J.A. BakerBesprekingen

Judith has done it again. In “The Quiet One” she keeps the reader in suspense throughout the book about who is behind the hate campaign and why as the tension mounts. The journey is full of surprises that will have readers on edge until the very end as Stella is about to find out the truth.

Overall, the plot of this book is suspenseful and the characters are well-developed, making the story engaging and thought-provoking. Judith deftly weaves together the psychological complexities of the characters with the fast-paced action of the plot, resulting in a deeply satisfying read.

Anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a compelling psychological foundation should definitely read this book. Highly recommended for its engaging writing style and thrilling, emotionally resonant story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was the first book I read by this author; such an amazing storyteller. J. A. Baker has successfully created a spine-tingling plot with intriguing premise and engaging characters. There are shocking secrets scattered throughout, and the book ends perfectly. I think everyone who enjoys thrillers should read this fantastic psychological thriller book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have only recently started reading J.A. Baker's works, but I am glad I have because she is a talented author. This thriller kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The plot twists and characters all worked out perfectly. I suggest all lovers of thrillers should read this; the book was well worth my time.

She has successfully crafted a spine-tingling plot with a fascinating idea and believable characters, as is characteristic of Baker. Her imaginative abilities are both appealing to me. With a surprising conclusion, this book was full of mystery and intrigue. I have undoubtedly found an author to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a depressing story of a psychopathic woman who likes to hurt people and obsess over Jacob, a man she barely knew. The writing was repetitious and scattered, making the storyline impossible to follow. I'm guessing the author meant it to be that way since you don't really know what's going on until the end of the book, but for me, it was irritating and exhausting.

This book is marketed as a psychological thriller, but there is little thrilling about it.

Esther Nesbitt is grieving the loss of her husband and two children in a car accident. She has become a bit of a recluse; her only friend is a young woman named Amy who lives nearby. Since she passes by Esther’s home on her way to her job as a nurse in a local hospital, she drops by regularly to check up on Esther. From her window, Esther watches her new neighbour Veronica and becomes concerned when she witnesses her erratic and abusive behaviour towards her husband and children. Feeling guilty that she could not help her own children, Esther decides to observe Veronica and report her to the authorities once she has sufficient evidence, but she starts to get distracted by inexplicable events happening in her own home. She becomes increasingly frightened and bewildered and starts to question her grip on reality.

My major issue with the novel is its predictability. Basically the prologue gives away the plot. Then there are so many heavy-handed clues that a reader would have to be very obtuse not to notice them. I kept reading because I thought surely the author wouldn’t be so obvious, but the foreshadowing led exactly where I thought it would.

To make matters worse, the book is short but still unnecessarily long. The chapters alternate between Esther and Veronica’s viewpoints; Esther’s chapters tend to be repetitive. The last part of the book (about 10%) could be totally eliminated. The ending is just added for extra zing, but it left me saying, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

What is also troubling is the misrepresentation of mental illness. The author did not do any research to ensure her portrayal is accurate. One character seems to have the symptoms of several mental disorders.

There is little to recommend this book. It has no real suspense because the plot is so predictable. Its unrealistic portrayal of mental illness is almost offensive to anyone who has experienced mental health problems.

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This is one of those books that I find very difficult to review; it's a case of the less said the better for fear of revealing any spoilers but, believe me, this is a book that you really must read. If you haven't read Undercurrent, J.A. Baker's debut, you don't want to miss that one either. Although both Undercurrent and Her Dark Retreat are standalone novels, I don't want you to miss out on discovering some outstanding fiction.

The blurb tells us that Chamber Cottage holds many dark secrets, and doesn't it just! Peggy and Alec live in the remote coastguard's cottage on the edge of a cliff where they struggle with their inner demons as well as their marital issues. Peggy's face is badly scarred, leaving her with very low confidence and no desire to leave the house. Her husband, Alec, tries and fails to encourage Peggy to socialise and he struggles to remain faithful to their marriage. Is their marriage the only thing that is dying in their house?

Have a good look at the cover to get an idea of the setting: this remote house on the edge of a cliff, but even without the cover photo the description of the cottage and its surroundings are sublime. It sounds so craggy and desolate that I could almost taste the salt on my lips and feel the wind whipping my hair. I certainly wouldn't want to stand too close to the edge with the angry North Sea crashing against the cliff face. It may be an isolated cottage but Maude, a distant neighbour, can see the comings and goings at the cottage and one day sees more than she bargained for. The only problem is, Maude is suffering from dementia and nobody believes a word she says.

