The Lingering by SJI Holliday @OrendaBooks @SJIHolliday

Book Description:

Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history.
When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution…
At once an unnerving locked-room mystery, a chilling thriller and a dark and superbly wrought ghost story, The Lingering is an exceptionally plotted, terrifying and tantalisingly twisted novel by one of the most exciting authors in the genre.

My Thoughts:

There is always something about a story set in a commune that instantly appeals to me. Especially when the building they are living in is a former psychiatric home. Alarm bells started to go off in my head and I knew no matter what, I had to read this book.

The story alternates mainly between Ali, who has just arrived at the commune and Angela who is a long standing resident there. Angela is quite a quirky character. She believes in the super natural and is determined to find proof that the building houses ghosts. It just adds to the whole atmosphere of the story.

Ali and Jack have obviously come to the commune under a cloud. They seem to be running away from something but we just don’t quite know what. My interest was certainly piqued as to why they would give up their everyday lives to hide away in a commune.

The Lingering really is an atmospheric read. The setting, the building, the nice back story by way of a doctors journal into life when the building was a psychiatric home, it really does have it all. The story does very much focus on present day but I did love the added suspense of what had happened in the past. It really does hold plenty of surprises in store and I thoroughly enjoyed this chilling reading experience that certainly delivers chills and thrills a plenty.

My thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

The Lingering is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an affiliate link).