Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Psychological #Thriller – Someone Close to Home by Alex Craigie

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Delighted to share my review for the psychological thriller – Someone Close to Home by Alex Craigie.

About the book

“The book is brilliant. It reads like a memoir and grips like great fiction should – beautiful characterization” Viga Boland – Author – No Tears For My Father

Talented pianist Megan Youngblood has it all – fame, fortune and Gideon.

But Gideon isn’t good enough for Megan’s ambitious, manipulative mother, whose meddling has devastating repercussions for Megan and for those close to her.

Now, trapped inside her own body, she is unable to communicate her needs or fears as she faces institutional neglect in an inadequate care home.

And she faces Annie. Sadistic Annie who has reason to hate her. Damaged Annie who shouldn’t work with vulnerable people.

Just how far will Annie go?

‘Someone Close To Home’ is a story of love, malice and deadly menace.

My review for the book February 15th 2022

This fast paced thriller plays into the fears of most of us. Those where we end up incapacitated, unable to communicate in the hands of strangers, some of whom may not have our best interests at heart. It is a page turner as the reader becomes engaged in a race against time and the danger that awaits.

The story is set in the present and the daily anquish of Megan who suffered a stroke and has been placed in an understaffed and cheap care home, where support for recovery is not on the menu. As she lies in a bed, dependent on a variety of carers, some dedicated and some sadistic, Megan also has all the time in the world to reflect on her life from a childhood marred by tragedy and manipulation, through a successful classical musical career, a love that brought light into her life and the disastrous outcome of a doomed marriage to a narcistic and violent bully.

These two timelines have converged to bring Megan to a place where past wrongs by others result in her torment and intended death at the hands of an avenging psychopath

The author has created memorable and relateable characters. Your heart goes out to Megan as she is swept through life on the whims and cruel intentions of others, willing her to find the strength to escape the chains that are used to keep her under control. The evil in both men and women who hold the keys to those chains is chilling and malignant, and the entitlement and disdain shown to her by those who should love and nurture her is heartrending.

Alex Craigie is the master of suspense and maintains a pace that is breathless with the reader turning the pages anxious to find a glimmer of hope for the doomed Megan.

Horror and fantasy novels that portray monsters and evil are easier to read as they can be dismissed as imaginary… This thriller is however definitely close to home in many respects and it makes it all the more compelling a read.  I can highly recommend.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

Also by Alex Craigie

Alex Craigie, Buy: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – Follow Alex: Goodreads – Alex Craigie via: Facebook

About Alex Craigie

Alex Craigie is the pen name of Trish Power.

Trish was ten when her first play was performed at school. It was in rhyming couplets and written in pencil in a book with imperial weights and measures printed on the back.

When her children were young, she wrote short stories for magazines before returning to the teaching job that she loved.

Trish has had three books published under the pen name of Alex Craigie. Both books cross genre boundaries and feature elements of romance, thriller and suspense against a backdrop of social issues. Someone Close to Home highlights the problems affecting care homes while Acts of Convenience has issues concerning the NHS at its heart.

Someone Close to Home has won a Chill with a Book award and a Chill with the Book of the Month award. In 2019 it was one of the top ten bestsellers in its category on Amazon.

 

Thank you for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books… Sally

73 thoughts on “Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Psychological #Thriller – Someone Close to Home by Alex Craigie”

  2. So great to see Trish and her books featured here, Sally, and I apologize for being late to the party! I don’t know how I missed this, but I’m sure glad I saw it today. What a great review, Sally, and though I haven’t yet read this one, I know that Trish is a great writer. (Her latest release, Means to Deceive, is a super example of that.) I do plan to read this one, too, but when it came out, I was dealing with my own mother in a nursing facility, and it was too painful for me to handle at the time. But from what I hear, she nailed it!

    Trish, congratulations on receiving such a fantastic review, and best wishes for a huge success with your latest book, too! You deserve it, my friend! 😀 ❤

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  6. I can now happily report that I’ve read all three of Trish’s books and they’re all wonderful. I agree that she’s masterful, Sally, an expert at the slow burn page-turner. Congrats to Trish on the wonderful review. 🙂

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  8. Having gone through the assisted living process with my mom, I felt like Trish nailed so many of the character types who work there. I never dealt with anyone abusive, but I certainly saw fantastic care workers and ones that should have been doing something else.

    Looking forward to reading Means to Deceive that is patiently waiting for me to get to it on my Kindle.

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      • I couldn’t agree more with your comment about Pete and due diligence. Knowing his nurturing of the children in his care, I know that he will have been just as nurturing and caring for his mother. Families who walk away from a care home assuming that everything is going to be fine, need to visit frequently and look out for signs that things aren’t. Residents with dementia are so very vulnerable.
        There was a truly nightmare story last week about a 99-year-old woman’s treatment that only came to light when the family hid a camera in her room. Complaining about the care of a resident can often lead to the home simply turning the resident away and then the nightmare of finding another one begins again – the ones with the best care are often oversubscribed.

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  15. Gripping review and so not surprised. A subject many of us fear as we age. I can’t wait to dig into ‘Alex’s’ books. Reading two longish books now, but Trish is up next! Congrats my friend! ❤ xx

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  19. Sally, great review of what sounds like a chilling read. Psychological thrillers are what I love to read, so like Harmony, I’m off to check it out on Amazon. Trish, your book sounds terrific (in the true sense of the word!) – Congratulations and good luck!

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