This book feels more like short stories and it doesn’t flow together well.
The stories are interesting but just feel disconnected
I feel like something was missing

Yes, Yes, Yes, you should read this book by Jonathon Sims if you love horror/thrillers. This one knocked my socks off. Thirteen strangers meet for a dinner party with a host who is also unfamiliar with everyone else. The host is Tobias Fell and he is the owner of Banyan Court. A semi wealthy apt building with, due to city regulations, not so very nice apartments in the back of the building where they are segregated from one another. The residents are told a story that would try to scare them and it does just that. At this point in the story we get to hear from each of the thirteen guests and learn more about the history of Mr. Fell and his building. Everything changes when Mr Fell is found dead but no one will talk. I was captivated by the story and engrossed with the characters. I could not put this one down because I had to find out the ending.


5 out of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I don’t tend to go for horrors as I mainly read at night. But I made an exception for this one and I’m glad I did. It was exciting. Very well written. The plot was great. Highly recommend

I was so excited to read this one and it started with a really strong prologue. But then we had Violets chapter, it was so repetitive about going to work, being bored and going on lunch walks with some creepy dudes in hoodies about.

I just didn’t feel the thriller vibes in this one, the stories felt a bit too long and I just found I was forgetting the point the more I read. I had to DNF.

Thank you to the publishers for a copy, but this one didn’t work for me.

A really good read with some horror elements that are not for the faint hearted. I was strangely gripped in a perverse kind of way.

Oh. My. Gosh!! I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this before and I’m still trying to process my thoughts on it. It wasn’t what I was expecting from reading the blurb but overall I enjoyed it and found it totally different to anything I had previously read.
The book is almost set up as a series of short stories, that all link together into the final chapter! I wasn’t sure on the first couple of chapters, but I soon become engrossed and loved finding out about the different residents of Banyan court! The last chapter was brilliant and I loved how it wrapped everything up, exposing the individual stories for what they were - it was so cleverly done and much have taken the author a lot of planning/thinking.

The novel is constructed through thirteen individual stories, interrelated by the strange murder of the billionaire, Tobias Fell, owner of a building named Banyan Court. The building appeals to the wealthy because it is a luxurious anomaly in a rough area of London, so there’s an exclusivity to the apartments. However, city rules state that in a development in this area, a number of the flats must be low cost housing and affordable tenancies. So, behind the luxury apartments for the wealthy elite, there are a number of small dwellings for people who can’t be described as luxurious or elite - of course they are segregated, from the wealthier tenants. The stories cover a diverse set of characters, they all differ in their backgrounds and live very differently. Every character at Fell’s final dinner party, gets a haunting story. Some live in the building, from both areas, whereas others have a different connection to Banyard Court. Through their thirteen stories we start to understand both Mr. Fell's and the building's dark background, and the final days up to his death. .
These are a great collection of individual horror stories, with a vivid picture of each character, insight into their life and their unique voice. It’s fascinating to watch these lives slowly unravel and become the stuff of nightmares. I thought book was critical of our capitalist society and how we bury our heads in the sand to avoid seeing it’s consequences, which for certain inhabitants of the world is worse than most of my nightmares.

Thank you Orion Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy
This is a book of short stories which really made a change so I could dip in and out. An unusual book but I really enjoyed the different stories and I I enjoyed them all. Well written, good characters and I now want more from Jonathan. .

This fantastic debut novel hit the floor running from the first page, an absolutely cracking read that kept me hooked from the very first page:
A very easy 5 stars.

Straight off the bat you know someone has met their maker, straight away you know that the circumstances of that death are not the norm and straight away you know this isn’t going to be your usual crime novel.

Thirteen Storeys takes place in a seemingly glamorous building in a less than glamorous part of London. Banyan Court, like a lot of London has been built over an older building, it is a shining beacon attracting the best kind of people. Banyan Court is a building with two faces, the rich side facing the world and the back side where the affordable housing lies. The residents in each half are wildly different from one another but that difference doesn’t stop some of them from experiencing bizarre and downright creepy occurrences.

The book leads to a dinner party held by the resident of the penthouse and building owner, the now reclusive Tobias Fell. Each chapter tells the story of a resident and takes you on a journey to show you how they came to be invited to the dinner party. Their journeys are always creepy, sometimes frightening and very very occasionally gory. These people discover that this building is full of horrific secrets and it wants them to be heard.

This wasn’t what I expected, I expected a people stuck in an apartment whodunnit kind of book, what I got was a supernatural horror murder mystery. I am not complaining. I loved it. I read this book on my kindle under the cover of darkness and a couple of times I had to stop and peek over the top of the kindle to make sure nobody was there. It was the best kind of creepy book that makes you tingle all over and hope that you did remember to lock the door.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gollancz for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

“You're cordially invited to dinner. Penthouse access is available via the broken freight elevator. Black tie optional.”

