September 6, 2020 by Book of Secrets

What I’ve Been Reading Lately 📚 #DarkCorners #HushCollection

“By all these lovely tokens, September days are here, with summer’s best of weather, and autumn’s best of cheer.” — Helen Hunt Jackson

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📙 THE SLEEP TIGHT MOTEL by Lisa Unger (★★★★★) | A Dark Corners short story from Amazon. Lots of creepy goodness packed into less than 50 pages! A woman running from an abusive ex and the police takes refuge in a roadside motel on a isolated stretch of highway. Even though Eve is the only guest, she keeps hearing weird and disturbing noises at night coming from the room next door. Is she brave enough to find out what’s happening on the other side of the wall? Highly recommended to fans of spooky motel stories.

📘 SLOW BURNER by Laura Lippman (★★★★★) | A Hush Collection short story from Amazon. An intriguing dose of domestic suspense! I loved this one. Phil was caught cheating once, and has promised not to do it again. Liz believed him, until she finds his secret burner phone that suggests otherwise. Instead of confronting him, she quietly reads his back and forth flirty texts with another woman. Realizing that he will never change, what will she do? Great twisty ending.

📙 HANNAH-BEAST by Jennifer McMahon (★★★★) | A Dark Corners short story from Amazon. Yikes. This was a horrifying and gruesome Halloween tidbit. Find out what a group of mean girls from 1982 and 30+ years of guilt will do! Enjoyable, yet disturbing, psychological suspense.

📘 I KILLED ZOE SPANOS by Kit Frick (★★★★) | Very good! This novel is a young adult psychological suspense with a Rebecca-like atmosphere and a modern twist — a teen-hosted true crime podcast. Recommend if you enjoy Gothic mystery/suspense. Read for the B&N YA Book Club.

📙 THE SEARCH PARTY by Simon Lelic (★★) | Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review THE SEARCH PARTY. Unfortunately this book wasn’t my cup of tea. I was intrigued by the premise, and the intro sure grabbed me — until the teenagers started their monologues. Their chapters were just ramblings, and honestly I could barely differentiate between the speakers. I did enjoy Detective Fleet’s character, and it was a relief to return to his POV. The twisty ending was exciting, but overall I didn’t enjoy THE SEARCH PARTY like I did his previous thrillers.

— 𝓓𝓲𝓪𝓷𝓪

January 15, 2019 by Book of Secrets

THE LIAR’S ROOM by Simon Lelic [Blog Tour Review]

Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Source: Review copy from the publisher
Rating: ★★★★

A new spine-tingling thriller from the author of The New Neighbors that takes place over the course of a therapy session, in which neither patient nor therapist are who they claim to be.

Two liars. One room. No way out.

Susanna Fenton has a secret. Fourteen years ago she left her identity behind, reinventing herself as a therapist and starting a new life. It was the only way to keep her daughter safe.

But when a young man, Adam Geraghty, walks into her office, claiming he needs Susanna’s help but asking unsettling questions, she begins to fear that her secret has been discovered.

Who is Adam, really? What does he intend to do to Susanna?

And what has he done to her daughter?

THE LIAR’S ROOM is a dark and unsettling thriller about a woman’s secret past that returns to haunt her.

Susanna is a therapist and mother to 14-year old Emily. Years ago she ran away from her old life after a devastating incident, hoping no one would find out. For 14 years her old identity stayed hidden, until a session with a new client named Adam threatens to destroy everything.

This was a fast-paced, enjoyable (yet disturbing) book that put me on edge. Who is Adam really? What is Susanna is hiding? I may have jumped ahead to get a quick peek because the suspense was killing me! Both main characters are downright flawed, so often times I wasn’t sure who I should sympathize with. To me the ending was sad yet satisfying, probably the best case scenario considering. I couldn’t put this one down!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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April 10, 2018 by Book of Secrets

THE NEW NEIGHBORS by Simon Lelic {Review}

Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: April 10, 2018
Source: Review copy from the publisher
Rating: ★★★★½

The Girl Before meets The Couple Next Door in a Hitchcockian thriller about a couple who moves into their dream neighborhood only to discover nothing is as it seems…

The perfect couple. The perfect house. The perfect crime.

Londoners Jack and Syd found their dream home: lots of space, a great location, and a friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.

Everything is exactly what they hoped for when they move in–except Jack makes a disturbing discovery in the attic, and Syd begins to wonder about the girl next door. And they each keep the other in the dark.

A mistake.

Because someone has just been killed outside their back door, and now the police are watching them. This is their chance to prove they’re innocent–or to get away with murder.

Whose story do you believe?

THE NEW NEIGHBORS is a dark and creepy thriller-ish novel about a couple whose “dream” home is anything but. The book ended up being so much more than what the blurb hinted at. It was deeper, more emotional, and more distressing! Told in a dual narrative, the story alternates between Jack and Syd, the new owners of this perfect London house that they seem to have come by too easily.

Much of their narrative is told in journal form, with Jack and Syd writing to each other – and to the police – about the troubling and tragic things that have happened since buying the house, and in their separate lives before, which led them to this point. The style was a little confusing at first, but after a couple of chapters I was hooked. Jack and Syd were well-drawn and compelling characters I could easily empathize with.

THE NEW NEIGHBORS was a fast-paced riveting read for me. I loved the eerie tone throughout – felt like a gothic thriller. Hard to put down and original!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.