Jenn's Review: The Wife Upstairs

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: 
Publication Date: January 5th 2021
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 290
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 3.5/5
Bottom Line:What wild you do for security? For Love?
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Blurb: Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates—a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name. 

 But her luck changes when she meets Eddie­ Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie—not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for. 

 Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past—or his—catches up to her?strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced. 

Review:  I’ve read Rachel Hawkins YA books so I thought I’d give this one a try. As I started this book I remembered that I found her writing a little… shallow. Her stories are great, but I feel there isn’t the depth in characters, settings, or details. It makes for a great light read but I always find myself wanting more. This is fine if you love the characters, but I didn't.  I don't mind flawed characters, but there wasn't a single character that was likable for me. I was never able to fully invest in the story.

It is billed as a modern day retelling of Jane Eyre but it has been lightened to the point where I  found it neither thrilling or suspenseful.  While I enjoyed the story, there are some great twists, I found the ending a little too open for my taste and perhaps a little unrealistic. It just feels unfinished.

I have Hawkin's latest Reckless Girls in my TBR pile but I think I will be relegating it to a “beach read.”

Julie's Review: A Good Marriage

Author: Kimberly McCreight
Series: None
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 398
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: More money, more weirdness
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Summary: Lizzie Kitsakis is working late when she gets the call. Grueling hours are standard at elite law firms like Young & Crane, but they’d be easier to swallow if Lizzie was there voluntarily. Until recently, she’d been a happily underpaid federal prosecutor. That job and her brilliant, devoted husband Sam—she had everything she’d ever wanted. And then, suddenly, it all fell apart. No. That’s a lie. It wasn’t sudden, was it? Long ago the cracks in Lizzie’s marriage had started to show. She was just good at averting her eyes. The last thing Lizzie needs right now is a call from an inmate at Rikers asking for help—even if Zach Grayson is an old friend. But Zach is desperate: his wife, Amanda, has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their Brooklyn brownstone. And Zach’s the primary suspect. As Lizzie is drawn into the dark heart of idyllic Park Slope, she learns that Zach and Amanda weren’t what they seemed—and that their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Brooklyn Country Day school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she’s left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place. ~amazon.com

Review: To each his own I say in marriage but the key parties that apparently happen for the nuevo riche left me a bit flabbergasted. How is having sex with someone else so blase? Sorry, I'm from the midwest and while open-minded, this one boggles my mind. Amanda Grayson seems to have it all, the rich/well off husband, the great kid and a solid circle of friends. She's hiding a secret that could destroy her life in the end except someone murders her before it can get it out. Did her murder have something to do with her secret or was it something else? Is her rich husband (because it's always the husband) guilty?

Enter Lizzie who was a federal prosecutor but now is at a firm that deals with white collar crime. Lizzie's got her own issues and so when Zach reaches out to her that he needs a lawyer, she doesn't want to take up the case. Does her firm even do murder cases? It turns out the partner she's assigned to is fine with her taking it as long as it doesn't interfere with her other case.

As Lizzie starts to turn over rocks, she begins to see that things aren't always as shiny on the outside as people make you think. What happens is Lizzie starts to examine her own marriage in a different light and starts to wonder what is a good marriage? Can she even save her marriage and if she does, will it mean saving herself?

I really liked Lizzie, a lot. She was in a tough spot emotionally and financially. She was doing her best to stay afloat but you can only doggy paddle for so long before you get tired. Plus she had the weight of her husband Sam on her back. She believes that Zach is innocent and is determined to fight for him to get the justice he deserves.

Overall I really liked the story and the pace. The characters are interesting and well rounded especially Amanda, Zach and Lizzie. I will say there were a couple things that weren't resolved for me that I would have liked closure on. 


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Jenn's Review: Wolf Lake

Author: John Verdon
Series: Dave Gurney #4
Publication Date: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Counterpoint
Pages: 375
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Crime/Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line:"What crueler and more wicked way could you kill a man than make him kill himself?"
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Blurb: Could a nightmare be used as a murder weapon? That’s the provocative question confronting Gurney in the thrilling new installment in this series of international bestsellers. The former NYPD star homicide detective is called upon to solve a baffling puzzle: Four people who live in different parts of the country and who seem to have little in common, report having had the same dream—a terrifying nightmare involving a bloody dagger with a carved wolf’s head on the handle. All four are subsequently found with their wrists cut — apparent suicides — and the weapon used in each case was a wolf’s head dagger. 

Police zero in quickly on Richard Hammond, a controversial psychologist who conducts hypnotherapy sessions at a spooky old Adirondack inn called Wolf Lake Lodge. It seems that each of the victims had gone there to meet with Hammond shortly before turning up dead. 

Troubled by odd holes in the official approach to the case, Gurney begins his own investigation — an action that puts him in the crosshairs of not only an icy murderer and the local police but the darkest corner of the federal government. As ruthless as the blizzard trapping him in the sinister eeriness of Wolf Lake, Gurney’s enemies set out to keep him from the truth at any cost — including an all-out assault on the sanity of his beloved wife Madeleine. 

With his emotional resources strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced. 

Review:  John Verdon is one of my favorite suspense authors and his books stick with me long after I put them down.  Such is the case with Wolf Lake, though I read it on vacation, the return to snowy WNY seems to keep bringing Madeleine and Dave Gurney's adventure foremost in my thoughts.

