Louise Candlish uses a clever device to open this story. The reader is thrust into a creative writer’s workshop being described by a Times magazine writer. So, there is a writer describing the Uber writer who is leading the session and reading a chapter of one of his student’s work. Writer, writer, writer - get it? It is all about the writing.

Where do we start - with the setting, and then the characters, and then all the flaws and emotions, the rage, the hate and the never ending obsession. Unfortunately the hate and obsession overshadow everything and permeate every page of this very well written psychological tale. Lots to learn, much information is imparted; “high place phenomenon “, “Motiveless malignancy”. Anyway, the writing is superb, the vocabulary excellent, the story is strong and believable but the constant hammering on the hate and obsession diminished the sum total for me. I am giving high marks for the writing.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a copy.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it but I did. The main character was a lighting person which was a switch from the usual journalist/doctor/lawyer/stay at home mom. At first the addressing the read put me off but I found a groove and whipped through the book. I thought it was an interesting premise and I love books about children who seem to have just been born “off’. It made me want to revisit some of her earlier work

Louise Candlish’s novel, The Heights, is a story of revenge told through several voices including a mother who lost her son in a senseless car accident. It’s the sort of book that causes readers to question how we would act in the same circumstances.

The story is mostly told by Ellen Saint, but there are also sections that are written by a journalist who is sitting in a writing class also attended by Ellen. Middle-aged Ellen Saint is married for the second time to Justin. They have a daughter together, Freya. Ellen, an interior designer, also has a son, Lucas, by her ex-husband, Vic. When the novel opens, Lucas is dead. He died in a horrible car accident in which his friend, Kieran, drove.

So here’s the backstory: Lucas attends an upscale school, Kieran, the product of a broken home is placed at the school by his foster mother, Prisca. Kieran, with a history of drug problems, learning difficulties, and rough edges riles Ellen immediately. She resents Kieran and his friendship with Lucas. To Ellen, Kieran leads Lucas astray; under Kieran’s influence, Lucas skips school, takes drugs, lies to his parents, and begins failing classes. So in other words, Kieran is every parents’ nightmare. Following Lucas’s death, Ellen is driven by only one thing: revenge.


As far as Ellen knows, when the novel opens, Kieran is dead and she begins with the statement.

It can’t be Kieran Watts, I tell myself. And if anyone can be sure of that it is me.

Because I’m the one who killed him.

Then why is Kieran alive and well in London? Or is Ellen, who has had other mistaken ‘sightings’ of Keiran in the past, wrong once again?

That’s enough of the plot…. It was hard to be in Ellen’s head. She is so full of hate and rage, that her mind is not a pleasant place. On one hand, since she lost her son due, rage is one option, but the majority of the novel dwells in this rage-filled place and it’s tiring. I had issues with Ellen almost immediately. There are indications that she’s a bit ‘off.’ The way she turns to her EX. The way Lucas is never at fault. … Anyway, this is a compulsive read–if only to get to the basic truths of this situation. I wish Ellen had been a bit more sympathetic.

Review copy.

I found this book had something missing. It wasn’t what I expected it to be at all based off the synopsis.

This book is a book within a book. We are reading Ellen’s story, her manuscript, of life events surrounding her sons death, his friends conviction, and his release afterwards. I didn’t like the layout of the book. Although knowing you are reading Ellen’s story you know to take it with a grain of salt.

What an interesting book about obsession, betrayal, and really, parenting! It actually surpassed my expectations, but at the same time a little bit long. I loved the different POV chapters! The twist at the end was surprising, but a bit weak.

3/3.5 Stars

<i><b>He thinks he’s safe up there.
But he’ll never be safe from you. </b></i>

What happens when you see a man who should be dead. You thought he was dead. He must be dead because <b>YOU </b> killed him?

This is what Ellen experiences. How could Kieran still be alive? She is angry. Ellen is very, very, angry. Kieran has changed everything in her family's life. She first met him when he was a sullen teen her son brought home. That was the beginning of the end. Tragedy strikes and there is a price to be paid. Kieran pays it, but that is not enough!

