The Last House on Needless Street: The Bestselling Richard & Judy Book Club Pick
£2.80
*** THE THRILLING RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK ***
*** THE BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK ***
***ONE OF THE TIMES BEST THRILLER BOOKS OF 2021***
*** THE TIMES NO.4 BESTSELLER ***
*** THE #1 KINDLE BESTSELLER ***
THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH
OBSERVER THRILLER OF THE MONTH
‘I haven’t read anything this exciting since Gone Girl’ – STEPHEN KING
‘One of the most extraordinary thrillers of the year’ – DAILY MAIL
‘A dark, audacious highwire act of a novel’ – GUARDIAN
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This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his young daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.
All these things are true. And yet some of them are lies. An unspeakable secret binds the family together, and when a new neighbour moves in next door, the truth may destroy them all. Because there’s something buried in the dark forest at the end of Needless Street. But it’s not what you think…
From the multiple award-winning author of Little Eve and Rawblood, this extraordinary tale will thrill and move readers. A work of incredible imagination and heartbreaking beauty.
*** FILM RIGHTS OPTIONED BY IMAGINARIUM PRODUCTIONS ***
*** RIGHTS SOLD IN TWENTY TERRITORIES ***
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‘Catriona Ward is the new face of literary dark fiction’ – SARAH PINBOROUGH
‘Books like this don’t come around too often’ – JOANNE HARRIS
‘Believe the hype… a masterclass’ – KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
‘A chilling and beautiful masterpiece of suspense. I was completely enthralled’ – JOE HILL
‘A masterpiece. Beautiful, heartbreaking and quietly uplifting’ – ALEX NORTH
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Additional information
| Publisher | Viper, Main edition (18 Mar. 2021) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 2134 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 380 pages |
| Page numbers source ISBN | 125081264X |
by Geoffers
I have to admit to being a bit intimidated by reading a Cat Ward book. I thought I’d be a bit out of my depth, comfort zone. My wife is a HUGE fan and recommend House. Literally from the first page I was IN. Cat write with such confidence, directness her words are relentless perfection. FANTASTIC story which held my heart in its firm, wondrous grip. I’m now a HUGE Cat fan ????⬛❤️ 5 stars.
by j_cook10
The story of a social recluse, Ted, who is a lot more complex than people credit him for, including those he shared a house with.
I must commend Ward on her ability to tell a thrilling story. There were so many twists and turns—and I’m not just talking about the snakes. I felt confused (in a good way) as to whether this was a ghost story or realism according to a disturbed mind and that gripped me.
As someone trying to master the art of writing a linear narrative, this non-linear novel with some fantastic original imagery had me in awe of the writer’s craftsmanship at times.
I was completely hooked, trying to guess all of the twists and turns and figure out how it would end.
That said, at times we rehashed the same plot point and the end seemed to drag a little. I felt like I guessed it a hundred pages before and the rest was just tying up lose ends for those that needed it spelling out.
Even so, it is one of the best books I’ve read on a long time for the imagery and atmosphere alone. And I’m sort of glad things turned out the way they did. Even if it took a bit longer than needed to get there.
by Paulina
“This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.
All these things are true. And yet they are all lies…”
Rereading the synopsis for this story after reading the book is almost funny in a way that these two short paragraphs say everything you could about it. The Last House on Needless Street plays with expectations of horror in a really interesting way while leaving plenty of clues to equally confuse the reader and put them on the right track of where the story is heading. While I managed to figure out some of the twists and turns it feels almost impossible to predict everything and yet when all pieces fall into place the story manages to still make sense.
I think my one complaint with the story is that it was sadder than I expected, and less scary. I thought it’ll be a fun horror read and in some ways it was but it certainly mad me tear up a few times as well.
by Teri Gardner
OMG it was brilliant, so many twists turns and unexpected.The ending was just wow, I did not expect that or see any of it coming. Not only do unsettling things happen and make you question whats going to happen next but it also gets your to question everything that’s happened already.
A great book for the spooky season.
This book is under the category of Horror but I’d say its more a creepy, gothic thriller.
I highly recommend this book and my copy is stunning with the red spedges.
I haven’t read any of her work before but I’ll 100% be reading more, such an easy read, great style of writing.
by Desert Dusty
This was a decent idea spun out too far. I can manage weird plot lines and the sense that I’m waiting for the “big reveal”, but it wears pretty thin over almost 400 pages. I found myself skim reading some of the Olivia and Lauren parts as I realised quite quickly that you only need the general drift and most of the detail was superfluous. Like many readers have said, the overall idea once revealed was not surprising; in fact, it’s very much the psychological trope of recent times. So so.
by DH
This is an odd tale, and gives that sense of all is not as it seems from the outset. I reached a point about 40% of the way through when I almost gave up. Parts of the story were too far-fetched with aspects of characters’ behaviours not hanging together. The reason for this became clear towards the end of the story, and then it made sense. Not only that, it showed that this is a cleverly constructed tale, but by then, my patience with the oddities had been stretched too far.
I give this book 4 stars, with a caveat! If you start reading with an open mind and are willing to accept the parts that seem outrageously unlikely, it will be a 5-star read.