For once, Maddie is encouraging Dave to investigate, which should be a red flag from the beginning that this is not going to be your typical Dave Gurney novel.  Not only is Maddie encouraging Dave to assist Harding in his wild case, but she is going to come along for the ride.

The case seems to be going off in wildly different directions and layering on Madeleine's unusual behavior, things become complicated very quickly.  I will say, for the first time, I partially solved the case before Dave did.  I'm not sure if I'm proud of that fact or a little disappointed, but I think it's a combination of both. The big reveal felt a little rushed and some of the characters weren't fully fleshed out for me but the case itself has stuck with me all week.

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Julie's Review: Careful What You Wish For

Author: Hallie Ephron
Series: None
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 304
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 3.75/5
Bottom Line: A bit slow to start and bit easy to figure out
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Summary: Emily Harlow is a professional organizer who helps people declutter their lives; she’s married to man who can’t drive past a yard sale without stopping. He’s filled their basement, attic, and garage with his finds.Like other professionals who make a living decluttering peoples’ lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, she makes clear that the client is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. That stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years. She’d love nothing better than to toss out all her husband’s crap. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. The larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married. Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour when, after too much wine, the women end up fantasizing about how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses. But the next day Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up. Careful what you wish for, the old adage says . . . now Emily might lose her freedom, her marriage . . . and possibly her life. ~amazon.com

Review: I've never ready anything by Ms. Ephron before but I definitely enjoyed this one. Emily is a go getter she quit teaching to start her own organization business after a video of her went viral. She loves helping people declutter their lives. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a hiccup her husband is a bit of a collector (aka horder) so she controls her things and leaves his to collect dust in various areas of the house.

Emily and her partner, get 2 new clients on the same weekend. One is a widow who needs help sorting through her husbands storage unit that she didn't even know about. The other client is a younger wife who needs help going through all her belongings that she didn't move into the house when she got married.

As you know, things aren't always what they seem so as Emily starts to get involved in both new clients decluttering she begins to question what is really going on. She gets enbroiled into their lives in not the best manner. As she tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together things start to go out of control. How will she remain in control? How can she prove that she was used as a scapegoat?

Careful What You Wifh For  is a study in character and in understanding that sometimes you don't always understand people even the one closest to you.

Julie's Review: The Two Lila Bennetts

Author: Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
Series: None
Publication Date: July 23, 2019
Publisher: Lake Union
Pages: 320
Obtained: Publisher/Authors
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: What lines have to be crossed to be a good person doing bad things?
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Summary: Lila Bennett’s bad choices have finally caught up with her. And one of those decisions has split her life in two. Literally. In one life, she’s taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she’s trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she’s done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time. Lila’s decorated career as a criminal defense attorney, her marriage, and her life are on the line. She must make a list of those she’s wronged—both in and out of the courtroom—to determine who is out to get her before it’s too late. But even if she can pinpoint her assailant, will she survive? And if she does, which parts of her life are worth saving, and which parts must die? Because one thing’s for certain—life as Lila Bennett knew it is over.

Review: Don’t we all have those decisions we wish we could undo? A path that would could have taken and wonder what could have been? Liz and Lisa explore this dichotomy in this novel but give it a twist with domestic suspense.

Lila Bennett has made some questionable choices and one of those choices gets her kidnapped and locked away. Unfortunately for Lila, there’s a huge list of people who might want to harm her. Her career as a high profile criminal defense attorney doesn’t help nor do the personal life choices she’s made. I mean she's not exactly the nicest person but does that make her unlikable? Don't some people who do bad things deserve a chance to redeem themselves?

My question is will Lila really change? Will she redeem herself in the end, even though she's already lost those closest to her? And should she change who she is? Maybe how she approaches things and coming at decisions differently but I don’t think she should change her drive and ambition. That shouldn’t be the message we send to women, although stepping on people will eventually lead to your downfall.

I liked the dual story-line and was excited to see which one would play out and if all her truths would come out. I didn't mind Lila and her suspect morals because I do feel like she felt remorse but didn't have the tools to deal with those emotions. In order to make some major changes she will need some therapy but I think she can do it.

I would have liked a bit of a stronger ending or an epilogue to see how Lila changed her life and how they have changed her life,

Julie's Review: Girls' Night Out

Author: Liz Fenton, Lisa Steinke
Series: None
Publication Date: July 24, 2018
Publisher: Lake Union
Pages: 338
Obtained: Authors
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Friendship ain't easy
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Summary: For estranged friends Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together. Was Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped under the weight of her own lies? As the clock ticks, hour by hour, Natalie and Lauren’s search rushes headlong into growing suspicion and dread. Maybe their secrets run deeper and more dangerous than one of them is willing—or too afraid—to admit. ~amazon.com  

Review: We all have those friendships where one person seems to be the glue that holds all of you together right? Well it is the same with Ashley, Natalie and Lauren. Ash is the one that both brings them richer and in some ways separates them. After Ashley and Lauren have a fallout a year ago, Natalie lost contact with Lauren as well. In order to mend their friendships, Ashley invites both on a trip to Tulum saying it’ll help them heal. This is where is all goes haywire though.

