The Fire Child by S.K. Tremayne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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?
This is a slow burning psychological thriller that at times makes you think there are elements of the supernatural in it. The premise for the book (which I won’t explain due to spoilers) is very interesting, making Rachel doubt her sanity numerous times in the book. We see how she is manipulated by her husband and his cohorts but Rachel always fights back. The relationship between Rachel and Jamie is strong, if strange and there are several twists and turns in the plot before we get to the twist and the conclusion. I found this to be haunting and evocative. The setting of deepest darkest Cornwall works really well as do the descriptions of the long abandoned tin mines.
A great read on many levels that I emotionally connected with.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.
Available from Amazon here.
Wendy Cartmell 