The Turn of the Key

So tense and creepy I almost stopped listening

A story so tense and creepy I almost stopped listening at several points! I couldn't listen to the story in bed that's for sure! Hood story and well written and narrated, however, I found the ending super frustrating and without closure!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

SIMPLY THE BEST - RUTH WARE THRILLS & CHILLS AGAIN

As a big fan of Ruth Ware, I had this latest gem on pre-order at the first possible opportunity. The Death of Mrs Westaway was, in my opinion, her best thriller yet so I waited with baited breath and it surpassed even my greatest hopes.
I simply could not stop listening .... except late at night when I found the building suspense and eerieness was so well written it really got me spooked.
So I simply spent a whole Sunday carrying it with me as I did household stuff and even kept it on in the shower as I was that gripped! I just thought it was so brilliantly written and just charged along like a runaway train with so many surprises and twists around every corner. I also rather like the sound of the dashing Jack Grant who added a certain frisson to the proceedings. I have to say I had plenty of shocks along the way with this superbly crafted thriller and the plot twists just kept coming. Great charaters, great concept and wonderful execution - I just loved it and would love to listen to it all over again as it really delivered all I would hope for in a top class thriller.
No gore or grit or horror just good old fashioned campfire thrills and chills and a wonderfully paced story line which immediately grabs you and whisks you away on a nail biting, nerve jangling adventure.
The twists and turns came thick and fast towards the end and some might say some details of the reveal were a bit far fetched but for me it was a very satisfying and beautifully polished finale which also did give you a moment to ponder what happened next which was another plot twist in itself.

I was initially a little disappointed to find out Imogen Church was narrating again as I found she just really overplays some performances, which is fine if it is a book which needs a helping hand with adding drama and excitement but Ruth Ware's thrillers are so suspenseful and dramatic and exciting they need to be able to speak for themselves. But this time I found it much lighter, pull backed and less overcooked performance, which allowed the story tell its brilliant self - I then found at the end that I had been listening to the book on 1.25 speed!
So I am delighted to have found this hack and I did enjoy this lighter touch in the read and it also made her rendition of male roles ,which I always have found in the past to be very grating like pantomime characters, sound more realistic and less self conscious. So to sum up, a really great narration at the slightly faster speed.

This book gave me 12 hr and 15 minutes of intrigue, suspense, mystery and sheer joy ....... I cannot wait for the next one, though this one will be very hard to beat and I may have to go back and re- read "In a Dark Dark Wood" and "The Woman in Cabin 10" again in the meantime which I also highly recommend. If only all thrillers could be this good.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Good, but Scarey

Interesting Story, a bit scarey for me. Love the Narrative.
I enjoyed the bits when the children were happy.
I don't think in real life she would have been convicted

Bravo Imogen Church!

I really enjoyed Ruth Ware's unsettling story and it was read brilliantly by Imogen Church, she did a fantastic job. I particularly liked the "creeeeeaaaaak"s :) Definitely worth a credit.

not my usual book

A psychological thriller which scared me in a good way. Excellent narrator. An edge of the seat bòok. The end was a shock and somehow i expected it to continue. great author will read more of her books .i couldn't sleep until i had listened to it all. i am a wimp so beware 😯

Enjoyable

I did enjoy listening to this. Well narrated which for me makes all the difference

Absolutely Amazing

This book was amazing. It was full of twists and turns and it keeps you wanting to listen, all the time. Highly recommend this audio book. 😮😮😮💖

turn of the key is worth a turn!

Imogen church not only narrates but captures these characters perfectly. such a spooky holiday read

Ode to Henry James

This is a great slowly burning thriller which tilts a hat at The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Spooky isolation, Haunted house and the unknown quantities of some characters have much in common with the James tale although this is obviously not a retelling of that tale but I did note the similarities which is not a bad thing.
Ruth Ware has definitely got her own style and can certainly pen a very intriguing and easily entertaining book.
As a narrator I have always quite liked Imogen Church as she is always a concise and consistent performer.
An enjoyable listen that mixes the psychological thriller with the physical mystery.

Great story, audio levelling needs work

I will start by saying that I did enjoy this book and it was probably a 4.5 stars in reality. The concept of the overall story was pretty and good and it is very suspenseful with lots of twists that aren’t particularly obvious.
However, I do have one big problem with this book and that is the format. Although the idea of doing it in letters is a good one and adds a lot to the finale, I did feel like the author should have committed more the the style of letters . This book felt like it was written as a regular book and then the letters gimmick was shoved in later. The descriptions were often long and unnecessary and hence completely unsuited to a letter that you actually want someone to read. A lot of times the way it was written from the tenses to the mundane details were just very unrealistic of an actual letter that was written weeks or months after the events. I honestly just wish that the letter hadn’t been a thing.
My other small issue with this novel is the ending. Although it all tied up mostly well, the ending was a bit lack lustre after such a long and dramatic build up. There were a number of areas that I wanted more detail on such as the parents and their relationship with their kids especially seeing as they were so badly behaved. I would have much preferred detail in this to the pages and pages we got of “I pushed the button and it didn’t work”.

As I said at the start, I did really enjoy this novel but I do tend to focus on negatives rather than positives so that’s what you’ve got in this review.

As a final note, I listened to this book on audible. Although the narration was generally well done, there were occasions where the sound level would go from whisper quiet to deafening squeal with no warning. Not ideal as I was driving at the time. Just a warning for you audio lovers out there.