Each woman has her share of secrets that they’ve been keeping from each other and in some ways themselves. When you admit something to another person it makes it real for you too; which none of them are truly ready to admit. Add in a handsome stranger who takes all of one of their attentions away and you have storm a brewing. What I loved about this book is that each friend was in the wrong in some way. None of them were better than the other. I also enjoyed how what occurred a year ago was revealed piece by piece by each of the friends. Female friendships are tricky and sometimes you have to evaluate whether or not you need to cut ties with a toxic one.

Ashley is completely self-absorbed and while I felt that at first she really did want to reconnect with Lauren and Natalie; as the time wore on I felt that she didn't. To defend her though, I don't think she knew how to approach the history. No one wants to dredge up the past when it doesn't put you in the best light.  She seems to want to move on to be a better mom but she's not willing to change her ways either.

Natalie perhaps had the biggest secret from her friends' but I didn't feel that she should have had to reveal it to Ashley to make her understand why she wanted out of their joint business. If Ashley wanted to keep it so badly, perhaps she needed to find away to buy Natalie out.  Natalie was trying to do what she could to save her family and her marriage and that included walking away from the business that she built from the ground up with Ashley. Also, doing business together was truly wreaking havoc on their friendship, which for Natalie was more important.

Lauren was the wild card for me. Yes she had issues with Ashley and perhaps Natalie to a degree but her life since letting them go a year ago has been a bit messy. Making up with Ashley was the least of her issues that she had to work out. I didn't feel that repairing her friendship with Ashley was her top priority, nor should it have been.

Sometimes in life you have to decide to let go of friendships. People come in and out of your life for reason and purpose. Some have expiration dates and some don't but we learn something from each of them about ourselves. 

Liz and Lisa have a knack for writing stories you want to read and women you want see yourself or people close to you in. Not only that but they aren't afraid of shying away from some subject matters that can't be easy to write. I have read each of their books and loved each of them for different reasons but Girls' Night Out is their best to date.


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Julie's Review: Then She Was Gone

Author: Lisa Jewell
Series: None
Publication Date: April 17, 2018
Publisher: Atria
Pages: 368
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Psychological Thriller, Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Can you ever fully recover from the loss of a child?
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Summary: Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her. And then she was gone. Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It’s been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a café, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters—and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away.Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she’s tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she really run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or was there a more sinister reason for her disappearance? Who is Floyd, really? And why does his daughter remind Laurel so viscerally of her own missing girl? ~amazon.com

Review: Then She Was Gone is one of those psychological thrillers that as a parent will scare the crap out of you but as a fan of thrillers, will delight you and will keep you turning the pages. It is creepy in a this could really happen. It will make you hesitate about those you let into your lives and the lives of your children. 

Laurel is still reeling from her golden child, Ellie, going missing 7 years prior. She lost her marriage and her other 2 children over her inability to get over it. Now there's a new development in it and in some ways it brings all the pain back and in other ways it helps her find some closure. She's decided that she needs to move on with her life and that is what Ellie would want her to do. Pretty soon after deciding to move on she meets Floyd. Floyd seems a little too good to be true and then when she meets his youngest daughter, Poppy; her alerts go on high. You see Poppy looks like Ellie but not just her mannerisms are like Ellie's as well. She brushes it off given everything that has happened lately her brain is in overdrive. It's not like over the years other girls haven't looked like Ellie to her. 

We get flashbacks to what happened to Ellie and it's not pretty. In fact, it's every parents nightmare. We see her struggles and her fighting to defend herself. We see her cope with the situation she is in and how she focuses on her family. Is Ellie really linked to Poppy? If so, how? 

While reading this book I did wonder if Ellie was truly the golden child or if she was hiding something from everyone. It turns out that she really was a good kid who happened across an unstable person who became obsessed with her. 

The ending of the book will leave you hopeful and yet a bit shattered. Ms. Jewell certainly has a way of writing an engaging psychological thriller.

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Julie's Review: Not That I Could Tell

Author: Jessica Strawser
Series: None
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 338
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense
Rating: 4/5

Bottom Line: Another book that asks: "How well do you know your neighbors?"
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Summary: When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal. By Monday morning, one of them is gone. Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor’s wife who didn’t seem all that bothered by her impending divorce―and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center. For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she’d put behind her―and when she’s unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood’s newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions―especially since she’s dealing with a crisis of her own. As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what’s going on behind their own closed doors―and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else. ~amazon.com

 Review: Not That I Could Tell is another novel that makes us question how well we know our neighbors and our friends. Appearances aren't always what they seem and people can keep things they don't want out hidden.

Izzy, the new neighbor, doesn't want her new friends to know just how lonely she really is. She's been through a lot and trying to figure out how to move on. Clara, is the person that everyone wants to be friends with because she's the stay at home mom who tries to have it all together but you know she doesn't. It makes her endearing. Then there is Kristin that we don't get to know but learn about her through her friends. She remains a mystery right up until the end.

Each of them have a little something to hide. Although I didn't think any of them had major issues to keep to themselves except for Paul. Paul was creepy. Paul was off kilter and frankly a bit weird. He didn't seem too upset about his missing wife and kids which of course is always the case in a book like this; the husband is the suspect. Except the case fizzles out pretty quickly and the police have no reason to keep him in their sights. Especially since Kristin took the money and ran.