This book is told using multiple POV's. This adds some meat and detail to the story. This was another solid read by Candlish but not my favorite by her. I am not a slow burn fan, and I wanted this book to hurry up at times. But there is a nice payoff at the end with the reveal. That was a nice touch and one I didn't see coming. Very nice touch, Candlish, very nice.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

Thanks to netgalley for advanced reader copy. I really love this author. The plot of this one was a divergence from prior books of hers. It really touched on some tough topics. Overall, I liked the book. I was not sure where it was going and I liked how the story was told. I will keep reading this author.

The blurb doesn’t say much about this book; it’s mostly there to get you intrigued. Some people might like this, but I could see some readers wanting a little more information before they dive in. I personally don’t always read the plot summaries before starting a book, so I enjoyed this less-is-more approach.

In case you’re looking for a bit more plot: We meet Ellen a few years after the death of her son, Lucas. He died in a car crash, and Ellen believes his friend Kieran to be responsible, as Kieran was in the car at the time. Ellen is obsessed with Kieran and with getting revenge. One night, while working across the street, Ellen catches a glimpse of Kieran in the penthouse apartment of The Heights. This is shocking because she believes him to be dead…and she believes that she is responsible.

The Heights is told from multiple POVs. We are introduced to the story through Ellen, and the reader initially isn’t too sure how reliable of a narrator she is. When the POV switches to Ellen’s ex-partner Vic, everything starts to become clear. I loved reading Vic’s POV and thought this shift was a very clever way to tell the story. I also really enjoyed the clips throughout from a magazine article, interviewing Ellen in the future about the release of her memoir.

These characters were very well-written. I could certainly feel Ellen’s urgency, pain, and her frantic need for revenge. I also enjoyed Vic’s role as her moral compass and how he balanced her need for revenge with more clearheadedness.

The pace of this book is a little uneven. I was intrigued by the beginning of the book and loved the second half, but it felt a little slow in the middle. It’s worth it to push through the slow bits, because Parts 3 and 4 were fantastic. I really enjoyed the ending!

I know Louise Candlish has many loyal fans, and they certainly won’t be disappointed. Personally I enjoyed The Other Passenger a bit more, but I’m excited to see what else Candlish has to offer in the future!

Author Louise Candlish, puts the reader right into the mind of a controlling, obsessed, and grieving woman named Ellen Saint . . . whose only son, nineteen year-old Lucas, was killed in an automobile accident. The car was being driven by his best friend Kieran Watts . . . a young man who has never been forgiven by the ironically named mother of the dead teen, Ellen Saint.

As the novel begins, Saint—a pricey interior lighting designer with a morbid fear of heights—is at work with a client in a high-end London apartment building near the river Thames. But as she looks up to the penthouse of the building next door and sees someone she could swear was Kieran Watts . . . the very same person that Saint had had murdered, two years earlier.

She calls her ex, Vic Gordon, who corroborated with her to hire the anonymous Albanian hit-man who supposedly did the deed, and together, they set out to redo their earlier assassination attempt. Saint is unable to let go of the past and blames Kieran, who she thinks is a monster, for leading her perfect son astray, into drugs and ultimately, to his death. She is the unsympathetic, unreliable and unhinged narrator of this taut and well-constructed psychological thriller. Read it for yourself and see why author Candlish has been called “The queen of the sucker punch thriller.” You won’t be disappointed!

This was one where the beginning was solid, but fizzled by the end. I love the set up- a woman spies a man who she knows should be dead... she's the one that killed him! My big problem was the character, Ellen, herself. It was tough to connect with her or understand why she is doing the things she was. This also felt too long- 350 is plenty for a domestic suspense like this. I'd still try her again though.

DNF liked the premise but not the characters. The two main characters were a total turn off. The writing was detailed but not fleshed out with character development. Overall, not for me.

