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The Hostile #5

The Hostile Series Box Set

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The Hostile Series Box Set is a collection of every book in The Hostile series of unusual contemporary British paranormal crime thrillers. Book 1 is The Hostile, Book 2 is Holiday for The Hostile, Book 3 is The Hostile Game, and Book 4 is Confronting The Hostile. This ‘refreshingly original’ series is set mainly in Manchester, Liverpool, and Ireland. Get it before it gets you.

624 pages, Paperback

Published August 17, 2017

2 people are currently reading
109 people want to read

About the author

Joy Mutter

30 books144 followers
Author of Random Bullets, 4 books in The Hostile series, Her Demonic Angel, Living with Postcards, Potholes and Magic Carpets, The Mug Trilogy, The Trouble with Liam, The Trouble with Trouble, Trouble in Cornwall, Troubled, Nuru and his Crows, The Storms of Padstow, Punishing the Innocent, The Brothers Grimshaw, A Sunny Day in Oldham, Friends in Need, Chasing her Shadow, and Caravan of Nightmares.

Joy Mutter started writing books in 2007 but waited until 2015 to publish six of them on Amazon. More books soon followed. All her books are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Nine books also have audiobook versions on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.

Joy was born in Jersey in the Channel Islands and lived there for 18 years. After gaining a Graphic Design Degree at Coventry University, she lived and worked in Kent as a professional graphic designer for 20 years. She moved from Kent to Oldham in 2012 and has been writing, designing, and publishing her books full-time ever since.

Her first 3 books are third-person autobiographies and form The Mug Trilogy. Books in this series are A Slice of the Seventies, The Lying Scotsman, and Straws.

Potholes and Magic Carpets is a contemporary character-led novel.

Living with Postcards is her first non-fiction book.

Random Bullets is a psychological thriller with a paranormal twist.

Her Demonic Angel was published in early 2016 in Kindle, paperback, and audiobook. It contains fourteen of Joy Mutter's short stories written in various genres.

In 2016-2017, Joy published The Hostile Series of unusual paranormal crime thrillers. Books in the series are The Hostile, Holiday for The Hostile, The Hostile Game, Confronting The Hostile, and The Hostile Series Box Set. Each book in The Hostile series is available in Kindle, paperback, and audiobook editions.

The Trouble with Liam, a psychological thriller was published in 2018. Between 2019 and 2020, she published 3 erotic thrillers; The Trouble With Trouble, Trouble In Cornwall, and Troubled.

In 2021, Joy published Nuru And His Crows, a dark erotic thriller. Her first novella, The Brothers Grimshaw, was published in 2022 along with A Sunny Day in Oldham. In March 2023, she published her 20th book, The Storms of Padstow, book 2 of the Nuru and his Crows series. Punishing the Innocent, book 3 of the series soon followed.

She then wrote a third-person memoir called The Brothers Grimshaw, and a novel called Friends in Need.

In 2025, she published a thriller called Chasing her Shadow and her second collection of short stories called Caravan of Nightmares.

Joy is currently writing her third collection of short stories.

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Annie.
170 reviews16 followers
August 21, 2017
I purchased this box set because the books sounded interesting. Not having read any of the author's works before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Once I started reading book #1, I found this book to be a really excellent read. In fact all 4 books are truly excellent. The storyline is unlike anything that I have read before. Each book can in theory be read as a stand alone novel because at the start of each book, the author gives a brief outline of previous events. Personally, I prefer to read a series of books in numerical order. There is some gore, but there is also humour. I had a good laugh especially with the banter between Keith and Carl. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read. Hopefully, there are going to be further books in the series. The ending of book #4 certainly leaves the storyline wide open for a continuation, so I am hoping there are.

I do not want to give many spoilers, so will give a brief blurb:

Serena Drummond lives in Manchester with her dysfunctional family. She has a disability and unfortunately the school bullies pick on her and make her life terrible. Serena has no friends and at home spends a lot of her time in the bathroom. To her amazement one of the tiles (whom she calls Tile X) starts talking to her and a strong bond forms between them.

Serena's father Keith, an unemployed layabout, starts having an affair with Rachel, who is basically a nymphomaniac. Beatrice, Keith's wife, finds out about the affair and they end up having an almighty row and Beatrice asks him to leave. Serena has heard all the arguing and is telling Tile X all about her father's indiscretions and wishes that he was dead. Keith having nowhere to go, decides to visit his friend Carl who lives on Saddleworth moor. He catches the bus, a freak snowstorm starts and Keith, after getting off the bus, has about a mile to walk to his friend's house. Being the macho man that he his, his clothing is most unsuitable for this extreme weather. The snowstorm is unlike anything that he has ever seen before, the snowflakes are enormous. Unfortunately, he loses his way and ends up freezing to death.

The story continues as to how Tile X gradually builds his hold over Serena. Strange unexplained deaths keep happening that the police cannot solve. By book #3, the years have passed and Serena now 18 years old, knows about Melanie Scarfe, who lives in Liverpool. Melanie is also being controlled by a similar tile to Tile X, her tile has the name of Joe. They have found out that Tile X and Joe are in competition with each other - their respective bosses the Host and Hostess are actually playing a game. Serena and Melanie decide that they have had enough of the tiles controlling their lives, so Serena comes up with a plan as to how they can get rid of the tiles from their lives.

By book #4, ex Superintendent John Morris and DCI Damon Flint, are being controlled. Damon comes up with a plan to rid John and himself of the dredded tiles. The plan appears to work, but have they managed to destroy the evil tiles?

I'm now waiting for the next book in the series to find out what happens.
171 reviews10 followers
January 22, 2018
22 1 2018
Where Evil gets its wicked way.
by Frances Pridmore
These extraordinary books carry you into a world of Joy Mutter's wicked mind that I truly loved.
At the beginning of the first chapter I wondered what I was reading but by the end of the second chapter I couldn't put it down.
There is never a dull moment in these four stories.
it's a Rollercoaster read where evil takes over in the most wicked ways we could ever imagine.
Highly recommended.
Profile Image for P.S. Winn.
Author 102 books364 followers
December 18, 2017
Readers are going to want to grab this collection which lets you take a journey into darkness and supernatural horror. The books are intriguing and after completing them all I recommend this series to readers who love an intriguing story.
43 reviews3 followers
February 11, 2023
This is the first time I've read this author. The characters are believable and work well together. It was an entertaining read and a great series. Visiting bathrooms will never be the same again.
Profile Image for Terry.
1,008 reviews33 followers
August 15, 2017
I've read all of these before put in this set and I love them! Addicted to finding out what's next if I'm honest. Joy has written an original and imagination grabbing storyline. Ghosts, murder, spooky, funny at times, a good mix of them all.
Tile X is a bizarre find that just continues to torment and then Joe appears and the mayhem just keeps going.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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