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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This is a dark book and it kept me engaged.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an incredibly slow burn, where nothing really happens until towards the end. But the story and the predicament that Thomas finds himself in was enough to keep me interested. It was full of suspense and had me freaking out about all the noises above me when I don't even have an attic for a serial killer to be hiding in.
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First of all, if you live in a terraced house, PLEASE go check whether every little part of your house is sealed off from the neighbours’, including the attic. Go on, do it now, I’ll wait!
The Resident is one of the simplest books I’ve ever read in terms of characters and setting. There are four terraced houses and their residents, two couples and one elderly lady, and there is a serial killer house-hopping from one house to another via the attic, as the dividing walls don’t reach the roofline. I don’t know if that’s even possible construction-wise, but it sure as hell is a very creepy thought!
And that right there is the magic of The Resident. Its power lies in the plausibility of the improbability: it’s highly improbable that there’s someone living in our attic BUT when you think it through it is somehow plausible for most of us. Like the residents, most of us are away from home for most of the day. We’ve all wondered: wait, I thought there was some leftover curry in the freezer / more bread in the bread bin / more cereal in the box / more apples in the larder, and we dismiss it, we must be mistaken, or our partner / kids / housemates must have taken it, but what if we’re not and they haven’t…
The serial killer in question, Brogan, just wanted to get off the streets, breaking into an abandoned house. However, on closer inspection, he notices that lazy construction allows him to sneak into the three other houses of the terrace, houses that have food to eat and people to watch… You know what, tonight before you go to bed? Count your bananas. Just. Count them.
Brogan spends a lot of time on his own, waiting for the residents to leave their houses so he can sneak downstairs and have a bite to eat, among other things. The storytelling at that point could have easily gone wrong, but Brogan has this inner dialogue that keeps the story going. Is he off his rocker? Well, as he’s a serial killer he probably won’t win the Sanest Person in Neighbourhood Award any time soon, but the dialogue thing? Heavens, I don’t know which of him I found the scariest.
The Resident plays on our fear of having our safe haven invaded, of being watched without us even realising. Despite the simplest of settings and the few characters, David Jackson takes the reader on a riveting ride that I thoroughly enjoyed, and the only little gripe I have is that the finale was over too soon, my mind couldn’t handle the change in pace, but I’m sure that says more about me than about the story
The Resident is one of the simplest books I’ve ever read in terms of characters and setting. There are four terraced houses and their residents, two couples and one elderly lady, and there is a serial killer house-hopping from one house to another via the attic, as the dividing walls don’t reach the roofline. I don’t know if that’s even possible construction-wise, but it sure as hell is a very creepy thought!
And that right there is the magic of The Resident. Its power lies in the plausibility of the improbability: it’s highly improbable that there’s someone living in our attic BUT when you think it through it is somehow plausible for most of us. Like the residents, most of us are away from home for most of the day. We’ve all wondered: wait, I thought there was some leftover curry in the freezer / more bread in the bread bin / more cereal in the box / more apples in the larder, and we dismiss it, we must be mistaken, or our partner / kids / housemates must have taken it, but what if we’re not and they haven’t…
The serial killer in question, Brogan, just wanted to get off the streets, breaking into an abandoned house. However, on closer inspection, he notices that lazy construction allows him to sneak into the three other houses of the terrace, houses that have food to eat and people to watch… You know what, tonight before you go to bed? Count your bananas. Just. Count them.
Brogan spends a lot of time on his own, waiting for the residents to leave their houses so he can sneak downstairs and have a bite to eat, among other things. The storytelling at that point could have easily gone wrong, but Brogan has this inner dialogue that keeps the story going. Is he off his rocker? Well, as he’s a serial killer he probably won’t win the Sanest Person in Neighbourhood Award any time soon, but the dialogue thing? Heavens, I don’t know which of him I found the scariest.