Each chapter is told from many different viewpoints: Peggy and Alec, Peggy's estranged mother Audrey, neighbour Maude, Maude's daughter Brenda, and Rachel who is searching for her missing sister, Sheryl. At the end of a few chapters there's the intriguing voice of somebody clinging on to the last breaths of life - is it Sheryl? Where is she and who put her there? For a reasonably short book (at 305 pages) there is a lot going on but with the dedicated chapters, it never gets confusing. Whilst Peggy and Alec are the main characters (and both creeped me out), it was Maude's chapters that evoked the most emotion in me. J.A. Baker's description of the mist descending in Maude's mind had me choking back tears.

Her Dark Retreat is another excellent edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from J.A. Baker. I thought I had worked it all out at one point, and I may have been right in some aspects, but there were still plenty of those wide-eyed gaspy moments to keep my pulse racing right up to the very last page.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Finding Eva is J.A. Baker's fourth novel and I found myself horrified that I seem to have missed one, something I shall need to rectify immediately. It is only 18 months or so since J.A. Baker released her debut, Undercurrent, so it is amazing that she is currently working on her fifth novel. What a writing machine! So I couldn't wait to see what Finding Eva is all about.

Eva has left London and headed North to find her birth parents. Eva has left under a cloud after breaking up with her boyfriend, Gareth, and not telling her best friend, Celia, that she was leaving. So Gareth and Celia follow Eva to Whitby, both of them desperate to find Eva for very different reasons. Gareth could kill Eva for what she did to him, and he just might if he gets his hands on her, but what did she do? I certainly couldn't read fast enough to find out! Celia, meanwhile, is quite another matter and she really creeped me out. She sees herself as Eva's soul sister as they were both brought up in care, but with similarities in appearance, it is clear that Celia doesn't just want to be like Eva, she wants to be her. Creepy!

With Gareth and Celia chasing down Eva, the story is told from these 3 different perspectives. Each character has their own motivations which taints their point of view so it's up to the reader to decide which one is nearest to the truth. I really felt for Eva as she just wants to meet her birth parents and find out why they gave her away but, after reading the first chapter, I also worried whether she had some ulterior motive for visiting Whitby.

There's always a keen sense of place in J.A. Baker's novels and Finding Eva is no exception, set on the cold and wet cobbled streets of Whitby, a little fishing village in North Yorkshire. The setting seems to add to the suspense as Eva finds nowhere to hide, despite there being plenty of narrow alleyways and lots of people visiting during the famous goth weekend.

I found this book a little darker and more menacing than J.A. Baker's previous novels but there is so much suspense that it's virtually impossible to put down. Finding Eva is chilling, suspenseful, dark and menacing; it's another superb book by J.A. Baker.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Crikey! What a scorching debut from J.A. Baker. I saw lots of excitement on social media about Undercurrent on its release, so I didn't think twice about buying a copy for myself, although it is the curse of the blogger that books you buy tend to sit on your TBR pile a lot longer than they should. So I finally got round to picking up Undercurrent and couldn't put it down! I positively whizzed through it and loved every minute of it.

The prologue is one of those where you are shown a glimpse of the ending so you race through the rest of the book to find out what events led here. A woman is found stumbling beaten and bloody through the streets of York with no idea how she got there. Who is she and what happened to her? The story then starts with Phoebe and her disabled husband, Martyn, moving into their new home in a small village in County Durham. Their new home sounds perfect, apart from the public right of way running alongside the river and right through their garden. With Martyn's volatile moods (due to his medication) and strangers crossing their path, I had the terrible feeling that anything could happen.

With it being a small village, one of the neighbours, Anna, tries to befriend Phoebe but doesn't get the welcome she expected. Phoebe seems very on edge and unfriendly but what Anna doesn't know is that she bears a striking resemblance to Phoebe's sister, Suzie, who drowned when she was a child. Despite the shaky start, Anna and Phoebe strike up a tentative friendship but then Anna goes missing...and she's not the first local woman to go missing whilst walking along the banks of the river. Has the river claimed yet another victim?

For quite a short book at 262 pages, Undercurrent sure packs a big punch with plenty of surprises in store. It's packed with tension and intrigue from start to finish as the icy tendrils of the river reach out to claim its victims. Looking back on it now, I really felt as if I could see inside the minds of some of the characters and it was a bit like going down the rabbit hole - we're all mad here! When madness meets obsession, the result can be deadly.

