Mick Nash survives a near drowning incident he only has dim memories of, which is the one good thing going on in his life. He is about to lose the restaurant his parents established, his wife is increasingly antagonistic toward him, and his kids redefine the term dysfunctional. Just when he thinks things can't get much worse his enigmatic neighbours display some very disturbing behaviour and seem more than interest in his family's affairs.

When the mutilated bodies begin to appear Mick immediately suspects his neighbour Render and his brood of the grotesque murders, especially when they display increasingly bizarre aspects to their nature. Can Mick work out why Render is interest in the Nash clan, can he save his family from a clear and present danger, and is he prepared for the ultimate secret? Christopher Ransom once again goes left field with a scorchingly good read.

Christopher Ransom's follow up to his excellent The Haunting of James Herbert shows both an Author now fully in command of his craft, and more importantly one prepared to take risks and push the boundaries of what can be done with the dark novel. Ransom keeps to his very solid prose style, but with The People Next Door shows he is prepared to make his novels a lot more accessible for the non constant reader. The Reader gets an excellent read without having to overly extend their grey matter to try and piece together just what the hell is going down. Please note I'm not going anywhere near the airport novel here, Ransom is far more serious in intent and style.

Ransom keeps his ace cards up his sleeves for the majority of the novel, hints of the darkness at the edge of town do seep through, but what you have on your hands is in essence a mystery novel. Piecing together just what the hell is going on is half the fun as the Author gradually widens the door onto chaos. I certainly wasn't expecting the direction the novel took, or it must be said the liberties with tried and true dark genre tropes. We follow Mick Nash's discovering that not everything is as it seems while he trudges through the minefields of his deteriorating family and business life. When we do finally discover the secrets hidden in an upmarket suburb, they came as quite the surprise rather than where you think things might be heading. Ransom pulls off the sort of slight of hand that has made James Herbert a household name in Commonwealth Countries amongst dark genre readers.

For those wanting to ensure they are in the house of horrors Ransom ladles on some pretty dark and gore laden scenes. We're talking a lot of teeth meeting flesh, some very solid tension, and a rising chill factor that makes you wonder just what Mick Nash might discover beneath the visage of his neighbours' suburban McMansion. I'm almost going to guarantee you will have no idea what Ransom has coming at you, as things head off the straight and narrow and into some very dark woods. And don't worry the claret isn't spared or the gore filled prose when Ransom wants to hit the nightmare factor. While I'm not about to state that Ransom is playing for keeps, he doesn't rub the reader's nose in things, he equally isn't throwing a readers digest condensed novel at you.

The novel's structure is pretty straight forward and shouldn't hold any problems for even those of us who only read one or two novels per year. Shame on you by the way, get a freaking e-reader of some sort and dust off the old mental cobwebs. We're talking a straight forward narrative with the odd chapter dialling into something that has happened previously. What sets the novel apart is that it focuses on a single scene in the first block and then builds from there, gradually upping the anti and dragging you into the supernatural elements.

Next paragraph slightly entering spoiler territory, skip if you want to get your original read on without knowing what's coming at you.

Trying to tie a genre description on The People Next Door is going to twist people into knots. We're talking one part zombie perhaps – bring on the arguments yo, maybe more than a hint of lycanthrope howling, and I guess we could be driving down-town Psychoville. But overall, and this is going to get controversial, I got a real down home vampire vibe happening while reading the book. Okay we're not talking traditional bats etc, but Render does fit the cape well. Read the novel and drop your thoughts our way, on the bright side we're talking something pretty unique in terms of the supernatural shenanigans going down.

What I'm finding interesting about Christopher Ransom's approach to the dark genre is that he has picked up the baton Stephen King is about ready to hand over, and while giving things a modern hip feeling is dialling in a traditional almost Brit style approach to the prose. So we get U.S outrageous content, and who doesn't love that, but wrapped up in a modernistic Brit writing style that enforces style over simply hitting the paragraphs in breathless spillage. Ransom for mine is definitely one of the best U.S dark genre Writers of the modern Century.

I was up for another Christopher Ransom outing after reading The Haunting of James Hastings and The People Next Door didn't disappoint. Okay out on a limb here, this novel is superior to Ransom's previous book. If you are only going to read one dark genre novel this year than make that novel The People Next Door, full recommendation, Christopher Ransom rocks! When are they doing the movie adaptation of this novel rather than another remake or sequel? - I'm there opening night.

Hachette are distributing The People Next Door Downunder so you will be able to source the novel at all good bookstores. For additional details check out the official Hachette page for the book right here. The novel should be available August 2011, so if you haven't got your Christopher Ransom on yet dial in. Only problem is you'll be wanting to read the entire back catalogue. I'm already anticipating Ransom's next novel, dude is one writer not to be missed.