The Exes’ Revenge, by Jo Jakeman ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Domestic Abuse, Thriller

Thanks to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

352 Pages

Synopsis: A wickedly dark debut thriller about three women who’ve all been involved with the same man and realize the one thing they all have in common is that they all want revenge against him…

Divorces are often messy, and Imogen’s is no exception. Phillip Rochester is controlling, abusive, and determined to make things as difficult as possible. When he shows up without warning demanding that Imogen move out of their house by the end of the month or he’ll sue for sole custody of their young son, Imogen is ready to snap. 

In a moment of madness, Imogen does something unthinkable—something that puts her in control for the first time in years. She’s desperate to protect her son, and to claim authority over her own life.

But she wasn’t expecting both Phillip’s ex-wife and his new girlfriend to get tangled up in her plans. These three very different women—and unlikely allies—reluctantly team up to take revenge against a man who’s wronged them all.

The Exes’ Revenge is a book that I really shouldn’t have liked as much as I did. It’s insanely over-the-top, with completely ridiculous and unbelievable plot twists, and characters that make truly horrendous decisions, yet despite all this it somehow worked and I don’t even know why. I do want to include a warning though for any reader who’s been a victim of domestic abuse, both physical and psychological. There are quite a few scenes that could serve as triggers so this might not be the right book for you.

Imogen is the despicable Phillip’s soon to be ex-wife. I liked her a lot and her devotion to her son Alistair. I found her very empathetic, so much so, that when it’s her appalling decisions and actions that set everything into motion, I was still rooting for her much to my shock. Ruby is Phillip’s first wife and she doesn’t really make a personal appearance until about halfway through the book. Out of the three women, she was the one who annoyed me the most with her persistent and sickening devotion to Phillip. But something changes and I did wind up liking her near the end. Naomi is Phillip’s current girlfriend and initially comes across as selfish and callous. There’s a lot more to her though and after Imogen, she wound up being my favorite character. Which brings us to Phillip who is one of the most despicable characters I’ve come across in a very long time. I’m not usually a violent person, but I wanted him to die slowly and painfully.

The story, as I said is completely bonkers and I kept shaking my head in disbelief, yet I couldn’t tear myself away. There are some truly brutal scenes that made me wince, but there’s also some unexpected black humor which had me laughing a few times. The ending is perfect and ties everything up in a nice neat bow.

Overall I think the Exes’ Revenge is a highly entertaining thriller that captured my attention from the very first page. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys thriller and would just advise that before you jump in, leave any expectations of believability at the door and hang on for a roller coaster of a ride!

 

 

 

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Creature, by Hunter Shea ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Chronic Illness, Family Relationships, Horror, Psychological Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 6th, 2018

256 Pages

Synopsis: The monsters live inside of Kate Woodson. Chronic pain and a host of autoimmune diseases have robbed her of a normal, happy life. Her husband Andrew’s surprise of their dream Maine lake cottage for the summer is the gift of a lifetime. It’s beautiful, remote, idyllic, a place to heal. But they are not alone. Something is in the woods, screeching in the darkness, banging on the house, leaving animals for dead. Just like her body, Kate’s cottage becomes her prison. She and Andrew must fight to survive the creature that lurks in the dead of night.

I’ve read quite a few books by Hunter Shea and I know I can always rely on his stories to be fun, totally insane horror mixed with subtly sly humor. Creature is completely different, in that it’s more character driven, and it’s one that will reach many readers at a deeply personal level.

For fans of his books, I have to caution the “monster” doesn’t really rear its head until the last third of the book. There’s obviously something going on as poor Kate and Andrew try to enjoy their getaway, but the usual blood and gore doesn’t come into play until the latter part of the book. Instead, the main focus is on Kate and her battles against several autoimmune disorders including Lupus and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that have impacted her life in some truly horrible ways. The author writes Kate with such emotion I knew even before reading the afterward, that he must know someone who suffer from these debilitating illnesses. I have to be honest and say this isn’t the easiest read, especially if you struggle with chronic pain and illness. While Kate is far sicker than I am, I connected with her completely and there were several scenes where I was reduced to tears. Andrew is Kate’s soulmate in every sense of the word. He tries so hard to help his wife and his worry, frustration, and love are palpable. Their relationship in the face of such hardship is the backbone of this story.

The ending is not happily-ever-after, but then Hunter Shea’s books rarely are. This one was especially difficult for me though because I loved the characters so much and became personally invested in them. In my opinion, Creature is Hunter Shea’s best novel to date and that’s really saying something. If you choose to pick this up, make sure to read the afterward as it’ll make you understand how and why this story came about. 

