The Cul-de-sac by Christopher Null
Rating: 4/5
Spice: 0/5
Plot: 4/5
Primary Genre: Thriller
Blurb: How well do you really know your neighbors? Veteran serial killer Klaus Fischer is determined that his most recent murder will be his last, but like many retirements, this one isn’t sticking. No one has come close to suspecting he’s buried the victims on his quiet suburban California cul-de-sac property—but he’s feeling the urge to kill again, and this time he’s set his sights on a target dangerously close to home. Widowed Peg Jurgensen has lived on the cul-de-sac for the past fifteen years, and she’s ready to shed her doldrums and re-enter the world around her. And where better to start than with mothering the curious young teen Eliza van Damal, whose family just moved to the cul-de-sac in order to expose their daughter to a better life. Eliza, however, prefers to coerce the enigmatic hermit next door, Alex, into helping her pass math. Alex wishes the lot of them would disappear. The closer these misfits become, the more danger even the most ordinary conversations invite. As the body count rises, can these residents trust anyone hiding behind their doors on this street? Fans of The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena, The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell and The Good Neighbor by A.J. Banner will love this domestic thriller filled with dark secrets and dangers lurking in a seemingly quiet suburban neighborhood...
The Good:
* The cul-de-sac contains quite the cast of characters and you’ll spend a large portion of the book getting to know them. Now, they’re all kind of a pack of assholes with no redeeming qualities but that doesn’t mean that they won’t entertain you!
* These neighbors all seem to be keeping some secrets that you’ll uncover throughout the book and some of them are completely out of pocket.
* This story is anything but boring. I was engaged and interested in where the story was going and wondering what would happen next. Everything that you need from a thriller!
The Meh:
* There are a lot of German words in the book. While looking these up on a kindle is fairly simple, I imagine this could be quite cumbersome in a paper novel.
* Multiple POV - Many more than two. This novel has multiple POVs from occupants of the cul-de-sac. This is initially a little confusing and can make it difficult to form an emotional attachment to the characters and differentiate between them because the POV is constantly changing.
* Cliffhangers are…annoying at best.
Bottom Line:
I had a great time reading this book and there were quite a few unexpected moments! None of the characters are particularly likable but you kind of love to hate them so you have to keep reading about them. They’re interesting enough that you care about what happens to them. While I’m never a fan of a cliffhanger, this did leave me hoping that there would be a second book but the book seemed to end at its most interesting point. I hope to see a book 2 because I have to know that happens!
If you purchase a book from a link on this page I may earn a small commission.
