THE HEIGHTS

 

SYNOPSIS

He thinks he’s safe up there. But he’ll never be safe from you. 

 

The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among the warehouses of Tower Bridge, its roof terrace so discreet you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren't standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there – a man you’d recognize anywhere. He’s older now and his appearance has subtly changed, but it’s definitely him. 

Which makes no sense at all since you know he has been dead for over two years.  You know this for a fact.  

Because you’re the one who killed him.  It’s time to confess what we did up there.

 

Title: The Heights

Author: Louise Candlish

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication date: August 5, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Heights was all about hate and revenge. Those two intense feelings are overtaking Ellen’s life after her son Lucas dies. She could not protect him from some undesirable companies when he was alive, so now that he’s gone she has only one thing in mind, to exact revenge on her son’s killer. She thought she had got it until two years later she casually sees the man she killed and her world spirals again into a toxic obsession of retribution that will threaten her life.

I found the premise of this one so interesting and really made me put myself on Ellen’s shoes. Would my life be consumed with the need to get payback and, in case justice was not done, would I look for it otherwise?

I thought this was more of a domestic drama than a thriller, after all it was quite a slow burn and more about the characters than the plot, but it worked perfectly. Both narrators, Ellen and Vic were very well drawn, nuanced and flawed, with their good and bad sides, making them feel like real people and much more relatable. You could understand their actions even if you didn’t condone them. It was really interesting reading the story from both sides.

The setting was great and The Heights, the apartment block of the title, was quite creepy. Ellen’s High Place Phenomenon condition added to that feeling of restlessness. Her compulsion to jump from heights was absolutely terrifying , especially when you’re not a big fan of heights.

The ending caught me by surprise with a last couple of twists I didn’t see coming and that were a startling end to this finely crafted domestic drama.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster UK for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.