Tag Archives: thrillers

Book Title:
Tell the Story to its End
Book Author:
Simon P. Clark
Publishing Date:
October 20th, 2015
Publisher:
St. Martin's Griffin
Date Read:
October 6th, 2015

Synopsis

In this beautiful, haunting debut, a boy is whisked away to the country in the wake of a scandal, and finds a captivating creature in the attic whose attention comes at a sinister price.

"Tell the story to its end," says Eren with a grin.

His yellow eyes are glowing like embers in the night.

"When I reach the end," I say, "what happens? You'll have the whole story."

"Hmm," he says, looking at me and licking his lips with a dry, grey tongue. "What happens then? Why don't we find out?"

People are keeping secrets from Oli. His mum has brought him to stay with his aunt and uncle in the countryside, but nobody will tell him why his dad where his father is. Why isn't he with them? Has something happened? Oli has a hundred questions, and only an old, empty house in the middle of an ancient forest for answers. But then he finds a secret of his own: there is a creature that lives in the attic…

Eren is not human.< Eren is hungry for stories.

Eren has been waiting for him.

Sharing his stories with Eren, Oli starts to make sense of what’s happening downstairs with his family. But what if it’s a trap? Soon, Oli must make a choice: learn the truth—or abandon himself to Eren’s world, forever.

Reminiscent of SKELLIG by David Almond and A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness, EREN is richly atmospheric, moving, unsettleing, and told in gorgeous prose. A modern classic in the making.

My Review

This dark, somewhat chilling story depicts what happens when a story (or collection of stories) comes to life. Oli is a twelve year old boy who is suddenly uprooted and moved to the country (a tiny, middle of nowhere kind … Continue reading

4 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
Sweet Madness
Book Author:
Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie
Publishing Date:
September 15th, 2015
Publisher:
Merit Press
Date Read:
October 3rd, 2015

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Bridget Sullivan is alone in Fall River, a city that sees Irish immigrants as nothing more than a drunken drain on society. To make matters worse, she's taken employment with the city’s most peculiar and gossip-laden family—the Bordens. But Bridget can’t afford to be picky—the pay surpasses any other job Bridget could ever secure and she desperately needs the money to buy her little sister, Cara, passage to the states. It doesn’t hurt that the job location is also close to her beau, Liam. As she enters the disturbing inner workings of the Borden household, Bridget clings to these advantages.

However, what seemed like a straightforward situation soon turns into one that is untenable. Of course Bridget has heard the gossip around town about the Bordens, but what she encounters is far more unsettling. The erratic, paranoid behavior of Mr. Borden, the fearful silence of his wife, and worse still…the nightly whisperings Bridget hears that seem to come from the walls themselves.

The unexpected bright spot of the position is that Lizzie Borden is so friendly. At first, Bridget is surprised at how Lizzie seems to look out for her, how she takes a strong interest in Bridget’s life. Over time, a friendship grows between them. But when Mr. Borden’s behavior goes from paranoid to cruel, and the eerie occurrences in the house seem to be building momentum, Bridget makes the tough decision that she must leave the house—even if it means leaving behind Lizzie, her closest friend, alone with the madness. Something she swore she would not do.

But when Bridget makes a horrifying discovery in the home, all that she thought she knew about the Bordens is called into question…including if Lizzie is dangerous. And the choice she must make about Lizzie’s character could mean Bridget’s life or death.

Sweet Madnessis a retelling of the infamous Borden murders from the point of view of Lizzie’s Irish maid, Bridget Sullivan.

My Review

Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.   We all know this rhyme, right?  We’ve all heard of Lizzie Borden, but no one really … Continue reading

5 stars
4 Comments
Book Title:
We'll Never Be Apart
Book Author:
Emiko Jean
Publishing Date:
October 6th, 2015
Publisher:
HMH Books for Young Readers
Date Read:
September 24th, 2015

Synopsis

Murder.

Fire.

Revenge.