Tobias Fell is an infamous billionaire entrepreneur who owns Banyan Court where our story is told. What we do know at the beginning of the story is that he has died in mysterious circumstances at a dinner party he hosted, and despite the fact that there were 13 guests present, no one knows what has happened.
Banyan Court, ‘the once impressive building now stands silent, casting a lonely eye over the dilapidated buildings below. A thirteen-storey tombstone to a man whose shadow still falls as darkly as that of his creation’, set in the middle of London, was built to accommodate both rich and poor residents with the apartments being divided into two distinct sides. It is from these two sides of Banyan Court that we meet our thirteen characters that take us on this wild and vivid story.
Thirteen Storeys is something like I have never read before. It had gripped me from the word go and kept me gripped the whole way through. I loved the paranormal aspect of it, how bizarre the story was, it was the perfect read for a rainy day.
I loved the variety of the characters from residents to people associated with the apartments. When each of them had their spotlight I was totally engrossed in their lives that I forgot about the other characters. I did however love watching all of the characters and stories come together and leaving clues about what is going to happen.
Without going into too much detail as I don’t want to give away spoilers, I urge you to read this book and find yourself walking amongst the haunts of Banyan Court in this eerily creepy thrilling story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
4.5/5

Banyan Court – depending on your bank balance, it’s either the most glamorous apartment complex in London, or the most run down block of flats in the nations capital. Splitting the rich and poor between both sides of the building; multimillionaire Tobias Fell revels in the divide he causes. Both sides of Banyan Court have started to feel a shift in the walls, something not quite right with the atmosphere – but are they imagining it or is there something sinister bubbling underneath the surface? When a handful of the residents receive an invitation to dine with Tobias in his luxury penthouse, could it be the answer to the mystery they’ve all been desperate to solve? Or will the death of their host create an even bigger mystery than they could ever have imagined?

This book wasn’t even slightly what I expected and I loved it all the more for it! I was expecting a crime novel, a typical ‘who done it’ murder mystery style thriller, where one of the guests was somehow responsible for the death of Tobias Fell. What I didn’t imagine was for the narrative to take a paranormal turn, adding in ghostly elements to the already intriguing story-line. This horror-esque twist, added a unique take on what could have turned into an easily predictable narrative, so the difference set it apart brilliantly from similar tales.

Jonathan Sims is a fantastic writer – these 13 immaculately written interconnecting, almost independent short stories, all have their own intricate story-arcs. Although each of the characters had their own spotlight – my favorite character was easily Carter Dwight, whose backstory was phenomenally written, almost within a ‘Black Mirror’ style. The genius writing style of each of these characters gave an intriguing insight into people’s mindset, personalities and histories – their backstories could have easily been standalone novels within themselves. The divide between the rich and poor was outlined perfectly; never taking sides or putting either one on a pedestal. Sims was able to showcase each social class – while at the same time cancelling them out and stripping them down to equalise them on a level playing field.

Thirteen Storeys is the type of book you’d want to read more than once. It is genuinely unsettling with a grotesquely poetic conclusion. Jonathan Sims manages to trap you in the darkly morbid world of Banyan Court – but (although the residents may disagree) it’s worth every single single second!

Thanks to NetGalley and Orion for my advanced reader copy! 💕

A billionaire dies in suspicious circumstances. Only the guests, strangers to each other, all residents of the multi million pound or employees know what happened. As each of their stories is told the terrifying truth is revealed.

So the first blurb I read for this didnt make it clear this was a horror. I now know (shame on me) the writer is well known in this genre, and looking back the clues were there! The cover screams horror, but for some reason I saw a murder mystery. Which in fairness it is....but with horror mixed in.But the thing is with the exception of Stephen King and an flirtation with Richard Laymon stories in my twenties I'm really not a horror fan. But looking at it as objectively as possible I can see it's well written and plotted and deserves the attention it's garnered. If you're a horror fan go for it, but it's just not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is so creepy and atmospheric.

It starts with an introduction to each of the dinner guests and the spooky, creepy, disturbing things going on in the building. It was so intense!

Thirteen Storeys was not the book I thought it would be at all. From the synopsis I thought it was going to be a closed setting mystery where there is a dinner party, someone there kills the host, all the guests would have some sort of reason to kill the host and readers would be led along a journey to discover who the actual killer was. But boy was I wrong! Thirteen Storeys is actually a paranormal story that tells of a block of apartments haunted by some sort of presence. Each intended guest has a connection to the apartment block, Banyan Court, whether they live there or work there and Sims presents us with each guests story of being haunted in terrifying ways that are specific and personalised to them. We get to read some of the classic horror tropes such as a haunted painting, an evil imaginary friend as well as more current ideas such as technology gone wrong and a rogue AI. As the book progresses we start to see little snatches of how the guests are connected and how they relate to the overall story. I have to admit that I had no clue where this story was leading me, it was like no other that I have read before. The grand finale of the dinner party was just twist after shocking twist and I felt it did finish off the book in a satisfying way with no loose threads.
I just think this was a case of it simply not being the book for me. I generally avoid ghost stories/haunted houses/paranormal horror as they just aren't my thing but I would highly recommend this book to people who do like those sorts of books as this was well written.

