The Uninvited by J.A. Baker

 

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Bloodhound Books (27 Nov. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1912604868
• ISBN-13: 978-1912604869

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Faye and her husband Hugh have had a traumatic year. Wanting to start again, the couple decides to buy a large rundown property, Cross House in a village in North Yorkshire, hoping to leave the past behind them.

However, the tranquillity is soon ruined when Faye begins to awake, every night, to the sound of somebody creeping around the bedroom. She tries to explain it to Hugh, frightened for the safety of their children Aiden and Poppy, but Hugh dismisses her claims, thinking she is heading for another breakdown.

But when Faye discovers some diaries that contain secrets about the family that lived in the house before them, she starts to wonder if the intruder might be closer to home than she first thought.

Obsessed with finding answers, Faye is determined to learn about the Wentworth family, a fractured family with a tragic past.

And when she discovers that Hilary Wentworth fell to her death down the stairs in Cross House, Faye realises she is in mortal danger…

 

Review

The Uninvited is a move in a different direction for J.A. Baker, as it has a supernatural element to it. The book is narrated by Faye, a wife, mother to two children, and a woman recovering from a breakdown.  After a troubled period, Faye and her family move to Cross House in a bid to move forward and make a new start, but not all is at it seems and she finds herself and her family in danger again.

The Uninvited has all the ingredients needed to make a successful dark and chilling thriller; an unreliable narrator recovering from a breakdown, an old house with secrets of its own, a set of diaries left by a previous resident and an intruder who stalks the house at night.  Judith Baker’s writing draws you into Faye’s world, her fear of having another breakdown,  her dread at night waiting for the intruder to return, and her anger at her family who don’t believe her.  The suspense builds as as Faye delves into the history of the house and its past occupants, and finds the diaries of Tammy, the daughter of the previous owners, that hint at trouble within the house.

The plot is very character driven and very much centres around Faye, who I did find a bit infuriating at times, but as the book progressed I warmed to her, and had more empathy with her situation.  Her interaction with her family and her emotions were very real, and gave an authenticity to the character.  I would have liked more depth to the characters, to know more about them and their past especially with Faye,  Hugh and their neighbour Gwen.  As a whole the book was well written and kept the suspense and tension until the last page, and a brilliant ending.  However, at the start of the book there were too many references for me to what had happened to make Faye and Hugh decide to move.  The names of Todd and Jeff, the root of their problems, were mentioned on nearly every page for the first few chapters which I felt was unnecessary and could be cut back until their role was revealed.  I also found that ‘I’ was also repetative in the first few chapters, but as the book moved forward this was not an issue.  These are only minor niggles and overall I felt the prose flowed easily and drew me into the plot.

 

The Uninvited is a chilling, tense and dark thriller with a touch of the supernatural.  The use of the first person narrative makes this more personal and you feel Faye’s fear at the night-time happenings in Cross House and the effect it has on their lives.  If you like a spooky, psychological thriller then this book is for you; it will give you shivers down the spine.