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The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins

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The Night Visitor

Publisher
Quercus
Publish Date
4 May 2017
Run Time
11 hours 36 minutes
Format
Audiobook
$13.95

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What to expect

'Horribly, horribly compulsive. Brilliant' Fiona Barton

How far would you go to save your reputation? The stunning new noir thriller from the author of the bestselling The Missing One and The Other Child. Perfect for fans of I Let You Go and Lie With Me.

Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything.

Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own.

As events move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of violence changes everything.

The Night Visitor is a compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the question: how far would you go to save your reputation?

'Such a sophisticated, layered read, I absolutely revelled in it' Clare Mackintosh

(P)2017 WF Howes Ltd.

Critics Review

  • The rich characterisation makes for an alarmingly plausible riches-to-rags tale

    Sunday Times

  • This atmospheric, propulsive novel creeps up on you like footsteps in the dead of night... a tingling layer of gothic suspense

    Metro

  • Fabulously dark

    Woman & Home

  • A complex, creepy and insidious novel

    The Guardian

See more reviews
  • Sinister, utterly compulsive...will keep your pulse racing until its dramatic denouement

    Red Magazine

  • An absolute cracker...Fantastic!

    Sunday Mirror

  • Enjoyably creepy

    Sunday Express

  • Utterly gripping

    The Literary Review

  • Brilliantly believable...you will relish every page

    The People

  • This is an enthralling, creepy and endlessly twisty story about secrets, lies and the destructive power of ambition. We galloped to the climax. Five stars

    Heat

  • I read this book in one sitting. A tense psychological thriller which explores authenticity, fame, and lies and the depths you might sink to in order to protect your reputation. A page-turner that keeps you gripped from the very first page

    Psychologies

  • Bone-chillingly good

    Boundless Magazine

  • Such a sophisticated, layered read, I absolutely revelled in it. A wonderful, wonderful book. The plotting is superb but the real triumph is the characterisation. The moment I finished, I wanted to read it all over again

    Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go

  • Horribly, horribly compulsive. Brilliant

    Fiona Barton, author of The Widow

  • Elegant, clever, beautifully written. Lucy Atkins is, quite frankly, a genius

    Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

  • Thrillingly creepy and darkly funny, The Night Visitor set me racing through the chapters with its brilliant plotting and characters that crackle off the page. A cannot tear yourself away novel

    Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat

  • It's wonderfully creepy, in that clever way that is tied in with character, as much as plot and setting. And the beetle metaphor is just ingenious

    Sabine Durrant, author of Lie With Me

  • It put me in mind of Misery, and Rebecca. Splendidly tense, creepy and enjoyable

    Sarah Hilary, author of Quieter Than Killing

  • One of the most vivid, memorable and menacing characters I've ever read...Dark, tense and menacing, I was quickly drawn into the story and couldn't put it down. Readers who enjoyed Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller will adore it

    CL Taylor, author of The Lie

  • Characters so real you could reach out and touch them. Absorbing, exciting and full of rich detail - snap this one up!

    Lucie Whitehouse, author of Keep You Close

  • Wonderfully dark and intriguing. In Vivian, Atkins has created a fascinating and sinister character who will stay with you long after you've finished the book. Highly recommended

    Linda Green, author of While My Eyes Were Closed

  • The tension is immediate and unrelenting; the sense of unease palpable. Deceptive on every level, this is a gripping, Rendellesque read

    Mick Herron, author of Spook Street

  • Beautifully crafted, unsettling and utterly unputdownable, The Night Visitor explores what happens when we take someone else's story and make it our own

    Nuala Ellwood, author of My Sister's Bones

  • Crackles with undercurrents of mistrust and menace. Tense, atmospheric and beautifully written, this unnerving tale of ambition and revenge held me captive until the last page. Brilliant

    Amanda Jennings, author of In Her Wake

  • Clever, multilayered and morally murky. I read it with a delicious sense of dread

    Tammy Cohen, author of When She Was Bad

  • Elegantly written with a rollercoaster of twists and turns, The Night Visitor has creepy echoes of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal. I read it in two sittings

    Elizabeth Heathcote, author of Undertow

  • The Night Visitor is an addictive and intricately plotted page-turner. I devoured it and I loved it

    Hannah Beckermann, author and journalist

  • Thrilling...the sort of book you think about even when not reading, and stay up far later than you should to finish. Atkins is a master of suspense; she creates characters that you feel like you've met, and situations you never want to be in. Completely wonderful

    Dr Suzannah Lipscomb, historian, author and TV presenter

  • It's clever, complex and compelling and grips right up to that completely unexpected twist. A chilling psychological thriller with beetles!

    Fanny Blake, author of House of Dreams

  • A fascinating, brilliant, creepy, intelligent novel

    Good Housekeeping

User Reviews

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Details

Author
Lucy Atkins
Narrator
Helen Lloyd, Julia Franklin
Duration
11 hours 36 minutes
Release Date
4 May 2017
ISBN
9781786485939
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Quercus
Genre
Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Crime and / or mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: women sleuths / detectives

Synopsis

'Horribly, horribly compulsive. Brilliant' Fiona BartonHow far would you go to save your reputation? The stunning new noir thriller from the author of the bestselling The Missing One and The Other Child. Perfect for fans of I Let You Go and Lie With Me.Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new bestseller she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything.Only one person knows what Olivia has done. Vivian Tester is the socially awkward sixty-year-old housekeeper of a Sussex manor who found the Victorian diary on which Olivia's book is based. She has now become Olivia's unofficial research assistant. And Vivian has secrets of her own.As events move between London, Sussex and the idyllic South of France, the relationship between these two women grows more entangled and complex. Then a bizarre act of violence changes everything.The Night Visitor is a compelling exploration of ambition, morality and deception that asks the question: how far would you go to save your reputation?'Such a sophisticated, layered read, I absolutely revelled in it' Clare Mackintosh(P)2017 WF Howes Ltd.

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