Not Her Daughter, by Rea Frey ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Suspense

 

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now 

352 Pages

Synopsis: Emma Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes, brown hair. Missing since June.

Emma is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.

Sarah Walker, Sucsessful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Kidnapper.

Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the grey-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal. When a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her—far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?

Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure whether she wants her daughter back.

Amy’s life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now Emma is gone without a trace.

As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakable bond. But what about Emma’s real mother, back home?

Not Her Daughter asks that age old questions: is doing the wrong thing ever right? It’s also not a typical missing person storyline. It’s thought-provoking and will make you question your own moral compass. The story is told from the perspectives of both Sarah and Amy, so you get a real sense of who these women are. And what makes it even more interesting is that both women had childhood issues with their mothers and this is affects how they interact with Emma. It’s a suspenseful tale that will constantly have you questioning not only the actions of the characters, but also your own if you were in a similar situation. Not Her Daughter is a spectacular debut by Rea Frey and I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Perfect Friend, by Barbara Copperthwaite ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

320 Pages

Synopsis: She’ll do anything for you…

My name is Alex, and my world has been shattered.

My husband has left me.

My children won’t speak to me.

My friend Carrie is the only person I have.

She’s the only one I can trust to keep all my secrets.

She’d never do anything to let me down.

Would she?

This dark, gripping psychological thriller will have you holding your breath until the very last page. Fans of Behind Closed Doors, Sometimes I Lie, and The Girl on the Train will be captivated. 

The Perfect Friend is another winning psychological suspense from Barbara Copperthwaite that will keep you guessing almost right up until the end! This is the fourth book I’ve read by her so I know now to expect the unexpected when it comes to her characters and storylines. If you enjoy twisty mysteries with unreliable characters and plenty of suspense, I can’t recommend The Perfect Friend highly enough. It will grab your attention from the very first page and I guarantee you’ll find it impossible to put down.

A Noise Downstairs, by Linwood Barclay ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense

Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

368 Pages

Synopsis: The New York Times bestselling author of No Time for Goodbye returns with a haunting psychological thriller that blends the twists and turns of Gillian Flynn with the driving suspense of Harlan Coben, in which a man is troubled by odd sounds for which there is no rational explanation.

College professor Paul Davis is a normal guy with a normal life. Until, driving along a deserted road late one night, he surprises a murderer disposing of a couple of bodies. That’s when Paul’s “normal” existence is turned upside down. After nearly losing his own life in that encounter, he finds himself battling PTSD, depression, and severe problems at work. His wife, Charlotte, desperate to cheer him up, brings home a vintage typewriter—complete with ink ribbons and heavy round keys—to encourage him to get started on that novel he’s always intended to write.

However, the typewriter itself is a problem. Paul swears it’s possessed and types by itself at night. But only Paul can hear the noise coming from downstairs. Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. And she worries that he’s going off the rails.

Paul believe that the typewriter is somehow connected to the murderer he discovered nearly a year ago. The killer had made his victims type apologies to him before ending their lives. Has another sick twist of fate entwined his life with the killer—could this be the same machine? Increasingly tormented but determined to discover the truth and confront his nightmare, Paul begins investigating the deaths himself.

But that may not be the best thing to do. Maybe Paul should just take the typewriter back to where his wife found it. Maybe he should stop asking questions and simply walk away while he can…

I’m sorry my friends that this review is much shorter than usual, but I wanted to tell you how good A Noise Downstairs is. While the first half is slow burning suspense, the second half explodes into an action packed thriller. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, there would be a surprising twist that would prove me wrong. The biggest and most unusual  twist involves the main character and I thought it was a brilliant piece of writing by the author. This is a perfect popcorn book for the summer!

 

Maze Master: A Thriller, by Kathleen O’Neal Gear ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

352 Pages

Synopsis: LucentB is a retrovirus that’s inevitable, unstoppable, and utterly catastrophic for humanity. The US government believes the only person who can find the cure is the geneticist who tried to warn them and then disappeared: James Hakari. They assign the task of finding him to his former student Anna Asher, who in turn recruits paleographer and religious studies scholar Dr. Martin Nadai.

The brilliant but insane geneticist is leaving clues for Anna and Martin to follow, showing he’s truly earned his students’ nickname for him: the Maze Master. The search takes Anna and Martin around the world and into a warzone they never imagined.