What got me was the ending of this book. It completely took me by surprise and made the whole journey worth it to me. I would definitely recommend this one for fans of suspense.



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Julie's Review: The Flight Attendant

Author: Chris Bohjalian
Series: None
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
Publisher: Doubleday
Pages: 368
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Suspense, Thriller
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Another fantastic novel by one of my favorites
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Summary: Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She's a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police - she's a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home - Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it's too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did? Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendant unveils a spellbinding story of memory, of the giddy pleasures of alcohol and the devastating consequences of addiction, and of murder far from home. ~amazon.com  

Review: Prior to reading the book I saw a lot of people commenting on how they didn’t like Cassie. I’m a believer that you don’t have to like the main character to enjoy a novel. I didn’t have such strong feelings for Cassie. I'm not saying she wasn't a hot mess because she was that and a while lot more but I felt sorry for her because she didn’t have any strong relationship and didn’t really care about herself. She was an alcoholic, which is a disease but she was self-destructive.

Waking up beside a man she barely knows isn't really new for Cassie but him being dead in the morning is. Since she's pretty much a blackout drunk, she can't say for sure if she murdered him or not but she does feel like she is capable of that even at her drunkest. What happens next has you guessing who to believe and who to not believe. Did Cassie kill him? Was it in self-defense? Or has she stepped into something much more sinister than she could ever imagine. Will she keep lying to herself and those around her or will she realize that this is perhaps the best time to tell the truth.

Mr. Bohjalian really does keep the reader engaged and on their "toes". There are many twists and turns that I truly didn't see coming but looking back I feel like there were probably hints. I also wonder if Cassie was targeted from the beginning because of her drinking and blackouts.

I love spy movies and books so I was thrilled when this book had that edge to it. It is a fast paced thriller that will have you wondering what the hell is going on until it all comes together in the end.
The Flight Attendant is another fantastic character study novel by Mr. Bohjalian. I can only imagine the research that went into this one!


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Julie's Review: The Good Liar

Author: Catherine McKenzie
Series: None
Publication Date: April 3, 2018
Publisher: Lake Union
Pages: 338
Obtained: Great Thoughts, Great Readers Book Salon
Genre:  Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Rating: 4.25/5
Bottom Line: If you keep secrets does that make you a liar?
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Summary: When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered. A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building. Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them? ~amazon.com

Review: The Good Liar was my first Catherine McKenzie book but it won’t be my last. She has written a novel where everyone has secrets but that doesn't necessarily mean they are a liar. How can one moment can change the lives of 3 women inexplicably? This what she examines and peels back the layers on.

Cecily is the poster child/woman for the family’s of the accident. Except she’s hiding something from they world but most of all her family. In the end though, I felt that she was just racked with guilt and trying to protect her family. Kate, well she’s got a couple screws loose. She ran away when the opportunity presented itself and then came back when it suited her needs as well. I wouldn’t call her selfish but broken. Her intentions might mean well but were executed poorly. Then there is Franny;  coo-coo for cocoa puffs but I’ll let you read about her but I’m just going to say is that she needs some serious help.

While there were a few things I figured out before they were revealed, it didn't ruin the book at all for me. In fact even though I figured them out how the characters reacted was not what I expected, so that was refreshing. I also wanted to see how she would end it and I definitely didn't expect the ending.

If you are looking for a great suspense novel, pick up The Good Liar.


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Julie's Review: The Family Next Door

Author: Sally Hepworth
Series: None
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 352
Obtained: Great Thoughts, Great Readers Book Salon
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: No matter how pretty the door of the house, there's always secrets behind it
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Summary: Small, perfect towns often hold the deepest secrets. From the outside, Essie’s life looks idyllic: a loving husband, a beautiful house in a good neighborhood, and a nearby mother who dotes on her grandchildren. But few of Essie’s friends know her secret shame: that in a moment of maternal despair, she once walked away from her newborn, asleep in her carriage in a park. Disaster was avoided and Essie got better, but she still fears what lurks inside her, even as her daughter gets older and she has a second baby. When a new woman named Isabelle moves in next door to Essie, she is an immediate object of curiosity in the neighborhood. Why single, when everyone else is married with children? Why renting, when everyone else owns? What mysterious job does she have? And why is she so fascinated with Essie? As the two women grow closer and Essie’s friends voice their disapproval, it starts to become clear that Isabelle’s choice of neighborhood was no accident. And that her presence threatens to bring shocking secrets to light. The Family Next Door is Sally Hepworth at her very best: at once a deeply moving portrait of family drama and a compelling suburban mystery that will keep you hooked until the very last page.

Review: The Family Next Door is one of those books that highlights just how little we really know about our neighbors and maybe about the ones we love the most. I have always said that you don’t know what goes on behind closed doors of our friends, let alone your neighbors.

Each of the women is dealing with her own secret that could shatter their worlds. Some of it their own making, some of it is from outside sources. Each of them changes and become stronger. Essie, who struggled with Postpartum after the birth of Mia, is silently slipping back into it with her baby Polly. She's trying to keep it quiet but both her mother and husband are noticing that something is off. That and her sudden interest in friendship the new neighbor, Isabelle worries her mom.