A very unique story told in a very unique manner. A haunted house, except the "house" is an apartment block. The apartments are divided by economic standards, rich one one side, poor on the other with the billionaire who owns the building living in the penthouse......maybe. Jonathan Sims sets the mood with individual stories from persons who have a link to the building of one sort or the next. Tenants, workers etc. Each story adds another layer to the story, taking us one step closer to the penthouse. Each story closes with an invitation to a party in the penthouse, but not one of the recipients has ever met the billionaire host. As questions multiply so does the tension and suspense. We turn each page with not a clue what is waiting on the next one......WOW! You really need to read this book.

Thirteen Storeys is a brilliant haunted house story! It features thirteen interconnected stories set at a residential block. The book has a large cast of characters and while it was hard to keep track at first, I thought they were interesting. There are the rich residents including a tech guru and an art dealer. The poorer residents like a night shift worker and a single mother. And the workers, like the concierge and the plumber. I appreciate how diverse they are in terms of race, class, gender and sexuality. The book also tackles the theme of the wealthy exploiting the poor by bringing up issues that are timely and socially relevant.

What I loved about the book was how creepy it is! The characters experience many strange, unexplainable things that are linked to their past. The horror is terrifying and effective because it’s personal to each character. Bizarre things in the pipes, a haunting painting, mysterious late night show, and a ghost child are some of the scares that appear in the book. I did find the last chapter to be rushed; I wanted to know more about the strings that Tobias Fell pulled to get to the others. But I thought the epilogue is a satisfying end to the story.

I loved the premise of this book, and as a horror fan was really looking forward to reading. From the other reviews, it seems I'm definitely in the minority here, but I just found the book like wading through treacle. Violet, the first narrator, is so tedious that I was willing her chapter to be over - how many times can you read that she went to her boring job, found it boring, went for a walk on her break, and then went home? The characters that came after were utterly dislikeable, though at least less dull than Violet, but sadly not enough so that I could bring myself to finish. I persisted doggedly for a quarter of the book and then admitted defeat.

Great concept, but I just found the whole thing dull and monotonous.

Thank you to the NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the best horror story I read in a long time.
It's gripping, creepy and kept me on the edge till the end.
The growing tension, the stories of the different characters, the building as a character, and the explosive ending are elements I loved.
The author is a talented storyteller and delivers great character development and world building.
An excellent read that I strongly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thirteen Storeys by Jonathan Sims

Banyan Court is a thirteen-storey high residential block, nestled within London. One half of the building is enjoyed by the very wealthy; the other half is social housing, its tenants uncared for and regularly evicted. At the very top, in his penthouse, lives Tobias Fell, the reclusive billionaire who designed and built Banyan Court. Many of the residents have a tale to tell about this building that they live in and here we are presented with the stories of twelve of them. These men, women and children live in both sides of Banyan Court, or they service it in some way – a security guard, a plumber, a letting agent. And each of the stories ends with the teller receiving an invitation to attend a party in Tobias Fell’s penthouse, a party from which, we are told at the very beginning, Tobias Fell will not emerge alive and yet not one of his guests saw a thing.

I love a ghost story, even better the tale of a haunted house, and in Thirteen Storeys Jonathan Sims gives us just that, but with a modern twist – it is a city tower block. Each of the residents lives independently from the others. We do meet people more than once (which can add a touch of something extra menacing as well as being rather entertaining as we see how the stories are related) but generally their lives are self-contained. This means that the novel comprises thirteen distinct ghost or horror stories. As you’d expect, some are better than others and, regrettably, the first story was my least favourite, which meant I did have to push past it, but I am so glad I did. There is some fantastic storytelling going on here and Banyan Court begins to take on a life of its own – a terrifying, horrifying life, all watched over by Tobias Fell.

I loved some of these stories! They are so imaginative and are all very different, signposted by the eerie chapter headings. We have invisible friends, an insane yet caring flat AI, a haunted painting, a sinister stain on the wall and so much more as each of the stories takes us deeper into the fabric of Banyan Court, into its hidden places, its secrets. But what does it all mean? The answer to that is the absolute joyous achievement of this very creepy, sinister, dark and brilliantly executed novel.

I listened to the audiobook, which is extremely successful, not least because each of the stories is narrated by a different reader. This really works to bring the residents alive and is particularly effective in the final, completely brilliant chapter when everything comes together. My only problem was that I did have some difficulty remembering who was who on occasion. But this was far outweighed by my enjoyment in listening to the different voices.

This is the perfect read for a dark wintry night as you glance at the walls of your home and wonder what stories they might have to tell about those who live on the other side. Excellent!