REVIEW: THE HEIGHTS, BY LOUISE CANDLISH

The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among warehouses in London. Its roof terrace is so discreet, you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there—a man you’d recognize anywhere. He may be older now, but it’s definitely him.

But that can’t be because he’s been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact.

Because you’re the one who killed him.

With Louise Candlish’s signature dark and twisty prose, The Heights shows “the ferocity of maternal love” (Hannah Beckerman, author of If Only I Could Tell You). “This cleverly constructed novel will keep readers enthralled until the last page” (Publishers Weekly, starred).

When I read the last pages of The Heights, I was thinking “wow!” There were so many twists that I couldn’t even begin to imagine how it would all play out.

We meet the twisted and horrible character called Kieran, when he is foisted on the family by the school Lucas attends. The staff believe Lucas can be a good influence on him. As it turns out, Kieran leads Lucas and others down dark pathways. Just as there is a sense that he will also be corrupting Ellen’s daughter Freya, she makes a final desperate attempt to change things.

But before all of that comes about, Ellen and Vic collaborate to deal with Lucas’s death at the hands of Kieran.

I haven’t hated a character more than Kieran in a long while but seeing him through the eyes of the grieving parents added another layer to that emotion.

A great tale that I won’t soon forget, and it earned five stars, of course.

***