This book did not go as I initially expected. Pace was slow and I had a hard time getting into the story. I did not finish because I didn't enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the RedDoor Books for providing an ARC.

This book turned out not to be what I expected— and I literally just finished it and haven’t digested it fully. I expected horror, and I did get that, but the book is mostly a police/investigative thriller with spook at its core. The author has an unusual way of writing, his sentences are long and detailed like Stephen King, yet heavy with prepositions and an inordinate amount of semi-colons. But main character Ali is delightfully naive and full of denial. The atmosphere of this book is dark and heart-racing. All that said, I’m not sure what really happened.

The book balances the present and fifteen months earlier and research into the deeper past. The sections about the recent past are rich and action driven, while what moves the plot forward in the present seems to be the villain explaining things.

Also, one of the main characters in the book was murdered and the protagonist, Ali, sets out to solve the murder (which she does). What I find amazing is how the author (Mardell) crafts this dead character as vibrantly as if he were still alive.

In the end, I would like to think it’s a book about dipping into your own darkness.

If you hear him it may already be too late. A mix of detective and supernatural thriller. Fifteen months ago Ali had a case that almost destroyed her. The night ended with five dead at an old mansion deep in the countryside. Ali and Ernie her partner are having trouble digesting what they both saw. They both leave the force before they are pushed. Present day Ernie takes a job as night watchman at a dilapidated building that is due to be demolished and ends up taking his own life or was he murdered? Ali takes over his job and decides to investigate what caused his demise. This is a creepy read and reminds me of school playground ghost stories. The ending was bizarre and felt it was rushed. Still a good creepy read which I could not put down.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A story following a police officer who is investigating lore and mystery surrounding a local bogeyman. Did not find the writing style appealing. Too much dialogue.

This book had a lot of promise, but it just wasn't for me. I had a really hard time getting into it. Sadly, this led to a DNF on my part.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

A spine-tingling thriller with ghostly elements. Ghost hunters, a partner dead by suicide (or was it?), and the creepy knock-knock man who's been watching Ali without her knowledge. I enjoyed the writing style, and the characters were well developed so that I really cared what happened to them.

4 stars
I really enjoyed this book! The pacing was just right, and the creepy factor was spot on! It’s an easy and engaging read. I’ll look forward to more books by Russel Mardell!

Nothing beats a good creepy book that'll keep you up at night! I really enjoyed this and flew though it in 24 hrs. I actually abandoned my current book que to skip straight to this one because it sounded so intriguing and I wasn't disappointed. Its not an over the top fantasy horror and it combines horror and reality in such a way that its just super freaky really. A bit of a play on the urban legend type and I loved that. The character was very complexly written and I was left with a fair few questions hut clearly that was at least partly on purpose and to leave that door open and your imagination firing. I thought it wad well paced. It wasn't too supernatural and just cleverly hinted at what may or may not be going on and it definitely managed to build that tense and creepy atmosphere. If you like to be a little bit creeped out then this should do the trick. Hard-core horror fans prob will find a bit tame but I enjoyed the fact that a lot of the scare came with the not knowing rather than any blatant boogeymen being thrust in your face

Could not get into this one at all. The writing and story just fell flat for me. I really couldn’t keep up with the story and it seemed to be all over the place.

Somewhat of a throwback to the old school boogeyman stories mixed with modern day police thriller. Two officers lives are forever changed after the horrific discovery at a wealthy man's house and the five bodies that resulted from their encounter. Ali Davenport and her partner Ernie both left the force after that case. But when Ernie dies while acting as a security guard at an abandoned building, Ali is persuaded to take his place. She soon discovers that the mysterious Knock-Knock Man who was at the center of her last case may have followed her home.
Overall, it was decently written and had a number of surprises throughout. For some reason every time I picked the book up to continue reading I had a hard time recollecting everything that happened previously, so that took me out of the story a bit. 3.5/5*

This book is creepy. It's uncanny. It's one of those stories that makes you question if things are real or imagined, if the monsters are supernatural or all too human.

Police officer Ali Davenport gets more than she bargained for on what should be a routine call. Driving down a dark country road by herself, she discovers a teenage boy stumbling catatonically in the opposite direction right about the same time she hears gunshots and her partner calling for help over the radio. Further down the road, she'll find herself deep in a house of horrors.

The bizarre events of that night will throw Ali's life into a tailspin, and the hovering specter of a mysterious man/ghost with a face like the moon will haunt her dreams. The young boy she picked up along the road mumbled about him, told Ali that the ghost knocks twice on the window, and don't ever look to see who is there or he'll worm his way inside your mind and your life will never be the same.

Now Ali has that moon-faced man in her head, and she can't get him out.

Fifteen months later, Ali's partner, Ernie, since retired, ends up dead under suspicious circumstances. It is Ali's job to pull herself out of her isolating depression and pick up where Ernie left off, investigating the reports and the legends of the Knock-Knock Man. She'll work and butt heads with ghost hunters, detectives, and shifty cabbies and come up against tales of secret societies, family curses, and those who have sold their souls to the devil himself.

The book moves along steadily, giving out just enough line to keep you reeling in little by little. Is the Knock-Knock Man a man? A ghost? A soulless ghoul? Are the legends of devil worship in the woods true or just small-town rumors? Did Ernie actually commit suicide, or did someone--or something--kill him? Is Ali herself in danger? Are the feelings of being watched just in her head, or is something really out there?

I found this book immensely enjoyable. I was drawn into the mystery and the legends, and I had no idea until right at the very end just where this story was going to end up. The usual tropes? Yes, but used in a unique enough way that the book felt like something new and intriguing.

I’m the first to rate and review this book on GR. Always good…when the book is good. And this book was quite good.
An intriguing blend of a detective mystery and a supernatural tale with a distinctly British flavor and a credible backstory.
Fifteen months ago, Ali had a case that nearly ruined her. It nearly ruined her police career and left her scarred physically and psychologically. Now, her old best friend and former colleague, Ernie, was found dead from an apparent suicide.
Ernie’s wife doesn’t believe it. Neither does the teenage paranormal investigator who likes to sneak around on the spooky premises where Ernie used to work security.
Ali decides to find out the truth for herself. She gets Ernie’s old security job for a week and decides to see what she can see. Or with a title like that, hear what she can hear.
The tapping on the window, though, is best to ignore. So say all the locals. Out of respect for their macabre past.
But is it mere dark folklore or is there a killer roaming around? Leave it to Ali to find out.
And interesting premise executed quite nicely. The only detractor might possibly be the overall pacing, there was something ever so slightly slow about it. But overall, a perfectly decent read. Atmospheric and entertaining with well realized characters. Fans of dark genre fiction might enjoy this. Thanks Netgalley.