Review ~ Follow You Home by Mark Edwards

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Author: Mark Edwards
Available Formats: eBook, Paperback, Audio
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer 
Publication Date: 06-30-15            Pages: 402 

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, a final adventure before settling down.

After a perfect start, Daniel and Laura’s travels end abruptly when they are thrown off a night train in the middle of nowhere. To find their way back to civilisation, they must hike along the tracks through a forest…a haunting journey that ends in unimaginable terror.

Back in London, Daniel and Laura vow never to talk about what they saw that night. But as they try to fit back into their old lives, it becomes clear that their nightmare is just beginning…

Follow You Home is a chilling tale of secrets, lies and deadly consequences from the author of #1 bestsellers The Magpies and Because She Loves Me.

Amazon  / Goodreads / B&N

My So-Called Review:

Follow You Home is the second book I’ve read by author Mark Edwards. The first was Because She Loves Me and if I’m being entirely honest, it wasn’t my favorite. I know I’m in the minority as many people loved that book but for some reason I just didn’t connect with the characters and that’s so important for my reading experience! Because of this I was a little iffy on whether or not I should try his new one; I even passed on it when it first became available on NetGalley. Then the reviews started rolling in on Goodreads and they were hugely positive and some of those were from reviewers whom I trust very much. In the end I went back & nabbed it of course, and then I sat on it for a few more weeks before finally giving it a try. Once I did I was completely hooked and of course I kicked myself for waiting so damn long!

Daniel and Laura are on a trip of a lifetime, backpacking across Europe is something they both wanted to do before they settle down to start their family. What starts off as a wonderful vacation then takes a drastically scary turn once they’re on a train headed for Romania. I don’t want to give too much of the opening plot away because it’s really best read feeling as lost and helpless as they do while in a completely foreign country. But I’ll tell you that they’ve been thrown off their train after having their passports stolen. It’s the middle of the night and they’re now in a very deserted part of Romanian countryside. Oh and another passenger, Aline whom they only just met, also got thrown off the train because she was trying to help them. At this point the book starts turning really creepy! I loved that this was laid out almost backwards from a typical scary/horror type book. Normally they lead you up to a creepy, scary climax; this one starts you out there and I loved that!

Our three companions who are stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no money, no passports, no working phone decide to try walking along the tracks until they get to the next town. After walking what feels like forever, Aline goes off into the woods for a “potty break” but she never comes back. Daniel and Laura debate on what they should do and ultimately decide to go look for her. It doesn’t take long for them to realize Aline’s either “playing” with them or somethings seriously happened to her. It’s once they come across an old dilapidated house and decide to go inside that this book turns all shades of seriously fucked up! As the reader we only get a very small peak inside this horror house before Daniel and Laura flee for their lives, never looking back and vowing never to speak of what they saw. You’re left with a ton of questions as the book then fast forwards to present day and pick up on Daniel and Laura’s lives post dream vacation.

I loved that we’re left not really knowing what happened, how long they were there, what they really saw and what happened to Aline. It gets even better when strange things start happening to them in their present lives. I kept wondering if some person followed them back, some sort of evil entity; I really had no idea! Clearly Daniel and Laura’s lives are not the same, they are no longer the happy couple ready to start a family and now Laura’s even moving out against Daniel’s wishes. I seriously felt bad for these two, they’re such likeable characters at the beginning of the story and you know that they went through something horrific so it was hard to see how it affected each of them differently. As the story moves along we start to get little glimpses into what really happened in that house and OMG, it was so much worse that what I imagined!

Mark Edwards does a brilliant job at keeping you guessing, he gives you just enough to make you tear faster through the pages until you figure out the entire story. This is a total edge-of-your seat type thriller but only those with a strong stomach should apply to walk within these pages because it isn’t for the faint of heart! Follow You Home is a wonderfully constructed, dark psychological thriller that I would definitely recommend to fans of these types of thrillers. I would also LOVE to see this one made into a movie; I could see it perfectly while I was reading :)

Thank you to the publishers, Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

About the Author:

I write psychological thrillers. My influences include writers such as Stephen King, Ira Levin, Ruth Rendell, Ian McEwan, Val McDermid and Donna Tartt and movies like Rosemary's Baby, Single White Female, Fatal Attraction and anything in which scary things happen to ordinary people.

My first solo novel, THE MAGPIES, topped the Kindle chart in the UK. WHAT YOU WISH FOR followed in March 2014 and BECAUSE SHE LOVES ME was published in September 2014. My next solo book, FOLLOW YOU HOME, will be out in June 2015.

You can also download a free short story for your Kindle here: http://vossandedwards.com/free-short-...

I have co-written five novels with Louise Voss: CATCH YOUR DEATH (a No.1 bestseller in the UK), KILLING CUPID (chosen by Peter James as his book of 2012), ALL FALL DOWN and FORWARD SLASH. FROM THE CRADLE was published in 2014 and is the first in a series featuring DI Patrick Lennon.

After a career that has taken in everything from picking broad beans and answering complaint calls for a rail company to teaching English in Japan and being a marketing director, I currently write full-time.

I live in the West Midlands with my wife, our three children and a ginger cat.

I love hearing from readers and always respond. I can be contacted in the following ways:

Email / Facebook / Twitter / Website