Dougie Jamieson is a pillar of the community. He’s won awards for his work with children, his brother is a chief inspector and he runs the neighbourhood watch scheme.
But Esther Pooley sees him differently.
After a road rage incident, she’s convinced he’s the person terrorising her and husband, Charlie, at their suburban dream home.
As the stakes begin to rise, they must decide if bricks and mortar are worth more than their relationship, with Charlie stuck on the toughest of all dilemmas. How far will he go to protect his wife?
This is the latest novel from Kerry Wilkinson, Kindle No.1 bestselling author of the Jessica Daniel series.
"Wilkinson’s story spreads like a pool of blood...his talent becomes ever more obvious." - Daily Mail on Think of the Children
"Locked In has changed my mind. Expecting little, I was pleasantly surprised." - The Guardian on Locked In
"Plotting, high drama and characterisation are becoming the hallmarks of the his thrillers" - Lancashire Evening Post on Playing With Fire
Recent and upcoming UK releases: 24 October 2023: The Night Of The Sleepover 15 December 2023: After The Sleepover 2024: The Girl On The Side Of The Road 2024: The Missing Body
Kerry Wilkinson has sold more than two million books - and had No.1 crime bestsellers in the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Singapore. He has also written two top-20 thrillers in the United States. His book, Ten Birthdays, won the RNA award for Young Adult Novel of the Year in 2018 and Close To You won the International Thriller Award for best ebook in 2020.
As well as his Jessica Daniel series, Kerry has written a trilogy featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter, the Whitecliff series, the Silver Blackthorn trilogy - a fantasy-adventure serial for young adults - plus numerous standalone novels. He has been published around the world in more than a dozen languages.
Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry spent way too long living in the north of England, picking up words like 'barm' and 'ginnel'.
When he's short of ideas, he rides his bike, hikes up something, or bakes cakes. When he's not, he writes it all down.
This is a stand alone by author Kerry Wilkinson that will almost get you shouting at the characters. This is quite a simple plot, Esther Pooley and her husband Charlie move into a new house and everything is fine. That is until Esther experiences road rage. It appears that cause of the road rage was Dougie Jamieson who is a pillar of the community and well thought of by all the locals. Dougie runs the neighbourhood watch scheme and has a brother who is a chief inspector and no one has a bad word to say about him. Following the road rage incident the Pooley's experience bullying and vandalism and it seems that they are being terrorised. Esther is positive she knows who the culprit is but how does she prove it or stop it spoiling their dream home.
This book will get you hooked and the short chapters will keep you reading it as the story alternates between Esther and Charlie's views. Just how far will either of them go to protect their dream? Enjoyable read but I am sure the ending will not be to everyone's liking.
I absolutely despised the ending. I felt cheated after investing myself in the book. Who does something like that? It would have been so easy to give it a proper ending. He's been doing a bit of that in the last few books I've read. He's been my favorite author but if this keeps up he won't be any longer.
Of all the kerry wilkinson books i have read, this was a struggle to persevere with. Unbelievable primarily, and very drawn out. I was waiting for a great ending but it never came. Very disappointing read.
Dougie Jamieson is a pillar of the community. He's won awards for his work with children, his brother is a chief inspector and he runs the neighbourhood watch scheme. But Ester Pooley sees him differently. After a road rage incident, she's convinced he's the person terrorising her and her husband, charlie, at their suburban dream home. As the stakes begin to rise, they must decide if bricks and mortar are worth more than their relationship, with Charlie stuck on the toughest of all dilemmas. How far will he go to protect his wife?
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the way it ended. The story line is frightening and believable. Ester and Charlie Pooley had been living with her parents, but now they have just moved into a new home. Charlie has a new job. But the new home does not bring them the happiness they expected.
If you'd like to read about a couple being stalked with a terrible ending, go for it. But it felt like the author wrote this book when in a foul, sadistic mood and in a fit of anger delivered a final blow to the innocent party in the book with a cheap ending.
