Title: The French House
Author: Courtney Lochner
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
Pages: 296
Publisher: Calumet Editions Minneapolis
Reviewer: Jennifer Rupp
Courtney Lochner’s psychological thriller rivals Shutter Island and The Woman in the Window. When I finished reading the novel, I had to wait a few hours for my hands to stop shaking enough to type a review. The story is about Simone, the daughter of a Wisconsin vintner, who is accepted to a French immersion residence house at the University of Wisconsin. The house itself, has a checkered past involving mind control experiments by the CIA. Her relationships with her fellow residents become strained when one troubled freshman woman is found dead on the front lawn of the house after a night of heavy drinking and Simone can't remember what happened. She only has fleeting glimpses of the evening’s events.
What I find brilliant about the novel is the author’s deft use of the unreliable narrator. Between the protagonist’s traumatic childhood, the history of the residence hall, suspicious behavior of her fellow students, and the use of drugs and alcohol, reality for both the main character and the reader become fractured. Suspense is a slow build and carried all the way through to the crescendo. Courtney Lochner’s background in French literature and psychedelic therapy make her the perfect person to tell this story. Definitely put this on your to be read list! Five stars.
Reviewer Bio: Jennifer Trethewey is the pen name of Jennifer Rupp. She writes sexy, sweeping Highland romance combining on site research, wonderfully flawed characters, and a liberal dose of humor. Her first four historical romances from the Highlanders of Balforss series released by Entangled Publishing, have achieved critical success. She has placed in numerous regional writing contests and is a member of Chicago North Romance Writers of America, Wisconsin Writers Association, Red Oak Studios, Off Campus Writers Workshop, Regency Fiction Writers, and Chicago Writers Association. She is also Co-Founder and former Co-Artistic Director of Milwaukee’s Renaissance Theaterworks.
