What can I say. I've dithered between 3 stars and 4 all week.

Why did I almost choose 3 stars?
Because this took me a bit of time to adjust to, the story was drawn out a bit. BUT.....
I chose 4 stars because it "had" to be to get the background of the story however, I didn't realise that until later so it settled with me fine in the end.

I thought Marion who lives with an older brother a bit annoying, well......very annoying infact, she loved her teddy bears, loved her food and her TV, reasoned like a little child BUT then......

I had to change it to a 4 star because....
There was a huge reason for her being like this and it all tied in. She no longer became annoying she became someone I felt sorry for, someone I had compassion for [for a little while] as I could reason why she was responding to certain things in such a manner even for her age.

No matter how I felt about some negatives they very soon turned around to be positives.

This author did a fabulous job on me, from just tagging a long with the book wondering what the hell I was reading to BANG, this was good. I then started to quickly turn the pages of this book. I had some idea of what her brother was 'upto' but not the exact reason why or warpness that surrounded this brother and sister.

I'm not wanting to give anything away.

I will say, if you are looking for a heart stopping moment....its soon, real soon.
If you are looking for a fast paced thriller.......not this one. This is one you read, think about, maybe at times think its not going anywhere until you suddenly reach the end and there is that busy main road where your brain has to take everything in at once, its not used to it because its been a nice easy walk so far, then WOOOOO the heat is on.

Its a book I will remember for a few years to come. Not because of its impact but because of its style.

This is definitely going to be a marmite book where people will either love it or hate it or just think "what in the hell have I just read" good, bad or indifferent.

Before you write your review, sit and think on it, sit and think where the author wanted to take you and make sure...........................it wasn't the cellar!!!!

My thanks to LEGEND PRESS for my copy of this superb book

FOLLOW THE TOUR

The Visitors: A Dark and Chilling Suspense

by Catherine Burns

Legend Press

General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 03 Oct 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The Visitors through Legend Press and Netgalley:

Marion Zealand is a timid old spinster who still sleeps with teddy bears, and lives with her older brother John in an old Georgian Townhouse on the seaside, the house is falling apart, and in the basement is a shocking secret John kept in the cellar.

When John has a heart attack Marion must go down to the cellar and face the horrors she has been trying to hide from. As a child John was prone to utbursts when he didn’t get his way, calling his Mother horrible names, and treats his sister horribly, while his parents do nothing about it. As a child he’d make Marion crawl on the floor like a dog, or eat toothpaste until she got sick. He found pleasure in humiliating her.

Marion and John’s parents left them with family money. Despite that she felt that she needed her brother, that she could not make it on her own.

Whereas Marion had never worked John took a jobteaching chemistry at Broadleaf school right after graduating from Oxford. John was let go after a girl named Lauren Hargreaves had accused him of touching her.

Marion often hears what sounds like women screaming but she does her best to convince herself it is nothing.

But there are women in that cellar, and it isn’t only John who has a dark side.

I give The Visitors four out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Legend Press for a review copy of The Visitors, a standalone novel set in the English seaside town of Northport.

The novel centres on Marion Zetland, a sheltered spinster in her 50s, who lives with in a childlike world with her teddy bears and fantasies of love. She knows that her brother, John, is up to something in the cellar but is so dominated by him that she chooses to believe his absurd explanations and carry on watching her true life films, eating cakes and biscuits and dreaming until he has a heart attack.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Visitors. It is not the novel I was expecting (I thought it would involve the police) but it is thoroughly absorbing due to Ms Burns' skill in drawing Marion.

This is a difficult novel to review without spoilers because it is only about Marion and her actions and reactions. The novel is told in the third person which adds a layer of dispassion and makes the incredible seem matter of fact. It is mostly told in the present but there are flashbacks to Marion's dysfunctional childhood which seen through the eyes of the child Marion still is mostly only hinted at and leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. What is clear is that John and his actions are at the root of Marion's anxiety and inability to cope with everyday life, in fact it seems to me that he has taught her to believe it.

