This book was crazy... lots of twists. I am still processing. I really struggled with being so upset with the main character at times, yet still rooting for her all the same. Great read!

Wasn’t too big a fan for this one. The premise was promising but the pace felt too slow and repetitive and I couldn’t connect (or enjoy) the main characters.

This was an interesting story with a familiar plot line. It took me a bit to
Get into but all in all it was a good read. I’d read from this author again.

Someone is waiting in the dark...

When a sudden commotion outside wakes Kate in the middle of the night, her PTSD is triggered as she recalls the night her husband was murdered in their own yard. Once she calms down, she is convinced that it could have been a deer or a few harmless teenagers. Once the vandalism and harassing text messages begin, though, she isn't so sure. With a new tenant in her on-site cottage, and support from family and her late husband's police buddies, she feels a little bit safer. But as her past comes back to haunt her and the violation escalates, Kate is forced to prepare herself for the possibility of fighting for her life, and protecting her family and her home.
The premise of this novel was promising, but I have to admit that it fell flat for me. Kate's harassment kept me on the edge of my seat, but the catalyst to these events seemed a little lackluster and trivial to me. I enjoyed the twists and turns in this novel, and even found myself fully gasping at one point in the story, but this could have been better without the meticulous play-by-play nature of each scene. I could see this story being more suitable for a movie, which I would gladly watch.

*Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, Daniel Judson and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-cottage-2/

Kate Burke is a widow living with her two children, Max and Callie, in a remote farmhouse in Westport, Connecticut. Her late husband, a cop, was murdered outside their home two years ago and she has stayed in the home she inherited from her grandfather.

She awakens one night when a motion activated light in their backyard comes on and she sees movement. Is it an animal? She sees two figures that look suspiciously like teenagers disappearing into the darkness. It startled Kate when her phone chirps at the same time, and receives a call from her estranged sister, Rebecca.

Kate’s father-in-law, Leo, is there to watch over them but is controlling. Her next-door neighbors, Maria and Derek also are there to help along with her late husband’s best friend, Eddie. As incidents escalate, including a knife in the wall of the vacant cottage on her property and the seats being cut out of swings, Kate fears for herself and her children. When she finds someone to rent the cottage, she hopes that the incidents will stop, but unfortunately, they continue. She decides to bring her sister back to Westport, whom she hasn’t had a relationship with in years, due to many betrayals.

As her sister arrives in Westport, Kate’s stalker becomes more and more aggressive; taking nude photos of her through her window, sending threatening texts, and following her to the grocery store to leave sick notes on her car. The cops work overtime to find out who is threatening Kate and why. Though the reader knows who it is throughout most of the book, having figured it out within the first couple of chapters, we don’t figure out the why until much later. When Kate finally understands why she is being stalked, it all makes sense.

While Daniel Judson has created a scenario of a stalker situation, which is both terrifying and exciting, there are parts of the book that just make little sense. One example would be Kate’s relationship with her tenant, whom she seems to like very much, but then decides she is not interested for no reason at all except that he moves out and she has decided not to see him again. Another example would be Kate’s relationship with Maria, her neighbor and best friend for many years, which is dissolved in an instant after Maria finds out Kate has lied to her, with no discussion at all. There is also a sexual undertone throughout the book, which I can best describe as creepy, as it does nothing to further the story.

As one reader said, you will want to read The Cottage with all the lights on. Despite knowing early in the book who the perpetrator is, I could not put this book down. It was suspenseful, and I never knew what was going to happen next. I found Kate believable as a widow and concerned mother.

Kate is left with two children when her husband is killed. She is scared of everything it appears yet she sleeps with the window open on the first floor. She despises her sister yet when she needs help she calls her sister. I found the main character harsh and just a bitch to her sister.

I really enjoyed this. It kept me engaged throughout the book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC copy!

🄽🄴🅃🄶🄰🄻🄻🄴🅈 🄰🅁🄲 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆
𝙱𝚢: Daniel Judson / @danieljudsonauthor
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Suspense, Thriller, Fiction
𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛: Thomas & Mercer / @amazonpublishing
Published 𝙾𝚗: November 2nd 2021
@goodreads 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎: 3.89
𝙼𝚢 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎: 🏠 🏠 / 5 Cottages
Thank you @netgalley and @thomasmercer for this gifted E-ARC of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 for an unbiased review.

When Kate Burke is awakened one night by a sound outside her window, her PTSD is triggered. Was it simply a deer crossing her secluded backyard? Or was it intruders? Because Kate still lives with the dreadful memories of her husband’s murder during a seemingly random home invasion two years before, she knows the answer can mean the difference between life and death.
But when she discovers the unsettling ways her property has been vandalized the next day, Kate is forced to conclude the worst: someone is watching her.
Kate decides to rent out her estranged sister’s onetime cottage, which sits on her property, for the summer. Another set of eyes around the place won’t hurt. And with additional support from friends and family, Kate should be feeling safe.
Instead, the vandalism is escalating. So are the anonymous late-night calls and texts, each one more disturbing and violating than the last. Whoever is targeting Kate, whatever their motive or terrifying endgame, the footsteps in the dark are getting closer.

🄼🅈 🅃🄷🄾🅄🄶🄷🅃🅂

This didn't work for me, unfortunately. The pacing was far too slow and the attention to irrelevant detail was a snooze fest. I thought the story had some potential, but I really struggled with connecting with the writing style. The creep factor was definitely there, but the story didn’t flow as well because of the writing style.

The author told me every single thing Kate did and was obsessed with her character. He had the tendency to drone on and on without actually saying anything.

On to the next 😉

Another good book from this author. I will definitely read anything he writes based on his previous work. His characters are one of his strongest writing abilities. They are realistic and believable. I definitely did not see the direction this story was taking. It caught me totally by surprise, and that's a good thing! Kept my interest all the way through. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and Author Daniel Judson for this ARC.

