A sublimely creepy slow-burning thriller, a tale where the countdown to Christmas is a chilling one. Rachel tells her own story, she has just married widower David and moved into his huge family home, Carnhallow House, on the site of a tin mine. The first chapter starts in June but is headed 178 days before Christmas, a time that Rachel fears, particularly when her eight year old step-son Jamie predicts she will be dead by Christmas. S.K. Tremayne allows a quiet menace to pervade this tale, it is slow to build, I wasn't even sure when I started to feel the unease that spread from the pages through into my fingertips. As the story unfolded, I began to doubt my initial thoughts, question my feelings as information was released and the tension increased. There were times when I doubted everyone, even positively disliked them, while at the same time empathy lingered as fear stalked Carnhallow House. The descriptive detailing is supplemented by black and white photos of tin mines from the 1890’s. The photos have an eerie quality, some are angled, causing thoughts to slant as the story prods and provokes. With the suspense and tension slowly uncoiling until it strikes at lightening speed, ‘The Fire Child’ is a truly memorable story.
| Primary Genre | Thriller and Suspense |
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The chilling new psychological thriller by S. K. Tremayne, author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller, THE ICE TWINS. When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie. But then Jamie's behaviour changes, and Rachel's perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the spectre of his late mother - David's previous wife. Is this Jamie's way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought? As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie's outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife's untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie's words: 'You will be dead by Christmas.'
The Fire Child features in the following genres: Thriller and Suspense, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, Crime and Mystery, Family Drama, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations
The Fire Child is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Fire Child was written by S. K. Tremayne and published by Harper an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
The Fire Child has 389 pages
£7.19