Then you have Fran, who has taken up running with gusto, which makes her neighbor friends wonder why but none of them dig deep enough to find out why. Fran is wracked with guilt (but you'll have to read the book to figure out why). So she runs to try and ease her mind but really doesn't help.

Then there's Ange who thinks that her husband Lucas is pretty awesome. The real question though, is he pretty awesome or is she looking at him through rose colored glasses.  Is she really willing to look at him without them on? Is she willing to take the consequences of him not being everything she's built him up to be?

I kept thinking how alone these women were in their struggles and how if they would have reached out to each other they would have or could have supported each other. The problem is that when you are dealing with your own issues, sometimes you can't see what others are going through. What I did like is how all of their issues did end up bringing them all together in the end.


Ms. Hepworth sets it up so that you think one thing and then it turns out to be very different. I love when authors do that and can keep you guessing. Also, I appreciated that it made sense and wasn’t a 180 from where I originally thought it was going. 

This is the first Sally Hepworth book I’ve read and while I know it’s different than her others, I’ll be reading her other books. That being said, pick it up!


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Julie's Review: No Time To Blink

Author: Dina Silver
Series: None
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
Publisher: Lake Union Press
Pages: 384
Obtained: Great Thoughts, Great Readers Book Salon
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Emotionally intense
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Summary: He knows the one thing that would destroy me would be to separate me from my daughter…Catherine Clarke defied her family’s expectations when she married Gabriel, a handsome Lebanese businessman. After moving to Gabriel’s homeland and welcoming a baby daughter, Catherine knew she had to acclimate herself to the strange new world. Yet both her husband and her surroundings became more volatile and threatening than she could have ever imagined. When Gabriel forbids her to return to the States, Catherine devises a plan to deceive him, but she vastly underestimates how far he will go to punish her. And after her daughter, Ann Marie, is abducted and taken deep into the mountains of Beirut—protected by family, culture, and law—the only thing on Catherine’s side is the fierceness of a mother’s love. She’s prepared to move heaven and earth to find her child. Told from alternating points of view—that of a daughter whose past is a mystery and of a mother with painful secrets to share—this profoundly moving story of impossible risks will resonate with anyone whose love has no boundaries. ~amazon.com

Review: No Time to Blink is one of those books that is short in page length but big on emotional punch. We are told the story of Ann Marie's past via flashbacks to the early 1970s with her mom, CC and dad, Gabriel. We are told of their whirlwind romance through Catherine's eyes.

We are then told of Ann Marie's current life from her point of view. Ann Marie's life is in upheaval due to her husband being a jack ass. There is no wallowing by Ann Marie, she's got 3 boys to take care of and a life to move on with. By some intervention of fate, she uses the same lawyer for her divorce as her mother had used all those years ago. An off-handed comment by the lawyer makes Ann Marie wonder if there isn't more to her parent's divorce that has been hidden from her.

CC's flashbacks were harrowing because you knew that things weren't going to be great for her once the honeymoon period passed them by. Especially since her and Gabriel were moving back to Lebanon where the culture for women isn't as open as it is in the U.S. She is told by her neighbor and friend not to be so confrontational with Gabriel; to not argue. CC isn't exactly a shrinking violet so that's not really going to work for her. Gabriel turns out to be much different than the man she thought she married.

I loved the bond between CC and Ann Marie. Ann Marie admired her so much and loved her exponentially. She knew that her mother had something to tell her but she also knew there was another side to the story that she might not ever know; her father's. Through her mother's journals, Ann Marie begins to uncover what might have happened to her all those years ago. Her father was never allowed to be mentioned in the house growing up around her aunt's and grandparents; now she will understand the why.

I was shocked in the end by my emotional response to this book. I found my self shedding tears in the end. It is a fast-paced read but there are emotional layers to this novel that are gratifying. I highly recommend that you pick up No Time to Blink immediately.



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Julie's Review: The Girlfriend

Author: Michelle Frances
Series: None
Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Publisher: Kensington
Pages: 432
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Suspense,Thriller
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Starts off a bit slow but definitely builds up
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Summary: Laura has it all. A successful career, a long marriage to a rich husband, and a twenty-three year-old son, Daniel, who is kind, handsome, and talented. Then Daniel meets Cherry. Cherry is young, beautiful and smart but hasn’t led Laura’s golden life. And she wants it. When tragedy strikes, a decision is made and a lie is told. A lie so terrible it changes their lives forever…The Girlfriend is a taut and wickedly twisted debut psychological thriller—a novel of subtle sabotage, retaliation, jealousy and fear, which pivots on an unforgivable lie, and examines the mother–son–daughter-in-law relationship in a chilling new light.~amazon.com  

Review: Listen up sons: Your mother always know best even if we go about it in the wrong way. In The Girlfriend, Laura was determined to be friendly because it was obvious that her son, Daniel was a bit smitten with her. Yes, she was left with an unsettled feeling after their first meeting, but she cut Cherry some slack figuring that it was just initial nerves of meeting her boyfriend's parents. Given as close as her and Daniel are, she wants to make every effort to welcome Cherry in to the fold but she keeps holding Laura at arms length.
 
