The Half Burnt House is Alex North at his best - a writer who can terrify you on one page and break your heart on the next

Endlessly intriguing

So dark and so twisty

One of those books that made me wish I'd written it. North wields suspense like a blade. Breath-taking and terrifying

North handles the complicated plot with skill while bringing his troubled characters to life amid the horror.

North's poetic way with even the most grotesque of situations is always a joy. The Half Burnt House is his best yet. I love it.

Dark, gripping, and twisty

Thrilling, moving and utterly gripping; The Half Burnt House is a triumph

A masterfully creepy, atmospheric rush of a read that will linger with you long after you've finished the last page

Complex, tense and atmospheric

Deeply complex and carefully crafted, this novel is a thrilling question mark all the way to the end, and it puts North's storytelling skills on full display . . . the tension mounts with almost every single chapter... his best so far, a superb addition to his already impressive oeuvre

A cut-throat thriller

Alex North's best book yet. It's as darkly disturbing as The Whisper Man, and as viciously twisty as The Shadow Friend. But this time there's a premise that will break your heart even as it chills you to the very marrow. Nobody in dark fiction writes family relationships - guilt, fear, loss, and ultimately love - like North, and this is an unputdownable thriller

Everything in this story is connected in ways the reader can't begin to imagine until a series of stunning parallels and revelations are disclosed. Wait for it!

North's latest thriller does not disappoint, weaving an intriguing cast of characters across multiple time periods into a story rich with layers and plot twists and perfectly suspenseful pacing ... A delightfully bone-chilling tale

Praise for Alex North

As terrifying as a great horror novel, as unpredictable as the best type of crime novel and above all beautifully written...a writer who is an absolute master of his craft

This is absorbing, headlong reading, a play on classic horror with an inventiveness of its own

Hugely atmospheric and deliciously creepy

Superbly constructed in an elaborate twisty spy yarn. It's highly unlikely that there will be a better espionage novel this year

The Cold War is given a new twist ... Impressive, superior spy stuff

Intricate and fast moving, it weaves a thrilling spell

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy meets James Bond

With beautifully written prose and razor-sharp insight, Katie Gutierrez draws us into More Than You'll Ever Know's gripping and complex world. Even as the dual storylines left me breathless, I found myself more captivated by Gutierrez's intimate and compassionate portrayal of these women, their men, and the many secrets they kept. Passionate, supremely intelligent, and thrilling

A complex portrait of marriage and desire, a thought-provoking exploration of motherhood, and a fascinating look at our collective obsession with true crime . . . Combining domestic drama, crime, slow-burn psychological mystery and a touch of historical fiction, More Than You'll Ever Know is a true page-turner

Enthralling and beautifully written

An evocative drama . . . This masterful work of literary suspense marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer

Suspenseful, seductive, gorgeously written

An intriguing story of complex characters and their long-buried secrets

A must-read for true crime lovers

'I can hear the book club discussions now... undeniably powerful'

Infuses the summer mystery genre with some serious ideas about our obsession with crime stories and our sense of women's identities.

The twists keep coming as the action rockets back and forth in time exposing the terrible truth that binds the friends together and eventually wrenches them apart.

Mara is truly gifted at this kind of story, and this is a proper page-turner, with several cliff hangers and plenty of red herrings. As the action progresses, the pace intensifies to a pulse-rising intensity . . . A most satisfying thriller.