This is a really interesting read and gripping in its own way. There is very little action but what there is is quite shocking because Marion and John are very strange people. Ms Burns drip feeds the tensionas she slowly unpeels the hidden depths of Marion's character which I never dreamed of at the beginning. The ending is amazing and very clever in this context. I can only suggest you read it for yourself and draw your own conclusions because, unlike other reviewers, I didn't feel sorry for Marion.

The Visitors is an unusual but clever read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Well I’m glad I had a change of mind and decided to read this. I was put off by a review I had read but earlier this week a different review made me want to read it. I feel almost ashamed to say that a lot of the time I felt quite sorry for Marion and her dismal life. I did have cause to change this when as the blurb says ‘questions are asked and secrets unravel’. I find that I can get books mixed up as many storylines are quite similar, however there is no chance of that here as this is strikingly different. What a debut, I can’t wait to see what Catherine Burns does next.

I always thought I loved books that had a huge "creep" factor. Well, either my taste is changing or now these authors are taking creep to a whole new level (I think the latter is the case!). This was just beyond my comfort zone.

Marion and John are middle-aged siblings still living together in the home where they grew up. Their parents gone. Their neighbors highly suspicious. Of what? Could there possibly be something “creepy” going on in there?

It took me a couple days to write this review. Needed the time to ponder this one and process exactly how I feel. Well...I think I’m still somewhat conflicted. I went into this book rather blindly. (Maybe too much so). I do know that when I first saw this book was available I was so excited to read it! I was looking for creative ways to get my hands on this novel! When it became a download now on NetGalley I quickly clicked on it while doing the happy dance!

Unfortunately it didn’t completely live up to my expectations. I kept waiting for the storyline to take me somewhere...nope, never got there. I kept waiting for a wicked twist that just didn’t develop. On the positive, it definitely was a very fast read. Still, I was left with a feeling that the book just missed its mark.

This was a huge Traveling Sister group read with Norma, Brenda, Jan, Kendall, Holly, Sarah, Jennifer, and Diane!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Legends Press and Catherine Burns for a copy to read in exchange for an honest review.


For this review and our full traveling sister review please visit Brenda and Norma's Fantastic Traveling Sister Book Blog http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com

Dark and twisted, but not in a good way, unnecessarily gruesome and with elements of forced horror

What a fun traveling sister read with a huge group of ladies. I have to say that I definitely enjoyed reading alongside everyone!

The Visitors by Catherine Burns is a dark and disturbing thriller. I will be honest, I did not like this book at all. I was confused as to where the author was trying to go with this one and I really tried to understand the plot/characters. I felt that this novel was too much of a slow burn for my taste and I put the novel down multiple times because I was frequently bored.

Catherine Burns delivers a dark character study of two siblings Marion and John which is told from Marion's perspective. I am a huge fan of character driven novels but I was not a fan of Marion or John. I felt that Marion was pretty pathetic... I mean who fantasizes about things/people 24/7? Eh... and she was so naive/blind eye to what actually was going on in the cellar. This just really annoyed me and I kept rolling my eyes constantly with Marion.

I was confused as to where the author was trying to take the plot? I felt that the story focused too much on minor details and not enough of the "BIG" plot. All I felt reading this was about John and Marion's childhood drama. I was hoping and praying for some sort of twist or surprise but nothing. I did not feel scared or creeped out by this novel at all and was honestly bored and annoyed.

What I did enjoy about this novel was how easy it was to picture myself living with John and Marion. I felt the details were gory and pretty disturbing overall... getting into the mind fame of both John and Marion. I also enjoyed how the author left the ending up to her readers... she didn't really give much away but enough for her readers to finish "the story" for themselves.

Overall, I would give this a 2 stars. I was not impressed and this novel was just not for me.
Thank you to Netgalley, Catherine Burns, and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and Legend Press in exchange for an honest review.

A dark read that kept me reading...

Open the book and enter the world of the twisted siblings Marion and John! Are these two ill, deranged, or just plain evil?? This is a disturbing book on many levels and not for someone looking for an uplifting read! I knew that when I requested to read it and wanted to get out of my comfort level and see how I would feel. I read Jewels review (loved the review) and decided to give it a try. I agree that it had a gothic feel to it and creepy like the Bates Motel as well!

