The Neighbors
The Neighbors
Hannah Mary McKinnon | 2018 | Mystery, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You never know who will move in next door...
Hannah Mary McKinnon’s second novel, The Neighbors, is a domestic drama that explores past, lost, and present loves and what happens when they all collide.

They say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but what about your exes? Most people seem keen on keeping their exes as far away as possible. That’s a little hard to do when your ex happens to be your new next door neighbor. When Abby’s old flame, Liam, moves into the house next door she knows she’s in trouble. Both she and Liam are married to other people; however, the flame that existed between them has never fully burnt out. Thus, thing are bound to get messy.

Told in alternating points of view between Abby, her husband Nate, her teenage daughter Sarah, and Liam’s wife Nancy, this novel explores the traumatic events that have shaped Abby’s past and how they influence what is happening in the present day. The author doesn’t shy away from using heartbreak and dismay to highlight love affairs that have been and shouldn’t have been. At once suspenseful and sorrowful, The Neighbors explores the complexities of relationships and the consequences of withholding the truth from those you love.
  
The Liar's Girl
The Liar's Girl
Catherine Ryan Howard | 2018 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
What if the person you loved wasn't who you thought they were?
Alison Smith is living the dream. Not only are she and her best friend Liz excited about their freshman year at the prestigious St. John’s College in Dublin, Ireland; Alison has also met someone…he could even be the one. From the instant she meets Will in a night club, sparks fly between them and they become that couple – the one that’s constantly attached at the hip, madly in love, and whose future shines so bright.

In a terrible turn of events, however, everything comes crashing down. First some fellow female classmates start disappearing. Then, they’re found washed up along Dublin’s Grand Canal. It is clear that a serial killer is on the prowl. Alison is dealt a jagged double whammy after Liz is identified as the Canal Killer’s latest victim and Will is identified as the Canal Killer himself. Absolutely shell-shocked, Alison leaves her home behind and moves to the Netherlands, enrolls in a new college, and starts life anew so to speak.

As the ten-year anniversary of the Canal Killer’s vicious spree approaches, a new string of victims is found in the Grand Canal in the exact same fashion as before. Could it be a copycat killer? Could Will, now in prison, be working with a partner on the outside? Or is it possible that the Garda (aka the Irish police force) could have captured the wrong guy all those years ago?

I loved reading this book! Author Catherine Ryan Howard did a superb job of making Alison’s story both heartbreaking and redemptive, thrilling and enlightening. What she goes through with Will both as a freshman and ten years later is shocking yet entirely believable. She is a heroine you want to get behind and cheer for as she seeks to find the truth about the Canal Killer’s identity, her feelings for Will, and the connection between the past and present crimes. Fans of Patricia Cornwell’s whodunit mysteries will enjoy the suspense, strong female lead, and detective skills offered up by Howard’s The Liar’s Girl.
  
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Isabel Smith (34 KP) rated Obscura in Books

Jun 28, 2018  
Obscura
Obscura
Joe Hart | 2018 | Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A fine example of genre-blending!
Joe Hart’s Obscura is a must-read for fans of science fiction and space travel. Dr. Gillian Ryan, a neural radiologist, is down on her luck. Ever since losing her husband to the mysterious new form of dementia called Losian’s, she has been working hard to find a cure for the disease that is now afflicting her only daughter. She’s so close to locating the exact neurons in the hippocampus that are affected by the disease when she gets word that her funding has been cut. With all the stress she is undergoing, it’s no wonder her opioid addiction makes a reappearance.

When an old colleague that now works for NASA offers her the opportunity to continue her Losian’s research with unlimited funding, she’s hesitant to take him up on the proposition because he wants something from her in return: to accompany a group into space and study the inhabitants of a United Nations space station who are experiencing neurological side effects due to working on a top-secret NASA project. Even though she hates the idea of leaving her daughter behind for six months, she knows she can’t pass up an opportunity like this and so she agrees to the terms.

