I am a huge fan of Jennifer McMahon and snap up her novels as soon as I possibly can when they come out. Even better is listening to her books on audio. There is nothing better than a creepy and dark atmosphere for me to be sucked into hours of listening and The Children on the Hill delivered in a huge way in that regard. Once again McMahon comes up with a storyline that grabs you from the beginning and shocks you in the end.
The book is about Vi and Eric who, in 1978, live with their grandmother who is a brilliant psychiatrist. The children live a good life being homeschooled and having fun but then one day Gran brings home another girl named Iris. Iris seems in a bad way especially at first but she eventually warms to the two kids. A weird thing though is that Gran asks Vi to keep an eye on her and report back. Why? As the two girls become closer Vi begins to doubt her Gran’s story about Iris. Memory is an interesting thing and Vi is troubled by why Iris can’t remember anything and decides to do a little investigating of her own.
Fast forward to 2019 and we meet Lizzy Shelley who podcasts about the monsters among us. She heads to Vermont to investigate the disappearance of a young girl. Lizzy is driven to hunt down the monster. Why? Because Lizzy’s own sister is a monster. Will these two stories intersect somehow? Welcome to the great mind of Jennifer McMahon. I loved where this story ultimately led.
I listened to the audiobook and loved it. The narrator was Erin Moon who I haven’t listened to before but enjoyed. I wouldn’t hesitate to try another audio narrated by her. At pretty much eleven hours this audio held me in its grip from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
For fans of psychological thrillers you must give Jennifer McMahon a read or listen if you haven’t before. She’s’ amazing! As for The Children on the Hill – it’s one of her best! Highly recommended!
Review copy provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
