The Magpies by Mark Edwards

From Goodreads

Fear lives next door...

When Jamie and Kirsty move into their first home together they are full of optimism. The future, in which they plan to get married and start a family, is bright. The other residents of their building seem friendly too: the horror writer and the middle-aged herbalist who live upstairs, and the Newtons, a married couple who welcome them to the building Fear lives next door...

When Jamie and Kirsty move into their first home together they are full of optimism. The future, in which they plan to get married and start a family, is bright. The other residents of their building seem friendly too: the horror writer and the middle-aged herbalist who live upstairs, and the Newtons, a married couple who welcome them to the building with open arms.

At first, the two couples get on well. But then strange things start to happen. Dead rats are left on their doorstep. They hear disturbing noises, and much worse, in the night. After Jamie's best friend is injured in a horrific accident, Jamie and Kirsty find themselves targeted by a campaign of terror.

As Jamie and Kirsty are driven to the edge of despair, Jamie vows to fight back – but he has no idea what he is really up against…

THE MAGPIES is a terrifying psychological thriller in which the monsters are not vampires or demons but the people we live next door to. It is a nightmare that could happen to anyone.

My thoughts

I had to stay up late to finish the last 60 pages of this when I was reading it, as I needed to know how it ended.

Wow is all I can say, a genuine 5 stars or 10/10.  Mark Edwards can tell a darn good yarn, he is fast becoming a favourite author.  His books can easily be ranked up there with Stephen King and James Herbert in my opinion.

Jamie and Kirsty are a young couple, eager to live together and progress with their relationship.  They think all their prayers have been answered, when they find what they feel is their ideal first home.  A flat in an apartment building living among other people.

At first their lives appear to be running smoothly and they fit in well, but as time moves slowly on strange things begin to happen to them.  As events escalate among the residents, Jamie and Kirsty are not sure who is orchestrating them.

This is most definitely a psychological thriller that gets under your skin.  It just goes to show that we never actually know our neighbours and they can often turn out to be far worse monsters than the monsters contained within the pages of horror stories.

Thoroughly recommend this read and it's going to be in my Top 10 of 2016.