#BlogTour *and* #Spooktober-‘One By One’ by D.W Gillespie

About the book…

The Easton family has just moved into their new fixer-upper, a beautiful old house that they bought at a steal, and Alice, the youngest of the family, is excited to explore the strange, new place. Her excitement turns to growing dread as she discovers a picture hidden under the old wallpaper, a child s drawing of a family just like hers.
Soon after, members of the family begin to disappear, each victim marked on the child s drawing with a dark black X.

It s up to her to unlock the grim mystery of the house before she becomes the next victim.

My thanks to Flametree Books and Anne Cater of Random Things Blogtours for the blogtour invite and my gifted review copy!

Big fan of Flametree here! ‘One By One’ is out in paperback wherever good books are sold!

My my my..is this a psychological thriller, a haunted house tale or a supernaturally leaning yarn?

How about a little of this, a pinch of that, all of which blend into an uncomfortable read which creaks and spooks the reader as much as the house which the Easton’s move into…

An intriguing preface from a girl named Mary intimates that there is at least one secret that the house will at some point reveal, followed by a swift introduction to the Eastons, courtesy of first person narrator, Alice.

The Eastons are dad Frank, mum Debra, and kids Dean and Alice. The house they are buying is in a real state-Frank plans to fix it up and ‘flip’ it for a profit. Flipping is his latest passion and the reader cannot help but wonder if a) he has bitten off more than he can chew and b)if the house is a metaphor for their marriage which needs fixing up. As he tours Debra and  Alice(Dean hasn’t arrived yet) through their new home, he seems increasingly desperate to prove that this is a good move for them all.

Alice wanders through the house, trying to familiarise herself with the layout-avoiding the creep basement. As she does,uneasy feelings overwhelm her. It is a rundown, dilapidated pile with multiple danger points so when she sees a peeling edge of wallpaper, she pulls on it thinking no one will notice her knowing act of defiance against the house. She is shocked to find her vandalism revealing a primitive four figure family, scrawled on the wall.

The only difference is that the Eastons cat,Baxter, is replaced with a dog.

Possibly a complete coincidence, however, with a snow front coming and the eerie feeling building, a very Shining-esque situation begins to creep over the reader .

This is a family in peril from forces which are both internal and external and whether any of them will survive to the end is suddenly thrown into doubt, beginning with a diary found by Alice, written by Mary-but what happened to the family who lived there before? Where is Mary? And who is crossing off the figures on the wall as one at a time, the Eastons disappear?

Ordinary people thrust into extraordinary situations which demand of them acts of defiance, resilience and love. Fighting themselves as well as finding themsleves, this Winchester House style property resembles a huge dollshouse,into which the author has placed his characters, and then lets rip with all sorts of situations and spookiness that will please, in this readers opinion, fans of CJ Tudor and Sarah A Denzil.

About the author…

A long time fan of all things dark and spooky, D.W. Gillespie began writing monstrous stories while still in grade school. At one point, his mother asked the doctor if there was anything she should be concerned about, and he assured her that some kids just like stories about decapitations.

He’s been writing on and off for over a decade, quietly building a body of work that includes horror and dark sci-fi. His novels include Still Dark, The Toy Thief, and a short story collection titled Handmade Monsters.

He lives in Tennessee with his wife and two kids, all three of which give him an endless supply of things to write about

Links-http://www.dwgillespie.com/

Twitter @dw_gillespie

@flametreepress @annecater