Almost from the moment she steps off the space shuttle and onto the space station (or is it?) things begin to feel off. Her research assistant, Birk Lindqvist, starts experiencing major hallucinations and she is sedated once she discovers a startling truth that was initially kept hidden from her. Everything is called into question and nothing is at it seems. What’s really going on? Where is the station they’re supposed to be rendezvousing with? And why does it feel like there is a hidden presence on board with her after everyone goes into stasis?

Obscura is a heart-pounding, adrenaline-filled thriller set in the vastness of space. Is that great or what? The prospect of reading a psychological thriller combined with a space mission story is what initially attracted me to the novel. Joe Hart does not disappoint with his ability to blend the two genres seamlessly. He even tossed in the element of the ‘unreliable narrator’ with Gillian for a little while there during her opioid abuse and withdrawal periods where readers couldn’t judge which of her experiences were real and which ones weren’t. Genius! I loved every bit of it: the deception, the uncertainty, the space travel, the action scenes, the startling discoveries…everything!
  
The Wife Between Us
The Wife Between Us
Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen | 2018 | Mystery, Thriller
9
8.1 (37 Ratings)
Book Rating
I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE MOVIE!!!!
Dear Reader,

They think I’m crazy, that I’m unstable and unreliable. I promise I’m not. I have been paranoid, yes. I have put on an act before, for sure. I have been involved in more than one scandal, it’s true. But I am not crazy, regardless of what my ex-husband would have you believe. He is an expert manipulator, a master of deceit, a specialist in the art of charisma. Read my story and you’ll see. There have been plenty of us, the women in Richard’s life. It all starts out the same each time; he’ll sweep you off your feet and shower you with love and lavish gifts. Eventually, though, you will do something wrong…something he doesn’t like. Then the mind games begin. The surveillance emerges. The attacks come out of nowhere. Love gives way to entrapment as he pulls the noose tighter and tighter. Just as it all starts the same, it always ends the same too. But I got away. Now, I need to make sure he can never hurt anyone again. So, read my story and stay away. Stay away from men like Richard.

Take extra care,

Vanessa Thompson


P.S. Don’t let this new psychological thriller slip you by. Read it now, before the buzz of its upcoming movie adaptation hits hard and makes the waitlist a mile long. It’s got so many layers that you’ll get to peel back as you rush through the storyline. Some will surprise you by how subtle they are and others will slap you in the face and make you question what you just read.
  
The House Swap
The House Swap
Rebecca Fleet | 2018 | Thriller
8
6.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Tension, tension, so much tension!
From start to finish The House Swap is a taut and edgy examination of the rocky marriage between a young English couple, Caroline and Francis. When the opportunity arises for them to swap their city flat in Leeds with someone else’s suburban home in Chiswick they eagerly plan a week-long getaway for two so they can focus on repairing their relationship. Caroline soon starts finding signs that the owner of the suburban home she and Francis are currently occupying may very well be the person she’s tried so desperately to put behind her: her ex-lover, Carl. Francis, who knows about Caroline’s past affair, begins to notice that his wife is acting strange and inattentive; it’s putting him on edge, which is no place for a former pill-popper like himself to be. With both of their past obsessions threatening to burst back into their lives, Caroline and Francis brace themselves for the ultimate test in their marriage.

This psychological thriller definitely delivers on nail-biting suspense, calculated misdirection, and hair-raising shocks. There were more than a couple of well-placed red herrings which made the plot twists all the more juicy and exciting. Some of the content was a bit difficult to stomach, but it added to the domestic noir feel of the novel. Overall, The House Swap is a solid option for anyone looking for a fast-paced and multilayered novel that goes behind closed doors.
  
Jar of Hearts
Jar of Hearts
Jennifer Hillier | 2018 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.3 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
You can run, but you can't hide!
What if you got involved with the wrong guy when you were sixteen years old? What if your best friends tied to warn you and you didn’t listen? What if someone ended up dead and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t help but feel guilty because you were inexplicably involved in their demise? This is exactly what happens to Georgina Shaw (Geo for short), the main character in Jennifer Hillier’s latest crime thriller, Jar of Hearts.

