My Father’s House by Ulf Kvensler

This one was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. I’ll be honest, this book took me a minute to settle into. The first half is heavy on detail, and while I can usually appreciate a slow build, I found myself wandering off here and there. But once the secrets started unraveling? Oh, it got good. The tension and angst were raw, intense, and layered in ways that made the payoff worth the wait.

The writing itself is strong, and by the back half, I was fully invested in seeing how everything played out. I listened to the audiobook, and the narration really worked for me--the punchy, abrupt delivery matched the unsettling vibe of the story perfectly.

Themes you’ll find:
Estranged father/son reunion
Remote/isolation setting
Family secrets unraveling
Psychological suspense


Would I recommend it?
Yes...with a caveat. If you’re into slow-burn suspense that takes its time before delivering the gut punch, this one’s worth the ride (and the audiobook makes it even stronger). If you need immediate thrills, you may feel a little restless in the beginning, but stick with it; the payoff is there.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio for allowing me to listen and review.

This is 3.5 stars rounded up. This is just a bit slow. It takes a while to get to the meat of the story. But, when you get to the meat of the story…it is pretty good. There is some good intensity and some weird vibes from the dad that keep this story moving!

I loved Ulf's first novel, The Couple's Trip! It was one of my favorite reads last year. Unfortunately, his second book was not for me. I found the pace too slow and did not connect with the story or the characters. I do look forward to more books by him in the future thought.

This audiobook felt long—so long I wasn't sure I'd make it to the end. But surprisingly, every extra detail helped build a story that was richer and more intense because of it. The suspense kept building with unexpected twists, turns, and one seriously unhinged, possibly supernatural father figure. It was weird in all the right ways—a dark, gripping ride that paid off in the end. Definitely one for fans of slow-burn psychological thrillers.

Thank you Harlequin Audio for my gifted ALC!

Huge fan of Ulf Kvensler and his thrillers. He hasn’t steered me wrong before. Alas, My Father’s House was the one miss. I was mostly just confused. I’m not sure if a lot of the story was lost in translation or if it was the chaos of my children screaming in the back as I tried to listen, but the jumps of memory often left me feeling like I constantly needed to rewind. I will absolutely read whatever he writes next, still!

2.5 stars.

I was very interested in the premise of this one, but after reading I have mixed feelings. The first half of the book was very slow. The second half really picked up but unfortunately by that point I was no longer very invested in the story. I was also not a huge fan of the writing style.

While there were a couple twists that I felt were fairly obvious, there was one or two that I did not see coming which was nice.

The audiobook narrator did a great job. If you plan to read this book, I would recommend the audio version.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for providing an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a hard book to review, because every single character (except the grandpa) is completely unlikable. I’m not sure whether I cared so much thanks to Liam Gerrard’s humanizing and sympathetic narration, or if it’s Kvensler’s writing. In any case, I went from wanting to murder them all, to being horrified that anything bad would happen to them. The plot is pure, dark psychological suspense. You know that Isak’s father is manipulating him and it’s aggravating how he allows it, but the character development is so complex, that it is easy to see how he falls for it. After a while, though, it gets old, so maybe a shorter page-count would have helped. The plot is satisfying and the twists are doled out in a slow but steady manner. My attention never flagged. This is a dark read until the very end. It’s not an enjoyable novel, but I don’t think it’s meant to be. For fans of the darkest side of human nature.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Harlequin Audio.

My Father’s House is one of the strangest psychological thrillers I have read in a while, and I mean that in a good way. This story takes some unexpected turns and fully leans into a weird, artistic vibe that sets it apart from so many thrillers out there. It is unsettling, layered, and detailed in a way that makes you feel like you are trapped right alongside the characters.

The atmosphere is so vivid you can practically smell the sea air and feel the claustrophobia of that remote island retreat. The author’s descriptive writing pulls you into every eerie moment. At times I felt just as paranoid and on edge as Isak did while trying to figure out what was really happening with his estranged father.

What stood out to me most was how genuinely creepy the father-son relationship is. It is uncomfortable and tense and you never quite know who is manipulating who. That dynamic added a layer of dread that I found refreshing for this genre. I appreciated how the story did not shy away from the bizarre family secrets and twisted mind games.

My only real critique is that it felt unnecessarily long in places. There were moments when the pacing dragged and I wanted things to move along faster, but the rich detail and the odd dreamlike atmosphere made up for it. The ending paid off in a satisfying, unsettling way that left me thinking about it after I finished.

If you enjoy a slower, more artistic thriller with strong sensory detail, creepy family dynamics, and a setting that feels like a character in itself, I recommend giving this one a try. It is definitely not your typical twisty thriller but that is what makes it so memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ulf Kvensler and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the chance to read this early. All thoughts are my own.

I chose this book as I have a challenge to read a translated book every month for 2025 and I’m glad I did. The book had a much different feel to it than other thrillers ai have read and while it took some getting used to, I really enjoyed it.

The audiobook was narrated by Liam Gerrard whom I have never listened to before but will seek him out in the future. It’s clear why he has won many accolades for his voice work. He has such a sooth British accent and the tone he used fit the prose perfectly. It gave it this uncomfortable feeling but in the best way possible.

At 1x speed the narration was good. It was on the slower side of typical speaking pace but again, it fit the narrative. I however did speed it up and many times when I’m listening to an accented voice that is not my own I can’t go too high with the speed adjustment. This was an exception. I easily listened at 2x speed and could hear every word crisply.

As far as the prose itself, it is very well written. The author creates the background that could be easily a book on itself own about grief and trauma and how it can physically and mentally impact your life. However, it’s a thriller so things turn in a dime with family secrets and lies and it leaves you reeling when you finally get to put everything together.

I have read several translated books this year with varying degrees of success. This is by far the cleanest and most understandable one of them. Part of it could be the Germanic base to both languages but I have read other translations from the same roots and this still exceeded it. Now some folks may never realize a book is translated at all! But my neurospicy brain seems to zero in on sentence structure and sayings that seem “off”. But alas, that’s not the case here.

The book comes out on August 5th for its US/ English debut. If you enjoy psychological thrillers, especially focusing on challenging father-son relationships, this is the book for you.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Harlequin Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My general rating system is below. Since I primarily read ARC books I rate according to how I think like minded readers will receive the book. I will round up or down depending on many factors and try not to let my personal wants affect a books ratings.

⭐️ Hated It but pushed through as so don’t DNF ARCs I have received.
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, content issues, poorly edited.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but it had something that stopped me from rounding up. Usually the book may have much more potential than what was given. I recommend it but with reservations.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I Really enjoyed it or think others will. These are solid reads that I definitely would recommend for a variety of reasons.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! These are books that remain rent free in my head for well after unfinished the book. It can be for a variety of reasons from being very well written or just the vibes that captured my mind. These books are also ones I would probably read again.