Book Review: The Fire Child

The Fire Child

By: S.K. Tremayne

Published By: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: March 28, 2017

Page Count: 391

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: Kindly Provided by Publisher via NetGalley

Adult - Mystery, Thriller

The Fire Child is a psychological thriller that takes place in Cornwall, UK. Rachel marries a widower named David, who also has an 8 year old son named Jamie. She leaves her poor life in London to move to the enormous estate of Carnhallow House, which has been in David's family for generations, which is something he is very proud of and talks about quite often. His mother, Juliet, also lives on the estate in a granny flat. She is suffering from Alzheimer's. 

 Shortly after Rachel arrives at Carnhallow, strange things begin to happen. Jamie begins to see visions of his dead mother, Nina, and he also begins predicting dire things having to do with Rachel. So Rachel starts to do some investigating around the house to try and figure out what is going on with David and Jamie. David is gone on business quite often so that leaves Rachel and Jamie alone at Carnhallow a lot. 

The story was engaging, although I felt like there could have been more development of the characters throughout the book. It felt like a lot of the information all came out right at the very end, rather than foreshadowing the events at the climax of the story. 

 When I first began reading this book, I was expecting some sort of story about a possessed child, but the ending is very different from that. This is definitely a psychological thriller and I'll admit I was a bit scared reading the end. (Don't read this late at night in the dark!) Not all thrillers have a fitting end, but I thought this one did. 

 Content: Language

Summary:

THE PERFECT HUSBAND. THE PERFECT STEPSON. THE PERFECT LIE?

When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie's behavior changes, and Rachel's perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the specter of his late mother - David's previous wife. Is this Jamie's way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie's outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife's untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie's words:

"You will be dead by Christmas."