I have certainly been reading some great books lately and here’s another one to add to the pile.
–
–
IN A QUIET CORNER OF EDINBURGH, CAT THOMAS IS GOING THROUGH HELL.
SHE’S TRIED EVERYTHING. HE RESPECTS NOTHING.
If your neighbour was making your life hell …
Would you call upon the devil?
Cat Thomas, a brilliant fraud investigator, has just relocated from Florida to a dreamy flat in historic Edinburgh. Everything seems perfect. Everything seems serene. Except for the unbelievably noisy wannabe rockstar upstairs.
Soon Cat’s blissful new life is in ruins. Desperate, she’s willing to try anything. When all else fails, she makes an appeal … to Satan.
And suddenly everything is eerily quiet. But her nightmare has only just begun …
Amazon | Goodreads | Book Depository | Black & White Publishing
–
This was an unusual book for me, I think when I first glanced at it I thought it was a crime book and then when I started reading I realized that it is in fact, well I’m not sure exactly of its genre, supernatural thriller springs to mind, I’ve seen some other people mention horror. To be honest I maybe wouldn’t have given it a chance if I had read the word horror attached to it because that’s usually not my thing but I am so glad I did because this book was superb.
A proper page turner that had me hooked with its tense and mysterious atmosphere, it definitely started to make me feel as if I was being dragged into the madness that Cat feels she is at the centre of. Edinburgh was a great setting for this story, it helps that I know the city fairly well and could really picture myself there, but even so it just helped to set the tone for the rest of the book.
Cat was a brilliant character, I liked that she wasn’t afraid to go against the grain and that despite the terrible circumstances she finds herself in that she is such a reasonable character. She’s the kind of person that you just can’t help but root for, as she starts to feel like everything is spinning out of control for her I couldn’t help but feel it too, her character definitely leaps off the page.
I would love to gush and gush about this story but I really think that it is one that you have to experience for yourself. Just be prepared to be taken on an intense, obsessive and chilling ride, and maybe don’t have too many plans because you really won’t want to put this book down.
The Devil Upstairs was a very welcome and pleasant surprise, a book that I would recommend for sure, and I’m looking forward to trying out some more of Mr O’Neill’s work.
–
–
–
Anthony O’Neill is the son of an Irish policeman and an Australian stenographer. He was born in Melbourne and lives in Edinburgh. He is the author of Scheherazade, a revisionist Arabian Nights epic; The Lamplighter, a psychological horror novel set in Victorian Scotland; The Empire of Eternity, a history-mystery involving Napoleon Bonaparte and the early years of Egyptology; The Unscratchables, a Swiftian satire featuring dog and cat detectives; and The Dark Side, a crime novel set on the far side of the moon.
–
everywhere-and-nowhere.com 