This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

All these things are true. And yet they are all lies…

You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. That’s where you’re wrong.

In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it’s not what you think…

---

As I was reading this, my partner asked me curiously what the book was about. I thought it would be an easy answer. A young girl goes missing while on an outing with her family near a lake and ten years later, her sister finally finds more details about one of the suspects, a guy called Ted living on a house on Needless street, near the lake.

Dee goes to see him and through her eyes and Ted’s, we get to piece together what really happened. There’s two more voices: Olivia and Lauren. Olivia is Ted’s black cat, who is a devout practicioner of religious studies, in-door cat, super chill and friendly.

Lauren is Ted’s daughter – fiery and rebellious and very, very angry. Ted is also older, socially inept and looking like a red-haired bearded hobo, wearing his shirts from way-back-when.

Every voice is unique but at the same time, they somehow make you wonder. Olivia’s is the strongest one, and probably weirdest one I’ve ever read.

The pink bicycle lies in the middle of the living-room floor, training wheels imperceptibly turning. Lauren. She is Ted’s small ted. Or maybe she belongs to another ted and he just looks after her? I forget. Her scent lingers on the rug, the arm of the chair, but it’s quiet. She must have gone already. Good. But she never puts that god damn bike away. Oh dear. I really do try to say ‘gd’, not – ahem ahem. I don’t like to take His name in vain.

Ted is seeing a therapist – in hopes he can gleam some info to use with his rebellious daughter. He visits his therapist early in the morning and sometimes appears full of bruises and with missing tufts of hair. All little accidents.

‘You know, Ted, this session is for you. It’s private. You can say anything here. Some people feel it’s the only place they can really express themselves. In our daily lives can be difficult to say what we think or feel to those closest to us. That is a very isolating experience. It can be lonely, keeping secrets. That’s why it’s important to have somewhere safe, like this. You can say anything to me.’

Ted doesn’t say a peep about his daughter’s abusive behaviour or who he made her with, anything about his ex. The only people who plague Ted are his missing (gone) mother and the potential for a friend who will look after his furry friend and daughter once he’s gone.

‘Mommy used to say, “The chef never has an appetite”,’ I tell her. ‘Your grandmother. She said that a lot. Along with, “Never call a woman insane.”’
‘She wasn’t my grandmother,’ Lauren says quietly.

As the book progresses, you can’t help but wonder if Lauren is really the missing girl that Dee is looking for. The age matches and even the name is slightly similar = Laura. Has Ted kidnapped her from the lake all those years ago? Is she a captive? We know she’s trying to actively poison him or even kill him.

Lauren has worn me too thin. It’s hard, living with someone who’s trying to kill you.

Ted is ill, his own mother said so.

‘You are probably promising yourself that you will never do such a thing again. You are thinking that you gave in just this once … And maybe that will prove true. But I do not think so. Yours is an old sickness, which has been in our family for a long time. My father – your grandfather – had it. I hoped that it had died with him. Maybe I thought that I could atone for it. A new world, a new life. I became a nurse because I wanted to save people’s lives.’

But what he has is only apparent later, in reveal after reveal after reveal that left my head spinning.

‘You are monstrous. However, you are my responsibility. I will continue to do what I can for you, because that is my duty, and I have never been afraid of my duty. I will not permit you to be called “insane”. In this country, in particular, they love to throw that word around like a ball.’

I loved the book. I don’t think I’m in the majority though. Quality is subjective and every person will see something else they like or hate.

‘We’re part of one another, he and I.’

I’m not going to give spoilers, just that after half the book is read, the reveals will keep you glued all the way to the end. Some of the clues like the Russian dolls, will come to have meaning and the changing colour of the rug.

I like everything about this room except for two things that sit on the mantelpiece, next to the music box.
The first thing I hate is called a Russian doll. It holds a smaller version of itself inside it, and another inside that and so on. How awful. They are prisoners. I imagine them all screaming in the dark, unable to move or speak. The doll’s face is broad and blankly smiling. It looks so happy to be holding its children captive.

I can only see this book truly exceeded my expectations and it’s extraordinary work!
It’s not only a serial killer story! It’s not only about a cat recites the Bible perfectly! It’s not only about a girl who is adamant to find the killer who hurt her sister! Or is not about a wild child she needs to be trapped in the house to protect herself from the violence of the outside ( or the outer world should be the one to get protected from her)! And it’s not about bulky, introvert, outcast man who wears same clothes, dealing with her wild daughter and sarcastic cat who hates crime thriller shows on TV, trying to blend in but hardly failing.

This book is so much more than these! Just read it and prepare to get shaken to the core! You may start to pick up the pieces in the middle about the big mystery but trust me it’s even bigger and uglier than you may hardly imagine.