The House on Rectory Lane

By Stuart James

Review

A 2022 Top Rated Read

Jake and Kate have had enough of London's hustle and bustle and yearn for somewhere rural to raise their young son. A stranger pulling a knife on Jake is the final straw and the family up sticks to their dream home in the woods.

Before long their idyllic existence turns sour. A stranger warns them they shouldn't have come and their neighbours seem unnaturally friendly. Jake and Kate begin to feel uncomfortable in their new home. More bizarre incidents occur which take a decidedly sinister turn. Then Jake finds a hidden homemade DVD recording of the previous owners, the Prescotts, which shocks and scares him. The Prescotts disappeared without trace and Jake realises his own family is now in terrible danger. . . 

I thought The House on Rectory Lane was a fantastic book which had me on the edge of my seat throughout. The suspense is intense and relentless as the story manoeuvres through countless gripping twists and turns. The ending is superb and I literally gasped with shock. On so many occasions a great book is let down by a weak ending but not this one; it was simply fantastic. The author knows how to create relatable characters and drop them into terrifying situations. I was very impressed indeed.            

★★★★★

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication Year: 2017
• Author: Stuart James
• Genre: Horror

Synopsis

Jake and Kate live in Camden, London and have had enough of the hassle with parking, overbooked restaurants and burglaries.

 
After an altercation with a stranger who pulls a knife on Jake, they take their son Sean and move to a house in the woods. 

It’s their dream home, or so they think.

 
People in the village warn them they shouldn’t have come. 

Neighbours are overfriendly and who was the face at the window Kate saw late at night? 

They find a DVD hidden in the loft of their new house, a home made video recording of the previous family, the Prescotts. 

What they view, chills them to the bone. 

They realise that the family living there before them have disappeared and now, they could be next......