[ About There Came A-Tapping ]
Since losing her parents in a car crash as a teen, Allie has struggled to cope. Meeting Rory finally made things easier. She’s come to rely on him for almost everything, so when he disappears while filming a documentary in the West of Ireland, she fears she’ll come undone. Again.
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When a couple arrive at the Dublin apartment she and Rory share, claiming to be the new tenants, Allie is distraught. Why did Rory let out their home without telling her? And – where is he?
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She seeks refuge at the run-down and reputedly haunted Raven Cottage in the Slieve Bloom mountains, where she and Rory were planning to move one day. Allie slowly starts to build a life for herself – and begins to believe that she might manage to make it alone.
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But then Rory’s car is found submerged at the end of a pier, nowhere near where he was supposed to be – and the body in the driver’s seat isn’t his. Alison starts to revisit her memories of their time together, and begins to question if she can trust them…
[ My Review ]
There Came A-Tapping by Andrea Carter published March 27th with Constable and is described as ‘a gripping, haunting thriller that will give you chills’.
Allie’s life has been extremely challenging. Following the tragic death of her parents, her life spiralled out of control. Her sister Olivia has tried to be a source of levity with a compassionate ear and constant support but Olivia can see Allie just isn’t coping. When she crossed paths with documentary maker, Rory, Allie felt an instant connection. He made her feel safe and he removed some of the responsibilities she grappled with. Moving in together seemed like a natural next move but Olivia had her doubts. She felt that Allie was losing any independence she had and that Rory was a little controlling. As siblings they were close but Rory became a contentious issue with Allie very protective of their relationship.
The day Rory never came home throws Allie into a spin. He had been away for a few days recording a documentary and had been seen leaving but he never made it back to Allie. The local police are dubious about his disappearance leaving Allie questioning her sanity, which is completely shattered the day two strangers arrive at her door claiming that they are the new tenants.
Allie has no choice but to move into a rural cottage that Rory had purchased before his disappearance. With no transport the isolation initially is daunting for Allie. She hears noises, she feels a presence, she is constantly on edge, yet she is also hopeful that Rory will walk through the door. When Rory’s car is discovered submerged by divers, Allie crawls back into herself and locks herself away in the cottage. She had made a few acquaintances locally and made a few tentative moves to socialise but she was struggling daily while attempting to come to grips with her new reality.
As Allie detaches herself more from the people she knows, she starts to think about her relationship with Rory and considers the possibility that all may not have been as she thought. In this rural wilderness she finds strength and solace from an unexpected source but can it protect her?
With a real touch of the otherworldly, Andrea Carter has written a wonderfully creepy and atmospheric tale. The plotting is really quite ingenious as the story unfolds with the intertwining perspectives of the police, Olivia and Allie herself. Unsettling and tense, with cinematic scenes, set in the very dramatic landscape of the west of Ireland, There Came A-Tapping is a proper psychological chiller that will play with your mind.
[ Thank you to Hachette Ireland for a copy of There Came A-Tapping in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Andrea Carter grew up in Ballyfin, Co. Laois. She graduated in Law from Trinity College, Dublin, qualified as a solicitor and moved to the Inishowen peninsula. Having practised law for twenty years, more recently as a barrister, she now writes full time. She was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2019 and her first three books have been optioned for television.
