#BlogTour ‘The House Of Whispers’ by Anna Kent

About the book….

Some secrets aren’t meant to be kept…

When Grace returns to Abi’s life, years after they fell out at university, Abi can’t help but feel uneasy. Years ago, Grace’s friendship was all-consuming and exhausting.

Now happily married, Abi’s built a new life for herself and put those days behind her. And yet as Grace slips back into her life with all the lethal charm she had before, Abi finds herself falling back under her spell…

Abi’s husband, Rohan, can’t help but be concerned as his wife’s behaviour changes. As their happy home threatens to fall apart, he realises that there’s something deeply unnerving about Grace. Just what influence does this woman have over his wife, and why has she come back now?

A chilling story of guilt and obsession from Anna Kent.

Thanks so much to the wonderful HQ team who have gifting me a review copy of ‘The House Of Whispers’ by Anna Kent which was published on 5th August in paperback and e-book formats.

WARNING-this house is haunted.

Going against husband, Rohan’s wishes, Abi manages to talk him into buying an old house, a fixer upper, which will keep her busy whilst she prepares for her next exhibition (red flag number one, Rohan hates  old builds, and this got my spidey sense tingling). He comes across as extremely protective in the alternating chapters between him and ABi, hers is a first person narrative placing you right inside Abi’s mindset, and his is an unspecified transcript of ‘what happened after’, intimating that an event, a crisis, a crime has occurred (red flag number two!)

Rohan’s traditionally based family are keen to see them settled and happy, and also have children (his sister has already fulfilled her familial obligation of producing a daughter and takes no end of delight in winding him up), his mother is particularly keen on this which irritates Abi no end. Her idea of family meals, family occasions and not letting each other down appears antithetical to Abi’s upbringing which may be why she is so tense every time she engages with them (red flag number three).

Abi alternates art with volunteering at a hospice where she offers to paint portraits for those who are spending their last days there, a job which is seen as extremely fulfilling by Abi, but exacts a hugely emotional cost. With Rohan having to go abroad to New York for work which is not negotiable, and her refusing to travel with him, their impasse is broken by an email out of the blue from Grace, an old uni friend of Abi’s.

Rohan is happier she won’t be left alone, Abi is not exactly thrilled but relishes the chance to catch up with a long time friend, yet naturally wary as Grace has a tendency to sweep in and take over. And yet…Grace’s imminent arrival is the motivation that Abi needs to get painting again.

There are so many layers to Abi and Grace’s relationship as they push and pull against each other, and Abi begins to  behave in a most un-Abi like way (neglecting her cat, turning up late for work, drinking) and because you, the reader, have seen her through Rohan’s eyes, and the love he has to keep her safe, you begin to worry that Grace has something on Abi which is slowly destroying her.

Things go missing, there are strange noises and blackout periods where nothing can be recalled, the cat which goes missing and the alluded to, but not explained ‘tragedy’ which happened in the house prior to them moving in.

The sense of obligation and responsibility Abi had towards Grace, is , she feels, paid back in inspiration as she begins painting in earnest, and takes putting blood, sweat and tears into her art to a whole new level.

As she explores grief, isolation, loneliness and penance, Abi and Grace begin an incredibly dangerous dance around each other, and you are not entirely sure who is the worst influence on whom.

It is a vortex of toxicity from which Abi cannot escape, and when her mother in law comes to check on her , she is convinced that the house is haunted. And, this reader agrees.

This is a superbly plotted psychological thriller which will pick you up, shake you around, mess with your perceptions and have you jumping at shadows. It crosses the line from thriller to horror and back again with ease as voices whisper possible solutions to this conundrum which is the Grace/Abi/Rohan triangle. It surely couldn’t be….or is it?

Read this horror thriller ‘The House Of Whispers’ to see if you can work it out for yourself….

About the author…

Annabel Kantaria is a British journalist who’s written prolifically for publications throughout the Middle East.

She lives in Dubai with her husband and two children.

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

Twitter @BellaKay @HQStories