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Toxic
Dark forces can change lives.. When Persey Delaney returns to Britain after working abroad, everything has changed. Her mother is newly-divorced and her younger sister Meg is still struggling to recover her confidence after a horrific accident. Together, they have moved from their long-envied, prime address in Mayfair to a seedy block of flats in Willesden. Soon Persey lives there too, and within weeks of her return home, strange goings-on begin to upset her already unsettling new life. It seems that Yew Court has become a malevolent witness to secret lives. The horror begins as the residents are subjected to a series of dreadful events, each getting more and more frightening as the days progress. The local paper dubs Yew Court the unluckiest block of flats in London, but Persey fears that luck has nothing to do with it. Dark forces are at work and there’s a race against time to prevent a catastrophe… Toxic is a gripping thriller that tells of how so many lives are woven by Fate into a tapestry of terror. Praise for Vena ‘One of those rare and energetic books you can’t put down yet don’t want to end’ - The Times ‘A compelling, dark-hued psychological thriller that eerily captures some of London’s more sinister undercurrents and sense of menace’ - Guardian ‘You’ll be gripped as this persuasive thriller races to its grisly conclusion’ - Marie Claire Vena Cork is from Lancashire, but has lived in London all her adult life. She attended Homerton College, Cambridge, where she was a member of Cambridge Footlights. She is married to the art critic Richard Cork and lives in North West London. She is also the author of Thorn and The Art of Dying.
452 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 16, 2016
19 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Vena Cork
16 books26 followersVena studied at Homerton College, Cambridge, and was one of the first female members of the Cambridge Footlights. She was an actress, playwright and teacher before becoming a full-time writer and producing the Thorn trilogy.
Thorn, the first in the trilogy, was hailed by the Guardian as ‘a compelling, dark-hued psychological thriller’, by Time Out as ‘an outstanding debut’, and by The Times as ‘one of those rare and energetic books you can’t put down and don’t want to end.’ It was followed by The Art of Dying and Green Eye, both also highly praised. The trilogy is now available from Endeavour Press.
Her new standalone novel, The Lost Ones was published in May 2016 and her fifth novel, Toxic will be published later in 2016, also by Endeavour Press.
Vena lives in London with her husband, the art critic Richard Cork. She has two sons and two daughters.
Thorn, the first in the trilogy, was hailed by the Guardian as ‘a compelling, dark-hued psychological thriller’, by Time Out as ‘an outstanding debut’, and by The Times as ‘one of those rare and energetic books you can’t put down and don’t want to end.’ It was followed by The Art of Dying and Green Eye, both also highly praised. The trilogy is now available from Endeavour Press.
Her new standalone novel, The Lost Ones was published in May 2016 and her fifth novel, Toxic will be published later in 2016, also by Endeavour Press.
Vena lives in London with her husband, the art critic Richard Cork. She has two sons and two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 28, 2016
Persey Delaney returns home only to find her sister is living with her mother in a hovel of an apartment building and hiding from the world after her disfiguring accident during a failed college experiment. When she arrives at her own apartment she also finds her boyfriend has taken up with her best friend so she leaves him and moves into her mother’s building. Now things start happening as if the building is cursed and it’s tenants are suffering. The young boy who is being bullied, the mother who had killed her son then commits suicide, the break in at the elderly tenant’s apartment that almost results in her death, the dog’s poisoning. Who or what is causing all the hardship for the buildings tenants. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.
February 28, 2018
My word, this book is grim.
How grim is it?
If Ken Loach were planning to make a movie version he’d think it should be livened up with a few musical numbers. The late Ingmar Bergman would have scribbled jokes in the margins.
It’s endless grimness with no relief at all. The worst of human behaviour rolled out seemingly endlessly in a way which is tortuously unremitting. In life I generally identify as a pessimist, but I feel that even the most sunny optimist – after flicking through these pages – will want to crawl into a dark cupboard and weep for a while.
A demanding middle class mother and her two adult daughters move into a tower block in Willesden. Around them are all walks of human life – from faded rock stars, to new immigrants, to middle class teachers. What really interests this writer though are the more unsavoury ends of society: the bullies, the arsonists, the would-be rapists, those who keep single mothers and their babies hostage to torture them. Very swiftly it becomes a catalogue of unpleasant people doing unpleasant things, and boy, is it wearying.
