The Nesting by C.J. Cooke @RandomTTours @CJessCooke

I’m delighted to be kicking off the blog tour today for The Nesting by C.J. Cooke. Many thanks to Anne Cater for my blog tour invite and review copy of the book.

It was like something out of a fairytale… 

The grieving widower.

The motherless daughters.

A beautiful house in the woods.

Deep in a remote Norwegian forest, Lexi has found a new home with architect Tom and his two young daughters. With snow underfoot and the sound of the nearby fjord in her ears, it’s as if Lexi has stepped into a fairy tale

But this family has a history – and this place has a past. Something was destroyed to build their beautiful new house. And those ancient, whispering woods have a long memory.

Lexi begins to hear things, see things that don’t make sense. She used to think this place heavenly, but in the dark, dark woods, a menacing presence lurks.

With darkness creeping in from the outside, Lexi knows she needs to protect the children in her care.

But protect them from what?

I’ve loved C.J. Cooke’s previous novels and this one was highly anticipated by me, especially when I saw that stunning cover! And what lies beneath those beautiful but chilling illustrations is equally gorgeous-an atmospheric and hauntingly stylish gothic chiller.

When Lexi applies for the job as nanny to two recently bereaved children and their widower father, she is desperate. Homeless and without any form of income she really needs this job and the opportunity to live in Norway (the setting for her unwritten novel) is too good to pass up. But once there, the secrets that Lexi herself is hiding seem to pale in comparison to the ones that lie beneath the surface of this family and their home. And Lexi may be about to uncover more than she expects…

The Nesting is a powerfully affecting and atmospheric novel that has an intense sense of place within the Norwegian countryside. The use of the natural characteristics of the environment added to the menacing undercurrent that trickled slowly throughout the narrative increasing the tension without the reader even being aware of how or why. But that unsettling feeling continued until the final few pages and the ending itself was just so beautifully written that I was gutted that my entire reading experience was finally over.

The Nesting lived up to all my expectations and more. Complex characters, creepy setting and intriguing mystery all combined to make one of my favourite books of the year. I absolutely adored it!

C J Cooke (Carolyn Jess-Cooke) lives in Glasgow with her husband and four children. C J Cooke’s works have been published in 23 languages and have won many awards. She holds a PhD in Literature from the Queen’s University of Belfast and is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, where she researches creative writing interventions for mental health. Two of her books are currently optioned for film. Visit http://www.cjcookeauthor.com.