Ellen Saint is visiting a client in a high rise building when she spots a man across the rooftops. She's convinced he's Kieran Watts, the man she holds responsible for killing her son. Ellen is horrified to see Kieran again, as his presence brings back awful memories. But she's even more shocked, because Kieran Watts should be dead--after all, Ellen killed him.

"Kieran Watts has been dead for over two years when I see him standing on the roof of a building in Shad Thames."

This book was slightly weird and not what I expected, though not all in bad ways. However, it was a little long and dragged in places. It's very sad and sort of painful to read. Ellen is a very hard to like narrator, despite the fact that she's grieving. She's filled with so much anger and vitriol that it's incredibly hard to stomach. Her focus on Kieran and his role in her son's life is borderline too much.

"It can't be Kieran Watts, I tell myself. And if anyone can be sure of that it is me. Because I'm the one who killed him."

Ellen's story is one of revenge, but she's quite the unreliable narrator. It's told as a book within a book--as her memoir--and peppered with bits of news articles. You do find yourself questioning what you would do in Ellen's position. And there's certainly a bit of a mystery to unravel about what happened when Ellen's son died and how Kieran supposedly died and then returned. The intrigue is the best part, but Ellen's anger drags the book down.

The new novel from Louise Candlish remains in the same category of family and relationships and how a tragic moment can cause people to take risks and make decisions they never imagined possible.

The Heights focuses on Ellen Saint and the loss of her son Lucas. At the tragic loss of her son in a car accident Ellen can only do what seems reasonable... blame his friend Kieran for the entire accident. Justice at the beginning is served when Kieran is sent to jail, however this is not enough for Ellen. She wants more. She wants revenge. She believes that if not for Kieran coming into their lives, Lucas would still be alive.

Ellen reveals to Vic, Lucas's father and her ex-husband, that she wants Kieran gone, in fact she wants him dead. Ellen gets her wish at least she thought she did until years later she seems a man so familiar. It is so hard to believe that it's Kieran, when isn't he supposed to be dead?

The revelation and realization sends Ellen into a spiral of hatred and focused intensity to find out the answers of why Kieran is still alive. The web woven just becomes even more intertwined with complex strands when the truth is revealed.

Split into the narratives of a journalist , Vic, and Ellen herself the Heights ensnares the reader in a tale of hatred, betrayal and of above all, loss. If you appreciated her prior works I would definitely recommend the Heights as it leaves the reader with unexpected twists and an ending one does not see coming.

I don't want to give too much away as this was one book that I thought I could tell everything coming, but little did I know that nothing was quite as it seemed. I'll just leave you to find out for yourself. Until next time, happy reading!

Louise Candlish seems to be particularly adept at writing slow burners with jaw-dropping twists, and for me, The Heights was not an exception. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover, and once I had read the synopsis I was completely sold. It is short and concise and literally gave me chills which ended up being a great segue into what happens in the story. There is one main viewpoint which a woman named Ellen, and it is a little heartbreaking to read her story. I also thought it was fascinating that Candlish decided to incorporate the High Place Phenomenon. This is something I have seen in a book only once so far and not something I know much (if anything) about.

I listened to Candlish's last book on audio and wasn't a huge fan of it that way but decided to try again with The Heights and it was a better experience this time around. While there are still some of the dreaded mouth sounds that I hate (editing/recording issue? my speed?), I did love the narrators and found this to be less of an issue than it was in the audiobook for The Other Passenger. This is actually a book within a book which I didn't fully realize via the audio, and Louise Candlish herself narrates sections that a journalist with the Sunday Times Magazine has written. The other narrators are Genevieve Gaunt (Ellen) and Milo Twomey, and minus the mouth sounds I had to listen to, they did a great job. Clearly, I'm not making much of a case for the audio here, but it thankfully didn't take away from the story for me. The Heights has a great revenge aspect and is FULL of moments that made me gasp, and this is a great choice to read if you are a fan of family-focused psychological thrillers.

Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and digital copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Bestselling author Louise Candlish's latest novel, The Heights, is a book within a book, as well as a family drama. The protagonist, Ellen Saint, is a participant in a writing seminar, drafting a memoir. As the chapters of Ellen's story unfold, they are interspersed with excerpts about it from a feature in the Sunday Times, the reporter's commentary adding interesting color to the tale.

Ellen suffers from "high place phenomenon," a common form of vertigo that causes people to experience an irrational urge to jump from high places such as bridges, rooftops or balconies. It does not mean that the individual is suicidal, but is, rather an intrusive thought and form of mild anxiety, as well as autonomy. As the story opens, Ellen is meeting with a client when she looks out a window and recognizes Kieran Watts standing on the roof of an adjacent tall building called The Heights. She is convinced she is looking at Kieran and equally convinced that the man cannot be Kieran. She knows Kieran is dead because she killed him. He was a monster who ruined her life.

In her first-person narrative, Ellen takes readers back to 2012, relating how she gave birth to her son, Lucas, when she was quite young. She and his father, Vic, broke up when she later fell in love with Justin, her husband, with whom she shares fourteen-year-old daughter Freya. Theirs is a modern family, with Vic living a fifteen-minute walk away. He has dreamed for years of starting a craft beer company, and continues making pitches in hopes of finally inking a deal.

Lucas is sixteen years old -- a strong student with good enough grades to attend a university of his choice, handsome, and well-liked. Ellen loves him boundlessly and is a fiercely protective mother. Foxwell Academy assigns him to serve as a buddy to a "vulnerable new classmate," the aforementioned Kieran, who resides with his foster mother in a different neighborhood but scored well enough on placement examinations to be enrolled in the exclusive school. Ellen describes having heard tales with "a daredevil theme" about Kieran before she met him, which evoked images of a handsome, athletic boy. Instead, upon meeting him, she sums him up as "short and fleshy, with deep red hair that he had a habit of tugging at and skin bumpy with acne." Her immediate reaction to him is visceral, noting that he looks at her with a "death glare . . . so deadly, so chilling, I actually shivered . . . " Ellen is taken aback by her own response to meeting the boy. She knows that Kieran, who lacks any social graces, has had a difficult childhood and she should be gracious in her assessment of him, but despite her self-awareness, she cannot control herself. She is convinced that he is trouble. Will her instr instinctual reaction be accurate? And how reliable is Ellen's recitation of the facts?

Indeed, Lucas falls under Kieran's influence, despite his parents' attempts to prevent it. Kieran has no interest in college or the future at all, for that matter. He is interested only in taking drugs and partying, and Ellen experiences a mother's worst nightmare. She loses all power of persuasion over Lucas who begins using drugs, lets his grades slip, and jeopardizes his admission to college.

Ellen's fixation on Kieran becomes increasingly pronounced as Lucas grows distant and defiant. Both Vic and Justin love Ellen in their own ways and have, over the years, developed mechanisms to copy with Ellen's anxieties and neuroses. They have found that confronting her with facts and logic is counterproductive so, rather, they appear to be supportive of her machinations. In Vic's sardonic first-person narrative, he details the ways in which he manages Ellen, noting that he probably should have drafted a "how to" guide for Justin. Although they are also concerned about Lucas, neither of them are as alarmed by his friendship with Kieran as Ellen is, which she finds utterly exasperating. Justin chastises her for characterizing Kieran as "evil," put off by what he deems to be histrionic behavior on Ellen's part. He believes that Kieran makes Lucas and his friends laugh and poses no real danger to any of them. "What is it going to take for you to start believing me? When something really bad happens, will you believe me then?" Ellen demands.

And, of course, something really bad happens. When the worst kind of tragedy befalls Ellen and her family, Ellen neither believes that Kieran's version of events is truthful or that justice is served. She wants vengeance, which propels her obsession with Kieran to a reckless new level and she convinces Vic that they must take matters into their own hands. He agrees and they devise a plan that she believes -- but never independently verifies -- is executed successfully, which empowers her to carry on with life, focused on Freya, Justin, and her career as an interior lighting designer. Until, that is, until her fateful sighting of Kieran on that rooftop that launches her on a manic search for the truth. It's a lonely journey, because no one believes her when she insists that he is, in fact, alive.