A strong ominous feeling hovered over the book like a dark cloud. The author was detailed in her descriptions of the family and their history including all the "ugliness". It gave me a creepy feeling and apprehension, but not the heart racing, page turning or adrenaline caused from reading a "suspenseful thriller."

This was more of a character driven analysis of the impulsive mind that seems to have no self-control, no remorse and no ability to change the road they have chosen. Or maybe, they choose this road because they are simply evil with twisted minds.

The author had me feeling strongly about the characters, though disturbing and unforgiving for things they had done. It was like watching an episode of 48 Hours or Dateline where I'm transfixed to the story, but utterly repulsed! (If that makes sense!)

It was the cover of this book that lured me in. I found it rather foreboding. It showed us a shadowy figure, framed by light, standing atop a flight of stairs leading downward. The view is from the bottom of the stairs, and the legend asks, can you escape the darkness within.

As readers, we found ourselves at the bottom of the stairs looking up, not at the top of the stairs looking into the darkness below. That was my hint that this book was different.


Marion Zetland lives with her brother, John, in their big mansion of a house, three floors tall. Even though they live together, Marion is mostly alone, with Mother’s voice in her head for company, and Neil, the first man she loved. This characteristic reminded me of Norman Bates from Psycho.

Marion has always been plain, friendless, unwanted. Since Mother’s nerves were delicate as a glass cobweb, she couldn’t bear to have anyone visit. Nor does Marion have a good relationship with her neighbours, Judith, next door, and old Mr Weinberg opposite. Even though she used to babysit Judith’s daughter, Lydia, for free.

Rejected, Marion chooses to stay in her own world. She lets the house go to seed, saving junk in the hope and fear that she will need it someday. She sleeps in her childhood bedroom in the attic, with her stuffed toys and beloved children’s books around her.

John’s behavior towards Marion sways between treacly-sweet concern over her welfare to violent outbursts over the slightest provocations.

John spends most of his time in the cellar, with the visitors, people she has never seen, but whose laundry she does once a week. People whose screams she has heard. Marion resents them and prefers not to think about them.

Until one day when John suffers a heart attack, followed by a hip fracture, and needs to be hospitalized and she has no option but to go down to the cellar and confront whatever evil lies concealed there.


The synopsis raised unnecessary expectations for me, because the evil in the cellar wasn’t at all what I imagined it to be. Also, events mentioned in the synopsis should have finished at the halfway mark in the book. Instead, by the time John is hospitalized, we are nearly 75% into the book, and there’s not much time to wrap up the whole thing. This book simmers for far too long, and then there’s a sudden increase in the temperature.


The narrative was briefly interspersed with letters from various young girls, hailing from countries where English is not the spoken language, in trouble. They write letters of friendship to a 21-year-old university student called Adrian J Metcalf, who promises them a new life in England. He sends them money and helps them get a passport.

At first, these letters, displayed in italics, seem out of place, and we wonder what they have to do with Marion and John.


Of the characters, both Marion and John were very strong and well drawn, as were their parents. The neighbours, Judith and Mr Weinberg, were well portrayed too.

Well drawn isn’t the same as likable though. As readers, we do not feel the slightest shred of sympathy towards any of them.

Both John and Marion are damaged in their own way. Both are incapable of having healthy relationships with people. It seems as if they willingly succumb to the menace that pervades their lives.

It’s hard to tell which of the parents do more lasting damage to the children. Is it the father or the mother, or the dysfunctional family relationships that bode ill for them?

While we allow ourselves to feel lulled at the thought of Marion’s essential niceness, we slowly become aware that all may not be well with her. It becomes increasingly hard to sympathise with her, increasingly hard to tell whether she is to be relied upon. John is even less likable. He is unpleasant and a pervert.

There was nobody I really liked in this story. At one level, I felt sorry for Marion, the child. She never had her parents’ affection. Her mother looks at her with an expression of vague disappointment, as if she were something that had lost its shape in the wash.

That is why Marion doesn’t mind the idea of being used; surely that was better than being unused, like a forgotten carton of milk going slowly sour in the fridge.