Don't wait as long as I did to read Undercurrent; if you have it in your TBR, bump it up the queue and if you don't have it in your queue, make sure you buy a copy - you really won't regret it. I can't wait for J.A. Baker's second novel, Her Dark Retreat, and I know for sure that it won't be hanging around in my TBR too long!

I consider myself a fan of J.A. Baker so I was really excited to read her new book, The Uninvited, and I was certainly not disappointed. In fact, I think The Uninvited is on par with her amazing debut, Undercurrent.

Faye and her husband, Hugh, are looking for a fresh start and get quite a bargain when they purchase an old house...although they also get more than they bargained for. Faye is woken in the night with the feeling that somebody is in the house but Hugh thinks that the stress she has been under is making her imagine things. When Faye's daughter Poppy also starts talking about a night visitor, Faye's nerves reach absolute breaking point and she is determined to find out who is tormenting her family. To find out what is happening at Cross House, Faye must look to the past and discover the secrets of the Wentworth family who lived there before her.

I loved the story of the Wentworths and Faye's investigation into the family's past. I was completely riveted as she unearthed every skeleton in their closet but also worried that the night visitor might do anything to keep some secrets firmly buried. The tension was ramped up as every page was turned and I even held my breath at times in anticipation of the inevitable collision of past and present.

From the thrilling prologue to the heart-stopping conclusion and all the creepiness in between, The Uninvited had me on the edge of my seat with all the hairs on the back of my neck standing to attention. What a spooky, creepy book this is! I didn't expect to be so creeped out but it really made me feel as if I should be sleeping with the light on after reading it and listening out for bumps in the night. The Uninvited is another excellent book from J.A. Baker and one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

A fairly steady thriller, it just didn’t have me gripped

The Uninvited by JA Baker is a suspense, thriller with a supernatural overtone. The story follows Faye, and her husband Hugh and their two children Aidan and Poppy. The lived in the city in the UK, but their home that they occupied for so long becomes unlivable after the family endures a series of traumatic episodes. Faye is pushed into therapy and slowly slipped into an emotional meltdown that took a lot out of her and her family. Hoping for a fresh start, Faye and Hugh, sell their city house and relocate to an old fixer upper located in a small country town. Cross house is an old house with a lot of history, and a lot of repairs. Faye and Hugh are desperate for a new start and are determined to make their new home work. Inspire of herself Faye soon starts to experience some unsettling occurrences at night. She senses a presence in their new home, and she seems to be all alone, as her husband doesn’t perceive the same force at work. A wedge is soon driven between the couple as Hugh accuses Faye of dragging their issues from the city with them to the country. He does not believe there is a force or presence in the house, and Faye is left to investigate the history of the house on her own. Her isolation doesn’t last long; however. Hugh awakes her one night to say that her sees someone in the room. No longer alone in her resolve to get to the bottom of what is going on with their new house, Faye pushes back hard to get information. And she uncovers that her house is not the only place or person that has secrets.

The Uninvited is a engaging,fun read overall. I did sympathize with Faye as an emotionally delicate character who does not find support from her family as she blows the whistle on the strange occurrences in their new home. The implication is that she is too damaged to be taken seriously or believed. Novel provided by Net Galley.

This one hits you unexpectedly form the side. When I started reading I was trying to figure out how all these characters fit together. Because everything seems a bit twisty, but trust me, they do.

I have to say that this is one of those books that keeps you turning the pages, trying desperately to fit the puzzle pieces together. I have to say I was in awe when I finally realized what it was all about.

Well written and well plotted I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend this to all lovers of a good mess with your head psychological thriller. I would love to read more books by J.A. Baker.

Thank you to Bloodhound books for the opportunity to read and review this book

I received this book from the Early Reviewers program.

I found this to be an intense and disturbing read and was almost unable to put it down until I finished it. It is well written and very satisfying. It really brought back a lot of my own feelings right after giving birth and my relationship with my own newborn baby boy. It may be triggering to those suffering from postpartum depression. It shouldn't be confused with the other "The Other Mother" that was turned into a movie.

Am I a good mother? Am I a danger to myself and to my baby? Am I even me? Will I ever be me again? Would it be better for my baby if I remove myself from the picture altogether? Is my husband on my side or out to get me? These are only a few of the thoughts relentlessly hounding Daphne after she gives birth to her daughter Chloe. Is she sane and is it possible to stay sane when you have been placed in a mental hospital for your own safety and the safety of your baby? How can you prove who you are?

Very highly recommended.