Her Every Fear - Peter Swanson

Have you read Peter Swanson yet? No? Well, if you're a fan of twisty, turny suspense novels like I am, you'll want to add him to your 'must read' list.

Swanson's latest book is Her Every Fear.

Brit Kate Priddy suffers from anxiety, panic attacks and OCD. Her bouts and symptoms got even worse after surviving a horrible relationship with ex-boyfriend George. When the opportunity arises to switch apartments for six months with her distant cousin Corbin in Boston, she decides it's a great opportunity to reclaim her life.

But when a neighbour of Corbin's goes missing the day she moves in, Kate begins to wonder if she's made the right choice. And then the neighbour is found dead.....

A fantasic premise with loads of places to go - and an uncertain narrator to tell the tale. Love it!

Swanson has the reader knowing much more than our poor Kate. There are three other voices - Corbin, a friend of Corbin and another resident of the apartment building in Boston. We know what's happened, what's happening and the danger that Kate is in. Kate tries to downplay odd incidents.... she let the cat out didn't she? How did he get back in? Is someone watching her from the window across the way? (nice little Hitchcockian plot device) Has someone changed one of her sketches? Or is it her own anxieties causing her worries and suspicions?

The narrative switches between then and now and only serves to heighten the tension as we learn more about the characters and their secrets. Swanson has painted one heck of a scary antagonist in one of the three characters His inner dialogue is truly frightening. So, while we know the whodunit long before the police, it's the journey there that makes for a deliciously creepy read.

Swanson's last book, The Kind Worth Killing, had a fantastic 'gotcha' in the last few pages. I was looking (and hoping) for a similar ending. It's there, but subtle. One line in a paragraph near the end has me thinking that Kate may be making another bad choice......

Definitely recommended! Read an excerpt of Her Every Fear.  And pull your curtains, check in your closets and look under the bed before turning in.......

Photo: Jim Ferguson

"Peter Swanson is the author of The Girl with a Clock for a Heart. He has degrees from Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College. He lives with his wife in Somerville, Massachusetts, where he is at work on his next novel." Find out more about Peter Swanson on his website and follow him on Twitter.

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I received this book for review from HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours.