Author: B P Walter
“The Treehouse” by B P Walter unsettles readers with a story told through the eyes of the perpetrators of a horrible crime. It follows two brothers in their 30s — Robert and Kieran — who are bound by blood, secrets, and a terrible act they committed in their youth. Their inner world is an uneasy position for the reader to inhabit, and at its best, the novel leans into that discomfort.
This 2025 psychological thriller begins with the broadcast of a television series titled “The Treehouse.” The brothers notice a resemblance between the show and their past that is impossible to ignore.
Someone knows, or seems to know, what they did all those summers ago during a family holiday in Cornwall. Someone has taken their secret and turned it into entertainment. For Robert, especially, the fear of being exposed is suffocating.
Walter excels at building tension and sustaining dread. The anxiety that coils through Robert’s thoughts is convincing, and the dynamic between the brothers becomes increasingly claustrophobic and toxic as the story unravels. It is clear that this is a family, a household, where love exists alongside something far darker.
