Set against a stunning Scandinavian backdrop, a gritty novel of psychological suspense that asks the question how far would you go to hold onto what you have?Cecilia Wilborg has it all–a loving husband, two beautiful daughters and a gorgeous home in the affluent Norwegian town of Sandefjord. And she works hard to keep it all together. Too hard. Because one mistake from her past could bring it … her past could bring it all crashing down around her.
Annika Lucasson lives a dark life with her abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend. She’s lost everything one too many times and now she’s got one last chance to save herself, thanks to Cecilia. Annika knows her secret–and just how much she’s willing to do to make it all go away…
When someone forgets to pick up their little boy at the local pool, Cecilia agrees to take him home, only to find an abandoned, empty house. It’s the first step in the unraveling of her meticulously crafted life, as her and Annika’s worlds collide…
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The Boy at the Door is not your usual dark Scandinavian mystery. It has more of a psychological thriller feel to it, rather than a grizzly murder mystery. One lie begets more lies as Cecilia Wilborg protects the image of her perfect life and hides her lack of self-esteem.
Cecilia Wilborg works very hard to present the perfect image to family and friends. While the reader is made to believe that the town folk of Sandefjord are nosey and judgmental and her perfect-catch husband would find someone much more worthy if she weren’t flawless, it felt that her image making had more to do with making up for perceived insufficiencies. In her self-absorption, she can behave rudely to strangers as well as friends and family. Cecilia’s delusional behavior is set on a disastrous course when she is asked to give a ride home from the public swimming pool.
Alex Dahl’s characters are intriguing in their imperfections and bad choices. Both Cecilia and Anni are at times empathetic, but for the most part, they are not likable. Both women’s bad choices leave them culpable for many lives ruined. Cecilia’s father is not much better for his part in the travesty. Cecilia’s husband, Johan, seems to be the only redeemable character, however, after Cecilia’s objectivity as the narrator comes into question, this could be another of her poor perceptions. Tobias, the precocious boy at the center of the story, draws people in with his looks and quiet charm. While his plight broke my heart, I found his maturity and sage comments unbelievable.
There are sufficient twists in this steadily paced mystery to keep readers in shock and guessing. Drugs and delusion drive the main character to make one bad choice after another. In the end, she has only herself to blame for the demise of her picture-perfect reputation. Read The Boy at the Door to find out if Cecilia does ultimately “win”.
3.5-4 stars
Cecelia had a perfect life with a perfect husband, two daughters, a beautiful home, and an enjoyable part-time job.
One night could change it all.
Cecelia picked her daughters up from swim practice, and as she waited for them to change, she was asked to take a young boy home because his parents didn’t show up.
Cecelia didn’t want to do it, but she couldn’t leave him at the school alone. Taking him home was the worst thing that could have happened to her because he may be the reason her secret becomes revealed. For some reason the boy, Tobias, knows Cecelia knew Annie, the woman who took care of him and abandoned him.
We get background information on Annie that is not very pleasant and then move back and forth to the present with the little boy that connects it all.
I wasn’t a fan of the main character Cecilia. Her past lifestyle was off-putting for me, and her current life was made of lies. She currently had everything and still wasn’t happy.
Tobias was a sweet boy who kept everything inside, and he definitely had secrets and answers to the questions the police were asking, but he wouldn’t tell them anything.
Some of the other characters were very unpleasant.
The ongoing questions in the story line are who is Tobias’ mother, how did Cecelia really know Annie, and just what is Cecelia’s secret that will destroy her current life.
The author’s writing keeps you engaged and especially when she leaves an incriminating, clue-revealing tidbit as the last sentence of the chapter and moves on. We gets hints about what is bothering Cecelia, but never enough information to figure it out. Tobias knows, though, and Cecelia is worried.
THE BOY AT THE DOOR is brilliantly written with a creative, odd story line that is a bit unbelievable, but oh so good and attention grabbing.
The tension kept me on the edge of my seat as the police questioned Cecelia about Annie and Tobias.
THE BOY AT THE DOOR is an excellent suspense debut. 4/5
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Good read. Keeps you guessing. Great character development.
Scandi Noir at its best… Atmospheric and beautifully written… combines complex and believable characters with a heartbreaking and head-spinning plot.
A little drawn out.
I do not care for stories about drugs and people who care nothing about how their actions affect others. For a longtime I did not realize story took place in a Scandinavian country….too much like America…unfortunately.
Hard to give adjectives to this book. The main character seemed so self absorbed. However, there was more depth to her when it came to her children.
I enjoyed this book. I did feel there were a few too many coincidences that the plot relied on, but I’m willing to overlook that. Others have remarked that they didn’t like the main character, but I think we are not supposed to like her. She’s very self-absorbed, but at the same time does not feel worthy of the affluent life she leads and of her husband.
Loved it!!
I couldn’t find a story line in this book. It jumped all over.
Thought it was difficult to folly the plot!
Thought this was a psycho-thriller. Convoluted story had lots of potential to be really good. Wrong. Never developed its potential. Very disappointed.
Love this new author… haunting story. Read it in two days.
Suspenseful, vivid, and ice-cold, The Boy at the Door deftly shows that things are always messier than they appear.
I did not enjoy this book. The characters were unlike able. I almost didn’t bother to finish this book.
The Boy at the Door is a stunning debut! Alex Dahl has crafted an extraordinary plot; intricate and twisted with dark secrets emerging at every turn.