Maze Master’s LucentB is based off of the real retrovirus HERV-K, which has caused several plagues over the past 75,000 years, almost wiping out the Neanderthals 50,000 years ago, and maybe 30,000 years ago. Modern geneticists consider HERV-K not to be extinct, but rather waiting for some trigger to come alive again.

With it scientific and archaeological authenticity and suspenseful clues, Maze Master will have readers rushing through its intricate maze to find out the fate of the world in this thrilling adventure.

I do like a good apocalyptic thriller and while Maze Master had a couple of issues, it was an engaging and quick read. 

While the premise isn’t exactly original, Gear proves why she’s a bestselling author by turning this into a thrilling treasure hunt. Clues are sprinkled throughout the tale and tantalizing secrets are revealed, but I was still kept guessing for most of the book. 

The biggest issue I had was with the characters. I found them dry and their personalities not developed enough. However, the mystery and action made this less of a problem than it ordinarily would have been. 

Overall, Maze Master is an exciting story that I think fans of Michael Crichton and Dan Brown will enjoy. As always, I’m looking forward to seeing what Kathleen O’Neal Gear comes up with next.

 

Little Sister, by Isabel Ashdown ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

304 Pages

Synopsis: No one knows you better than a sister—your dreams, your fears, your mistakes, and all your secrets.

It was just that way when Jess and her older sister, Emily were children. Born barely a year apart, they were deeply entwined, complementing each other in their differences. When Jess felt awkward and shy, Emily, the consummate big sister, was happy to take the lead. 

After a long estrangement, they’ve become close again. Jess moves into the comfortable Isle of Wight home Emily shares with her husband, step-daughter, and toddler. Any misgivings about the past are swept away and forgotten.

And then, on New Year’s Eve, little Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care.

Jess is in shock, unable to remember what happened. Emily, traumatized, watches helplessly as her life unravels. But as the search intensifies and the police detective’s questions grow more pointed, a different picture emerges. Behind the image of a happy family—Daisy’s doting teenage sister, Chloe, loving father and husband, James, and siblings Emily and Jess—there are devastating deceptions and long-ago choices that can never be unmade. And underlying everything is the story of what really happened to drive Emily and Jess apart years ago.

Unfolding through shifting perspectives, Little Sister is a brilliantly plotted, dark, and constantly surprising tale of love, rivalry, and broken loyalty that reveals how far one sister might go to protect—or destroy—another…

Holy Guacamole! You can’t trust anyone nowadays, at least not in Little Sister. Every character has secrets they’re keeping, secrets they’ll do just about anything to protect. Which makes for a deliciously suspenseful and twisty tale which kept me guessing almost right up until the end. The only reason why I’m not giving this a perfect 5 stars is because I thought the middle of the book slowed down a little. However, it wasn’t enough to stop me from reading. I desperately needed to not only find out what happened to little Daisy, but also to the history behind Jess and Emily’s dysfunctional relationship. I highly recommend this to readers who love family drama, unreliable characters, twisty mysteries, and psychological suspense. 

 

 

 

 

Believe Me, by J.P. Delaney, Tony Strong (Pseudonym) ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

320 Pages

Synopsis: In this twisty psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation.

One out-of-work British actress pays the rent on her New York City apartment the only way she can: as a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers, hired to entrap straying husbands. When the cops begin investigating one of her targets for murdering his wife—and potentially others—they ask her to lure the husband into a confession.

But with the actress pretending to be someone she isn’t, differentiating the decoy from the prey becomes impossible—and deadly.

I have to be honest and say when I saw Believe Me up for request I hesitated before hitting that little button. I had some issues with last year’s The Girl Before so I wasn’t sure if I wanted to give Delaney another try, especially as my eARCS that are waiting to be reviewed are out of control. But, I did like the mystery in the previous book so I figured I’d give this a shot.

Claire is an extremely complex character who intrigued me from the very first page. She takes the familiar unreliable narrator to whole new heights because she’s a actress. She’s a wonderfully written twist on a familiar trope. While the secondary characters aren’t nearly as well written, I didn’t mind this as much as I ordinarily would have because Claire was the one who had my undivided attention.

The story itself is a fun cat-and-mouse story which kept my attention the entire time. I did think the last part of the book was a bit over-the-top and certain things had me rolling my eyes, but this wasn’t enough to spoil my overall enjoyment.

Believe Me is a fun twisty mystery/suspense that I unhesitatingly recommend to fans of these genres. It’s a quick read that doesn’t require a great deal of concentration which makes it a perfect summer read.