Kerry Wilkinson is a gifted writer. A story line that was believable and frightening I think almost everyone has meet characters in real life that Merry wrote about.
‘Watched’ by Kerry Wilkinson is a tension-charged thriller which demonstrates how easy it is for an individual to turn another person’s life miserable in so many different ways.
After two years living with her rather irritating parents, Esther and her husband Charlie Pooley have at last moved into their new dream home. The house, situated in another town, still needs a complete makeover but the Pooleys are happy to finally have their own space, their love nest. Charlie is also starting an exciting new job.
One day, whilst Esther is driving through the as yet unfamiliar roads in that area, she is involved in an accidental and harrowing run-in with a local thug, Dougie Jamieson. He follows her in his car, threatens her and leaves her terrorised. This encounter will prove pivotal for her and her husband as from then on their lives spiral out of control, their happiness is shattered and they will never be the same again.
To everyone in that community, Dougie Jamieson is positively recognised for his award winning work with disabled children. For the Pooleys he proves to be the incarnation of the devil himself as he will literally turn their lives to hell.
Living close by, Dougie and his partner Leah turn their mischievous attention on the Pooleys and begin to inflict all imaginable forms of bullying and vandalism on them and their property. The severity of this victimisation escalates gradually from hung up calls and rubbish dumped on their driveway to such an extent where the victims even doubt their very own sanity.
Will the bullying ever cease? To which extremes will it arrive? Will the Pooleys ever manage to defeat Dougie and live happily in their new home? How far is Charlie ready to go to safeguard his wife?
Short chapters with alternating Esther's and Charlie's p.o.v. make this an easy and enjoyable read. The suspense increases from one chapter to the next until the last chapter is reached which in my opinion is the strongest of all. Certainly I didn't expect and was really surprised by the final abrupt twist. Unlike some other readers who may have not, I understood the ending and made my mind on who did what, but still, though believable, I felt it to be a little exaggerated for this story. Some elements may be somewhat repetitive, however being free from any extreme gore or sex scenes which may disturb some readers, this is a very good read and I recommend it to everyone.
Finished this book just a minute ago and felt compelled to get my iPad out and write a review.
I read many books, and have previously enjoyed each of Kerry Wilkinson's Jessica Daniel books. To be honest, I continue to read them more out of habit than anything else. They are easy to read, fun and a good piece of light entertainment. When Kerry tweeted out that he was releasing a new stand alone book, I thought, "why not?" and I pre ordered it.
This book has changed me as a person, that's all I can say. This is one of the better books I have read in years, in that it has been all I could think about since I started it. I found myself looking for a few minutes here and there to fit in another chapter, desperte to find out what fresh atrocities the vile Dougie would unleash on the helpless Esther and Charlie.
Some have called the book unbelievable. I personally found this book incredibly believable. It made me think what what you do if this happened to me and my wife? I would undoubtedly make it worse, just like Charlie did.
Some people have called the book morbid and lacking in light heartedness. To me, that is a positive, not a negative. Having no Hollywood happy ending, or indeed any moment of relief kept the blood pressure up and the panic flowing through my system. I felt like I was actually there, locking and unlocking the windows, running down the street, sweating in my suit. Yes, it is intense, but that is what makes the book work.
Such a simple story, no "bows and all" happy ending; this book simply serves up worry, intensity and concern and it serves them up in bucket loads. Whilst you wouldn't want to read a plethora of novels like this, unless you want to feel constantly miserable that is, Watched is an excellent alternative if you are after something a little different and something which leaves you feeling completely and utterly helpless.
I downloaded this onto my Kindle from the special deals over Christmas, I really wasn't expecting it too be that good for a cheap download. But how wrong I was! I couldn't put it down, from the very beginning it sucked me in.