One fateful night, Geo’s bad decisions alter the course of the rest of her life. As the years go by, she finds out just how painful and far-reaching the ramifications of those decisions will become. Even though she tries and tries to forget what happened and move on, the past refuses to stay buried. How far can she run before what she did catches up to her? And by the way, what exactly did she do?

Just when we think we’ve got Geo’s story figured out, Hillier throws us a curveball and we’re right back where we started: clueless and furiously trying to piece together what has transpired. I am quite a fan of this writing technique because it keeps you on your toes while you’re reading the story. Jar of Hearts is not for everyone; it is haunting and disturbing, it paints a picture of a seriously flawed and dysfunctional family, and it features grotesque crimes. On the other hand, it is a fast-paced and addictive read, a nontraditional love story, and it shows how something good can come out of even the worst of situations. Give it a try if you’re looking for a modern crime thriller that holds nothing back.
  
Wicked River: a novel
Wicked River: a novel
Jenny Milchman | 2018 | Mystery, Thriller
10
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A true fight for survival...
My, oh my! What a breathtaking, multifaceted joyride of a novel! Containing elements of the horror, action, mystery, psychological suspense, adventure, coming-of-age, and even romance genres, Jenny Milchman’s latest novel Wicked River is a true genre-blending powerhouse.

The story is told from the point of view of three different individuals: the newlywed Natalie, her ambitious niece Mia, and a primitive outdoorsman named Kurt. Natalie and her husband, Doug, experience a honeymoon from hell when their exciting backcountry trek through the beautiful, vast Adirondack Park in New York morphs into a sinister fight for survival. When her aunt Natalie and new uncle Doug are gone longer than expected, Mia notices right away and suspects something is amiss. She’s young, but she’s got good instincts because her aunt and uncle are indeed in grave danger – they face the triple threat of being lost in the treacherous wilderness, running out of food and water, and being hunted by the madman named Kurt who lives amongst the woods. Blood is shed, allegiances are tested, and the body count is on the rise as multiple missing persons investigations and an epic search and rescue operation are launched.

There is a little something for everyone in Wicked River. I loved everything about it. Jenny Milchman has a knack for using the right metaphor at the right time to create such vivid imagery it feels as if the reader is alongside the characters in the picturesque yet hazardous Adirondack region. This is the first novel I’ve read by her, but she is now on my radar and I will have to catch up on her other works as well as keep a lookout for upcoming projects.
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The Butterfly Garden
The Butterfly Garden
Dot Hutchison | 2016 | Crime, Horror, Mystery
7
8.4 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Butterfly Garden is no place to be...
When you think of a butterfly garden, you typically picture a peaceful place filled with nature’s beauty and warmth. Some may even go as far using the description: a little slice of heaven. This particular Butterfly Garden, however, is no such place. No one in their right mind would ever want to visit. Beauty is horribly distorted into grotesqueness, peace gives way to torture, and there is little warmth to be found within this garden. This garden is his personal, man-made house of horrors. Him. The man they call the Gardener. He kidnaps teenage girls and collects them in his garden, all the while subjecting them to an awful number of unspeakable atrocities. The girls, whom he calls his butterflies, form a family of sorts and team up in order to cope with the perverse Gardener and his twisted ways. Will they ever see the Outside again? What will it take to destroy the garden and break the Gardener’s evil cycle once and for all?

The Butterfly Garden is undeniably dark and disturbing, but it pulls you in right from the start and almost holds you against your will as you flip the pages faster and faster so you, too, can escape. It is definitely not an easy journey; it is bound to leave you speechless and incredibly disgusted. That being said, there is plenty of good in this novel that makes it worth the trip. The compelling story is as much about survivors as it is one of captives. The main character, Maya acts shady at times, but you will cheer for her as she struggles to keep the girls together and find ways to endure. Nevertheless, brace yourself and snuggle up with your fluffiest blanket and jammies when you read The Butterfly Garden.