The Evil Within started off pretty strong. I was drawn in immediately and wanted to keep reading. Then, about halfway through the book, I did struggle to keep reading. The narration for Jim gets repetitive and almost absurd at some points. I really wanted to like this since I haven't read many ghost stories/thrillers like this. The ending was all over the place and felt very rushed in the last couple chapters.

Jim needs a break. He leaves his high paying job and decides to rent a cottage in Slyford St James. After everything he's endured the past couple years, rest and relaxation are his top priorities. Soon after getting settled into the cottage, strange things begin happening. He begins seeing the a ghost of the little girl (Krystal) who once lived in the cottage he is renting. The sightings begin taking a sinister turn when other spirits begin to invade his mind.

With the help from his two good friends: Emma and Jed, Jim begins to piece things together. Krystal's death doesn't seem so accidental anymore and the three of them work together to solve her case. Jim begins having vivid visions and with gossip around town, he figures out who is behind everything. The three of them must hurry to stop it all before it's too late.

The Evil Within does have the makings to be a good book (especially in the first half). I just wish the second half was smoothed out more and the ending wasn't as confusing or rushed. With what happened in the first half, I was expecting a much more climactic ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for this ARC.

If you enjoy ghost stories, you'll probably like this book. The story was okay overall, and some scenes were definitely scary. Some parts are a bit unbelievable, but the mystery is good. The story moved at a slower pace than I would've preferred, but it did pick up a bit near the end. It just felt a bit uneven. The characters were realistic.I could have done without the romance angle, but I did enjoy the ending.

This book is not the classic ghost story which is good, but it just didn't work for me. The pacing slowed and it became a slog to get through.

I absolutely ADORED the evil within. I love a good jumpy book and the evil within was just that, there was plenty of jumpy moments that would send goosebumps up my arms, I could also picture the cottage down to the country style kitchen and the countryside of Devonshire. I don’t want to give too much away- but please give this book a read it is gripping, spooky and thrilling!
Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Part murder mystery, part ghost story the Evil Within is a tale of a grieving man whom suddenly quits his job in London and moves to the isolated village of Slyford St James in Devonshire. Odd things start happening and as Jim becomes friends with local villages Jed and Emma and they begin to attempt to unravel the unsolved murder of a little girl. Thanks so much to the publisher and to Netgalley for the ARC.

I'll admit that I thought this book was weird when I read the first few chapters, but after a few more, I liked it. It was a bit slow & repetitive in places, but it was such a creepy story that I could not put down. It's not a traditional ghost story, but a murder mystery with supernatural forces as witnesses - sounds weird but it works.

An interesting tale of perception vs. deception. The Evil Within does a great job of taking the reader on a mind bending adventure into a troubled man and how he perceives the world around him. Is what he is seeing real? Or is it a result of his degrading mental state? I really loved the uncertainty of it all up until the very last page. Great writing and a great story all together.

This was a well-crafted novel, with a surprising angle to the paranormal side. The "ends" were all tied up nicely by the ending, which then surprised me. I enjoyed the setting, the characters were all believable, and I'm looking forward to more Dark Devon Mysteries.

The Evil Within by S.M. Hardy is set in London and the Devonshire countryside. When financier banker Jim Hawkes is reeling from the death of his fiancée two years prior, real life becomes too much to handle, so he makes a rash decision to quit his job and find some peace and solitude in a rented cottage in the countryside. However, this vacation isn’t at all what Jim was hoping for. As soon as he arrives, strange things start to happen, and a new friend appears, Jed the caretaker of the house. Jim is then introduced to Jed’s friend Emma, in which they realize Jim is more like them than he realized...they each have “the sight”, but Jim doesn’t believe any of it.

Odd things start to happen to Jim at the cottage, dangerous things, and Jed and Emma think there is a reason Jim was brought to this village. The cottage Jim is renting was the scene of an accident that killed a six year old girl, Krystal, however many believe it really wasn’t an accident. When Jim starts to experience dealings with the supernatural, he finds himself in a dangerous situation wondering if ghosts can really murder the living. Is this the breakdown he thought he was having, or are his experiences really what Jed and Emma believe will give the village the answers they have been looking for?

The beginning of the book pulls you in. You are driven into the psyche of Jim Hawkes, is he really going crazy or is he some type of clairvoyant that sees dead people? It was a fantastic ghost story that included some interesting characters and events, with just the right amount of creepiness to keep you wanting more. But the second half of the story fell flat. There was too much of being in Jim’s head where he repeated the same thoughts and sequences that became annoying. Then just when you thought the big ending was about to emerge, it never really happened. It became boring and confusing, which led the reader to not really know what was happening. The villain and ghost as well as I guess what would be the ‘host body’ quickly became too much to handle and I just wanted it to be over.

The book had potential, the beginning was great...but I can’t recommend anyone reading a book through the first 50% and then stopping., so I can only give it 2.5 stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Allison & Busby publishing for an advanced reader edition of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A little slow to start, but I loved the way the supernatural elements are mixed in with the mainstream story in this book and I would like to read more. A genuinely different read

The town of Slyford St James is an isolated, forlorn places shrouded in a thick layer of swirling mist.
This parallels with Jim Hawkes' mental state. His mind in a constant fog, he is confused and uncertain about his own stability. Is he indeed having a breakdown or is something supernatural at play?