Cherry, on the hand, is all about seizing an opportunity that will help her and Daniel is that opportunity for her from the minute he walks into her realty office. She immediately notices that Daniel and his mom are close, which really won't work for her. She has to be the most important woman in his life. She quickly starts putting plans in motion to drive wedges between them even if they are small at first.

While I will say that there were some things that Laura did that I wholeheartedly didn't agree with, I understood why she did what she did. She needed and wanted to protect her family; although that ended up biting her in the buttocks. I also felt sorry for Laura because she didn't have the strength to fight back when Cherry "attacked" her. For as put together as Laura seemed, she really was falling apart. I knew she wouldn't really fight back because for the better part of her marriage, she let her husband walk all over her.

There were times when I wasn't sure who was off their rocker more, Laura or Cherry. Although in the end it seemed that Cherry really did have some issues that stemmed from her issues with how she grew up.

The Girlfriend took a bit for me to get into just because it's a lot of build up but it definitely pays off in the end. It would definitely be a great movie with the right director and actors. If you are looking for a novel that slowly builds up and lays a lot of crumbs, then this one is for you.

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Julie's Review: Little Broken Things

Author: Nicole Baart
Series: None
Publication Date: November 21, 2017
Publisher: Atria
Pages: 368
Obtained: Great Thoughts, Great Readers Book Salon
Genre:  Suspense, Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: This will satisfy the readers of both suspense and contemporary fiction
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Summary: An engrossing and suspenseful novel for fans of Liane Moriarty and Amy Hatvany about an affluent suburban family whose carefully constructed facade starts to come apart with the unexpected arrival of an endangered young girl. I have something for you. When Quinn Cruz receives that cryptic text message from her older sister Nora, she doesn’t think much of it. They haven’t seen each other in nearly a year and thanks to Nora’s fierce aloofness, their relationship consists mostly of infrequent phone calls and an occasional email or text. But when a haunted Nora shows up at the lake near Quinn's house just hours later, a chain reaction is set into motion that will change both of their lives forever. Nora’s “something” is more shocking than Quinn could have ever imagined: a little girl, cowering, wide-eyed, and tight-lipped. Nora hands her over to Quinn with instructions to keep her safe, and not to utter a word about the child to anyone, especially not their buttoned-up mother who seems determined to pretend everything is perfect. But before Quinn can ask even one of the million questions swirling around her head, Nora disappears, and Quinn finds herself the unlikely caretaker of a girl introduced simply as Lucy. While Quinn struggles to honor her sister’s desperate request and care for the lost, scared Lucy, she fears that Nora may have gotten involved in something way over her head—something that will threaten them all. But Quinn’s worries are nothing compared to the firestorm that Nora is facing. It’s a matter of life and death, of family and freedom, and ultimately, about the lengths a woman will go to protect the ones she loves. ~amazon.com

 Review: Little Broken Things is a book that you will think you have it all figured out but you really don't until it all comes together at the end. You go along with the assumptions of both Liz, the matriarch, and Quinn, the baby of the family because it's all that you know.

Why would Nora drop off a stranger if she wasn't a niece or granddaughter. Why is Nora being all secretive? Why is Lucy so quiet and scared? The story alternates between the 3 Sanford women and we get to see the events unfold from Nora ,who knows why Lucy was dropped with Quinn, Liz who's external wall is starting to crumble as she faces some truths in her life and Quinn, who fell in love and got married quickly only to be hit with real life issues.

How will these women with the same blood mend the fences that seem to be up around them? Will they be able to confront the past in order to protect themselves and Lucy?

All of these women, including Lucy, are strong and brave. Nora, perhaps is the bravest because she puts the lives of others in front of hers. Her bond and friendship with Tiffany has put her in danger with a man that is known to abuse.

Liz is starting to deal with some truths about her husband, their marriage and her own actions over the years.

What I really enjoyed about the novel is that it is multi-layered storytelling. There is a lot of suspense going on throughout the novel but it also the story of a family finding their way back to each other.

  Little Broken Things is a book that you won't want to miss.

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Julie's Review: The Breakdown

Author: B.A. Paris
Series: None
Publication Date: July 18, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 336
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Psychological Thriller, Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A quick,page-turning read
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Summary: If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust? Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped. But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby. The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt. Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her… ~amazon.com

Review: Breakdown is the sophomore book by B.A. Paris after her huge hit, Behind Closed Doors. I can say that I wasn't let down by this one; I'm only disappointed I left it on my nightstand for so long. Cass is out with her friends for an end of term celebration when it starts to storm. Before she leaves, her husband Matt tells her not to take the rural road even though it would shave time off of her commute home. She decides to take the road anyway and happens upon a car on the side of the road but when she stops no one comes out of it so she decides to go on home.

When the news breaks that a young woman was murdered on that road, Cass freaks out but she can't really tell Matthew that she took that road. She starts to feel extremely guilty about not actually checking to see if the person in the car needed help. She also starts to seemingly forget things at first it's just little things but because of her mom's medical history, she starts to worry that she's got dementia. Especially because the stress of thinking that there's a killer out there is making her even more forgetful.

Cass is an easy character to feel sorry for and to understand how she might be freaking out a bit. She starts to second guess herself like we all would in this situation. Is she just under a lot stress? Is she really dealing with some sort of memory issue?

