The Locked Attic by B.P. Walter

The story begins with Stephanie waking up at the hospital. She has no recollection of what brought her to the hospital in the first place. As she tries to remember the events, it all comes back to her.

Stephanie’s son Danny and husband Pete died in a car crash a couple of months ago. She suspected that her neighbor’s son Jonathan knew something about Danny’s last few days. The whole city is alerted by an explosion. There’s something going on at the power station and all residents are ordered to stay in their homes to avoid being hit by flying debris. Stephanie sees this as an opportunity to learn more about her neighbors.

She crosses the street and invites herself into their house. And that is when things start taking a turn for worse…

Have you come across a book that starts on a brilliant note, is full of suspense and then ends with a dud? Well, Locked Attic had a lot of potential. There was so much of drama and suspense peppered throughout. But the ending… ugh, it certainly did not do justice to whatever suspense was built from the beginning.

I have mixed feelings about this book. There are multiple PoVs and timelines. The explosions in the neighbor and Stephanie’s weirdo neighbors add a dash of suspense to the story. This is further explored when Stephanie goes to the neighbor’s house in search of answers. To be honest, I did not understand Stephanie’s need to go their house, especially at a time when everyone was asked to stay indoors.

The Franklins are a weird lot – the couple and their kids. As the story ended, I felt bad for the kids. They are teenagers, all right. But they didn’t have to suffer for their parents’ bad decisions and instability.

As the story unravels, we learn there’s more to Franklins than what we were initially told. The husband is always in the attic, doing god knows what. His wife is grumpy, controlling and rude. I didn’t like the way they treated Stephanie.

In the flashbacks, we are told Danny and Jonathan were friends but after a friend’s birthday party, they grew apart. Danny started being moody and depressed. Stephanie tried her best to know what went wrong but he threatened to reveal her secret if she interfered.

As the story began, I was under the impression that Danny and Pete’s death had something to do with the Franklins. And Stephanie’s hospitalization too might have been a result of her coming face-to-face with the family who were responsible for ruining her life.

This story had a very scattered feeling – the alternating timelines, PoVs, it was a bit confusing at times to know what was happening. Having said that, these narrations kept me hooked on to the story and I was curious to learn more about the mystery that led Stephanie to the Franklins’ house.

This story had great potential. The plot-to-story execution was fabulous. The suspense was at an all-time high. Alas, I cannot say the same about the ending. I felt let down… I just cannot accept the ending. It didn’t feel right, you know. Things could have ended better…

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