The Intruders, by Louise Jensen

 The Intruders

Written by Louise Jensen,

About / Blurb:

They were told to leave. They should have listened.

The perfect opportunity…

A manor house available rent-free to house-sitters is an offer too good to miss for Cass and James, who have been saving for a deposit on their own home for so long.

Although it had been abandoned for almost thirty years, after a home invasion left almost all the inhabitants dead, it is an amazing chance for them to build their future.

But is it worth the price?

Shortly after moving in things take a sinister turn. Objects disappear and turn up in odd places, the clock always stops at the same time, the house is strangely oppressive and sometimes it feels like Cass and James are not alone.

Newington House may have bad energy, and a dark reputation. But surely there’s no reason for history to repeat itself, is there?

What people are saying:

‘Readers are CAPTIVATED by Louise Jensen!’

My Review:

After reading its’ blurb, I was really excited to read this book, as its’ plot sounded so enticing, with dark history, mystery, and seemed like just my cup of tea. 

Initially, it was easy to get into, it read well, drew me in, the characters were believable, & the plot progressed at a good pace. 

There was some back & forth, between times; as in, the present day (Cass/James), & ‘then’ (Rose), - 30 years ago, before the murders happened. These time & perspective shifts would occur almost alternately, in the progressing chapters. 

What I particularly did like about the way in which this was written, was that although the chapters shifted between ‘now’ & ‘then’, the previous chapters closing lines, would make up the opening lines of the new chapter; which kind of felt like a natural progression/continuation, between the 2 times. I felt that this really worked, & was very cleverly written. This continued throughout the whole of the book, through part one, & through part two, and even throughout part two, I really liked this continuous style, which tied one chapter, into the next.

Being honest, once I started reading part two, I did feel a bit disappointed, & at one point, I did feel that the plot had shifted to being much more unbelievable, & I did feel a little let down by this.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story, or any spoilers, so I’ll try to explain this in the best way that I can, but I felt that throughout part one, it was assumed (by myself; the reader), & in the way in which it was written & so was led to assume/believe, that in the reverting time to 30 years ago (Rose), - that Rose was in fact one of the children within the family who used to previously live in the house, before the family were murdered. However, in part two, this was revealed not to be the case. It was at this point that I felt the plot seemed to go off on itself a little, becoming more complex, incorporating the focus & goings-on of two families, instead of the just the one. The family who were murdered didn’t really feature in the plot up until part two of the book. So I felt that in part two, the plot kind of ran away in a different direction. Also, the main event that unfolded in part 2, which gave the motive as to why the family were later murdered, I felt kind of sprung from nowhere, & just didn’t come across as believable. 

Another thing which featured within the unfolding part one of the plot, was references to ‘coincidences’, - which I feel this led the opening to what would unfold in part two, & how the couple themselves, (Cass & James) came to be a couple, & how in the present day part of the plot, they had come to be connected. But, there are coincidences, & there are coincidences, & I felt that these coincidences were too much of coincidences, & in turn they felt far too unbelievable. 

Overall, I do feel a little let down by this book. I don’t feel it satisfied, & I didn’t find it believable. 

Based on a rating of 1-10, where 10 is the highest, I would give this book a rating of 6 out of 10. It’s a Psychological Thriller which I’m glad I read, however, sadly it’s not a book that I would go on to recommend.