My first reaction to this book, was that it was creepy. But what fun is there in a psychological thriller read, if it doesn't have an atom of creep and suspense?
I read this in one sitting, largely because I was deeply curious as to how the entire plot would eventually end. And I was slightly pissed off that the end wasn't satisfying.
The first chapter to the last, had suspense embedded in it.
"The Family Upstairs" is a dark psychological thriller, one part family tragedy, one part dark suspend filled thriller.
In a once glamorous, wealthy, luxury filled house, there is now one house, two families who have been brought together by a series of dark unprecedented events, and three bodies, with a healthy looking new born baby.
Who killed these three people and how did such a luxurious looking house suddenly look like an abandoned nunnery?
This thriller, follows the wealthy Lamb family and the series of strange character strangers, who move into their house, one after the other, and turn their seemingly perfect life into an absolute nightmare.
This nightmare, supposedly comes to a dramatic ending, with what looks like a triple cult suicide, but is actually not.
The first character we meet in "The Family Upstairs", is Libby, which we later come to find out is Serenity. She finally comes off age, to inherit a mysterious trust, from her late parents, that comes in form of a large mansion.
This property, is in Chelsea, the most fashionable area of London, but this inheritance, is about to unearth an array of secrets including what actually caused the death of those three people.
We are also introduced to Lucy, another character. Lucy is barely living, and so are her children. They live off scraps of food, and sleep under bridges, even though the father of one of Lucy's children is stupendously wealthy.
She has two kids, Marco and Stella, and her only inheritance, is a broken violin, until she receives a reminder she had long waited for on her phone, "The baby is 25".
The last person we are introduced to, is Henry Lamb. Unlike the others, we do not know anything about Henry, until we actually learn about the Lambs family.
The plot pans between the late 90's, and the present age.
Henry lives with his wealthy socialite parents, with his younger sister, in a large property in Chelsea. He attends the school for the wealthy and he and his family live large off inherited wealth, until things begin to go south.
The first act of destruction, is when they open their house to Birdie Dunlop-Evers-a once famous singer, who only had some thirty minutes of fame, and her boyfriend.
The second, and most deadly act of destruction, is when they open up their home, to David Thomsen, a man, who not only destroys their family, but wrecks create havoc, and commits evil so dark, that the once glamorous mansion, is now filled with dark memories.
David Thomsen's presence come with a series of manipulative events, that sees both the Lambs' family, and his own family disappearing with no trace whatsoever, and the only reminder being a little healthy baby, left on her cot, in a deeply abandoned deserted house.
This novel is certainly a very engaging novel.
You almost wouldn't want to keep it down once you begin reading it.
Of course, it has violent and traumatic events, but these were all events that shaped the plot of the novel.
"The Family House", had triple POVs. Each character left the readers with mysteries to puzzle out as you read on, and the suspense the author so craftily introduced to the plot leaves you wondering how and when this characters would finally collide with one another.
There are few shocking twists, and some evil revelations that may leave you in shock, but that is ultimately what makes it one of the best thrillers I've read in recent times.
This is my first time reading a book by this author, and I must confess, she has left quite an impression on me.
I would totally recommend this novel. Not only is it awesome, but it leaves you wanting more.
I'm yet to discover, if there is a follow-up novel after this, because this book shouldn't have ended the way it did.