I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jack and Sydney are a young couple who have just bought their first house. So its a little bit rough around the edges and the previous owner has left in mysterious circumstances but they got it for a knock down price and are excited to start their new life together.

From the get go you know that this is a novel on many layers.

We soon learn more about Jack and Sydney, her past and very shady family, his work and desire to go above and beyond to help those in need. It seems secondary but, as we will soon see, this is all very important. As I said, its a novel on many layers.

Then there is the teenage neighbour who may have a secret to hide and what's all that stuff Jack has found in the attic.....

I wasn't sure about this novel at first because initially I had no idea where it was going and I like to have some idea where my novels are going but I soon got enmeshed in those layers reading on to find out what is going to happen and it didn't disappoint.

This is a great psychological thriller but also a great suspense novel and worth a read if you like something dark with a hint of humour.

An interesting tale with fascinating twist and double twists. A book that is difficult to put down.

This book has left me conflicted, where as I liked the synopsis when i read it, I found it really irritating when I was reading it, the story focuses on Jack and Syd, a young couple who have been trying to get a place together but everything is out of their budget until they find an open house of a man who has upped and left everything, so far so good, but the plot does jump from Syd's view to Jacks without actually coming out what they keep implying too, In some places the plot is improbable but it can be still be gripping and I did want to find out what happened to them, but i'll leave you to find out that.

Utterly riveting, cunningly written and bursting full of character.

Lost interest at 7%. Did not seem to be getting anywhere, 2 peoples sides of rambling about the same thing. Not for me.

Sorry, I didn't really enjoy this. I found the format stilted and the story was boring. I struggled to get through it. However, I appreciate the opportunity to review it. We can't all enjoy everything we read.

Would recommend this book to read but found it hard in places, which led to its mystery. A couple buy a house together but things don't go right. They write a diary of what happens to try and piece together what's happening. The police get involved. Feelings are hurts and confused. sides are taken.

Overall this book has quite a complex plot but I felt very little empathy or sympathy with either of the the main characters, Jack or Sydney. Jack appears to be too dominated by Sydney, the main female character, and although she has suffered childhood abuse I found the portrayal of her to be too cold and distant.
I also felt that there were a few too many unbelievable manipulations in the plot, such as another abused child living in the neighbourhood and Sydney getting involved with her, the whole scenario of them buying the house and therefore Sydney's father entering their lives again, allowing Sydney to frame him for murder and exact revenge for childhood abuse.
I think the plot originally had an interesting premise but seems to have got a bit lost in complexities along the way.
So saying all this I will look out for other books from this author as I am interested to see if I will prefer his other works compared to this one.

I can't rate this book highly enough, even 5 stars doesn’t seem adequate. From the very first page i was hooked completely. I love how this book was narrated by Jack and Sydney in a manuscript style, the one liners made this book a cut above the rest and gave it a personality that was different and refreshing. A must read for 2017, and i would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I felt there was a good story trying to be told in this book, but i didn't like the shifting timelines and found it difficult to believe the premise in part one that Jack and Syd would write their separate stories to present to the police. I also struggled with Syd's father arranging for them to buy the house and planting clues and I feel overall I didn't really know or care enough about the characters.
However, I could see this working well as a tv drama.

I thought that reading from the perspectives as if it were written in a journal was a unique idea that I haven’t really seen done before. I enjoyed reading from both main characters’ perspectives.

The twist was good - I did guess it, probably because I knew there was a twist coming. But I did find it a bit far-fetched.

For me this book didn’t live up to its premise. The title seemed a little misleading as the house itself has a very small part to play in the plot.

Overall, I had very mixed feelings about The House. Despite my issues with it, I read it quickly and enjoyed it for the most part. If you're into thrillers then it is probably worth a read.

Hmm, I had really conflicting thoughts about this book. The first quarter, I hated. The middle, I loved. The last few chapters I was indifferent. The story centres around Jack and Syd, a young London couple struggling to get onto the property ladder (aren't we all?). When their luck turns around and they purchase their "dream house", it seems as though things couldn't be better. However, very soon strange things start to happen and before they know it, Jack and Syd become swept up in a murder.

The story is told through both Jack and Syd's perspectives, alternating between present day and flashbacks to Syd's childhood. The House was certainly well-written, I will say that about it. However, it had the same problem that I've had with a number of books that I've read recently and that was that at times it came across as pretentious. Why is it that virtually any novel that is set in London acts like it would be a travesty to live anywhere else in the country. It's a snobbish and irritating first world problem that I have come to detest in books. That being said, Syd's chapters were certainly more relateable and I personally found her to be a more relatable, human character. The plot itself was fine but it was nothing new and at times, seemed far-fetched. It would have been better if the ending had been less predictable.

Overall, I had very mixed feelings about The House. Despite my issues with it, I read it quickly and enjoyed it for the most part. If you're into thrillers then it is probably worth a read.

Three Stars ***

I thought ''The House'' was an interesting style of writing, even though I was initially unsure about it; as it's written as a sort of retrospective diary by the two main characters Jack and Sydney. I'm not altogether convinced it was entirely successful as sometimes I felt it slip a little, but nonetheless it managed to hold my interest throughout.