That’s all seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe thinks about. Committed to a mental ward at Savage Isle, Alice is haunted by memories of the fire that killed her boyfriend, Jason. A blaze her twin sister Cellie set. But when Chase, a mysterious, charismatic patient, agrees to help her seek vengeance, Alice begins to rethink everything. Writing out the story of her troubled past in a journal, she must confront hidden truths. Is the one person she trusts only telling her half the story? Nothing is as it seems in this edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from the debut author Emiko Jean.

My Review

I’ve always had problems with books that label themselves as thrillers, mostly because they are so predictable and the author just tries too hard to make it believable or interesting.  The characters usually lack depth, and they’re typically uninteresting, because … Continue reading

5 stars
6 Comments
Book Title:
How We Fall
Book Author:
Kate Brauning
Publishing Date:
November 3rd, 2014
Publisher:
Merit Press
Date Read:
September 17th, 2015

Synopsis

Ever since Jackie moved to her uncle's sleepy farming town, she's been flirting way too much--and with her own cousin, Marcus.

Her friendship with him has turned into something she can't control, and he's the reason Jackie lost track of her best friend, Ellie, who left for...no one knows where. Now Ellie has been missing for months, and the police, fearing the worst, are searching for her body. Swamped with guilt and the knowledge that acting on her love for Marcus would tear their families apart, Jackie pushes her cousin away. The plan is to fall out of love, and, just as she hoped he would, Marcus falls for the new girl in town. But something isn't right about this stranger, and Jackie's suspicions about the new girl's secrets only drive the wedge deeper between Jackie and Marcus--and deepens Jackie's despair.

Then Marcus is forced to pay the price for someone else's lies as the mystery around Ellie's disappearance starts to become horribly clear. Jackie has to face terrible choices. Can she leave her first love behind, and can she go on living with the fact that she failed her best friend?

My Review

This book made me want some hot chocolate.  Aside from the fact that the characters in this book make tons of it, it seemed like a book that could pair well with a nice cup of hot chocolate with extra … Continue reading

5 stars
3 Comments
Book Title:
The Dead House
Book Author:
Dawn Kurtagich
Publishing Date:
September 15th, 2015
Publisher:
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date Read:
August 27th, 2015

Synopsis

Debut author Dawn Kurtagich is dead on in this terrifying psychological thriller!

Over two decades have passed since the fire at Elmbridge High, an inferno that took the lives of three teenagers. Not much was known about the events leading up to the tragedy - only that one student, Carly Johnson, vanished without a trace...

...until a diary is found hidden in the ruins.

But the diary, badly scorched, does not belong to Carly Johnson. It belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, a girl who shouldn't exist Who was Kaitlyn? Why did she come out only at night? What is her connection to Carly?

The case has been reopened. Police records are being reexamined: psychiatric reports, video footage, text messages, e-mails. And the diary.

The diary that paints a much more sinister version of events than was ever made publicly known.

My Review

Right now I’m going through a “horror and thriller” phase when it comes to books – I just want to read creepy stuff (yeah, and then comes the problem of not being able to sleep at night, but hey, small … Continue reading

5 stars
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Book Title:
From Where I Watch You
Book Author:
Shannon Grogan
Publishing Date:
August 4th, 2015
Publisher:
Soho Teen
Date Read:
September 6th, 2015

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Kara McKinley is about to realize her dream of becoming a professional baker. Beautifully designed and piped, her cookies are masterpieces, but also her ticket out of rainy Seattle—if she wins the upcoming national baking competition and its scholarship prize to culinary school in California. Kara can no longer stand the home where her family lived, laughed, and ultimately imploded after her mean-spirited big sister Kellen died in a drowning accident. Kara’s dad has since fled, and her mom has turned from a high-powered attorney into a nutty holy-rolling Christian fundamentalist peddling “Soul Soup” in the family café. All Kara has left are memories of better times.

But the past holds many secrets, and they come to light as Kara faces a secret terror. Someone is leaving her handwritten notes. Someone who knows exactly where she is and what’s she’s doing. As they lead her to piece together the events that preceded Kellen’s terrible, life-changing betrayal years before, she starts to catch glimpses of her dead sister: an unwelcome ghost in filthy Ugg boots. If Kara doesn’t figure out who her stalker is, and soon, she could lose everything. Her chance of escape. The boy she’s beginning to love and trust. Even her life.