This is an interesting take on the traditional ghost story. The first half of this book was so good! It was atmospheric and creepy, there was a sense of foreboding as unusual characters were introduced and we glimpsed into Jim's internal struggles, and the pieces of the mystery surrounding the town began coming into play. However, the last half of the book lost momentum. The pacing, atmosphere, and storytelling that made the first half great faltered here, and it made reading from about 60% on tedious. I also found the ending to be incredibly abrupt and unsatisfying.

The Evil Within is a murder mystery wrapped into a ghost story.

Two years after the death of his fiancée, for which he feels guilt, Jim Hawkes has a sudden breakdown, leaves his job in the middle of a meeting, and moves from London to a cottage in the little village of Slyford St James, in the Devonshire.

Before he’s even finished unpacking, Jim Hawkes is witness to supernatural occurrences, the main one being the appearance of a little girl in red, Krystal, whom he learns died in the house he now occupies.

He meets Jed and Emma, two inhabitants who also possess « the sight », and is quickly convinced that he’s been brought there to solve the mystery of Krystal’s death, not everyone in the village believing it was an accident.

Of course, this would mean a murderer is still roaming free and Jim’s presence, along with his gift, doesn’t doesn’t please him/her much.

This is a clever book, masterfully written. It’s difficult to put down as, page after page, we learn more about the village, its inhabitants (and their nice and not-so-nice secrets), and the other villages around. S.M. Hardy (pseudonym of author Sue Tingey) manages to create a nice, and sometimes creepy atmosphere, compelling characters we quickly care about, words flowing in a slow rhythm fitting to the story.

This isn’t a « classic » ghost story. No cheap scares, turning heads or blood on the walls. The Evil Within reads as a mystery, some witnesses being ghosts, and some information being brough to our amateur sleuths by unconventional means. The mystery, itself, is quite engaging.

By the end of the book, we’ve learned to like Slyford St James and its citizens so much that it’s a pity having to put it down. Fortunately, it seems a little window has been left open for a potential sequel.

Thanks to Allison & Busby and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley, S. M. Hardy and Allison & Busby for this ARC.

This book was just ok for me. It was a well written good ghost story with a good twist, but it wasn't my favorite.

This was such a creepy, atmospheric novel! I really loved it all the way until the twist at the end that felt just a little unfair. Still, I'm looking forward to reading other books by the author.

This book had all the elements I enjoy in a story but I didn't like it. I think my main problem was with the main character Jim and his internal dialogue, it was too repetitive and angsty, dragging the pace of the book to a slog. Most of Jim's thoughts could have been cut out and this would of been a better story.

As it was though I was being beat over the head with the details, I don't need them repeated every few pages, I got it the first time.

This was an eARC from NetGalley and Alison & Busby in exchange for an honest review.
This is a sort of ghost story with a twist.
The main character Jim Hawkes was bereaved two years previously and decides to change his life and leaves his job and London and rents a cottage near the village of Slyford St James in Devon. There was an accident involving the family of the house he is renting which resulted in the death of their daughter. Jim moves to the cottage to relax and refocus but becomes involved in solving the death of the young girl. He wonders about his sanity when he hears noises from the attic, moving objects and voices in his head. He befriends two villagers Jed and Emma who tell Jim that they believe that he came to the village for a reason. They both have psychic powers. Fast paced, great characters and quite a lot of tension throughout. It kept me in suspense until the end. Will definitely be reading the sequel.

Top marks for the book cover. I really enjoyed the story. Different to those I normally read. It was well written and flowed well.

.Jim Hawkes is searching a bit peace and quiet after leaving his life in London behind. But in his new place he expriences strange unexplained things like noises. So Jim starts to go through the mysterys and look into the previous death of a young girl in his own attic.
I really liked the story it's written very well, I like the suspense and mysterious elements a lot and it's a fantastic and twisted story that keeps you reading.

In the book there is an acerbic remark about how the murder rate in the little villages featured in the television series Midsomer Murder is so much higher then the national average. Well I suppose the same can now be said about Slyford St James the ostensibly sleepy Devon village which is the scene of this supernatural mystery thriller. Jim Hawkes is expecting to find some peace and quiet after leaving his shattered life behind in London to rent a picturesque country cottage. Little does he know what awaits him.

Soon he expriences strange sightings and unexplained noises and with the assistance of his new friends, Jed and Emma, Jim begins to uncover the mystery surrounding the previous suspicious death of a young girl in his cottage attic. With a first person narration that is full of self questioning and self doubt we get a real insight into Jim's mental state, still in turmoil following the apparent suicide of his fiancée.

Of course one's credibility level needs to be put to one side but this is a supernatural tale and this I'm sure will appeal to lovers of this genre. The closing line may suggest a sequel which I think I would certainly read. Overall a recommend read.

This was an interesting take on a ghost story. It focuses on Jim, whose fiancee died a couple years back and who lost his high powered job after. He decides to leave London and move to the countryside for a while so he can regroup. The cottage he rents seems to be haunted, and he makes friends with a couple other folks in the village, Jed and Emma, who seem to also be able to see/interact with ghosts.

The story here was decent, with some truly scary scenes, but does require the reader to be able to suspend their disbelief. There is a good mystery involved, but don't expect it to be something that could happen to anyone. I thought the majority of the book was a little slow-moving- there were things that happened multiple times that would've have been just as meaningful if they had only happened once, and the reader is regularly introduced to what Jim is thinking, which got a little tedious as the book went on. The pace picked up a great deal in the last 10% of the book, which was a big difference from the rest of the book, maybe too much of an adjustment in pace.

I liked the connection Jim had with Emma and Jed, as well as their connection with each other. They were believable characters. All in all, a pretty decent ghost story. Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.