 

She Was the Quiet One, by Michele Campbell ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Boarding Schools, Hazing, Murder Mystery, Psychological Suspense, Statutory Rape, Twins

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now 

352 Pages

Synopsis: When twin sisters Rose and Bel Enright enroll in The Odell School, a prestigious New Hampshire boarding school, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. But the sisters could not be more different. The school brings out a rivalry between them that few ever knew existed. And the school itself has a dark underbelly: of privileged kids running unchecked and uninhibited; of rituals and traditions that are more sinister than they seem; of wealth and entitlement that can only lead  to disaster.

For Sarah Donovan, wife of an ambitious teacher who is determined to rise through the ranks, Odell seems like the best thing that could happen to their small family. But how well does she really know her husband? What lengths will he go to achieve his goals? And when one dark night ends in murder, who is guilty, who know the truth, and who has been in on it all along? SHE WAS THE QUIET ONE. Because murderers are almost never who you expect.

Have you ever finished a book and thought “I should have hated this!” but instead, reluctantly found yourself enjoying it immensely? That’s exactly how I felt during and after reading She Was the Quiet One.

There are plenty of books with the creepy New England boarding school setting, but I have a weakness for them, so that’s what first attracted me to this book. The chapters alternate between twin sisters Bel and Rose Enright, and Sarah Donovan, the wife of the charismatic and ambitious Heath Donovan, The Donovans are teachers, student advisors, and dorm heads of Moreland Hall, a dorm with a bad reputation and which has had to deal with a few scandals in its history. Interspersed are police interviews with various characters after the murder. In the beginning I was a little nervous because I didn’t like any of the characters except for Sarah. The twins are polar opposites of each other. Bel is the rebellious one who tends to always fall in with the wrong crowd. She’s a follower who will do anything in order to be accepted by the popular crowd. Rose is the quiet studious one but she comes across as judgemental and sanctimonious most of the time. Both girls annoyed me immensely in the beginning but I suspect that Michele Campbell intends that. As the story progresses, both sisters become a bit more empathetic. Sarah, I liked from the beginning and she is the character I connected with the most. When the book first starts it seems like this is the perfect couple with two adorable children, but it’s soon revealed that Heath, once a promising new novelist, was involved in a scandal himself, and these new positions at Odell Academy are a new beginning for the family. Sarah does everything to support her husband’s ambitions, but she’s not blind to his weaknesses either and I felt for her as she struggled. 

The story itself is not one of those twisty thrillers that keep you guessing, although there were a couple of surprises that I didn’t see coming. But even with its predictability, the story was still fun with its drama, secrets, betrayal, and murder. While I figured out who the murderer was before the second half of the book, I still enjoyed watching how events unfolded. And the epilogue was a clever addition that brings everything to a satisfying close.

She Was the Quiet One, is a fast-paced read that’s perfect for the beach or bringing on vacation. While it’s an adult fiction novel, older teens will also enjoy it. 

Kill the Farm Boy (The Tales of Pell #1), by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne ~ 2.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Fairytale Parodies

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: Available Now

384 Pages

Synopsis: Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born…and so begins every fairy tale ever told.

This is not that fairy tale.

There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.

And there isa faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.

There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First, there’s the Dark Lord who wishes for the boy’s untimely death…and also very fine cheese. Then there’s a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar “happily ever after” that ever once-upon-a-timed.

Kill the Farm Boy has been one of my most anticipated novels of 2018. How could it not be with that gorgeous cover and fun premise? Plus, one of the co-authors, Kevin Hearne, is on my top five list of favorite fantasy writers list. I was expecting a fairy tale parody with some Terry Pratchett, Monty Python and Princess Bride thrown in. Instead, much to my dismay, I got raunchy, juvenile humor and double entendres that might appeal to a teenage boy, but for me grew stale very quickly. Despite it being a fairy tale set in the past the story is filled with anachronisms which add to the awkwardness. 

The characters are interesting riffs on familiar ones:  the Chosen One, the Dark Lord, a seven foot tall Amazon-esque female warrior who’s an aspiring horticulturist, an untalented bard who’s been cursed to be a half-rabbit, and a clumsy rogue assassin with a fear of chickens. While they’re diverse and somewhat appealing, they aren’t enough to overcome the non-stop cringeworthy humor. 

There are many 4-5 star reviews on Goodreads, but unfortunately Kill the Farm Boy wasn’t my cup of tea. There are just too many poop and penis jokes and not enough substance. It took me over a week to get through it because I kept putting it down, reading other books, before reluctantly picking it up again. In my opinion not even Miracle Max could breathe life into this.