Blog Tour – Review One By One – D.W Gillespie @Randomthingstours @FlameTreePress

Welcome to my stop on the Random Things Blog Tour for One By One by D.W Gillespie, many thanks to Anne and to Flame Tree Press for inviting me to take part and providing me with an advance copy for review.

About The Book

The Easton family has just moved into their new fixer-upper, a beautiful old house that they bought at a steal, and Alice, the youngest of the family, is excited to explore the strange, new place. Her excitement turns to growing dread as she discovers a picture hidden under the old wallpaper, a child s drawing of a family just like hers.

Soon after, members of the family begin to disappear, each victim marked on the child s drawing with a dark black X. It’s up to her to unlock the grim mystery of the house before she becomes the next victim.

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Flame Tree Press; Hardback edition (26 Sept. 2019)
• ISBN-10: 1787581667
• ISBN-13: 978-1787581661

Get your copy from Flame Tree Press directly or Amazon

Dark Reads Review

Wow I enjoyed this one, what a perfect start to the Horror season!

The story begins with Alice our protagonist and her family moving into their new home, an old property in the woods. Alice’s father Frank managed to get the house at a ridiculously good price (doesn’t bode well in this genre does it?!) The house needs lots of work but Frank is really excited about the prospect, Alice shares her father’s excitement while her mother Debra and her older brother Dean didn’t have the same enthusiasm! I think the house sounded great with its little quirks and mystery, I was definitely team Frank and Alice!

I think One By One is beautifully written, the detail made the imagery so vivid, as I was reading I felt like I was watching the book rather than reading it, I felt as if I was there. There was an ominous undertone right from the beginning that gradually grew into a feeling of dread as more strange and sinister things began to happen. I really enjoyed how Gillespie created a real sense of isolation, often with this type of story I get frustrated that the characters don’t talk to each other about what is happening, in this case Alice was open about her fears and her suspicions but is dismissed by her family every time, that for me is ultimate isolation.

The Characters were great, especially Alice. Alice is a daydreamer with an overactive imagination, Gillespie gives a brilliant insight into her character via her inner monologue. She grows from a fairly timid 10 year old to a fierce 10 year old who knows her own mind. I did have to keep reminding myself that Alice was 10 years old, for me her thought processes are from someone older by maybe two or three years. I also really liked Dean’s character and the relationship between the two siblings.

One by One had me engrossed from the first page right up to the last, the more Alice discovered about the house and what had happened there the more I needed to know what would happen next! There were some awesome twists and turns towards the end, just as I thought I knew where the story was going there was a twist, and a good one too I was not expecting that!

If you enjoy a dark and creeping suspense story, full of mystery with supernatural connotations this is definitely one for you. I loved it and would pick up another D.W. Gillespie book in a heartbeat!

About The Author

A fan of all things dark and horrific, D.W. Gillespie has been writing horror, sci-fi, and fantasy for longer than he would like to admit. After years of daydreaming, he started taking it seriously in college after a creative writing class helped spark his motivation. After winning a local writing award, he realized that his path forward was clear.

In the years since, he’s been featured in many publications, both online and in print. He’s the author of more than a dozen novels, including The Toy Thief, Still Dark, and Handmade Monsters.

For One by One, Gillespie was influenced by his experience of moving houses often when growing up. One particular house was supposedly haunted (according to previous tenants) and became specially inspirational, and he knew he wanted it to feature in one of his books as a character in the story. A lifelong native of Middle Tennessee, he still lives there today with his wife and two children.

You can follow D.W Gillespie on Twitter

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