Tower Hill by Sarah Pinborough

". . . deliciously thrilling from its shocking and bloody first few pages straight through to its climax."

Tower Hill is a small East Coast town straight-out-of-a-PBS-special. In a word it’s quaint, complete with a delightful main street lined with small shops, an old-fashioned church and a quiet, private university. For new freshmen Steve, Liz and Angela, it’s the perfect place to break ties with home and begin their lives as college students and independent adults.

However, there is a snake in this garden. An imposter priest and his troubled, murderous partner have recently come to town. Nothing—and no one—in Tower Hill will be the same again. As the two quietly begin to develop a mysterious hold over the residents of the town, terrifying things begin to happen… A student is found dead, apparently mutilated by her own hands, people behave in odd, uncharacteristic ways, and all contact with the outside world is slowly cut off. Steve, Liz and Angela soon find themselves at the center of the maelstrom, struggling at first to understand what is happening around them and then simply struggling for their lives.

Tower Hill is deliciously thrilling from its shocking and bloody first few pages straight through to its climax. Pinborough ratchets up the suspense so slowly, readers won’t realize they are nervous until they find themselves hanging by their fingernails from the living room curtains. By incorporating Biblical elements with sinister occult overtones, Pinborough makes the danger in Tower Hill seem almost familiar, and therefore, that much more frightening when it’s revealed in all of its weird glory.

Tower Hill is the perfect read for a lazy rainy afternoon. Pour a glass of Merlot, settle in the armchair by the fire and prepare for some good old-fashioned shivers.

Reviewer: Michelle Kerns