The story is about the events that unfold following an incident of road rage that happens after Esther and Charlie move into their new home in a new town. En route to the hardware store, Esther is unsure of the road layout and gets in the wrong lane and by doing so angers the motorist behind her, (Come on, we've all done it!) The driver followers her and tries to intimidate her. The driver is Dougie Jamieson, he runs the neighbourhood watch scheme and has won awards for the local community for his work with children. When things start to happen Esther is convinced that Dougie is behind it all,but they have no way of proving it.
The only niggle I've got is the ending, a sort of "Tales of the Unexpected" ending, not a bad thing but just not what I was expecting thats all.
The cover on my Kindle reads Kerry Wilkinson The Kindle Number One Best-seller, so I'm guessing this is only available as a e-book?? Kerry Wilkinson by the was is male, just in case you were wondering :-)
Bullying gets out of hand, but will it ever stop? I love Kerry Wilkinson's Jessica Daniels series and I was excited to read Watched, his new stand alone book. It features Esther and Charlie Pooley who moved into their first house together. On her first day and whilst out shopping, Esther accidentally cut off a fellow motorist, her actions of which has lead to the most unimaginable case of bullying and victimisation. From overturned bins and stolen laundry, to outright vandalism, assault and defamation of character, each attack on the Pooleys escalate to unbelievable proportions. This is the kind of book that is gripping and terrifying in equal measures. I found myself very uncomfortable reading it as it is so easy to empathise with Esther and Charlie and how a case of road rage could escalate and get so badly out of hand. And on the other hand, it's a book you just want to continue reading as it's too gripping to ignore. I found the ending could have been more conclusive as I still don't understand the underlying motivations of the bullies and it seems that something is missing. But overall, it's a great book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I finished this book last night, and on my way to work this morning and driving home again tonight I have thought back to it quite alot. I really do feel this has been one of the best books I have read all year.
I have read all the Jessica Daniels books that Kerry Wilkinson is now famous for so was quite excited about reading this.
It starts out with a couple moving to their new house, in a new area, after spending time living with the in laws. A chance to get the house as they want it and start a family but after one chance encounter with the neighbour from hell their perfect life starts to fall apart.
Without giving anything away about the story Dougie Jamieson makes their life hell, I so hated Dougie and so wanted him to get what he deserved by the end of the book, again I won't give anything away.
I would highly recommend this book, and even more so I would highly recommend anything that Kerry Wilkinson puts his name too.
I have read all of Wilkinson’s Jessica Daniel series and absolutely loved them. I didn’t realise that he had written another book outside of this series until I saw it on the Kindle page on Amazon so I had to buy it. With his other books, the action starts straight away and it draws you in but I thought with this one the start was a little slow detailing the couple moving in to their home and therefore I didn’t feel instantly grabbed by it. As the female character had the run in with the driver at the traffic lights followed by the bins being knocked over and nuisance phonecalls, it started to pick up but at this point I decided to put the book down and read something else knowing I would definitely come back to this one at some point.
So I came back to the book but I didn't feel like it really got off and I found it very obvious, predictable, and very repetitive. As for the ending, it was very abrupt and I was left feeling disappointed with the story.
I have read all of Kerry Wilkinson's crime books and this is my least favourite. The story itself was quite compelling but Esther really annoyed me throughout. I really wanted them both to grow a backbone and some common sense but in particular the whole lock OCD just became to repetitive and annoying, almost to the point of me wanting to stop reading. The ending was a little blunt after a story that has developed for so long leaving many an unanswered question. I will stick to the Jessica Daniel and Andrew Hunter crime series bit this one just didnt compare for me.
This was a brilliant read and I got into the story early and it kept me glued to the story line. I thought It was going to be worthy of 5 stars HOWEVER the last page came and bang the story twisted and the book ended!!. So disappointing.
Another good read by Kerry Wilkinson. Following a simple driving mistake being in the wrong lane in a new area, Esther is terrorised by the man responsible for the road rage that followed.