Marion shares with us her memories, but we learn that she also has daydreams, in the same way a starving man might swallow rags to stuff his belly. At first, we believe they are real, but then we see gaps between her versions of events and other people’s reactions to them. That is when we see her recollections for what they are: Like a cutting taken from a plant, a separate version of Neil flourished inside Marion’s head.

As she gets older, she lies on her bed, aimlessly sorting through the contents of her mind as if it were an old sewing box full of tangled threads, foreign pennies, and rusty needles.


The author’s word-picture descriptions were sharp and cutting. She says of Judith, moving with a whirr of sharp angles like some kitchen apparatus set to fast motion. It’s very telling when the author says of her, The thin red smile left her mouth and stuck to the edge of her cup. The coffee she makes is so bitter that Marion’s tongue shriveled like a slug doused with salt.

I felt angry with Judith on behalf of Marion, for treating the latter so snidely, pinching her hard, then gently patting the bruise better. For laughing at Marion’s sentiments and making her feel that a treasure that she had carried around her for years, only to be told it was a piece of trash.



The author makes a strong point about how people can seem mousy and innocuous and yet be so toxic. Their lives filled with unseen rottenness, like jars of half-used jam that have been sitting at the back of the cupboard for so long, you are afraid to unscrew the lid.


In the end, Marion becomes an embodiment of her house. Left unloved for so long, she seems to go to seed herself. The most damning lines are spoken by a medium-cum-spiritualist, who says of her, You are the kind of evil that comes from nothing, from neglect and loneliness. You are like mould that grows in damp, dark places, black dirt gathered in corners, a fatal infection that begins with a speck of dirt in an unwashed wound.

The ending left me with a sense of dread and distaste at how things had turned out. How do things slide, nay, degenerate so badly? The horror of this book is that evil doesn’t always look evil. Sometimes the homeliest face may conceal a terrible evil behind it.

Would Marion have turned out like this if she had been loved? Maybe not. Then again, who knows?

This was a group read (hello, Traveling Sisters!) that divided the ladies. I fall into the higher rating camp. It's dark, it's odd, and it'll probably leaving you scratching your head at the end and feeling unsettled. It's also a very slow burn that's more of a character study which takes you inside the head of a very unusual person.

As a child, Marion was bullied by her peers and brushed aside by her parents, who always preferred her brother with his superior intelligence. She could never learn as quickly as anyone else, and also lacked the social skills to make up for it. As an adult, she's a fantasist. She's completely inexperienced with relationships, and spends most of her day imagining how things could be while completely ignoring the fact that things cannot change unless you make them. Now in her fifties, she still resides in the house she grew up in. She never married or even had a boyfriend. She has no close friends. She has only John, her brother... and that's not saying much.

Glimpses into their past tell us about their awful parents, but what could excuse what John keeps in the basement? The ordinarily very passive Marion is relatively content to act like she has no idea what's going on. Don't rock the boat. Don't make John angry. Until the day comes when it's no longer an option.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need a shower to wash the creepy weirdness that is this book off me. I can't do anything about it popping back into my head though...

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Legend Press, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Planning to finish as many creepy reads as possible this October, I started off with The Visitors to slowly ease myself into a chilly mood of suspense. This thriller turned out to be quite different from what I expected, but in a positive way! Told alternating between current events and the childhood memories of simple-minded spinster Marion, The Visitors is more of a character-driven book. Ever a mere spectator of other people's lives, the protagonist delves in daydreams to escape the reality of a wasted life and her authoritative brother John.

What he hides inside the cellar of their shared home, the truth which Marion is so good at ignoring, is apparent right from the beginning, but the turning point - John's heart attack mentioned in the description - doesn't happen until well into the book. By then, the reader is not only introduced to the deranged psyche of a psychopath, but also to the past that made both siblings into what they are now. And to the concept that shabby Marion herself might be less innocent than she believes herself to be.

Completely engrossed in the ways a life can go so absolutely wrong, I couldn't put the book down. Burns delivered not only a well-written thriller, but also an in-depth exploration of a deteriorating character existing on the edge of society, one that the reader could never completely empathize with nonetheless. Maybe not an absolute surprise when it comes to the plot, but definitely in execution. I'm afraid I will be thinking about the last few chapters for quite a while to come. Yes, the chilly October mood has been successfully reached.

