June Book of The Month - The Fire Child

I have to admit I was struggling to find a book to recommend to you all this month, that was until I received S. K. Tremayne's latest novel in the post. I was lucky enough to review her previous release, The Ice Twins which I found to a be a real page turner of a story so I was expecting good things from The Fire Child.


When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall in to place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie's behaviour changes, and Rachel's perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the spectre of his late mother - David's previous wife. Is this jamie's way of punishing Rachel or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie's outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife's untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie's words....

Like the authors previous book, this one is a hard one to review without giving away the twist and it needs to be kept a surprise as it is so cleverly done.

The story begins with Rachel having just got back from honeymoon, moving into the grand Carnhallow House in Cornwall. Having given up her life in London, her days will now be spent restoring this rather large abode and making it a home again. 

Her husband David works away a lot so it is also partly her responsibility to look after his son, her step-son Jamie, along with her mother in law who is showing strong signs of dementia and their live in help Cassie.

At first glance things couldn't be anymore perfect, she seems to have a good relationship with her step-son and Rachel has taken to coastal life like a duck to water but slowly cracks appear and that perfect life that she so longed for doesn't appear to be all as it seems.

"You will be dead by Christmas"

Jamie's attitude changes, claiming to see his dead mother, predicting a grim future for Rachel and then there's hints that his mother's death may not have been as accidental as it was claimed to be. So many unknowns, question after question but could this just be the boys way of grieving?

Both David and Rachel have secrets, past events that they don't wish to share with one another but as the lies begin to build, and with Jamie's strange outburst mounting, the question I began to ask was who is more of a danger to who? Counting down to Christmas never seemed such a scary prospect.

"fingers of fire reaching up, inside, clawing into the house..."

This is an absolute page turner. Hauntingly beautiful with an abundance of mystery making it truly eerie. Every time I thought I'd guessed the twist I was proven wrong in the next paragraph. Fast paced, I was hooked from the first pages right to the last. An absolute must read!