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Phil Kurthausen
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Don't Let Me In: A Dark Psychological Thriller Kindle Edition

by Phil Kurthausen (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 263 ratings
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A dark and twisty psychological thriller from the award-winning author of The Silent Pool, a writer who “pulls you in at 100 mph” (Mark Billingham, international bestselling author).

How do you escape when you’ve set your own trap?

From behind the locked door of her home, Sarah broadcasts her popular podcast. When she starts to seek the truth about the murder of a teenage girl twelve years earlier, she soon finds herself the centre of unwanted attention.

While trying to manage her agoraphobia, as well as the online trolls and her family life, Sarah begins to uncover some uncomfortable facts relating to the cold case.

As she edges closer to accusing someone of the murder, the online threats soon become physical and as the outside world draws closer and closer to her front door threatening her home, her family and her life, Sarah must decide between fight or flight . . .

“There are some big twists . . . the final chapter is also mind-blowing! . . . a good, enjoyable gripping read!” —Curled Up with a Good Book

“Packed full of suspense . . . a dark and twisted read that will ensure you keep turning those pages.” —By the Letter Book Reviews

“I thought that the main characters for the book were well developed and they worked really well with the plot line . . . the suspense the author built up was great . . . Four stars from me for this one—I really enjoyed it!” —Donna’s Book Blog
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  1. Print length
    278 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Bloodhound Books
  5. Publication date
    October 22, 2018
  6. File size
    1541 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Pulls you in at 100 mph' Bestselling author Mark Billingham

'Totally unputdown-able...outstanding' Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer

About the Author


Phil Kurthausen was brought up in Merseyside where he dreamt of being a novelist but ended up working as a lawyer. He has travelled the world working as a light bulb repair technician, a flower salesman and, though scared of heights, painted Sydney Harbour Bridge. Ken Dodd once put him in a headlock for being annoying. His work has been broadcast on BBC radio 4 extra, he has published some short stories and his novel ‘The Silent Pool’ won the Thriller Round in the Harper Collins People’s Novelist Competition broadcast on ITV in November 2011 and appeared in the final. It was later shortlisted for the Dundee International Literary Prize in 2012. More recently 'The Silent Pool' won Apple book of the month and his novel ‘Sudden Death’ was a best seller on the Amazon kindle charts.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09C6MBK3G
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloodhound Books (October 22, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 22, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1541 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 278 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 263 ratings

About the author

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Phil Kurthausen

Phil Kurthausen

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www.philkurthausen.com

Phil Kurthausen's novel 'The Silent Pool' won the Crime & Thriller section in the Harper Collins People's Novelist Competition broadcast on ITV in November 2011. It was later shortlisted for the Dundee International Literary Prize. The successful follow up in the Erasmus Jones series was 'Sudden Death' with the standalone psychological thriller 'Don't Let Me In' published in late 2018.

He lives with his wife and a cat which, for legal reasons, bears no resemblance to the cat, 'Lil'Bitch' from 'Don't Let Me In'.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
263 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

J E Lombardo
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018
A great read with lots of suspense - Please refer to my entire review on NetGalley !
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Melissia B
4.0 out of 5 stars Do you listen to any Podcasts?
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2019
Do you listen to any Podcasts?  It's definitely become a huge interest of mine and I go back and forth between podcasts and audiobooks on my drive to and from work.  The idea of this book feels a bit like Serial, which is a bit of a gateway podcast for many people.  The idea of doing investigative reporting on a case where the convicted, accused of killing his girlfriend, insists he is innocent.  Add in the fact that Sarah, our main character, doesn't leave her house.  There are breadcrumbs given as to why she doesn't but you don't find out the full details until nearly the end.  I also found the inclusion of cyber-bullying quite interesting, especially showing how you can deal with it.

So what didn't I like?  It did take a bit for me to get into it, even though it seemed like a perfect recipe it did feel as if it started a bit slow.  I liked the majority of the characters, minus the obvious ones, but it did frustrate me how Sarah let her agoraphobia get in the way of her relationship with her husband and her son.  Although that was a big frustrating, when you think about it, that's probably closer to how it would be in real life.

So really there wasn't much I didn't like.  The cat's name (Lil Bitch) made me giggle every time.  I really enjoyed the end, finding out multiple different twists that seemed to just keep coming.  So many different twists that I just didn't see coming and made the last part of the book that much more enjoyable.

Biggest thanks to Bloodhound Books and Netgalley for allowing me a copy to read and give my honest review.
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donnasbookblog
4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Let Me In
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2018
I was intrigued by the blurb for this book and the cover completely drew me in and I couldn’t wait to get started!

I thought that the main characters for the book were well developed and they worked really well with the plot line. Sarah is a superb character and I really warmed to her.

The book had a well planned plot line and I thought that the suspense the author built up was great, I was reading the book much faster towards the end as I had to see how everything would end.

Four stars from me for this one – I really enjoyed it!
One person found this helpful
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Melissa Borsey
3.0 out of 5 stars Meh!
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2018
Sarah was once a tv journalist but after being attacked in her home she is now suffering from agoraphobia and continues to work through podcasts done from home. Her latest podcast is on a 12 year old murder case where the wrong man may be sitting in jail. I thought the premise sounded good and I enjoyed reading most of this book but somewhere along the way the story took a weird turn and I didn't find the second half of the book to be as interesting. All in all, it was an enjoyable read.
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Brutally Honest Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Fell into an unfortunate plothole near the end
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018
A former TV presenter, Sarah Kelly became agoraphobic after an attack in her own home. Creating a new career as the presenter of a true crime podcast, she has built quite a following as she looks into the murder conviction of a young man she believes is innocent.