My Review

When I first heard about this book and saw the really pretty cover and the creepy title (that pretty much says a lot about what this book is about), I was excited to read it.  While I do find it … Continue reading

4 stars
2 Comments
Book Title:
The Messengers
Book Author:
Edward Hogan
Publishing Date:
May 12, 2015
Publisher:
Candlewick Press
Date Read:
July 24, 2015

Synopsis

If you could see the future, would you have the guts to change it? A new psychological thriller from the author of Daylight Saving.

Fifteen-year-old Frances is sent to her aunt’s house for the summer to escape difficulties at home. Soon she meets Peter, a man unlike anyone she has ever known. Peter is a messenger—but his messages never bring good news. Peter believes that Frances is a messenger, too. In a compelling page-turner as complex as it is chilling, the author of Daylight Saving poses the provocative question: If you could change the future, where would you start?

My Review

Let me start by saying that this is one of those books in which the blurb does no justice. I read the synopsis on this book a few times, and while it sounded great, it really could have been better … Continue reading

4 stars
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Book Title:
They Call Me Alexandra Gastone
Book Author:
T.A. Maclagan
Publishing Date:
May 20th, 2015
Publisher:
Full Fathom Five Digital
Date Read:
April 9, 2015

Synopsis

When your life is a lie, how do you know what’s real? Alexandra Gastone has a simple plan: graduate high school, get into Princeton, work for the CIA, and serve her great nation. She was told the plan back when her name was Milena Rokva, back before the real Alexandra and her family were killed in a car crash. Milena was trained to be a sleeper agent by Perun, a clandestine organization from her true homeland of Olissa. There, Milena learned everything she needed to infiltrate the life of CIA analyst Albert Gastone, Alexandra’s grandfather, and the ranks of America’s top intelligence agency. For seven years, “Alexandra” has been on standby and life’s been good. Grandpa Albert loves her, and her strategically chosen boyfriend, Grant, is amazing. But things are about to change. Perun no longer needs her at the CIA in five years’ time. They need her active now. Between her cover as a high school girl—juggling a homecoming dance, history reports, and an increasingly suspicious boyfriend—and her mission in this high-stakes spy game, the boundaries of her two lives are beginning to blur. Will she stay true to the country she barely remembers, or has her loyalty shattered along with her identity?

My Review

Alexandra Gastone has a seemingly great life to all those on the outside.  She has a boyfriend, she does well in school, and she lives with and is close to her grandfather, who works in the CIA.  She is on … Continue reading

5 stars
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2 Comments
Book Title:
Charlie, Presumed Dead
Book Author:
Anne Heltzel
Publishing Date:
June 2, 2015
Publisher:
HMH Books for Young Readers
Date Read:
June 8, 2015

Synopsis

In this thrilling tale of suspense and deception, two girls are shocked to discover they've both been dating the same boy when they show up at his funeral. What else don't they know about Charlie Price? As they travel from Paris, to London, to Mumbai to Bangkok, the girls try to figure out Charlie's secrets but soon discover they are harboring secrets of their own. This page-turning psychological mystery will engulf teen fans of Gillian Flynn and Gossip Girl. In Paris, family and friends gather to mourn the tragic passing of Charlie Price—young, handsome, charming, a world-traveler—who is presumed dead after an explosion. Authorities find only a bloodied jacket, ID’d as Charlie’s. At the funeral, two teens who are perfect strangers, Lena Whitney and Aubrey Boroughs, make another shocking discovery: they have both been dating Charlie, both think Charlie loved them and them alone, and there is a lot they didn’t know about their boyfriend. Over the next week, a mind-bending trip unfolds: first in London—then in Mumbai, Kerala, and Bangkok, the girls go in search of Charlie. Is he still alive? What did their love for him even mean? The truth is out there, but soon it becomes clear that the girls are harboring secrets of their own. No one knows whom to trust in this thrilling tale of suspense and deception.

My Review

Thrilling?  No.  Suspense?  Ehh… I don’t even know what to call this, aside from kind of boring and lackluster. Honestly…it felt like it took me forever to finish this book.  That’s such a shame because I was so looking forward … Continue reading

2 stars
4 Comments