The place that never existed

The Blurb:

For Paul and Debbie it was meant to be the happiest time of their lives. A small village wedding in front of their family and friends, followed by a quiet honeymoon in Devon. Not everyone had been happy to see them together. A woman from their past refused to accept it. Her actions over the previous year had ended in tragedy, and had almost broken the happy couple apart.Now, away from it all in a picturesque log cabin, Paul and Debbie look forward to time spent alone together... But she has found out where they are, and she will stop at nothing to make sure that the marriage is over… forever.But Huntswood Cove isn’t just a beautiful Devonshire fishing town, it has its own secret. Recently, people have begun to disappear, only to turn up dead in suspicious circumstances. The locals begin to question what is going on.Soon everything strange points to the abandoned house in the woods. The house that nobody wants to talk about. To them, it is the place that never existed.

My thoughts:

Firstly, i love this cover. This appeals to me in so many ways, simple yet elegant. It provides that air of unknowing before you even open the book up.

This is my first book by Jim Ody. I'm always excited when i open a book by a new (to me) author. Usually, you can get a good feel for the writing stye and attention to detail in the first couple of chapters. Now, when it came to this one, i was hooked within the first couple of pages.

The author has a great ability for adding that air of mystery and spookiness to a book without actually going down the path of gory/gruesome etc. By the merest whisper of a line in this story i had my own back up, and was on edge, waiting for more to be revealed but having a feeling you weren't going to be any more at ease when it was. I was right.

Each character is well thought out, well written and have their own personalities. Helped along by the authors brilliant descriptive prowess. I absolutely could see the beach, the woods. I absolutely could feel the air of trepidation and suspicion. Really well done.

The story is flowing and fast paced, and makes the reader want to keep going, to find out that little bit more, but when you do it's just not enough to keep you satisfied until the next time you can pick it up. I kept wanting to carry on until the end and, if given the chance i'd have devoured this book in one sitting. As it was, i kept thinking about what was going on and kept my kindle at hand so i could read more in a grabbed few minutes here and there.

So in short, great cover, great story, loved the writing style and i will definitely be reading from Mr Jim Ody! Highly recommend this book.