Review of DON'T LOOK BACK

DON'T LOOK BACK is Book 1 of Ben Cheetham's FENTON HOUSE Series (Book 2 is HOUSE OF MIRRORS, into which I immediately dove as I turned the last page of DON'T LOOK BACK). The title DON'T LOOK BACK is also Thematic of the Series, as it seems to this Reader that almost every character spends most of their waking (and dreaming) time "looking backwards." Maybe "what if" and "if only" are human nature; certainly Historians and writers of Alternate History practice both activities.


Adam, Ella, Henry, and Jacob are a (presumably) happy family of four living in overcrowded modern London. Then a horrific tragedy strikes, and the "looking back" immediately goes into play. A mere nine months later (significantly), Ella stumbles upon an online notice that surely must be either a hoax, a prank, or "too good to be true." But oh to manage a change of venue, away from the House of Sorrow, out of London to the rural seaside of Cornwall, to fresh air and country quiet!


What is "too good to be true" might be "true" but the opposite of "good." The somewhat lovely long-empty Fenton House, atop the cliffs with a view to the sea, cannot be repaired or renovated, under the terms of the tenancy. But that's the least of the problems for the new tenants, for Fenton House (and its absentee owner, the odd, eccentric, ancient Rozen) has a bad history, bad blood, and a plethora of ugly secrets, which unfold sometimes subtly, sometimes aggressively, but always scary. The moral is: Get Out While You Can. But Fenton House has an extremely long reach.