Unfortunately, because the accused is a Muslim, hate trolls have come out in force. For the most part, Sarah takes the online invective with the ‘all attention is good’ attitude, but when one troll threatens her son, the fear comes up to swamp her again, and her husband, Henry, just doesn’t understand why she won’t give up her crusade.

The victim’s brother, Mohammed, is a close friend and supporter of Sarah, and her producer Cathy has her back too. Even these friends might not be able to protect her as she gets closer and closer to revealing the true killer’s identity, though.

The issues of online trolling (particularly of female journalists) and Islamophobia in the UK, both in 2005 when the murder occurred and today, are given some very close inspection through the lens of Sarah’s investigation and experiences. There is a great deal of thought put into examining these issues and their solutions, which was why I found the final reveal of the real murderer to be so massively disappointing.

I realised where the clues were pointing about halfway through the book and thought ‘oh no, please tell me this isn’t going there’... and then I was disappointed. I’m going to spoiler slightly by saying it was an Islamic honour killing, which was just so opposed to the sympathetic treatment the Muslim characters received through the book I felt thoroughly let down.

Does the author not understand that having this be the answer to the puzzle basically means the beliefs of the Islamophobes the heroine spent the entire book fighting against were VALIDATED? There were plenty of good candidates for the villain without playing right back into the trope the book spent the whole time trying to shoot down. And Sarah’s behaviour at the very end just made me thoroughly dislike a character I’d been rooting for all along.

While most of the book was well written and I found myself thoroughly engaged by the podcasts and the investigation, and sympathetic to Sarah’s issues, the end made me thoroughly lose my temper as all the author’s conscious and unconscious prejudices apparently boiled over. Two stars for thoroughly annoying me.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review through NetGalley.
9 people found this helpful
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CamReading
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Psychological Thriller
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2018
This book hooked me at the beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire story. The characters were well-developed and the plot moved at a good pace. I like how the plot took twists every so often, offering the reader more of a true glimpse into the minds and personalities of the characters. This book is definitely worth the read for those who enjoy darker fiction.
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Linda P.
1.0 out of 5 stars Dreary and not a good read
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2018
The story was not interesting at all.
One person found this helpful
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Chris
4.0 out of 5 stars Full of twists
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018
I really liked this book. Unlike one of the previous reviewers I didn’t see the ending coming. However, with that being said I may have missed some clues. I thought it was really well written and adding some twists and turns. I recommend it for anyone looking for an easy fast psychological read.
I did receive an advance copy from netgalley for an honest review.
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Top reviews from other countries

Peter Hoare
5.0 out of 5 stars A thriller with a philosophical heart
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
Great pacy thriller story which delves into the fears we create for ourselves, and how social media removes our fear of repercussions. The philosophical themes, underneath the thriller elements, looking at guilt, depression, aggression, displacement, and the need for justice (in all its forms), result in a novel that not only draws you in but lingers in the mind. As Tennessee Williams put it, “If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.” Definitely recommend.
2 people found this helpful
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Lolly130612
5.0 out of 5 stars Felt like I'd read it before
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2019
Verified Purchase
Overall it was an enjoyable experience, I spotted a few typos and errors but I guess that's to be expected, but really that shouldn't be the case should it? Just because I read it on a Kindle device?
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C Knight
4.0 out of 5 stars Don’t Let Me In
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
To start with, Don’t Let Me In reminded me a wee bit of #SixStories by Matt Wesolowski with the investigative podcasts but that where the similarity ended. Yes, Sarah was exploring the possibility of a miscarriage of justice but this wasn’t the sole focus of this story. I learnt about Sarah and her family and the ripples her podcast cause with the evidence she shared and suggestions she makes.

I loved Sarah’s tenacity for justice and steeliness against the virtual trolls. But one question niggled me for a lot of the book – why doesn’t she leave the house? There were hints that something triggered her agoraphobia but I was intrigued what it was. I could see the stress this affliction puts on her relationship with not just her husband and her son but on her friendship circle and those she comes into contact with. I can’t imagine missing out on the key things on my family’s lives or being cooped up all day for days on end.

Being the crime fiction fan that I am, I was there trying to work out the two mysteries before me. Who was tormenting Sarah? How was this linked to the murder of Lauren all those years ago? Was the right man behind bars? So many questions were whizzing round my head as I sped through the pages!

What a climax!! Oh my oh my! I know some people might find that a little annoying but the author brought the whole book to an end with an almighty crescendo that is pretty darn impressive!

I’ve not read any of Mr Kurthausen’s books before but if they’re anything like Don’t Let Me In, I’ll be getting my grubby mitts on them!
One person found this helpful
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Amazon reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely gripping
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book is a real departure for Phil Kurthausen and very much 'on trend'. The story is brilliantly structured and has a great twist right at the end. Highly recommended.
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Ian Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
I was unable to put this book down. A rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish.

Highly recommended. I will be reading more of his books.
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