The Resident plays on our fear of having our safe haven invaded, of being watched without us even realising. Despite the simplest of settings and the few characters, David Jackson takes the reader on a riveting ride that I thoroughly enjoyed, and the only little gripe I have is that the finale was over too soon, my mind couldn’t handle the change in pace, but I’m sure that says more about me than about the story
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My first thriller, it was good but the ending was abit abrupt. The tension was a lot and the build up was a lot, but the ending felt abit flat. I didn’t expect what happened though
The premise of home invasion is a tense fear for many - the safety and comfort of your house being pervaded by a dangerous stranger carries this book for the most part and I was thoroughly gripped by the scenes that exploited this aspect of plot the most. The Resident is psychologically creepy and wickedly funny in parts; following Brogan’s bird’s eye view of the residents he is spying on, the reader gets to know both the killer and his potential victims in tandem. I enjoyed the characters and the dark secrets that began to unveil, although for such a radical story concept there were some necessary points of disbelief that had to carry the momentum forward. I didn’t mind this but it did take me out of the tension I come to expect from a thriller, especially when the ending wrapped up as it became a bit farcical. All the same I really enjoyed the chess pieces set out on the board and breezed through this with ease!
When I started reading this book initially I kept thinking back to this 90s film with some guy living in the walls stalking someone and I couldn’t remember the name. I easily remembered the film with the same name The Resident with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilary Swank but that wasn’t it. Then I remembered Sharon Stone and William Baldwin and remembered it was called Sliver. This book…isn’t that Lol but it has all the feels from those films.
I was hoping I would be terrified by this book, I wasn’t. It did, however, make me check there were no holes in the ceiling though! Although, from what I’ve been told we do have an open plan loft though stretching the 5 houses -oh god I’m done for!
I did find this book fascinating. We are thrown in the thick of it at the beginning, there is a manhunt for Thomas Brogan. But why we don’t know. We don’t actually see any of the sadistic murders on-page, everything is left out. We don’t initially know what drove him to do this acts of violence until later.
Instead, what we have is an intense 12 days of what Thomas. Is it wrong to find him fascinating? I did have to laugh at some of his inner monologues with himself. I was intrigued by his plans to terrorise the Fairbrights and watch how his lust for one person could change his demeanour.
There is one point in the loft where I actually started to get a bit nervous for him. Yes, I was nervous about the serial killer!! Yes crazy! I became attached to him. I was enjoying the acts he carried out on the unsuspecting couple. Completely messing with their heads and marriage. I found it all quite thrilling and entertaining in all honesty.
The Resident is a different book than I expected. I expected a scary story told from the victim’s point of view. Instead, we are told the story from the killer and I ended up caring about him!!! I enjoyed the random friendship he created with Elsie. I was nervous and panicked when he was walking around the houses, scared he would be caught! Waiting for the fallout.
I was unsure of the book at first, I had to get my bearings before I settled down and devoured it in a day. The only thing I was not happy with was….. the end!! Because it ended. I was so invested, I wanted more I would have happily sat there and read many more pages!
This is my first book by Mr Jackson, here I have found a new author that I am now going to catch up on. I already have done if DS Cody books do need to get cracking. If Jackson can make me care about a serial killer god knows what else he can make me care about!!! I want to find out though!!
I was hoping I would be terrified by this book, I wasn’t. It did, however, make me check there were no holes in the ceiling though! Although, from what I’ve been told we do have an open plan loft though stretching the 5 houses -oh god I’m done for!
I did find this book fascinating. We are thrown in the thick of it at the beginning, there is a manhunt for Thomas Brogan. But why we don’t know. We don’t actually see any of the sadistic murders on-page, everything is left out. We don’t initially know what drove him to do this acts of violence until later.
Instead, what we have is an intense 12 days of what Thomas. Is it wrong to find him fascinating? I did have to laugh at some of his inner monologues with himself. I was intrigued by his plans to terrorise the Fairbrights and watch how his lust for one person could change his demeanour.
There is one point in the loft where I actually started to get a bit nervous for him. Yes, I was nervous about the serial killer!! Yes crazy! I became attached to him. I was enjoying the acts he carried out on the unsuspecting couple. Completely messing with their heads and marriage. I found it all quite thrilling and entertaining in all honesty.
The Resident is a different book than I expected. I expected a scary story told from the victim’s point of view. Instead, we are told the story from the killer and I ended up caring about him!!! I enjoyed the random friendship he created with Elsie. I was nervous and panicked when he was walking around the houses, scared he would be caught! Waiting for the fallout.
I was unsure of the book at first, I had to get my bearings before I settled down and devoured it in a day. The only thing I was not happy with was….. the end!! Because it ended. I was so invested, I wanted more I would have happily sat there and read many more pages!
This is my first book by Mr Jackson, here I have found a new author that I am now going to catch up on. I already have done if DS Cody books do need to get cracking. If Jackson can make me care about a serial killer god knows what else he can make me care about!!! I want to find out though!!