“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories -- she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there.
Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?
There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them, and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes. ~taken from Goodreads
Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?
There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them, and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes. ~taken from Goodreads
This wasn't my first book by author, Sarah Gailey, as I read and reviewed "The Echo Wife" in January of last year. It was a genre bending book that I enjoyed so I was excited to read her latest. The premise sounded right up my ally- a gothic thriller is what it was marketed as and I was excited when I was approved via Netgalley.
This will be a short and sweet review because saying too much will give everything away. This story is told in two timelines, past and present. Vera returns home to her dying mother and to the house that her father built- The Crowder House. Her father was a serial killer. Bad things happened in her basement, just below her bedroom.
We learn that Vera had a closeness with her father and that her mother, Daphne, resented from her birth. Daphne never really liked her daughter and the two had an estranged relationship even during Vera's childhood. Now that Daphne is dying Vera is going though the contents of the house and the house is revealing secrets. Secrets even to Vera...
I was so intrigued with the serial killer past timeline. The story flowed easily and I felt the switches back and forth between past and present felt natural. Each timeline gave a glimpse into Vera's weird, messed up life. It was interesting seeing the relationship between Vera and her father knowing he would one day be arrested for serial murders.
Then the horror aspect comes in. Well, it was always there, but it wasn't a definite. At least not to me. At first I thought it was perhaps just a mindfu$k of Vera's memories. A way she coped with her horrific childhood. I was wrong. There was true horror that happened between the walls of The Crowder House. The horror sunk deep down into the cracks and filled every crevice...
I am not sure I liked the horror aspect. I think I would have like it more had that part just been left out completely. The ending was a surprise but it felt unfinished and unsatisfying.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for allowing me an advanced digital copy to read and give my honest review. It was a 3 star read for me.
"Just Like Home" is set to be released July 19, 2022 here in the U.S. so pre-order now!
Happy Reading!
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