Review | The House of Twelve by Sean Davies

Twelve people, one house, no memory. They are given a book containing House Rules which must be followed. There is no escape, and each day one of them must be chosen to die. If they do not follow the rules, everyone will die. As the twenty-four hour mark comes close and they are nowhere close to figuring things out, the strangers start turning on each other in order to save themselves.

Bricked up windows, sealed doors and overwhelming visions of endless darkness flowed into her turbulent dream. Along with them came pleasant yet creepy music, like the type that played in elevators and telephone on-hold tracks, and it droned through her skull relentlessly. As irritating as it was, for some strange reason she feared more than anything that it would end.

Talk about the worst Escape Room ever! I am a fan of locked room stories because it’s fascinating to watch characters not only try to figure out an escape from their situation but also deal with each other. Desperation brings out the worst in people and The House of Twelve has it in droves. The locked room scenario is nothing new but I did feel this book brought something extra. This comes across most clearly during the resolution of the story. I expected a straightforward kidnapping-and-escape story but surprisingly, got something else in return! There is a theme of redemption and forgiveness especially towards the end.

This is a short book and I read it in one sitting. It’s also a detriment. The characters felt like archetypes rather than real people. Their characteristics are based on their appearances more than anything e.g. old, young, hot, not hot. The main character, Sarah, is the most interesting because we get to spend time in her mind. I wish we had gotten more of that with the other characters. The writing is utilitarian and I think there is potential for more, in order to give the characters breathing room. At times, this book feels like a description of a movie – I could see what the characters are doing, but there isn’t a lot of depth to their actions. Which means it would be a great horror movie! But as a book, I wanted more.

That said, there are a few moments where I had no idea where the story would go. Watching these characters sabotage each other was highly entertaining. The ending is brilliantly bleak and left me satisfied. All in all, an entertaining short read.

I received a complimentary copy from the author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.

About the author: Sean Davies

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo