It’s an absolute delight today to share my publication day review of Lights Out by Louise Swanson: published today by Hodder & Stoughton, it’s now available in hardcover, on all major e-book platforms, and as an audiobook. A little longer to wait for the paperback – that will be available in February 2026. My thanks to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy, provided via netgalley – and I really must order a hardcover copy so that I have that really striking cover on my bookshelves.
I’ve loved Louise’s books ever since discovering her writing (as Louise Beech) through the wonderful How To Be Brave (you’ll find my review here) – you might already know that it’s about to become a play (you’ll find the tour dates here). Constantly reinventing herself, every book that followed became a new personal favourite, always featuring in my annual Books of the Year lists – pop her name into my search box and you’ll find reviews of every single book that’s followed. And then, in March 2023, with the new name of Louise Swanson on the cover, came End of Story – so cleverly constructed and with immense emotional impact, a chilling and totally absorbing read, a grim and vividly drawn picture of that future world where fiction is banned, all underpinned by protagonist Fern’s mantra of “If you tell a story well enough, it’s true”. The author’s writing has never been better – and I was very much looking forward to seeing where her imagination had taken her this time…
When darkness is everywhere, nowhere is safe…
A state of emergency has been declared in the UK. From now on, at 8pm every night, all electricity cuts out.
The Government promises it’s a temporary measure. They promise they are always thinking of your safety.
But for Grace, the darkness is anything but safe.
Someone is coming into her house under its cover every night while she lies in bed upstairs, too terrified to sleep. Someone who knows her past, who knows why she has more reason to fear the dark than most…
And every morning she wakes to a new message from the intruder: I have you in my sights. Love, The Night
But how can Grace escape, when there’s nowhere safe left to hide?
A traumatic incident in her childhood, imperfectly remembered, has left Grace with a deep-seated fear – no, let’s make that a terror – of darkness. So the Government declaration of a state of emergency – from 8pm, the electricity will be cut off, only to be restored in the mornings – is the stuff of nightmares.
Working in a hospice, she sometimes works nights – she’ll be safe there, where the restrictions won’t apply. But some nights she’s at home, unexpectedly alone – and her fear is only magnified when she realises that someone is entering her home in the darkness, leaving unusual gifts and disturbing messages. There are small things that make her feel a little more secure: her mother’s phone calls, though she rarely has time for her; a young girl she waves to from her window, until she’s not there any more; and a friend at work who provides support, but she’s not around when she’s barricaded in her bedroom hearing noises downstairs. The watchers on the streets – to make sure people are safe – see nothing unusual. And her husband should be with her – but he isn’t.
This is one of those books that rather defies categorisation. In many ways, it’s a psychological thriller, and set in a very real imagined world – the Government response to the climate crisis and the absence of concern for the people left without heat or light, the spread of illness, the increasing number of accidents filling hospitals, is all too believable. But it’s also very much Grace’s own story – her emotional experience, facing up to her fear, trying to apply logic to a situation that she can’t understand, finding the bravery to examine the past and deal with the present. And I’ll use the word “emotional” again – there are so many layers to the story, and it’s such a compelling read, but Grace’s loneliness and vulnerability is something that really hurts at times, especially during those dark and endless nights.
It’s a chilling read, the tension steadily mounting, filled with darkness and the horrors it conceals – but also uplifting as Grace finds the courage and tenacity to cope with her challenges, and reach a new understanding. The author’s writing has never been better – this was an extraordinary read, stunningly believable, and entirely unforgettable.
‘Tense and intriguing, creeping paranoia oozes from every page . . . Louise Swanson is a talent that shines in the dark’ Janice Hallett
‘The most zeitgeist thriller of 2024 . . . Terrifyingly believable and horribly real. I’d say I devoured it, but I think the truth is that it devoured me’ Helen Fields
‘Chillingly convincing, this is a novel that echoes around your head for a long time after reading’ B.P. Walter
About the author
Louise Swanson is the penname of bestselling author Louise Beech, who has published eight novels with Orenda Books, and a memoir, Eighteen Seconds, with Mardle. Her work has previously shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Award and the Polari Prize. She won Best’s Book of the Year with her 2019 psychological thriller Call Me Star Girl.
Follow Louise on Twitter and Facebook: she also has an excellent website. Details of Louise’s books written as Louise Beech can be found on her Amazon author page and, other than her memoir, via the Orenda Books website.