I didn't much enjoy this book. It was so slow--I kept waiting for something, anything to happen--and it is so dull. The plot was rather weak as well. Very disappointing.

This book was great! I highly recommend it. It was a non stop page turner! For sure will read more by this author!

A haunting, puzzling, suspect everyone kind of book! I found the writing to be a bit clunky and there were a few moments where I wanted to smack the main character for acting like a moron. Overall though, this was a fun and twisty read! My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Although this book got a lot of mixed reviews, I liked it a lot. The characters are very relatable, especially Kate who's husband was murdered two years prior. Before his death there were acts of vandalism at their home and now it has started again. It didn't take me long to figure out who the culprit was but I still enjoyed reading until the ending.
Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this incredible ARC for my honest review.

To say Kate Burke had ptsd would be an understatement, she lives in fear after the death of her husband. Her husband died in a horrific home invasion. Kate with her kids just tries to make it through each day, she now lives in a old family home passed down to her. Soon Kate begins to notice little things around her house, like vandalism and strange phone calls at night call, these odd things begin to trigger Kates ptsd. She decides to rent out the extra cottage having another person would help ease her worry. Once she rents it out the threatening texts and phone calls increase and the vandalism more dangerous. Why is this happening to her? This atmospheric thriller was the perfect creepy read! Makes you want to double check your doors and locks!! Three stars! I feel like some of the story line left me hanging!

Sadly, I just could not get into this one. It did not grabbed my attention and I stopped reading halfway through. When I started it again, I could not bring myself to finish something I was not enjoying. It felt predictable.

This book follows Kate, a widowed mother terrorized by a stalker, which triggers her PTSD because she lost her husband in a seemingly random home invasion.

The story was great, but things were happening at such a slow pace that I almost lost interest.

What I really loved in this book is that we can sense the constant atmosphere of dread felt by Kate.

The characters were, in my opinion, unexciting. Nothing really stands out and will easily be forgotten...

If you love slow-paced thrillers, you can give this one a shot though.

Looks like many did not like this book. I did. I thought it was very good. A bit long but good. It lost a star because I figured out fairly quick who was terrorizing Katie. There is a lot going on in this book but it's not hard to follow at all. It is an uncorrected ARC so I can't say it has flaws because you know that up front and I personally overlooked any. Not that I actually saw any but just in case. Yes I did enjoy this book. It was a quick read even though it was long. Most was conversations between people so they read quickly.

This book takes you into the life of a mother, Katie, and her twins. A boy and a girl. They lost husband and dad one fateful night during what was going to be a home invasion. He shot the intruders but he was shot also. It's sad that he died. It's sad for his wife who loved him so much and the children who lost their dad. But Katie gets on with her life as much as she can, while being tormented by someone.

Someone is doing things that scare her. It's like they are trying to make her leave her home. The one her and her older sister lived in with their grandparents after their parents died. Rebecca, Katie's older sister, is a bit on the wild side. She did things that made it hard on their grandparents. After they died and left everything except the Cottage to Katie, Becca, moved away. She lived a fairly wild life it seems. But when Katie calls her for help with the kids she arrives ready and willing to help. She seems to have changed. To be more caring and down to earth.

This book really made me feel edgy in many places. Who could be doing the horrible things. Damage to the cottage, breaking the window in Katie's home. Vandalizing the yard and just doing things to scare Katie. Could they want her out for some reason. Out of the only home her children have ever know. Out of the house her grandfather made her promise to never sell.. And who killed Leif. Was it really just a botched home invasion or were they sent to do exactly what they did. Who hated him this much.

This is to me a very good book. It held my interest all the way through. It made me shed a few tears. Ok a lot of them but you know... It even gave me a few laughs. It had me on the edge of my seat a few times. Who do you trust. Could her father in law be a bad person. The cute guy staying in the cottage a few months. Her sister. A neighbor. A cop she's know all her life and Leif's best friend.

Thank you #NetGalley, #DanielJudson, #Thomas&Mercer for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

4/5 stars. It lost one because I figured out fairly early who damaged the area. Other things were a surprise though. It's very good. I promise.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daniel Judson and Thomas & Mercer for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

The beginning of this novel is a bit slow to get going, but once it does; it cruises right along and is very easy to read. I really enjoyed the main character, but my trust for the rest of the cast of characters wasn't there at all. I went back and forth believing that I knew what was going to happen and I was always wrong. The twists were unexpected in the best way and very enjoyable. The ending was a lot more drawn out than I would have liked, but it did all tie together very nicely.

Thanks #netgallery for this read. This book was hard for me to review. I enjoyed it but there were sections that were not needed or too far fetched. I felt like the author was just trying to add as many twists as he could rather than tying up and writing a good twist well. Overall I enjoyed it but not as much as I thought I would.

Tension builds slowly and deliberately in The Cottage, a domestic thriller by Shamus award winning author Daniel Judson. Kate’s husband was killed two years earlier in a home invasion so she is understandably frightened when she sees strangers in her yard. The guest cottage on her property has been vacant since an argument with her sister Rebecca left them estranged. Although Rebecca has asked to use it, Kate rents the cottage to Jack, recently relocated to the area. Now the trespassing and vandalism get worse, punctuated by nighttime hang up calls. Kate relies on her father-in-law Leo and friend Eddie for help. Even with extra security, the terrifying harassment continues. Who would want to hurt Kate and why?

The mounting suspense and Kate’s relationship with Rebecca kept me reading The Cottage. However, the story seemed too long in places. I think, at 442 pages, it would have benefitted from careful cutting and editing. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Daniel Judson for this ARC.