Apartment 6 by Stuart James | Blog Tour Review |@StuartJames73 @BOTBSPublicity #Apartment6

Publisher: Bloodhound Books (29 January 2020)
Available in ebook & Paperback
Source: Copy received for review

ABOUT THE BOOK

An abusive husband. A woman desperate to escape. A stranger willing to put his life on the line. A grave mistake they may live to regret. Would you have the courage to leave?

Be careful what you wish for… 

When Meagan was five years old her mother was viciously attacked and murdered.  Now an adult, she herself is the victim of an abusive relationship.

Meagan is desperate to escape but doesn’t have the courage to leave.  So, when Meagan meets Oliver, a guy on the rebound after a failed relationship, the two strike up a connection. But when Meagan confesses that her husband is abusive, it leads Oliver down a dark and dangerous path. 

Just how far would you go to protect someone?

MY THOUGHTS

My thanks to Sarah of BOTBS Publicity for the invitation to take part in the tour.

The story begins with five year old Meagan hiding in a cupboard whilst on the phone to the emergency services. Her mother, having suffered at the hands of her abusive husband lies motionless on the floor.

Moving forward 20 years and Meagan is in an abusive relationship herself.  Totally worn down by her life and not able to see a way out, whilst on her commute to work, she meets Oliver, an ordinary young guy working as a PA in a lawyers office. 

Oliver, for his part, is rather smitten with Meagan and when she asks a favour of him, he agrees, however he has no idea of the implications his decision will have. Oliver seems rather naïve and I found him a little frustrating at times.  

Set in two timelines of the present time and 20 years before, the story flows seamlessly between the two. Apartment 6 is a tense and addictive story.  Poor Meagan; as a child she watched her father torment her mother, and now as an adult she has been drawn to the same type of man.

Stuart James certainly knows how to rack up the tension. Both timelines were as suspenseful as each other with some totally unlikeable characters. I don’t want to say much about the plot because it would so easy to get into spoiler territory. I must admit I did find the level of physical and mental abuse unrelenting throughout, particularly in the ‘before’ years – this part of the storyline affected me more because Meagan’s mother was trying to hide it from her daughter and Meagan was too young to really understand what was happening. It made me feel quite uncomfortable at times.

This is such a twisted story but very well crafted – it certainly took me by surprise and went in a direction that I wasn’t expecting.  

If you are uncomfortable with domestic abuse then maybe this is not the book for you but if you want a well written, chilling and twisted read then I definitely recommend it!

At the time of writing this post the book is only 99p to download on Amazon UK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I have always loved scary stories, especially ones that shocked me, left me terrified, looking under my bed or in the wardrobe before going to sleep.

There was just a fantastic buzz whenever I watched or read something that took my breathe away.

I remember going to my nan’s house in Ireland as a youngster with my mother and sister, on the West Coast, staying in a cottage, surrounded by miles of fields and my family sitting around the table in the kitchen at night telling ghost stories. Going out and exploring derelict farmhouses in the middle of nowhere. I remember clearly the field at the end of the road was supposed to be haunted by headless nuns.

My cousins often remind me of the great times we had, frightening each other and running for our lives whenever we’d see something that didn’t look right.

This is why I love nothing more than to tell a story.

I’m 45, married and have two beautiful children. Currently, I’m a full-time plumber but would love nothing more than to make a living from my writing.

I hope I write stories and people continue to enjoy them for years to come. That would be completely amazing and a dream come true.

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