So much so, I skipped one Joseph chapter and then returned to it after I had read the next eve part! I am all for keeping the reader guessing, but not if enjoyment is altered.3. Bizarre imagery. I could not work out HOW to get to somewhere important in this story (or back again) from descriptions provided. What it meant...or how some of the final scenes in a particular setting worked. I needed pictures! This would work for viewers (if a show) or people with previous knowledge, but - personally - I was a little lost for some of the climatic near-end parts and this seemed a shame as I am sure Watkins knew what she meant.Overall, it's very worth a read if you want something different. It's a slow burner...nothing fast paced to start with. I found it was from about 62% on (very specific, I know) that I was more gripped and then from the about 75% on, I didn't want to put it down.I haven't ever read Watkins before, but I certainly will again.

The Red House by Roz Watkins opens with a horrific scene, when a young child is forced to hide in her own house while her family is murdered. This becomes one of the most shocking cases in recent history, which still fascinates the public years down the line. Fast forward twenty years, and the young child, Eve, now in her twenties, is forced to revisit what happened to her family again. Eve is determined to get to the truth, especially when new evidence comes to light.There is a lot of emotion that comes through in Roz Watkins’ writing, especially when Eve is visiting her brother Joseph, who has been in a deep coma since the murders twenty years earlier. When Eve was a child, she identified Joseph to the police as the man who shot their parents and their brother. Eve could’ve met the same fate if she hadn’t hid. You can certainly see why she doesn’t want anything to do with him, and I couldn’t blame her for making some of the decisions she made early on in the book. I liked the relationship Eve had with her grandmother in this book, especially as her grandmother is her only living relative and you can see how much Eve loves her. Although I wasn’t sure I could entirely trust her grandmother as I was reading.I loved the description of the house in the novel, Eve’s family home, and the reasons why it was known as the red house. I could picture this very clearly, and it gave the book a very creepy atmosphere, especially as I began to picture what happened there twenty years earlier, and what Eve went through when was she so young. Roz Watkins paints a horrific picture which made me invest even more in Eve’s story.Roz Watkins expertly reveals the truth about what happened in the past. There are some surprising, and devastating twists and turns which is what really makes this an emotional, rollercoaster of a ride for Eve, as she grapples with the truth about what really happened to her family. I liked seeing the different strands come together as Roz brought the book to a close.I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Red House. Roz Watkins has written a captivating thriller. I could not put it down.

This is a psychological thriller for the ages. Centred in Rox Watkins’ native Derbyshire the story hinges around Celestine/Eve, who as a five year old saw her parents murdered and her baby brother accidentally killed she believes by her older brother, a loner who is dabbling in drugs but also a prolific computer game writer, who on the same night is involved in a road accident whilst apparently fleeing the scene, leaving him in a permanent vegetative state, where only his grandmother is willing to look after him.From that we follow Eve, who is hiding secrets of her own, as she begins to suspect that she may not be have witnessed what she thought. There are so many twists but everyone is fantastically intertwined, Eve is an immensely likeable character, but has serious trust issues which spill over to the reader who doesn’t know who to really trust.And then there’s the ending, which contains a twist so unexpected that the reader’s in danger of fracturing their jaw as it hits the floor.Definitely a contender for any year’s book of the year.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The construction of some sentences was all over the place. Some conversations were repeated. The twist at the end is spectacular. I had worked some of it out but not the complete ending.

Genuinely gripping and absolutely brilliant. I thought I'd worked it out, but I was nowhere near. The end made me gasp out loud.

A slow start to the book and I honestly didn’t think I was going to like it but then it kept getting better and better and with each revelation and twist I was hooked. A rollercoaster of deceit and secrets that will have you questioning absolutely everyone and everything with a final twist that I did not see coming!

I very much enjoyed this book and loved the twist at the end. This would make a good film or tv series.

A complex plot includes a terrific main character, Eve, who suffers from face blindness, trying to clear her brother of the murder of theirs parents and baby brother. But older brother Joseph lies in a vegetative state, unable to tell anyone what really happened twenty years ago. Chilling and creepy at times. Fans ofCJ Tudor will love what the talented Roz Watkins has created.

Excellent book, still reading it. Gripping and a real page turner.

Unusual medical diagnosis, twists of plot and complicated relationships. A very engaging mystery. Pay attention to all the threads or you may get caught in the bog. Needs a sequel.

OMG!!! What an absolute page turner. The true definition of "unputdownable" with so many secrets, and more twists and turns than some of the best amusement park rides. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who truly loves a perfectly written psychological suspense thriller with twist after twist and one hell of a surprise ending! I'm not a fan of the UK writing style, words and phrases, but this book was so AMAZING that I wasn't really bothered by it, and not noticing the difference hardly at all maybe about 1/3 of the way through the book. (If it even took me that long.) I'm already thinking of what Roz Watkins book I will read next...😉

I really enjoyed this book and whoa the ending. Eve seemed a little thin to me as a main character.