The book it most reminded me of is Martin Amis’s LIONEL ASBO, although if memory serves he did at least manage to get jokes in there. There’s the same sense of a middle class author constructing their view of the under class from the more tawdry headlines of The Daily Mail, and never getting any closer than those tawdry headlines for fear of getting their hands dirty.
That being said, it did manage to grip me. Even though I found it unremitting, I did want to know how it ended and pushed myself to the end, I can’t say that I necessarily enjoyed the experience, but I don’t regret the hours I spent within its pages.
How grim is it?
If Ken Loach were planning to make a movie version he’d think it should be livened up with a few musical numbers. The late Ingmar Bergman would have scribbled jokes in the margins.
It’s endless grimness with no relief at all. The worst of human behaviour rolled out seemingly endlessly in a way which is tortuously unremitting. In life I generally identify as a pessimist, but I feel that even the most sunny optimist – after flicking through these pages – will want to crawl into a dark cupboard and weep for a while.
A demanding middle class mother and her two adult daughters move into a tower block in Willesden. Around them are all walks of human life – from faded rock stars, to new immigrants, to middle class teachers. What really interests this writer though are the more unsavoury ends of society: the bullies, the arsonists, the would-be rapists, those who keep single mothers and their babies hostage to torture them. Very swiftly it becomes a catalogue of unpleasant people doing unpleasant things, and boy, is it wearying.
The book it most reminded me of is Martin Amis’s LIONEL ASBO, although if memory serves he did at least manage to get jokes in there. There’s the same sense of a middle class author constructing their view of the under class from the more tawdry headlines of The Daily Mail, and never getting any closer than those tawdry headlines for fear of getting their hands dirty.
That being said, it did manage to grip me. Even though I found it unremitting, I did want to know how it ended and pushed myself to the end, I can’t say that I necessarily enjoyed the experience, but I don’t regret the hours I spent within its pages.
August 3, 2016
I got an ARC copy from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
A Mother and her daughter move into Yew Tree Court; a rundown block of flats in Willesden. The story unfurls slowly and seamlessly. We get introduced to the neighbours and start finding out more about the people who live there. Is the block cursed? A lot of bad things start happening to the various residents as their lives intermingle and the caretaker's position is taken over by his not so trustworthy relative.
At times dark and claustrophobic, you can feel the suspense building. This original story had me gripped and had a very satisfying ending.
A Mother and her daughter move into Yew Tree Court; a rundown block of flats in Willesden. The story unfurls slowly and seamlessly. We get introduced to the neighbours and start finding out more about the people who live there. Is the block cursed? A lot of bad things start happening to the various residents as their lives intermingle and the caretaker's position is taken over by his not so trustworthy relative.
At times dark and claustrophobic, you can feel the suspense building. This original story had me gripped and had a very satisfying ending.
March 24, 2019
I really enjoyed this book, it is not a light hearted read by any stretch of the imagination. I loved the depth of all the characters and how interwoven their lives all were. The characters are all personalities we recognise to some extent around us. I had no clue what the twist in the tale was, it certainly kept me guessing.
April 6, 2023
Toxic People
This was my first book by this author, I thoroughly enjoyed it, the story was interesting and well written, the characters were believable and each one had their flaws and a story to tell, keeping me anxiously reading till the end.. I would read more by the author.
This was my first book by this author, I thoroughly enjoyed it, the story was interesting and well written, the characters were believable and each one had their flaws and a story to tell, keeping me anxiously reading till the end.. I would read more by the author.
February 1, 2018
Riveting !
Definitely can't put this book down once you start reading ,it kept me turning pages and had a brilliant story line ,lots of characters and depth.
Definitely can't put this book down once you start reading ,it kept me turning pages and had a brilliant story line ,lots of characters and depth.
July 24, 2016
Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC.
This is an unhappy book. There is nothing wrong with the writing, but the characters in it are all miserable: rapists, murderers, egomaniacs - all living together in a seedy hovel of an apartment building. I had a hard time finding anybody to empathize with.
This is an unhappy book. There is nothing wrong with the writing, but the characters in it are all miserable: rapists, murderers, egomaniacs - all living together in a seedy hovel of an apartment building. I had a hard time finding anybody to empathize with.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews