MY REVIEW

I want to thank D.W. Gillespie, Flame Tree Press, and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Let me start by saying that this was my first time reading D.W. Gillespie.

You know the thrill that comes with reading an author that is new to you:

Will I like the writing style?
Will I DNF it?
Will the author become a new favorite?

Well, I can certainly tell you that I loved Gillespie’s writing. And I’m looking forward to reading more of his works.

Now let’s get down to business.

Here’s the Synopsys:

“The Easton family has just moved into their new fixer-upper, a beautiful old house that they bought at a steal, and Alice, the youngest of the family, is excited to explore the strange, new place. Her excitement turns to growing dread as she discovers a picture hidden under the old wallpaper, a child’s drawing of a family just like hers.

Soon after, members of the family begin to disappear, each victim marked on the child’s drawing with a dark black X. It’s up to her to unlock the grim mystery of the house before she becomes the next victim.”

“One by One” is the kind of book that is hard to review without spoiling the fun. For that reason, I won’t go into much of the details.

A family moves to an old house and strange things start happening?
Yes, please!

The minute I saw it on NetGalley, I knew I needed to read it.

The story had me hooked from the get-go. And the fact that it reads like a movie helped to keep me furiously turning pages.

We follow Frank, Debra, Dean, and Alice. As they “try” to settle in their new home. But unfortunately—for them, not us—things start to go south after Alice discovers an old painting behind the wallpaper in her room.

The book starts off as your typical haunted house story. The descriptions of the house are very well done. I could feel the atmosphere growing tense as the story progressed.

But not everything is at it seems.

Alice finds herself more and more invested in the mystery that surrounds her family, and the old house.

What happened to the previous owners? Is there a dark past attached to the house?

And this is where I’ll stop.

The only thing that prevented a 5-star rating was the lack of character development. We get just enough to make it work. Don’t get me wrong, it does work!

Although I was able to maintain a connection with our protagonist, I can’t say the same about other characters.

Overall, I feel like “One by One” was a nice read!