Author: Alex Dahl
ISBN: 9781786699244
RRP: $29.99
Publication Date: June 26 2018
Publisher: Harper Collins
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
The Boy At The Door is a taut psychological thriller by debut author Alex Dahl.
Early reviews have this one pegged as quite the captivating page-turner, I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it, and some of our readers are already reading it.
Protagonist Cecilia Wilborg seems to have it all, the perfect life; handsome husband, two gorgeous daughters and a large house in Sandefjord.
The perfect life may just be the perfect construct because the arrival of the small, friendless eight-year old Tobias threatens to bring Cecilia’s world crashing down around her.
Cecilia is trying hard to fit in but one mistake has far reaching repercussions.
The release I received with the book has a short note from the author stating that she was actually living in Sandefjord with her two children when she wrote The Boy At The Door. This is a lovely, idyllic, peaceful little town that Dahl’s novelist’s mind immediately began imagining darkness beneath the perfect surface.
Thanks to Harper Collins 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Boy at the Door so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below. I can’t wait to read what they thought.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
The Boy at the Door
What a captivating thriller!
This book is full of twists and turns, deception, warped and cruel drug affected characters with innocent unfortunate people at their mercy. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and found it to be unpredictable and a real page turner. I will be looking out for future reads by Alex Dahl.
Thankyou Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this book.
The Boy at the Door By Alex Dahl …. What a book and read! It has been a while since I have read a book that keeps me up reading all night!
The storyline is nothing that is typical and it reaches the farthest deepest corners of some very dark characters. A sad story about a little boy it seems does not belong anywhere or to anyone.
Tobias, comes into Cecilia’s seemingly beautiful perfect life with her perfect family, house and life. It seems that an innocent split second Tobias has nowhere to go and then is living with the perfect family. This perfect family is not what it seems with a deep dark secret lying just below the surface of Cecilia’s life.
The story does flash back to earlier years that helps piece the story of little Tobias and how the characters all fit together and describes how the stress of keeping secrets has consequences.
The ending was written well leading the reader right to the end of the story and eagerly turning pages. I great read worth the late nights.
Thank you so much Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins Australia for the chance to review this book.
Just when you think you have it all worked out… it all changes
I definitely got caught up in the story even if at times I was thinking it was veering into unrealistic territory. There’s a lot going on but it somehow all seemed to work and it ended up being an entertaining read.
So many questions…why was he abandoned, why was his home abandoned, whey did Cecilia’s hubby get immediately drawn to him
It w=could have been about 50 pages left and still had the same result
4 /5 stars
This is a great book. A real page turner. Every time I thought I had it worked out there was an about turn. A really interesting premise, incredibly moving and a challenge to my preconceptions of people
After moving interstate and diverting my mail. I have finally received, read and had the time to write a review.
I began reading this book with the perception that events would unfold very differently than they did as the story line unfolded and the story development depended into a thoroughly twisty and mind-boggling series of events.
The min character Cecilia is the perfect wife and mother. They have an expensive home and lifestyle and she has worked very hard to ensure that they status in society is high and they remain the envy of all their friends.
Things change when a small boy is thrust into Cecilia’s life after her girls swimming lessons. Things begin the quickly change and morph into a twisted and very bazaar chain of events and these events begin to pile up and completely envelope the family in a web of lies, deceit and unfortunate previous events.
I found the story to be overwhelming at times. The story line snapped between past and present events which were at times very difficult to believe and I found that my sceptical brain was not enjoying the fictional position of the story as much as I would have liked.
The web of lies and the change to the family dynamic when Tobias is added into the mix begins a very compelling and captivation storyline which draws on Cecilia’s past and the future she has built on such lies, drugs, homelessness and murder.
Though the story line become overwhelming and confusing at times I did overall enjoy the concepts of the book and enjoyed it on reflection. Thankyou Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins Australia for allowing me the chance to read another book. At 33 weeks pregnant books are a very important part of my current life situation .
Wow what a book! Alex Dahl has given a terrific storyline that had me hooked from the start.
Cecilia is such an interesting and complex character that I just found fascinating and I also loved the character Annika. Her story was confronting yet heartbreaking.
The two sides of the story from both these women was fantastic and helped build the story and suspense. I couldn’t get over the amount of lies someone could tell just to ensure they maintained the perfect image. What they thought was the perfect image anyway! I enjoyed the ending and although some of it you could guess, it did still manage to surprise me.
A chilling story that kept me enthralled. Thank you Beauty & Lace and to Harper Collins for this great opportunity to read such a terrific book. Highly recommend!
What a book . What a story line.
Loved reading this book. At times it made me feel nervous. It took me a while to read because I had to absorb everything that kept happening. Just when I had worked it out, my reasoning was far from the truth.
What a woman was the main character, I loved how she twisted the truth for her benefit.
Many times I wanted to give up but this book had a hold on me. I kept saying to myself “are there people out there like this”?.
I would highly recommend this book. I was tortunatr to get a copy. Thanks heaps Beauty and Lace.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for allowing me to review the debut novel ‘The Boy at the Door’ by Alex Dahl.
This was a dark psychological story that had me turning pages as fast as I could. The main character Cecilia, had me change so many gears of emotions. I initially related, then felt sad, then hated then just didn’t understand her at all. This story has you thinking you know what’s going to happen but you end up with whiplash because it changes so suddenly.
The story, based on a normal family, ‘normal’ in the loosest fashion of the word. When a strange boy isn’t picked up after a swimming lesson you are sucked into a world full of loss, lies and decietfulness. It unpicks how things and people are so easily judged on the outside and not for who they really are.
A junky woman verse a rich woman with everything, two worlds apart yet so tightly entwined.
Loved this book and would read again and recommend to anyone.
Not a genre but I would normally read, but when i saw it on the list I thought this sounds interesting.
Well wow I wasn’t wrong,
Many twists in the book & at times a bit confronting to read about Annika’s drug addiction & many relapses. How Cecelia’s family accepted Tobias into their family from the start & once the story began to unravel. Due to her mental health issues at times I began to wonder how much of it it is true or what she believes to be true.
An interesting story told well
thank you
Thank you Beauty and lace and Harper. Collins for the opportunity to read The boy at the doorThis book was beautifully written by Alex Dahl.
The story had you instantly pulled in. It was suspenseful, intense and gripping from the first chapter..
I found it incredibly hard to put this down.
4 stars from me!