The Resident by David Jackson

Published : 16th July 2020

Publisher : Serpents Tail

Format : Kindle, Hardback, Paperback

Genre : Thriller

Synopsis

THERE'S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN

AND HE'S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE

Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. With a trail of bodies in his wake and the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that he can drop down into all the other houses through the shared attic space.

That's when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing is playing games with his victims — the lonely old woman, the bickering couple, the tempting young newlyweds. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet...

Do you fear The Resident? Soon you'll be dying to meet him.

My Review

This was quite the read. From the first page you are in the mind of Thomas Brogan, a seriously disturbed serial killer. Told totally from his perspective, and the voice that is within his head, you get to build up a picture of what his childhood is like and what led him to become the monster that he is today.

At a very young age Brogan saw his depressed dad shoot his mother and then himself, he was then sent to live with his aunt and uncle who basically acted like he wasn't there, then come along a baby and he was even more invisible.

Throughout his childhood he had no attention and was left to his own devices which made him very lonely, until he meets a stray cat and befriends this one creature. Sadly the cat gets chased into the road by another and is killed. This seems to set off the trigger that has been bubbling under the surface and once Brogan gets revenge on the other cat he realises he can get away with horrible stuff as long as he is clever about it, and actually that he quite enjoys it.

Whilst on the run from the police after murdering yet another couple, Brogan hides in a boarded up house. He soon realises that the loft space is not entirely closed and that the brick wall is open between the next three terrace houses giving Brogan freedom to creep through the residents lofts and watch their lives.

For the most part of this book its mainly about Brogans obsession with a couple in the third house, he fantasises about Colette and when the couple are out of the house he starts to mess with them by moving there stuff around and causing unease, whilst watching through a hole in the ceiling.

None of the three houses are aware that they have an extremely dangerous and sadistic killer watching them from up above.

Why I Loved It

This story was so dark and disturbing. A deeply unsettling psychological thriller that has you questioning every creak and bump that you hear in bed at night.

I also loved reading through Brogans perspective and found it intriguing to watch out the mind of a deranged person and how they talk to themselves.

Heres the only downside I could say, I felt like I was waiting for the bad stuff to get started, I expected to read a bit more of the evil side to Brogan and was only a tiny bit disappointed that it was all in those last few pages as the rest was watching and waiting.

That said it was still a great creepy read and like I said the twist at the end was brilliant, I didn't expect it to end that way, and thats the mark of a good read, one that catches you out at the end.

If you love a good thriller then this one is definitely for you.

Rating

★★★☆☆

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Meet the author

I was a latecomer to fiction writing, having spent most of my adult life producing academic papers and reports. After some limited success entering short story competitions, I submitted the first few chapters of a novel to the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Awards. To my great surprise, the book was not only short-listed but given the Highly Commended accolade, which stimulated the interest of agents and publishers and eventually led to the publication of PARIAH.

Since then, I have written several more crime thrillers, including two series set in New York and my birth city of Liverpool. I still have a day job in Liverpool as a university academic, but now live on the Wirral with my wife, two daughters and a British Shorthair cat called Mr Tumnus.