The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson

The Stopped Heart by Julie Myerson

With shades similar to Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica, The Stopped Heart offers readers a thrilling adventure that leaves you wondering if grief really can play tricks on the our mind. Long ago in the idyllic countryside, a chilling event takes place, and at the center of the ring is someone with red hair. Fast forward a century, and a family moves to the same countryside to escape their grief that is the result of a terrible family tragedy. A chilling parallel between past and present begins to reveal itself, and the reader is left turning the pages to become immersed in this gruesome tale. This book depicts crimes against children, so for readers disturbed or revolted by that narrative, they should be warned. For the thriller in you, this book will suit the dark side of your reading tastes. Read the synopsis to decide if The Stopped Heart is the kind of book to add to your bag!

Synopsis

Internationally bestselling author Julie Myerson’s beautifully written, yet deeply chilling, novel of psychological suspense explores the tragedies—past and present—haunting a picturesque country cottage. Mary Coles and her husband, Graham, have just moved to a cottage on the edge of a small village. The house hasn’t been lived in for years, but they are drawn to its original features and surprisingly large garden, which stretches down into a beautiful apple orchard. It’s idyllic, remote, picturesque: exactly what they need to put the horror of the past behind them. One hundred and fifty years earlier, a huge oak tree was felled in front of the cottage during a raging storm. Beneath it lies a young man with a shock of red hair, presumed dead—surely no one could survive such an accident. But the red-haired man is alive, and after a brief convalescence is taken in by the family living in the cottage and put to work in the fields. The children all love him, but the eldest daughter, Eliza, has her reservations. There’s something about the red-haired man that sits ill with her. A presence. An evil. Back in the present, weeks after moving to the cottage and still drowning beneath the weight of insurmountable grief, Mary Coles starts to sense there’s something in the house. Children’s whispers, footsteps from above, half-caught glimpses of figures in the garden. A young man with a shock of red hair wandering through the orchard.

Has Mary’s grief turned to madness? Or have the events that took place so long ago finally come back to haunt her…?

It is intriguing, right? A huge thank you to Harper Books for the early copy of this book.