Candlish's plot is intricately-crafted, inventive and suspenseful. Ellen demonstrates just how far she will go to hold Kieran accountable for his misdeeds, but is she willing to put everything on the line a second time if, in fact, she is right about him being the man on the rooftop? And what is he doing there? Does he actually live in that tony building? How can he afford to do so? Who is the mysterious man who warns her to stop seeking answers and what is his interest in the matter? And how do Vic's actions figure into the mystery?

As always, Candlish's characters are intriguingly multi-layered and fully developed. Vic and Justin are believable as the men who have loved Ellen for years, accepting her as a high-strung, protective, but unquestionably devoted mother. They have always tolerated what they perceive as her quirks. They fail to share Ellen's extreme concern about Kieran's potential impact upon Lucas and their family until it is too late.

Maternal instinct is a powerful, driving, and often unerring force in a mother's life. Candlish deftly portrays the dichotomy between the men's reactions to Kieran's influence over Lucas . . . and Ellen's. She also credibly depicts Ellen's outrage at having her feelings dismissed and being viewed as bordering on hysteria. She believes her instinctual responses justify her actions, and she will not be pacified until she knows the full truth, no matter the cost. Ellen's story will resonate with readers. Through it, Candlish examines grief, neurotic over-parenting, and the ways in which her obsession with Kieran and the aftermath of the tragedy impact young Freya and her relationship with her mother.

Candlish's deviously clever plot is full of unexpected betrayals and revelations, and shocking twists that propel the story forward at an accelerating pace until the very last page. Candlish inspires readers to contemplate what they would do if they found themselves in a situation like Ellen's -- how they would protect their child from harm if they were absolutely convinced that the child was making self-destructive choices and, should the unthinkable occur, the lengths to which they would go to extract retribution. The Heights is another riveting thriller from a master storyteller.

Review of The Heights by Louise Candlish

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am a fan of Louise Candlish. I have read several of her books and I definitely will continue to do so in the future. That being said, this one isn’t my fave of hers. I did enjoy it and definitely didn’t feel like not finishing but it was overall a bit underwhelming and long for me. It was somewhat of a thriller but mostly a novel about revenge and obsession. The ending was pretty solid though and that’s always a good thing.

Quick synopsis: Ellen is a mom. She is utterly devoted to her children. When her teenage college freshman son dies in an accident she blames his friend. Even before the accident she hated his friend and the bad influence she felt he held over her son. After her son’s death she becomes obsessed with him.

A big thank you to @atriabooks for the physical copy and to @netgalley for the digital copy.

A few years prior, Ellen Saint was reeling from a tragedy so she exacted her revenge. At least, she thought she did. Then one day at work, she sees someone who she thought was dead - who should be dead. Now she is attempting to put the pieces together and may be losing her mind in the process.

This novel was very dark as it follows a mother's obsession of hatred toward the individual who has upended her life. Told in alternating points of view, with narrators who are at times unreliable, this novel sucks you in. There are some twists that are easy to see coming and, some that aren't. I personally didn't care for how the book ended, but I enjoyed the ride. The novel was difficult to follow at times, but that is most likely because I didn't understand some of the British references.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Atriabooks for an ARC of #TheHeights by #LouiseCandlish in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

After reading several of Louise Candlish's novels, I've come to expect a complex, addictive novel filled with a clever plot with unlikeable, unreliable, characters--even though you do feel sorry for them at times. The Heights, Candlish's newest book, didn't disappoint at all! I devoured this one over the course of an afternoon.

