The Fire Child by S. K. Tremayne

Book Description:

The chilling new psychological thriller by S. K. Tremayne, author of the Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller, THE ICE TWINS.
When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie’s behaviour changes, and Rachel’s perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the spectre of his late mother – David’s previous wife. Is this Jamie’s way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie’s outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife’s untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie’s words:

‘You will be dead by Christmas.’

My Thoughts:

The Fire Child is a story set in a remote location in Cornwall. The area where Carnhallow House is sounded stunning. The house, the mines, everything about the place is steeped in history and folk lore.

The whole story is quite atmospheric and it felt like I was there in person myself seeing the sights and sounds that Rachel was.

I was slightly unsure as to what genre this book was as it felt very much like a horror story through most of it. The tension that builds through out the story is just electrifying. By the end though it is certainly more like a psychological thriller.

Rachel stepping into her new role of step mother as well as a wife must be quite daunting. To be fair, Jamie is a lovely boy and seems to have taken to Rachel but he is obviously deeply affected by his mothers death. It soon becomes apparent to Rachel just how little she truly knows her husband as well as his family background.

I actually ended up reading this book in one sitting. As soon as I started it I was well and truly hooked. There are pictures that kept popping up through out the novel which I think brought the story even more to life as well as the actual setting and history of the place.

My heart was literally racing towards the end and I had to keep having a few moments to compose myself as I was so desperate to find out how it was all going to end. I have to admit I am not to sure about the ending itself. The ending wasn’t quite what I was expecting, which I am sure is a good thing, it just didn’t quite tie in with the build up of tension that I had experienced through out the rest of the novel as I have to admit I was expecting a bit of a ‘wow’ ending where as for me it was more of an ‘oh’ but still a good ‘oh’.

A highly enjoyable read with tons of mystery and suspense that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for am honest review.

Goodreads rating 4/5 stars.

The Fire Child is due out on the 16th of June and you can pre order a copy on Amazon.