Tag Archives: thrillers

Book Title:
Slow Burner
Book Author:
Laura Lippman
Book Series:
Hush, #3
Page Count:
33
Publishing Date:
July 30th, 2020
Publisher:
Amazon Original Stories
Date Read:
March 2nd, 2021
Format:
Kindle Edition
Source:
Prime Reading

Synopsis

A woman watches her marriage implode over text message and decides that ignorance is not bliss in this bitterly satisfying short mystery by the New York Times bestselling author of Lady in the Lake.

Liz Kelsey promised herself she’d never again spy on her feckless husband, Phil. But then she discovers a string of suggestive texts on his secret burner phone. Even worse, he’s flirting with the woman who shook their unstable marriage once before. But knowledge is power. What’s more dangerous—what Liz knows or what Phil doesn’t know?

Laura Lippman’s Slow Burner is part ofHush, a collection of six stories, ranging from political mysteries to psychological thrillers, in which deception can be a matter of life and death. Each piece can be read or listened to in one truly chilling sitting.

My Review

Slow Burner, the third book in the Hush short story collection from Amazon Original Stories, was such as deliciously wicked thriller that I absolutely enjoyed so much – in fact, I think it was one of the best short stories … Continue reading

4.5 stars
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Book Title:
Watching You
Book Author:
Lisa Jewell
Page Count:
320
Publishing Date:
December 26th, 2018
Publisher:
Atria Books
Date Read:
February 2nd, 2020
Format:
Hardcover
Source:
Library

Synopsis

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.

One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…

My Review

I’ve been reading a lot of Lisa Jewell books lately – it all started when I chose The Family Upstairs as my Book of the Month, and I’ve been excitedly going through her books, because I loved that one so … Continue reading

4 stars
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Book Title:
I Invited Her In
Book Author:
Adele Parks
Page Count:
432
Publishing Date:
February 15th, 2019
Publisher:
MIRA
Date Read:
October 10th, 2019
Format:
Kindle Edition
Source:
Purchased

Synopsis

Imagine the worst thing a friend could ever do.

This is worse.

When Mel receives an unexpected email from her oldest friend Abi, it brings back memories she thought she had buried forever. Their friendship belonged in the past. To those carefree days at university.

But Abi is in trouble and needs Mel’s help, and she wants a place to stay. Just for a few days, while she sorts things out. It’s the least Mel can do.

After all, friends look out for each other, don’t they?

I Invited Her In is a blistering tale of wanting what you can’t have, jealousy, and revenge from Sunday Times best-seller Adele Parks.

My Review

I don’t read a lot of books that aren’t young adult, but when I come across one that sounds amazing, I can’t not pick it up. That was the case for me with I Invited Her In by Adele Parks. … Continue reading

4 stars
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Book Title:
A Line in the Dark
Book Author:
Malinda Lo
Page Count:
288
Publishing Date:
October 17th, 2017
Publisher:
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Date Read:
October 24th, 2017
Source:
ARC from publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

The line between best friend and something more is a line always crossed in the dark.

Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. And that’s the most important thing, even if Angie can’t see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. While nobody notices her, she’s free to watch everyone else. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. Suddenly her powers of observation are more curse than gift.

As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences. When the inevitable darkness finally descends, Angie will need her best friend.

“It doesn’t even matter that she probably doesn’t understand how much she means to me. It’s purer this way. She can take whatever she wants from me, whenever she wants it, because I’m her best friend.”

A Line in the Dark is a story of love, loyalty, and murder.

My Review

When I first heard about A Line in the Dark, I was eager to jump into reading it.  With the creepy cover and the synopsis that promised a slightly creepy story that was bound to keep me on the edge … Continue reading

4 stars
9 Comments
Book Tour
Book Title:
There's Someone Inside Your House
Book Author:
Stephanie Perkins
Page Count:
289
Publishing Date:
September 26th, 2017
Publisher:
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Date Read:
September 14th, 2017
Source:
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review - Thank you!

Synopsis

Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.

One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.

International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

My Review

Wow. There’s Someone Inside Your House is the kind of book that just makes you sit back and think “wow” long after you have finished reading.  The book is such a thrill ride and it was so much fun, while … Continue reading

29 Comments
Book Tour
Book Title:
Unearthly Things
Book Author:
Michelle Gagnon
Page Count:
288
Publishing Date:
April 11th, 2017
Publisher:
Soho Teen
Date Read:
April 15th, 2017
Source:
ARC from publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre retold against the backdrop of San Francisco's most fabulous—and dangerous—elites.

After losing her parents in a tragic accident, surfer girl Janie Mason trades the sunny beaches of Hawaii for the cold fog of San Francisco and new guardians—the Rochesters—she’s never even met. Janie feels hopelessly out of place in their world of Napa weekends, fancy cotillions, and chauffeurs. The only person she can relate to is Daniel, a fellow surfer. Meeting him makes Janie feel like things might be looking up.

Still, something isn’t right in the Rochester mansion. There are noises—screams—coming from the attic that everyone else claims they can’t hear. Then John, the black sheep of the family, returns after getting kicked out of yet another boarding school. Soon Janie finds herself torn between devil-may-care John and fiercely loyal Daniel. Just when she thinks her life can’t get any more complicated, she learns the truth about why the Rochesters took her in. They want something from Janie, and she’s about to see just how far they’ll go to get it.

My Review

Unearthly Things is a real treat for those looking for YA horror that isn’t too terrifying, yet relies a lot on thrilling concepts to tell an amazing story.  For those who aren’t too into horror, but every now and again … Continue reading

4 stars
8 Comments
Book Title:
Nemesis
Book Author:
Brendan Reichs
Book Series:
Project Nemesis, #1
Publishing Date:
March 21st, 2017
Publisher:
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Date Read:
March 21st, 2017
Source:
ARC from publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

He killed me. He killed me not. He killed me.

It’s been happening since Min was eight. Every two years, on her birthday, a strange man finds her and murders her in cold blood. But hours later, she wakes up in a clearing just outside her tiny Idaho hometown—alone, unhurt, and with all evidence of the horrifying crime erased.

Across the valley, Noah just wants to be like everyone else. But he’s not. Nightmares of murder and death plague him, though he does his best to hide the signs. But when the world around him begins to spiral toward panic and destruction, Noah discovers that people have been lying to him his whole life. Everything changes in an eye blink.

For the planet has a bigger problem. The Anvil, an enormous asteroid threatening all life on Earth, leaves little room for two troubled teens. Yet on her sixteenth birthday, as she cowers in her bedroom, hoping not to die for the fifth time, Min has had enough. She vows to discover what is happening in Fire Lake and uncovers a lifetime of lies: a vast conspiracy involving the sixty-four students of her sophomore class, one that may be even more sinister than the murders.

My Review

As a reader who is incredibly fond of YA thrillers, when a copy of Nemesis fell into my hands, I was beyond excited to start reading.  Having never read anything else by Brendan Reichs, I wasn’t sure exactly what I … Continue reading

5 stars
10 Comments
Book Title:
To Catch a Killer
Book Author:
Sheryl Scarborough
Publishing Date:
February 7th, 2017
Publisher:
Tor Teen
Date Read:
February 3rd, 2017
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

Erin Blake has one of those names. A name that, like Natalee Holloway or Elizabeth Smart, is inextricably linked to a grisly crime. As a toddler, Erin survived for three days alongside the corpse of her murdered mother, and the case—which remains unsolved—fascinated a nation. Her father's identity unknown, Erin was taken in by her mother's best friend and has become a relatively normal teen in spite of the looming questions about her past.

Fourteen years later, Erin is once again at the center of a brutal homicide when she finds the body of her biology teacher. When questioned by the police, Erin tells almost the whole truth, but never voices her suspicions that her mother's killer has struck again in order to protect the casework she's secretly doing on her own.

Inspired by her uncle, an FBI agent, Erin has ramped up her forensic hobby into a full-blown cold-case investigation. This new murder makes her certain she's close to the truth, but when all the evidence starts to point the authorities straight to Erin, she turns to her longtime crush (and fellow suspect) Journey Michaels to help her crack the case before it's too late.

My Review

Every now and again, I love reading a mystery/thriller much like this one.  They tend to be full of tense, edge of your seat action, and honestly make you guess at what’s going on throughout the novel, leading up to … Continue reading

4 stars
12 Comments
Book Title:
Frozen Charlotte
Book Author:
Alex Bell
Book Series:
Red Eye
Publishing Date:
November 29th, 2016
Publisher:
Scholastic
Date Read:
November 19th, 2016
Source:
I received a copy from the publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

An instantly gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller filled with haunted dolls, creepy settings, and horrific twists.

When fifteen-year-old Sophie's best friend dies abruptly under mysterious circumstances, Sophie sets off to stay with her uncle and cousins on the remote Isle of Skye. It's been years since she last saw her cousins -- brooding Cameron with his scarred hand; Piper, who seems too perfect to be real; and peculiar little Lilias with her fear of bones.

Sophie knows that in her uncle's house, there are rules she must follow: Make no mention of Cameron's accident. Never leave the front gate unlocked. Above all, don't speak of the girl who's no longer there, the sister whose room lies empty of all but the strange antique dolls she left behind.

As Sophie begins to explore the old house, a former academy for girls shut down long ago, she discovers unsettling secrets that shed light on a dark and dangerous history. But there are some secrets Sophie never expected to uncover. Secrets about her own family. Secrets that suggest Sophie may be in more danger than she could have ever imagined.

My Review

Horror is such a fun genre that is perfect  for reading all year – not just during the Halloween season!  Frozen Charlotte is a great horror read that would be perfect for reading at any time of the year, and … Continue reading

5 stars
4 Comments
Book Title:
Dead Girls Society
Book Author:
Michelle Krys
Publishing Date:
November 8th, 2016
Publisher:
Delacorte Press
Date Read:
November 16th, 2016
Source:
ARC from publisher - Thank you!

Synopsis

You are cordially invited to participate in a game of thrills and dares. Tell no one, and come alone. If you dare.

Hope is sick of everyone treating her like she’s breakable. Sure, she has cystic fibrosis (basically really bad lungs), but she’s tired of being babied by her mom and her overprotective best friend, Ethan, not to mention worrying about paying for her expensive medication and how she’s going to afford college.And she’s bored with life in her run-down New Orleans suburb.

When an invitation arrives from a mysterious group that calls itself the Society, Hope jumps at the chance for some excitement. This could be her ticket out. All she has to do is complete a few dares and she just might win some real money.

But the Society isn’t all that it seems . . . and soon Hope finds that playing the game isn’t a choice—it’s a requirement.

My Review

I’m not sure what drove me to want to read this book so badly…maybe it was the nifty cover or the clever title…or even that amazing sounding plot.  Either way, I was super excited to dive into this one. Dead … Continue reading

4 stars
13 Comments