As you read the book a lot of different scenarios will run through your head. All of them are plausible especially in this genre.The title of this well crafted novel has a double meaning as you will see throughout it. You do wonder if Cass is losing her mind or if there is something wrong with her. While I wouldn't say there are any shoe dropping moment, there are a couple good twists along the way. I didn't feel like it suffered from sophomore slump because I enjoyed it a lot.

If you are looking for a quick, page turning read, then pick up Breakdown.

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Julie's Review: The Wife Between Us

Author: Sarah Pekkanen & Greer Hendricks
Series: None
Publication Date: January 9, 2018
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Pages: 352
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Holy smokes!
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Summary: When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. Twisted and deliciously chilling, The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love. Read between the lies. ~amazon.com  

Review: Wife Between Us is one of those books that is impossible to review because to do it justice would be to give away its secrets. I will say that whenever a favorite author moves to a different genre, you always hope that it will be a smooth transition and for Ms. Pekkanen, she hit it out of the park. She partnered up with her long time editor, Greer Henricks to write this one. What I want to know is who wrote what character because they were so seemless.

Things are not what they appear in the novel. You will think you have it all figured out. Jealous wife who can't quite let her husband go. He's been patient, perhaps even kind but the harassment of his new fiance needs to stop. It can't though because Vanessa feels like she needs to save her. It's not quite clear in the beginning exactly what she's trying to save her from other than Vanessa. Vanessa is off-kilter. She's slowly losing it. She's focusing on what she's lost, instead of moving forward with her life.

 You kind of want to shake Vanessa, you want her to wake up and move on. Yet you don't know the full story quite yet. When the shoe drops and then the other shoe drops, it might leave your mouth dropped open.

So that's where I leave it because if I say much more I'll spill the beans. If you think this is a typical domestic thriller, then you'll need to read to the end because it's when it all comes together. Wife Between Us will be the suspense book of the Winter, so don't miss out. 

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Julie's Review: The Child Finder

Author: Rene Denfeld
Series: None
Publication Date: September 20, 2016
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 288
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A slow burn of a novel that will stay with you long after you close it
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Summary: Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight-years-old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as "the Child Finder," Naomi is their last hope. Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl, too. As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life? Told in the alternating voices of Naomi and a deeply imaginative child, The Child Finder is a breathtaking, exquisitely rendered literary page-turner about redemption, the line between reality and memories and dreams, and the human capacity to survive. ~amazon.com

Review: The Child Finder is definitely a novel that is a slow burn because not only are you looking for a current child that is missing, but you are also peeling back the layers of Naomi and trying to figure her out as well. She searches for missing children because she herself is a missing child in some ways. There is something about this current case though, that has her memories becoming more vivid through her dreams than ever before. Will this be the key to unlocking her past?

As the stories weave in and out, we learn the hell that Madison has been through and pieces of Naomi's past start to creep back. It is Madison's story that is the most compelling though. How she creates an alternate life/person to protect the girl she was before. As a reader, you hurt for her and also realize that she's stronger than most kids. She's smart enough to learn to separate herself from the hell that she's living in.

There are parts of the story that will make you queasy and make you extremely angry. Yet, as the story begins to unfold you can only feel sorry for her captor because there is more to his story. Some how there is must more sinister history that Naomi is aware of as she begins to puzzle it together.

Naomi is a complex character. Her past is blank until she runs out into the strawberry fields to be rescued by the migrant workers. She feels drawn to save children who can't save themselves because she was able to save herself.  Her relationship with Mrs. Cottle and Jerome are her anchors throughout her life. Yet, she's still searching for something and unable to rest until she helps all the kids she can.

With the ending of the novel, I'm hoping that Ms. Denfeld brings Naomi back for another book that focuses on her search, trying to find her history.

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Julie's Review: The Marriage Pact

Author: Michelle Redmond
Series: None
Publication Date: July 25, 2017
Publisher: Bantam
Pages: 432
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: Dragged on too long and ending fell flat for me
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Summary: Newlyweds Alice and Jake are a picture-perfect couple. Alice, once a singer in a well-known rock band, is now a successful lawyer. Jake is a partner in an up-and-coming psychology practice. Their life together holds endless possibilities. After receiving an enticing wedding gift from one of Alice’s prominent clients, they decide to join an exclusive and mysterious group known only as The Pact. The goal of The Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact. And most of its rules make sense. Always answer the phone when your spouse calls. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly. Plan a trip together once per quarter. . . .Never mention The Pact to anyone. Alice and Jake are initially seduced by the glamorous parties, the sense of community, their widening social circle of like-minded couples. And then one of them breaks the rules. The young lovers are about to discover that for adherents to The Pact, membership, like marriage, is for life. And The Pact will go to any lengths to enforce that rule. For Jake and Alice, the marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare. ~amazon.com  

Review: Marriage Pact would be a really good action thriller movie with the right cast but as a novel the middle dragged a bit. I felt that it took a bit to long to get the crux of the story and then it ended abruptly. Not only that but I have to admit I wanted the ending to go the other way.

