The Last House on Needless Street
by Catriona Ward
Blurb:
This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.All these things are true. And yet they are all lies...You think you know what's inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you've read this story before. That's where you're wrong.In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it's not what you think...
My Reaction:
It's difficult to write a review/reaction for this novel without crossing into spoiler territory, and I'd rather not do that, so this will be brief.
I found this an interesting and unique read and would recommend it to readers looking for something different from the usual. It's not your typical crime or mystery novel, and if you're anything like me, you won't be completely sure what's happening through much of the book. You'll form hypotheses, and some of them might even be correct or partly right, but I doubt you'll have it all figured out until near the very end. If you like books that keep you guessing and make you question what's real and what's not, this would be a good choice. (There are answers, by the way. I wouldn't be happy with it, otherwise!)
Overall? Less scary than sad. More mystery-thriller than horror-thriller. Makes you SO angry at times, but then you're forced to re-evaluate (and it's not necessarily pleasant to have everything turned upside-down in that way!). Makes you think. At some points, you'll be confused, but it all comes together, eventually. There are some coincidences that feel contrived, quite a bit of possibly annoying misdirection or "unreliability", too... But overall, its strengths are greater than its flaws.
Ok, I can't resist mentioning just a few things that annoyed me.
Some.
Of.
Them.
Are.
SPOILERS.
Ok, here we go.
--There are a few British turns of phrase that feel out of place in a novel set in the US and told from American perspectives.
--I can't accept that Dee brought a hammer to kill snakes with. That's insane. Use a hoe, woman!!
--Then she manages to kill a rattlesnake with said hammer. (Yeah, right. That happened, as they say...)
--And THEN, this woman who has suffered from a snake phobia for all of her adult life, picks up the dead snake to keep as a trophy and have it made into a belt, or something. Excuse me, what?! I don't have a clinical phobia of snakes-- just a very healthy fear of the venomous ones-- and I couldn't bear to bring myself to touch a dead venomous snake with my skin. No way on Earth. The few times I've had to dispose of one, I've picked it up with a shovel. I simply couldn't imagine picking it up in my hand, even with gloves on. Not happening. So, no, I can't accept that someone who has a snake phobia would do that, either, even if she didn't know that snake heads can still "bite" (due to reflexes) for a while after the snake has been killed. It's impossible to even contemplate. Why would she?
...But aside from a few things like that, a good read! I'm still not sure what I think about the subject at the heart of the book. I think it might be too complicated to ever fully comprehend. Maybe something that has to be experienced to be understood.
