Hear Him Calling by Carly Reagon #HearHimCalling @carlyreagon @BooksSphere @LittleBrownUK #BookReview

 

Kyle can barely remember his grandfather. So when they inherit his old house - a damp, secluded tower on the edge of a Welsh mountain village - Kyle and his wife, Lydia, feel they are moving into the home of a stranger.

From the start, Lydia hates the house: the disturbing paintings in the attic, the hostility of the locals, the peculiar light that pours through the kitchen window. Kyle thinks Lydia needs a break from London, from the nightmares and the panic attacks. But over the coming weeks, Lydia's sense of dread only becomes more insistent, whilst Kyle is drawn to the house in ways he cannot explain.

Yet as winter approaches, cutting them off, the house must become their refuge. For outside, on the mountain, something is calling to them.

Something that has waited decades, and wants to be let in.

Hear Him Calling by Carly Reagon is published in hardback on 17 October 2024 by Sphere. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

I read this astonishing debut novel in the intense heat of Cyprus last week. It is a skilled author who can make their reader feel chilled to the bone, with goosebumps when the temperatures are hitting the mid 30s. Carly Reagon did just this. I was totally and utterly transfixed by this story of an isolated cottage nestled amongst the wild hills of Wales, it is a psychological thriller mashed with a haunting ghost story, and a touch of horror that is totally beguiling. 

Kyle Stein has inherited a house located in a tower in Wales from his estranged grandfather. For a long time now, he and his wife Lydia have been tired of their London life. The constant noise, the pull of work and social events, the drinking, the traffic. Wales seems like their way out. However, Lydia hates the house, and the community in which it is set. She sees strange lights, she is not made to feel welcome by the neighbours. There are stains that keep appearing, it all feels eerie and she doesn't want to stay. 

Kyle, on the other hand, seems to become more and more invested in their new home. His behaviour seems to change a little, he is utterly convinced that Wales is the place for Lydia to heal. To recover from her panic attacks and the night terrors that have consumed her life. 

The reader hears from both Lydia and Kyle, in their own voices and we are also privy to the voice of Martha. Martha lived in the area many years ago and it is her retelling of her life that really invoke the shivers, and go some way to trying to explain the events that are happening in the present day. 

Reagon has created a story that is at time terrifying, yet is so compelling. Her characters are masterfully created, the landscape is evocative and plays a huge part in the whole narrative. There are times when my heart was in my throat, there are characters who really appear to be quite evil and there's a sense of foreboding about the Stein's relationship and how it is moving forward that proves to be shocking. 

Taking themes of dysfunctional families and cruelty and wrapping them in ghostly folklore, this is an excellent read and one I highly recommend. 

Carly Reagon is the author of The Toll House, which was a Waterstones Welsh Book of the Month. 

In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Prize for fiction. 

Her writing is inspired by her love of the Welsh countryside where she lives with her husband and three children. 

She works as a senior lecturer at Cardiff University, is a keen runner and singer, and has an interest in anything historic.

X @carlyreagon

Instagram @carlyreagonauthor

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