Saying all that, I enjoyed learning about Jake and Alice through Jake's eyes. Part of me thought that it was sweet that he wanted to marry her so that he wouldn't use her and then apart of me was kind of put off by it. As you get to know Jake it wasn't that he wanted to own her, it was that he loved her so much he didn't want to have a life without her. Alice was a bit more reserved with her devotion to Jake but as the book progresses, you see how much she loves Jake as well. The Pact organization was a bit like Fight Club, you don't talk about it. They are a very exclusive club designed to help couples succeed at marriage.

At first it seems like a bit of fun with the parties and the mystery but things go very weird quickly. There are rules, known as The Manual, that neither of them have read thoroughly. They find out very quickly that there is much they need to learn so they don't break the rules. Although, it is already too late for Alice, apparently she talks a bit too much.

Jake, being curious by nature, starts digging into the organization and isn't so sure that they have made the right decision. Of course, this leads them down a path that is cause for much running and discussion for them.

Ultimately, it was a fast-paced novel that perhaps could have been edited down a bit but it was a good ride. Also, my takeaway from this is, you don't sign anything to do with a secret organization, even though it sounds cool/exclusive.


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Julie's Review: The Other Girl

Author: Erica Spindler
Series: None
Publication Date: August 22, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 256
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Suspense, Crime
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A great crime/suspense novel that doesn't rely on the unreliable narrator
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Summary: Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis―but that wasn’t always so. Miranda comes from the town of Jasper, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She’s worked hard to earn the respect of her coworkers and the community. When Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town’s most beloved college professors, they’re unprepared for the brutality of the scene. This murder is unlike any they’ve ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she’s seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about that terrible night fifteen years ago. The night she’d buried, along with her past and the girl she’d been back then. Until now that grave had stayed sealed…except for those times, in the deepest part of the night, when the nightmares came: of a crime no one believed happened and the screams of the girl they believed didn’t exist. Then another man turns up dead, this one a retired cop. Not just any cop―the one who took her statement that night. Two murders, two very different men, two killings that on the surface had nothing in common―except Miranda. ~amazon.com  

Review: The Other Girl is story that spins how our past can come back to haunt us and how it can effect our present lives. We are told the story of a recent murder through Detective Miranda Rader and how she's been tapped to lead the investigation. Miranda is the top detective in the force but when she see the clipping from an article about a crime that happened years ago, she starts to make some stupid mistakes.

Miranda starts to question how the pieces of this murder fit into the traumatic events in her past. Why has she been pulled into this? What is she going to do about it? Before she can learn any more, she's pulled off the case. Which lends itself to even more suspicion? If she's a strong detective, why pull her off?

Ms. Spindler weaves a quick moving suspense novel that will have you quickly turning the pages. You root for Miranda (and her with Jake). You want her to figure out why this is all coming down on her 15 years later. What ties her to the victim? As a woman you want her to stuff it to the old boys network and prove that the victim, while yes was murdered, that maybe he wasn't the person he wanted people to believe.

Fans of a crime/suspense novel won't want to miss this one. I will be checking out some of her other suspense novels.


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Julie's Review: Best Day Ever

Author: Kaira Rouda
Series: None
Publication Date: September 19, 2017
Publisher: Graydon House
Pages: 368
Obtained: GetRedPR
Genre:  Psychological Thriller
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: A fantastic novel in the domestic thriller genre
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Summary: Paul Strom has the perfect life: a glittering career as an advertising executive, a beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in a wealthy suburb. And he’s the perfect husband: breadwinner, protector, provider. That’s why he’s planned a romantic weekend for his wife, Mia, at their lake house, just the two of them. And he’s promised today will be the best day ever. But as Paul and Mia drive out of the city and toward the countryside, a spike of tension begins to wedge itself between them and doubts start to arise. How much do they trust each other? And how perfect is their marriage, or any marriage, really? Forcing us to ask ourselves just how well we know those who are closest to us, Best Day Ever crackles with dark energy, spinning ever tighter toward its shocking conclusion. ~amazon.com  

Review:If you aren't keen on unreliable narrators, then you might want to skip Best Day Ever
BUT you'll be making a huge mistake. HUGE. Paul Strom is successful, he's got a great career, wife, kids, the whole American dream. He's is literally living the dream. As Paul begins to tell us the story of how this is going to be the "Best Day Ever" you start to understand that maybe he's not telling you everything you need to know. He's keeping his cards close to his chest. He's only going to tell us what he wants us to know and when.

We see his wife and his boys through his eyes. How perfect his boys are and how his wife is so beautiful but something is amiss. Something doesn't feel right very early in the novel with Paul. He's off. He doesn't seem to have a grip on reality. It's clear that while he might think that this will be the "Best Day Ever" it's for a very different reason than what his wife thinks.

As the book unravels, so does Paul. His shiny demeanor begins to show kinks and dents. He frankly, starts to lose his shit. Mia isn't as complacent as you first think she is. She's not as meek as the reader thinks or certainly as Paul thinks. You keep hoping that something is going to happen where Paul realizes he isn't so smart but he's a narcissistic psychopath, so really that's not going to happen.

At a certain point in the novel you will give up everything you are doing or need to do to finish the book and you will know when that happens.

I've read a lot of books in this domestic suspense recently and Ms. Rouda's entry in it is superb. It reminds me a lot of Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris but definitely not the same. If you are into this sub-genre of psychological thrillers then you should pick this one up post haste.



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