These Familiar Walls by C. J. Dotson
These Familiar Walls by C. J. Dotson
Published by St. Martin's Press
In 1998, desperate loneliness pushes preteen Amber to ignore the misgivings of her family, particularly her younger sister, when she befriends the troubled new kid in the neighborhood—a boy with dead eyes, a fascination with fire, and no remorse. Their turbulent relationship is brief but creates lasting consequences.
Twenty-two years later, in 2020, he resurfaces to kill Amber’s parents, and is in turn betrayed by his accomplice and killed in Amber's childhood home.
After the deaths, Amber inherits the house and, in an effort to save money, moves in with her husband and two children, hoping to reclaim some sense of stability in the grief and chaos surrounding her. Instead, she finds that the familiar walls are haunted by more than just bitter memories and lockdown stress. She shifts in and out of dreamlike trances, her reflection won’t meet her gaze, and a menacing voice whispers to her from the gathering shadows. Although she tried to brush off the strange happenings as stress-fueled hallucinations, Amber is soon forced to admit that something much more real—and more dangerous—haunts her family. But Amber has deadly secrets of her own, and she must resolve these long-buried truths or lose the life she’s contrived for herself.
My Review:
This is the first lockdown book I have read since the lockdowns ended. Having the story take place during this time was a splash of cold water in the face. I remember the isolation and uncertainty of where you could and could not go. In this book, it adds to the growing tension and serves to keep the cast small, which lets us get to know the characters pretty well.
Amber and her family, her husband, Ben, and their two children move into her parents’ house shortly after their brutal murder by two assailants, one of which is Amber’s strange childhood friend, Nathan. Moving in under such horrific circumstances may seem strange, but financial constraints and the pandemic make it a necessity. Haunted by ghosts, both metaphorical and real, Amber grows increasingly afraid for her life and those of her family.
The hauntings are the strongest part of this book. Amber and Ben succumbing to the power of the ghosts is riveting. There are also scenes where Amber is moving around the house in the dark trying to hide from the spectres which are actually terrifying. This is where the presence of the pandemic adds to the narrative. Amber can’t just check her family into a hotel for a while to escape because of the COVID restrictions.
As we navigate the 2020 hauntings, the book fills in the Amber’s backstory through flashbacks to the 90s and her twisted relationship with Nathan, the disturbed neighbour-boy. It’s obvious from the start that Nathan is not someone to befriend, but Amber is a lonely, bullied outcast and is desperate for any friendship, even if it comes in the form of a young boy who likes to torture animals and is obsessed with her younger sister. I found these sections of the story less compelling. Nathan was sufficiently creepy, but rather underdeveloped. He wasn’t as sufficiently scary as the ghosts.
I enjoyed the first part of the story more than the later part. There is a twist and a reveal that fell flat for me. It’s hard to say why without spoilers, only that it felt like a cheat, even though some of the clues were there.
Overall, it’s still a solid ghost story with some genuinely unsettling scenes. The ghosts are the best part and their motivation makes perfect sense in context. I say give it a shot and see how you feel about the answer to the mystery.
I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.
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