It is hard to believe this was a debut book for Catherine Burns! And what a great debut it is! A nice twisted tale that sucks you in and keeps you engaged throughout. Loved it.

When I think of THE VISITORS by Catherine Burns, here is what comes to mind.

"Aren't We A Ray Of Pitch Black.”

Crossing over to the dark side, deeply disturbing, and ideal for lovers of freaky Halloween, Meet the brother and sister duo.

Marion and John.

John is an Oxford graduate. Domineering. Neither married and in their fifties. A monster.

Marion was only eight years old when she discovered she was plain. She rarely saw other children outside of school. She was fat, people made fun of her. Now she takes orders from her brother.

The parents are now deceased and the brother and sister live in the old dilapidated mansion on Grange Road, a once beautiful Georgian house now cluttered and in decay.

John has visitors in the cellar. Marion has no clue what goes on the cellar and does not want to know. She is in denial. John orders her around and she obeys. He is family and all she has.

She knows there are women visitors. The McDonalds and the Mercedes. John says they are coming so he can teach them things. She knows she hears screams.

The lies we tell ourselves because the truth is too painful to bear. Denial works better. She still hears her mother's voices.

The mention of the cellar made Marion feel as though little spiders were crawling across her skin.

She tells people he uses the cellar for his hobby of building model planes. Marion likes her own pretend and imaginary world.

This is where she feels safe with her books and teddy bears.

However, when John takes sick and has to go to the hospital, Marion is left to take care of THE VISITORS. She has no clue what she will find when she goes down the steps. She is shocked.

Even though disgusted, Marion learns something about herself. Marion comes face to face with the truth. She becomes her own person. She sees her brother is a monster. She may have her own darkness.

Wacky and crazy, dark and disturbing. I am sure the book may appeal to certain readers; however, for me, "not my cup of tea." No interesting characters here. Gloom and doom.

Been reading too many dark and depressive books lately. Think I will switch to some lighter, funnier, and richer stories which speak to the heart. Possibly some inspiring non-fiction.

Thank you to Legend Press and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. 2.5 Stars

This is going to be one of those books with a love it or don’t audience simply because it’s not the normal kind of spine tingling, fast paced thriller most are used to in this genre. But if you give this a chance you’ll find an interesting literary work that is also unique and thrilling in its own way.

Despite the modern setting of the book there is still this old fashioned gothic feel that adds to the mood and helps heighten the personalities of the characters; siblings Marion and John. Her character work for them actually reminded me a bit of the movie Crimson Peak. A dilapidated mansion full of old, rotting junk becomes its own character with a creepy personality and ghastly secrets. In some ways the house mirrors Marion herself making it doubly intriguing.

Catharine Burns did a wonderful job of providing characters that will transfix your attention and have you thinking about them long after you close the cover. John’s anger boils off the pages and his actions of bringing people into the basement who never leave had me creeped out thanks to watching way too many Criminal Minds episodes. You can also feel how despicable their mother was despite the fact she’s dead. Marion believes so deeply in her own unworthiness thanks to how she was treated her entire life even the reader can’t help but believe the same as we see events unfold through her perspective. Though if you have a heart you’ll also feel sympathy for what she has endured.

This is such a detailed and well planned out character driven novel you’ll get sucked into their lives, the evil, confusion, denial, lies guilt and their journey to the truth – good or bad.

This contemporary gothic psychological thriller chilled me to the bone. The closest reading experience I can compare it to is Cormac McCarthy's Child of God - like that novel, The Visitors brings up troubling questions about the nature of evil and people's capacity to harm. Burns tells the story of spinster Marion who lives with her brother John, and their dark, shared secret lurking in the cellar of their crumbling home - and how they eventually confront that secret. The most striking part of the book for me was the earlier chapters' series of retrospective vignettes, which gave insight into the siblings' childhood. It sets up expectations on the nature of their evil which Burns deftly twists as the story unfolds. Indeed, while suspicions and tensions mount as the novel hurtles toward its conclusion, a certain character's stunning admission and act of cruelty reshape the reader's perspective on this depraved duo's sense of agency, vengeance, and even violence. This book will be disturbing to some readers - it pushed the bounds of what I'm comfortable reading. But the writing was so well-wrought and engrossing that I couldn't take my eyes off the book. If you are a fan of the aforementioned book by McCarthy or Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," The Visitors will be just right for you.

