How do you protect your child from something you don’t believe exists?
City-relocators Hannah and Greg think High Cliff Cottage is the ideal place to bring up four-year old Olivia. That the garden faces onto the cliff top is not a concern. The sturdy gate with heavy bolts and locks will keep their daughter safe - provided they remember to check each night, "Did you lock the gate?"But a sequence of unsettling events sets the couple wondering if their 'ideal' is all it seems. First, Olivia acquires a new, imaginary friend, ‘Abi’, also four, who says she once lived at High Cliff. Soon after, they start finding the gate unaccountably open in the mornings. Then Hannah suffers a terrifying night time vision, though Greg dismisses it as a dream.
When the couple learn of the cottage’s tragic history - years before, a little girl fell to her death one night - their feet-on-the-ground, city-dweller rationality leads them to scoff at the idea of a connection. But when the garden-cam reveals something as chillingly unexplainable as it is alarming, their rationality is challenged. Seeking answers, they are unnerved to discover that the 50th anniversary of the tragedy is looming.
That night, the couple stand at the window, staring out at the darkness, waiting for… they know not what, but convinced that provided they stay alert, Olivia will be safe. They cannot know how wrong they are, or of the horror about to engulf them.
A terrifying story about the past impinging upon the present, Did You Lock The Gate? is a new departure for Robert F Barker, author of the celebrated ‘DCI Jamie Carver’ Crime-Thriller Series’. In those books, Robert sometimes touches on unsettling themes. They even occasionally include the odd moment of horror. But in Did You Lock The Gate? Robert goes to town, ramping up the fear and sense of creeping dread to the point where you feel you really want to stop reading, but can’t… or daren’t!
As an added bonus, Did You Lock the Gate? also includes one of Robert's earliest short stories - a ghostly police tale inspired by his days walking the beat, 'Property Checks.' Remember it the next time you see a patrolling police officer.
5* Praise for Robert F Barker's crime-thrillers
'A gripping read about an exceptional detective and the complexities in his life' (Last Gasp)'Fabulous writer and solid knowledge of police procedures. Can't wait for more from this writer' (Last Gasp)
'Well written and fast paced.... a great read for crime-thriller fans' (Final Breath)
'Loved, loved, LOVED this book! Couldn't put it down. Always left on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened next!' (Last Gasp)
'A very well crafted mystery that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat' (Final Breath)
'Jamie Carver is a mix of genius... and emotional wreck!' (Family Reunion))
'So compelling and well written I can't wait to read the next in the series' (Final Breath)
'Brilliant rounding off of a stunning trilogy' (Out Of Air)
'My preference for fiction is procedural crime thrillers... and I can say that these are the very best example of the genre that I have ever come across. More please as soon as you can!'(Out Of Air)
Genre: Horror
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