Published by Pan MacMillan
Publication Date: 8th October 2015
Genre: Contemporary Horror
Book Description:
They said the dead can't hurt you . . . They were wrong.
The House on Cold Hill is a chilling and suspenseful ghost story from the multi-million copy bestselling author of Dead Simple, Peter James.
Moving from the heart of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their twelve-year-old daughter Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House - a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion - Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends.
Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade's is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings, as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House's dark history, and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them . . .
My Thoughts:
Peter James was the author who moved me away from chick-lit style of books into grittier crime and thriller novels with his Roy Grace series of books, and that's pretty much where my tastes have remained as regular viewers of my book review pages will know. This novel however is a step away from those and into the more spooky type of thriller. I wouldn't go so far as to put it in the horror genre myself but I suppose "creepy" isn't a genre so it's the closest pigeonhole to describe the content.
The first chapter takes us straight into the action as the new tenants of Cold Hill House approach the house closely followed by their removals team. Sadly Johnny, Rowena and their children don't even get to unlock the front door before tragedy strikes, setting the pattern for the remainder of this book and its sequel.
As the description above relates, the next batch of new residents, the Harcourts, do actually get to move in to Cold Hill House but the malevolent spirits in the house are not happy about this situation and do their best to persuade the family that they've made a huge mistake in moving here. The author manages to set some really quite unsettling scenes which had me seriously creeped out as I sat trying to read this book by lamplight late in the evenings around Halloween. Probably not my best decision - or maybe that helped to increase the impact of the book? All I know is that I chose to read the closing chapters in daylight! Even then my pulse rate was much higher than usual.
I understand that the author based this story on some of his own personal experiences of a property he lived in - I would be interested to know just how much of it came from his imagination and how much was real. The only thing I do know is that I'd have been out of there PDQ if it had been me!
If you're not a regular reader of the horror genre but fancy a spooky tale to test your limits then this is perfect for you. If you like a bit of Stephen King and his counterparts then this is probably a bit tame but we all have different boundaries and triggers and it hit the spot perfectly for me.
About the Author:
Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. His Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has been translated into thirty-six languages with worldwide sales of over eighteen million copies, and has given him nine consecutive Sunday Times number ones. In 2015 WHSmith customers publicly voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he became the recipient of the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement, awarded for sustained excellence. Peter has also written a short story collection, A Twist of the Knife, and his standalone titles include his ghost story The House On Cold Hilland The Perfect Murder, which has been turned into a smash hit stage play. All his novels reflect his deep interest in the world of the police. Three of his novels have been filmed and before becoming a full-time author he produced numerous films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. He divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill, London and near Brighton in Sussex.
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