Nesträuber

Ich habe die Original-Ausgabe "hörgelesen" (Whispersync, meistens gehört), namens "The Magpies", wobei Magpies Elstern sind. Der deutsche Titel verrät mal wieder etwas zu viel (oder der Verlag hält deutschsprachige Leser für zu dumm, etwas über Elstern zu wissen?!)

Whispersynced, meaning that I was capabale to alternate between audio and ebook, which is nice to look up names

Jamie and Kirsty are young and in love. So the IT-specialist and the nurse are overjoyed when the find the flat of their dreams, in a quiet street in London, and affordable to purchase. Even the neighbours seem to be nice – couple Chris and Lucy in the garden flat underneath them, Brian and Linda in the top flat and Mary with her cat Lennon in between. So when the fire brigade arrives at their house warming party, it is probably rather some bad joke. Jamie and Kirsty start to befriend the neighbours. All the while, something is going on. There a taxis, parcels, pizzas coming to them, which the young couple did never order. There are strange accusations. There are complaints about noise. And then, a terrible accident happens. But nobody seems to believe them.

Two WARNINGS: first, this is not the standard thriller, so some readers might be disappointed. This is rather a very somber story with some thriller-like elements, I call books like that a “psycho-drama”. Second, some readers might be offended by explicit descriptions of sex – it is there for a reason.

Have not most of us had at some time rather weird incidents with neighbours? I certainly still wonder about that one woman who managed to use up all the space in the rubbish bin by bringing out her trash daily, tiny portions always wrapped up in plastic bags with that much air knotted in so it was overly bulky. This is nothing like what happens to the Knights. This story is not about “who did it”, that will be pretty obvious very soon (although I kept wondering). This is about what to do against this, if nobody takes you serious or even believes you. The story is about drama in the making, when you know exactly this is going to go oh so very wrong, but I could not have even guessed about how bad it might become. There is foreboding and it is gripping and I sat glued to the text (even more spooky when heard as an audio book) and it is thrilling (though, as I had pointed out, rather not a thriller).

The pictures in your head are there when you compare to your very own “special” neighbor and they start even worse when you put down the book, like “oh, my situation is so much better”. But had not the Knights thought so when it all started? What a subtle and really mean way to draw the reader in – big “Like”. Oh, and the narrator is Simon Mattacks, who is simply great (I looked out for him after some Jess Ryder book and another from the same author). He manages to give each of ther persons in the house their own voice! I think the text would make a great group read, too, with the discussion it might bring about.

Disliked? Well, fortunately I am not at all into covers. A young woman in probably her nightgown in a winterly forest does not have anything to do with what happens. Oh, and I found some minor inconsistencies… in the trial, was there nobody talking about the 20.000 – it should have made for a motive AND wilful intent? And how come that Jamie found allies – it did not feel that obvious to me? Chapter 17 – the symbolism with the crows and the graveyard, that was a bit too thick for my taste. Hence, 4 ½ stars