What would you do if something happened to your child and you thought someone was to blame? Would you want revenge? Ellen Saint, the main character in The Heights, is beyond obsessed in wanting revenge against the person she feels was done to her son and will do anything she can to get vengeance. She already thought the man was dead--after all, she killed him. Yet, impossibly she sees him two years later standing out on the balcony of his penthouse apartment in The Heights, a luxury apartment building in London.

The story is told in flashbacks from the past and current day from Ellen's POV and from Vic, her ex-partner. Each part intertwines perfectly and tautly to build the tension as the story unfolds to a shocking and dramatic ending, which is something that Candlish does so well! This was such a thought-provoking novel about revenge, vengeance, obsession, grief, lies, family, and love, and I highly recommend it. I can't wait to read Candlish's next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

-Review posted to NetGalley, Goodreads, Twitter, and Amazon on 3/20/22

The Heights by Louise Candlish is a 2022 Atria publication.

The Heights is a tall apartment building in London- and from the terrace of this building, Ellen sees a man she knows for a fact is supposed to be dead. How can that be? Once it is determined that she wasn’t just imagining things- Ellen descends into a frenzy of obsession- determined to rid the world of a man she can’t allow to continue living on the same planet as herself…

This is one crazy story of revenge, hate, and obsession- a lethal combination- for sure. The story flips back and forth between the past and the present, catching us up on why Ellen despises Kieran Watts, and present day, as she begins to realize she’s been laboring under an illusion for a long while, and determined to end any designs Kieran may have to further disrupt or cause pain to Ellen or her family.

Well, my goodness! I liked this novel- a lot! I think I might have been under the impression this was a different type of revenge story when I started reading it, but I was way off base. It is a story of obsession, revenge, and hate- no doubt, but one is never sure who is trustworthy- if anyone is.

These characters are not likeable, or at least I didn’t think they were, but Ellen is so unhinged she nearly overwhelms any chance the reader might have at objectivity. She becomes the villain- but is she the only one?

There are so many twists in this story, so many angles, it is hard to figure out who to believe. While I get that Ellen was not palatable for most people, she was an interesting character study.

This is a mesmerizing story, hard to put down, and doesn’t really fit into any specific mold- which is a good thing. The story does take its time to develop, but is well-crafted, executed, and thought-provoking.

I thought about these characters long after I turned the last page- marveling at the way their minds worked, and my own response to them.

Overall, this is a great brain twister that will toy with your emotions as well. The wrap up was both clever and satisfying!

**2.5-stars rounded up**

While working at a client's condo, Ellen Saint, spots a man she knows across the way on a rooftop deck. She can't believe her eyes. Sure, he's aged and other things about him seem different as well, but it's definitely him. She would know him anywhere.

Ellen is shocked to see Kieran Watts that day because he is supposed to be dead. She knows this because she had him killed herself. As you can imagine, this turn of events flips Ellen's world upside down. She becomes obsessed with Kieran all over again. It takes over her every waking thought.

Through flashbacks we learn how this seemingly harmless suburban housewife could come to hate this young man, a close friend to her son, so much. It's clear Ellen believes Kieran is at fault in regards to a tragedy that changed their family forever. She will never forgive him and feels he got away with it when he should have been harshly punished. Vigilante justice comes to mind.

The Heights was a tough one for me. From the beginning, Ellen's character put a bad taste in my mouth and it really never went away. Normally I love a tale of obsession, but there was something about this one that just didn't sit right for me.

I thought the end, like literally the last 10-15%, brought something interesting that I wasn't expecting, but other than that I found this to be fairly boring and at times annoying. With all of this being said, I did like the way this story was formatted; the way Kieran's relationship with Ellen's family was revealed, the tragedy that changed everything and the revelations at the end.

I have really enjoyed three of Candlish's previous novels, Our House, Those People and The Other Passenger, so just because this one missed the mark for me, I still consider her to be one of my favorite Domestic Thriller authors.

Also, as I always say, just because this one didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you. If you are intrigued by the premise, if you want to know what the heck Kieran did to become so vilified, you should definitely pick this one up and give it a try.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to picking up Candlish's next book!