#BlogBlitz! #Review – The Family at No. 13 by S.D.Monaghan (@SeanMonaghan16) @Bookouture

The most perfect lives can hide the darkest secrets…

Mary has everything. Beautiful and rich, she lives on an exclusive street in the heart of the city, in a house with gorgeous views and an immaculately maintained garden. Her life looks perfect.

But behind closed doors the truth is very different. Her husband Andrew barely speaks to her, spending his days down in the basement alone. Her teenage nephew is full of rage, lashing out with no warning. Her carefully constructed life is beginning to fall apart.

And then someone starts sending Mary anonymous notes, threatening her and her family…

Everyone has secrets. But is someone at number 13 hiding something that could put the whole family in danger?

What does TWG think?

Where do I begin…

I was actually quite frustrated with this storyline because it held so much promise, yet there were a couple of things that I just couldn’t get my head around. I absolutely loved the intensity of this novel, that’s for sure! There was a whole lot of ‘dun dun dun’ moments getting thrown about which was brilliant, but I struggled to believe the overall concept of the storyline and I’m not too sure whether that was because of the characters, or whether the storyline needed a little bit more fire.

I preferred the second half of the book as it held more oomph than the first part, in my opinion, and I became frustrated with the storyline because deep down I knew that the author had a lot more to give than what he put into this novel.

For me, the star of the show was the not knowing the characters backgrounds in-depth until further into the storyline, as it kept me wanting more, especially where Mary was concerned. Mary was definitely an oddball, but she was an intriguing oddball who seemed to be the glue holding all of the characters together. I wanted to dislike her, but I just couldn’t bring myself to because of how vital her part was in the truth of ‘The Family at No.13’.

Overall, ‘The Family at No.13’ was an intriguing read which, despite having an iffy relationship with the first half of the novel, left me wanting more. It really was weirdly addictive.

Buy now!

About the author.

D. Monaghan grew up in Dublin before travelling extensively in Asia, Europe and America. After teaching English in Thailand for two years, he moved back to Ireland and gained an honours degree in psychology. While living in Canada for four years, he studied screenwriting in Toronto. S. D. Monaghan completed the Masters in Creative Writing at Trinity College, Dublin with the editorial guidance of the Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford and Orange Prize nominee, Deirdre Madden. On the strength of his work there, he was chosen to represent both the university and the Oscar Wilde Writers’Centre to read excerpts at the Dublin Publishers Festival and on Dublin Culture Night. He lives in Dublin with his wife, where he is currently working on his new novel. He is represented by Zoe Ross at United Agents.

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