The House on Cold Hill

by Peter James

Overview

Evil isn't born. It's built. The House on Cold Hill is a chilling and suspenseful ghost story from the multi-million copy bestselling author of Dead Simple, Peter James.

Moving from the heart of the city to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for born townies, Ollie Harcourt, his wife, Caro, and their twelve-year-old daughter, Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House – a huge, dilapidated, Georgian mansion – they are filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, Ollie sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, a base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment.

But, within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren't the only residents in the house.

At first it is only a friend of Jade, talking to her on FaceTime, who sees a spectral woman standing behind her. Then there are more sightings of her, and increasingly disturbing occurrences. Two weeks after moving in, Caro, out in the garden, is startled to see faces staring out of an upstairs window of the house. The window of a room which may hold the secret to the house's dark history . . .

A room which does not appear to exist.

'Superbly creepy modern horror story' - Book of the Week, Sunday Mirror

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447255925
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan
Publication date:	10/08/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels. His Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, set in Brighton, has been translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over eighteen million copies, and has given him nine consecutive Sunday Times number ones. In 2015 WHSmith customers publicly voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he became the recipient of the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement, awarded for sustained excellence. Peter has also written a short story collection, A Twist of the Knife, and his standalone titles include his ghost story The House On Cold Hill and The Perfect Murder, which has been turned into a smash hit stage play. All his novels reflect his deep interest in the world of the police. Three of his novels have been filmed and before becoming a full-time author he produced numerous films, including The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. He divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill, London and near Brighton in Sussex.

Peter James is a UK No.1 bestselling author, best known for his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now a hit ITV drama starring John Simm as the troubled Brighton copper.

Much loved by crime and thriller fans for his fast-paced page-turners full of unexpected plot twists, sinister characters, and accurate portrayal of modern day policing, he has won over 40 awards for his work including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award and Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger. In 2024, it was announced that he is the creator of Her Majesty Queen Camilla's favourite fictional detective.

To date, Peter has written an impressive total of 20 Sunday Times No. 1s, sold over 21 million copies worldwide and been translated into 38 languages. His books are also often adapted for the stage, with his six stage shows grossing over £17 million at the box office – the most recent being Wish You Were Dead.

Editorial Reviews

James is a compelling storyteller and he ratchets up the tension in increments, so that his readers will be suitably terrified. By the time you want to scream 'Look behind you!', it's already too late.

EBOOK COMMENTARY

10/24/2016
The chains that rattle in this unsettling contemporary gothic are not spectral but financial: mortgages and work contracts that bind the owners to their haunted mansion. The Harcourts—spouses Ollie, a website developer, and Caro, a property lawyer, along with daughter Jade—move to a Georgia country house in need of repair and, it seems, exorcism. Jade thinks the haunting is charming until the phantoms turn threatening. And Ollie finds his own perceptions of reality are increasingly unreliable as his health and his business start to suffer. James (the Roy Grace mysteries) neatly interlaces the traditional (spooky old building, eccentric locals, legend of missing/murdered wife) with the modern (ghosts as persistent energy patterns that can interact with the Internet and cell phones), never losing the essential heart of the horror as it derails the lives of its victims. After an opening scene of gore, the novel takes time to build to its final unavoidable and understated tragedies. Agent: Carole Blake, Blake Friedmann (U.K.). (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"James is a compelling storyteller and he ratchets up the tension in increments, so that his readers will be suitably terrified. By the time you want to scream 'Look behind you!', it's already too late." —Daily Mail

From the Publisher