It had what felt like a few different vibes and at first I thought (despite what Sydney writes in her first entry), that it was more like a ghost story as there is this air of mystery running through it. And though this changed as the book went on I would be hard pressed to pin it down to a definite genre, not that this is a bad thing, and of course you might wonder what on earth I'm talking about when you've read it.

The slow drip-feeding of information about what has happened to Jack and Sydney meant that I was committed to finding out their history, and thus wanted to read on even when I might perhaps have benefitted form a couple of extra hours sleep instead! There always seemed to be something else to discover, whether it was Jack's relationship with his parents, what happened to the body outside their house, or why the previous owner of the house left in such a hurry. Whilst it wasn't difficult to keep up there was an awful lot going on, so I did feel like I was being woven up in an intricate web.

I did enjoy it and though it might not be one of my best books, it's more than worth a read.

The House by Simon Lelic is a pyschological thriller about a young couple, Jack and Syd who move into what appears to be their perfect home. Cluttered with the possessions of the previous owner who has made a quick sale, Jack makes a shocking discovery in the attic but chooses to ignore its significance. Then a neighbour is murdered on their doorstep and the police become involved and start observing the couple and this is when the novel ratches up a gear. Told from the viewpoint of both Jack and Syd it is an intricately plotted mystery.

Wow, what a twisty, gripping read! Kept me hooked from the very first page and does not let go until the end. Fantastic, one of the better books of this year so far.

I don’t remember being genuinely scared reading a book since 1977 (Stephen King’s The Shining), but I was while I was reading this novel. It’s a really good story, brilliantly written, but best of all it’s really, really clever; a proper thriller.

The intelligent writing style, and the atmosphere of quiet menace it creates, made me get so emotionally involved that I felt that if I stopped reading I would be leaving the characters there, suspended in peril, until I came back and continued unravelling the plot with/for them.

I absolutely loved this book; it was exciting, entertaining, and thoroughly gripping to the end.

Gosh what a book, from the blurb and the title I was expecting a haunted house story but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong! Don't expect any supernatural goings on, just an involving and gripping story that you'll want to finish in one go!

Syd and Jack have finally got their own house, they got really lucky when their poor bid on paper was accepted by the buyer, they soon move in but mysterious things start to happen... and who was the previous occupant anyway? Why are the neighbours acting strangely?

The book is quite unique as it's mainly made up of chapters which are diary entries by Syd and Jack recalling past events. They are very believable characters with two distinct voices, it's also quite amusing especially when one looks back on what the other has written, like they are having a conversation or even squabbling with each other in front of you at times. The reason for this is made clear later in the book but it also allows the reader to really connect with these two people and understand the love they have for each other.

So enjoyed this one, I liked the twists and how the book ended. Recommend!

Pretty good thriller with a good plot. Enjoyed seeing it unfold.

I enjoyed this book and read it all over two days, I found it to be well written, descriptive and full of emotion.
I liked both of the main characters, Syd in particular as she seemed like a very strong person beneath it all and I really felt for what she was going through.
The book was original in the fact that it was told from two different viewpoints and kept me interested until the end with its clever twists and turns.
I'll definitely read more by this author

Well, thanks again to NetGalley I have just finished reading a book from another author new to me.

A young couple, Jack and Syd have been house hunting for a while. They started out with a long list of must-haves and over the months, as their offers on houses were declined, or somebody else made a better offer, the list dwindled. So imagine how delighted they were when they found the house of their dreams that matched their original list and their offer was unexpectedly, accepted.

This house had everything they wanted, plenty of space, perfect location and in walking distance to the local shop and pub. But the previous owner had packed up and gone to the other side of the world, Australia to be with a woman whom he met on the internet. And in leaving, he had left the house complete with all its furniture and everything else from his life, to the lucky purchasers.

We learn about Jack and Syd and their relationship with each other and the house by a series of notes that each has made. Syd is more enamoured of the house than is Jack who has some dark thoughts about the house and rapidly questions the Real Estate agent’s story of the vendor and his reasons for leaving everything behind.

Meantime, Syd meets and befriends Elsie a young girl who is obviously being abused by her father Syd is sympathetic because she too suffered at the hands of her father until on the night before her 14th birthday when she left home never to return. Unfortunately because of er leaving the father turns his attention o the younger sister and 2 months later her younger sister killed herself. Syd feels responsible for this death and now includes Elsie in her feeling of responsibility.

We learn that Jack is a Social worker employed by the local Council and together he and Syd decide to try to help Elsie. This ends in disaster as the Social Services can do nothing without proof and in fact, they only succeed in making things worse for the girl.

And the house? Well, there’s a whole lot of strange things going on. Strange noise in the night, odd smells, a dead cat in the attic, and a box of a young girl's keepsakes, none of which can be easily explained away.

When Elsie’s father is murdered Jack becomes the prime suspect because he had threatened to kill the man following a drunken brawl at the local pub.

Meantime, Syd discoverers that her father has been released from jail and is once again living with her mother. Syd discovers this by chance and is immediately concerned that her father will once again try to control her.

The twist in the tail (or the tale) when it comes is totally unexpected. Can this be the perfect murder?

Are you confused yet? I can only encourage you to read his very complicated, well-written story for yourself. And like me, when you come to the end and all is revealed, you will no doubt take a deep breath and look around your own house with a different eye.