The Visitors

Gripping thriller, you won’t see the end coming

Can you escape the darkness within?

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John in a decaying Georgian townhouse on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to shut out the shocking secret that John keeps in the cellar.

Until, suddenly, John has a heart attack and Marion is forced to go down to the cellar herself and face the gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden.

As questions are asked and secrets unravel, maybe John isn't the only one with a dark side.

Perfect for fans of Paula Hawkins and Ruth Ware.

Acclaim from Readers and Reviewers:

"Once you start Catherine Burns’s dark, disturbing, and enthralling debut novel, it’s hard to stop. The Visitors is bizarrely unsettling, yet compulsively readable," Iain Reid

"Burns blurs the line between crime fiction and horror... Deliberate pacing, a claustrophobic setting, and vivid, wildly unsympathetic characters complement the twisted plot and grim conclusion," Publishers Weekly

"An insightful study of loneliness and evil," Daily Mail

"[A] must read," New York Post

"Atmospheric, eerie and affecting. Catherine Burns has created a complex and chilling world in which nothing is as it seems. A very clever confident novel, beautifully plotted with multiple twists and turns. I couldn't stop reading it," Suellen Dainty

"Burns combines a study of a middle-aged woman, a tale of a highly dysfunctional family and slow burn of a mystery, creating a compelling read that's at once highly entertaining and wholly disturbing ... A dark and thrilling debut novel: disturbing, gripping, and hugely impressive," The Bookbag

"Burns combines a study of a middle-aged woman, a tale of a highly dysfunctional family and slow burn of a mystery, creating a compelling read that's at once highly entertaining and wholly disturbing ... A dark and thrilling debut novel: disturbing, gripping, and hugely impressive," TM Logan

"I absolutely loved it. I would advise any nail biters to sit on their hands while reading this book because they will chew right down to the knuckle. By far the creepiest novel I have read in a long time ... a highly original and intriguing mystery so compelling that I abandoned my own work to finish it," Liz Nugent

"Compelling and wonderfully dark, choked with suspense and yet leisurely in the telling. I enjoyed it immensely" Emma Curtis

"A dark exploration of evil in its many forms, this is an uncomfortable and disturbing yet utterly compelling read," SJI Halliday

"A dark, compelling story with a few twists and turns that will keep the reader glued to the pages ... I found myself completely engrossed in Marion's disturbing world, which was well drawn by Catherine Burns. A very strong debut," Sarah Denzil

"An insidious, creepy novel, with a slow burn that leads to a horrifying revelation," Literary Hub

"Beautifully written … [a] dark, gritty and inviting tale that explores the darker side of human nature,"Review Corner

"A wonderfully dark and suspenseful read from a talented debut author," Damp Pebbles

"The writing, the characters and the mood of this book were absolutely superbly done," BookBum

"A deeply disturbing and unforgettable novel, dripping with evil and horror … furiously gripping, addictive and absolutely impossible to put down," The Book Babe