The Housewarming: A completely unputdownable psychological thriller with a shocking twist

· Bookouture
4.4
51 reviews
Ebook
350
Pages

About this ebook

‘My stomach is in knots!’ Motherhood for Slackers, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Devastating and jaw-dropping’ A Tick to Everywhere, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘OMG!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Fantastic! I absolutely loved every page.’ Books and Candles, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Everyone is going to the housewarming party.

All the same people who lived on the street the day Abi vanished…

Will her mother finally learn the truth?


Ava only left her daughter in the pushchair for five minutes. The buckle was fastened, and she was sure it was safe. But when she came downstairs, the door was open and Abi was gone – she walked down the road, past the Lovegoods’ house, and was never seen again.


A year later, the Lovegoods are planning their long-anticipated housewarming party. Ava doesn’t want to go. She can’t bear to look down that end of the road, to see the place where Abi vanished, and she doesn’t want to spend time with people who don’t share her grief. Her husband Matt persuades her: he’s worried about her. A night out might do her good.


But as her friends and neighbours chat, and the drink and gossip flows, Ava learns something new about the day she has re-lived a thousand times. A throwaway comment which could change everything.


Ava thought she knew every last detail of that day.


She’s about to find out she was wrong…


Brilliantly dark and moving suspense fiction for fans of Gillian Flynn, Claire McGowan and Lisa Jewell, The Housewarming will have your pulse racing and your heart in your mouth from start to finish.


See what readers are saying about The Housewarming:


‘So emotional and raw and so well written… Many twists and turns and the climax and ending… OMG!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘My stomach is in knots!… The tension doesn’t let up for a second. If I’d had the time to read it in one sitting, I wouldn’t have put it down until the last word.’ Motherhood for Slackers, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Heartbreakingly stunning… what an ending!!… ohhhhh my it’s a terrific read’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘My heart was in my mouth on more than one occasion reading this book!!… Just when you think you’re at the end of the story… another twist comes along. Gripping book which kept me wanting to read more!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘I just could not put this book down… The tension ramps up and up until you feel like you might explode. I devoured the book as quickly as I could and was frustrated with myself for needing sleep… Extraordinary and brilliant’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Amazingly suspenseful…I absolutely devoured it… brilliant twisty story’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Just when I thought I had it all worked out, the author threw in another curve ball, spinning me round and setting me off in a completely different direction. Phew, what a ride… Had me literally glued All The Way Through.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Brilliant… A heart-stopping thriller… highly recommended.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Another 5* read from S E Lynes. I am running out of ways to describe how much I love her books… brilliantly crafted, well written and super absorbing… I have to remind myself to come back into the real world!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Everything I have come to expect from this author – gripping, shocking, well written and unputdownable. Absolutely brilliant.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


‘Excellent… Captured me right from the start, right up to the climactic ending and with more twists and turns than Spaghetti Junction… It was essential to find out what happened. No way did I see that outcome… Will keep you enthralled’ Jenny O’Brien, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ratings and reviews

4.4
51 reviews
Linda Strong
October 29, 2020
A parent's worst nightmare. Preparing for a walk to the park, Ava buckles her 2-year-old daughter into her stroller and leaves her alone downstairs for just a moment. When she returns, Abi is not in her stroller and the front door is wide open. Where is Abi? Did she get out of the stroller by herself? Did someone walk in and take her? Did Ava not lock the door? Was this her fault? It's now a year later. Abi has never been seen or heard from. When Abi disappeared, Ava was pregnant and now has an infant son. The guilt, the grief of not knowing what happened to her daughter has left her life in shambles. She doesn't seem to care much for anyone or anything ... and there are days she wishes fervently to go wherever Abi is .... When the neighbors next door throw a housewarming party, Ava and her husband are invited. But Ava really doesn't want to go ... she has to almost be forced to leave the house for any reason .. and she hates how people always say .. How are you doing, Ava? Her husband finally talks her into going ... even for just one drink.. but this is the night that everything from when Abi disappeared changes forever. Just a random remark, but what she heard makes her doubt she actually knew what happened that night. Everything she thought she knew .... was wrong This is an emotional read that takes the reader though a family's grief, loss, guilt, suspicion to an ending that will hurt your heart. How does a parent survive when their child goes missing? How do they keep hope alive that she's out there ..somewhere? The characters are deftly written and the reader in invited in to many of their lives. Someone knows more than they're telling. And Ava is losing her sanity. I was not prepared for the unexpected conclusion. Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Cathy Geha
October 23, 2020
The Housewarming by S.E. Lynes Your little girl went missing You looked high and low Your neighbors looked, too Your daughter is gone You need closure But, a year later Everyone says to move on And yet you can’t give up without answers… …no matter what Slow to start and still moving slowly over halfway in I admit I skimmed a fair bit till the story picked up. I had trouble relating to the characters and am not sure why. I would hate to have been Ava carrying the guilt of a year without her daughter and feeling she was in some way responsible. I felt sorry for both Ava and her husband, Matt, for having lost their daughter. I did find there was a great deal of repetition in those early pages but perhaps it served the purpose to lay the foundation of just how numbing and depleting the search for a child gone missing can be. I could understand why Ava would not be thrilled to go to a neighborhood party while still wondering what had happened to her daughter but go she did and that began the beginning of the unraveling of the mystery of what happened and where little Abi might be. This story dealt with love, loss, lies, family, friendship and more. I don’t want to give anything away so will leave it there. Did I enjoy this book? Sort of though it is dark and during a pandemic dark is not easy to read Would I read more by this author? I believe I would Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review. 3-4 Stars
5 people found this review helpful
Kathleen Hughes
October 23, 2020
Just one mistake. That’s all it took. A quick trip upstairs to get the laundry, check the phone and… Abi is gone. Ava leaves her two year old daughter in the hallway in her stroller while she does a few household tasks and takes a look at FaceBook. When she comes downstairs, the front door is open and her daughter is gone. After a frantic search of the neighborhood and the nearby riverbank, Abi desperately calls her husband Matt who comes home to meet the police. The police, their next door neighbor Neil and Matt search all day and into the night but there is no sign of the little girl. The next morning, Abi’s coat is found in the river and she is presumed drowned. The next year passes in a blur of grief and guilt for Ava. She had just discovered she was pregnant when Abi disappeared and now has a baby boy. She’s depressed, finds it hard to care for the baby and blames herself for leaving the front door open for Abi. She’s comforted by the patient Matt, her neighbors Neil and Bella and her neighbor from across the street, Jennifer Lovegood. The Lovegoods live in a gorgeously renovated house built by Neil and his construction company. All the neighbors have watched the construction and are thrilled to be invited to a housewarming party. Matt urges Ava to attend and she reluctantly agrees. What happens next turns a sad family drama into a suspenseful, twisted and heartbreaking thriller. No spoilers here but things are definitely not what they seem. This is a must read! 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and S.E. Lynes for this ARC.

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