"You are the kind of evil that comes from nothing, from neglect and loneliness. You are like mold that grows in damp dark places, black dirt gathered in corners, a fatal infection that begins with a speck of dirt in an unwashed wound."

I really enjoyed this creepy and disturbing little novel. A twisted tale of Marion and her psychopathic brother John and the living "arrangements" that they have. As the story unfolds we find that meek and anxious Marion may not be as innocent as she believes herself to be. I honestly couldn't get to the last page fast enough.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I found this book to be a case study of 2 introverts who aren't leading conventional lives due to their personalities and circumstances. It was a slow paced book, but all worked together well to bring together a haunting, dark story. Not a traditional thriller, no twists and turns, just subtle hints dropped here and there that at times make your skin crawl. Very much enjoyed it!

Hmm. Yes. Well what to say about "The Visitors"

This is a beautifully written, highly disturbing and incredibly edgy debut, one of those that leaves you with a murky feeling right down in the depths of your stomach. Don't be fooled into thinking you'll get a standard psychological thriller, or a horror story, or a crime novel because whilst The Visitors could be described peripherally as all of those things, it is in fact not really any of them. Or wasn't to me at least.

Catherine Burns has written an extremely compelling and genuinely unpredictable character study as we meet Marion, in her 50's, downtrodden and overlooked by the world, her own mother feeding her insecurities both before and after death, who lives with a domineering, overbearing elder brother. Her love for John is one of the most disturbing aspects within the majority of this story - especially as it becomes clear early on just what it is that lurks down in that cellar. Marion for me was a character who garnered both sympathy and random anger as she struggles to find anything in herself to love and relies almost entirely on John for any kind of human contact.

Most of the book flows gently yet achingly horrifically forward as Marion begins slowly but surely to see exactly who she is, who she has become and who she could be. It is often a difficult read, certainly a visceral one, Catherine Burns brings the decaying house, the out of the corner of your eye cellar and Marion herself to disquieting, disconcerting life. An inciting event changes everything and Marion's eventual awakening is chilling and surprisingly impacting.

Overall a really excellent debut. Go in with no expectations and just let this one wash over you. I have no doubt that it will engage you emotionally, whether you come out of the other side loving it or not.

Recommended.

I loved this book. It's creepy and uncomfortable at times but the story is so well written and from the first page you have to keep on reading. Marion, a spinster in her fifties, has lived all her life in the family home with her bully of a brother John. Both their parents have died and the story flashes back to when they were alive, and how John and Marion have turned into the adults they are now. Marion drifts from day to day looking after John but John has a dark secret, He has 'visitors' to the house that only go to the cellar.
Even though you can guess what it is that John does, you start to wonder how much Marion is involved and what she knows about it.
Brilliant and shocking I can definitely recommend this book.

“You are the kind of evil that comes from nothing, from neglect and loneliness."

This gritty, morbidly dark tale is told from the point of view of fiftyish spinster Marion Zetland. Her and her older brother John live in the crumbling family home, supported by family money from their deceased father's fine fabrics warehouse.

Marion was a homely, pudgy child and didn't improve as she got older. This story explores the character of Marion at depth and there are hints along the way that her brother is a terrible man.

Marion chose to ignore those hints until they were impossible to overlook, as John falls, breaks a hip, and has a heart attack.

Then Marion has to open her eyes to what has been happening in her home.

This story is not a "feel good" story. In fact it's pretty much the opposite. The author did a fantastic job with developing Marion's character and letting us readers see inside her head.

But I definitely felt like I needed to take a hot shower by the time I reached the end of the book. Creepy, slimy, and overwhelmingly tainted.

I received this book from Legend Press through Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review.