The house swap by Rebecca Fleet

Title- The house swap
Author- Rebecca Fleet
Format- PDF
Genre- Thriller
Number of pages- 212
Publishers-  Doubleday

About the book-

When Caroline and Francis receive the offer of a house swap, they jump at the chance to have a week away from home. After the difficulties of the past few years, they've worked hard to rebuild their marriage for their son's sake; now they want to reconnect as a couple.

On arrival, they find a house that is stark and sinister in it's emptiness- it's hard to imagine what kind of person lives here. Then, gradually Caroline begins to uncover some signs of life which might seem innocent to her husband but to her they are anything but. It seems the person they have swapped with is someone she used to know, someone she's desperate to leave in her past. But that person is in her home- and wants to make sure she'll never forget.

My rating- ★★★★★

My review-

The story of Caroline and Francis, a couple working hard on their marriage to salvage it's remains decide upon a house swap in the suburbs with a person online. Thinking it to be a good idea, they take the offer so as to rekindle their relationship.

When they reach the house it's devoid of any sign of life, it looks just like a house not a home. With time Caroline discovers certain subtle signs which remind her of her past.

The story moves as incidents from the past and present simultaneously, the past including the addicted side of Francis, the problematic marriage of Caroline and Francis and the office romance Caroline gets tangled herself in with a certain Carl and how things go beyond a normal fling.

The present shows Caroline and Francis, 2 years since they have been working on their marriage, in this strange house. As days pass Caroline notices some dried flowers, a certain music CD,a certain bottle of aftershave and she begins to feel a sinister part of her past making it's way to her present.

Next she comes across Amber, the girl from across the street, who behaves in an unusual manner, somewhere deepening her suspicions. Caroline learns a lot of facts which lead her to the confirmation of the presence of this stranger in her home, a person from her past she thought she had left behind. 

The questions remain who that person is, why have they hatched such a plan to get into her home, what's the connection to her past, what is going to happen in the future and what are the motives behind all these.

A tale of secrets, lies, erriness, careful plans, hot office romance, a dying marriage and karma going in circles of past- present--past leaves the reader hanging on to each word, turning pages, unable to stop.

It gives a detailed image to the reader, more of a mirage which turns into a twist at every point we think we have just got the story right. 

The story ascends very quickly with a monotony in between but I would say "stay loyal, go on reading" as the twists just start after that.

The ending is really unexpected but it takes ages to get there since after all the revelations the text is dragged on.... But as mentioned earlier there is a certain twist even at the end. 

The book definitely lives up to the expectations created in the first few pages though the timeline can get a bit confusing, but considering it to be a debut novel it's definitely worth a *hats off*.

Characters-

Caroline- the wife, whose story this is basically, is a women with desires, running away from her past so it seems. Aware of the mistakes of the past, with a fear of the demons filtering into her present and immense love for her son Eddie.

Francis- a relationship consultant by profession, who had been on high dose of self administered "happy drugs" for quite some time, mainly acting as a side character in the book with the sole involvement in his efforts of fixing his marriage.

Carl- the guy involved in the office romance with Caroline. A calm, calculative person who is able to box his feelings and tries to move on once things end with Caroline.

There are other characters like Amber, Sandra and Robyn who are immensely involved in what goes on in the story but their involvements are for you to find out.

Definitely worth a read, so thriller lovers go and have a read.

Writing style- 

The writing is quite descriptive, though borders at monotony at some point. The best part is there is no indication of the upcoming twists, it just comes up when least expected. 

About the author-

Rebecca Fleet lives and works in London. The house swap is her first thriller.