Title: The House On Cold Hill

Author: Peter James

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 312

Rating: 8/10

Peter James – The House On Cold Hill

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

I was lucky enough to be sent an advance uncorrected proof copy of this book, which is pretty special because James’ work has been translated into thirty six languages, and his Roy Grace series has sold sixteen million copies. This is probably the perfect book to introduce me to his work, really – he’s known for his crime novels, and my mom and my gran are both keen on those, but I’ve never been that keen on contemporary crime, although I do love stuff like Sherlock Holmes and Poirot. But here, James is taking on a different genre entirely.

I’d call this book a supernatural thriller or a suspense novel, bordering on horror at times – personally, I didn’t think it was scary enough to stop me from recommending it to my mom, and she’s a wimp when it comes to horror. But it is still a pretty good read, and a 21st century take on the classic ghost story. The characters in the book are using iPhones and Instagram, and yet there’s still a vibe of Henry James, and a deep sense of unease throughout the novel.

One of the things that I did notice was James’ attention to detail – his depictions of web development, the career of the protagonist, were spot on, and this is coming from someone who has a bash at it himself and who works with a bunch of developers. James’ writing in general is of a high quality here, despite the fact that as an uncorrected proof, you might expect to see a lot of errors. Not so – this was a great addition to my collection.

Peter James

Click here to buy The House On Cold Hill.