After years on the move, Mark hopes for peace in a secluded Clerkenwell house once used as a music studio. Hidden behind Georgian terraces, it feels like the perfect retreat... until small disturbances begin to ripple beneath the surface. A glance held too long. A neighbour who knows too much. Watchers who linger.

A routine planning request triggers something deeper, that seems too coordinated to be pure chance. As unease grows, Mark begins to suspect the house holds more than memories. But in an age of constant surveillance, what separates paranoia from perception?

Such an Odd Word to Use is a quietly unsettling thriller novella (31.5k words) for the digital age, where even silence may be scripted.