Nightcap Books

BOOK INFO

Title: A Dark and Secret Place

Author: Jen Williams

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Publish Date: June 8, 2021

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

When prodigal daughter Heather Evans returns to her family home after her mother’s baffling suicide, she makes an alarming discovery–stacks and stacks of carefully preserved letters from notorious serial killer Michael Reave. The “Red Wolf,” as he was dubbed by the press, has been in prison for over twenty years, serving a life sentence for the gruesome and ritualistic murders of several women across the country, although he has always protested his innocence. The police have had no reason to listen, yet Heather isn’t the only one to have cause to re-examine the murders. The body of a young woman has just been found, dismembered and placed inside a tree, the corpse planted with flowers. Just as the Red Wolf once did.

What did Heather’s mother know? Why did she kill herself? And with the monstrous Red Wolf safely locked inside a maximum security prison, who is stalking young women now? Teaming up with DI Ben Parker, Heather hopes to get some answers for herself and for the newest victims of this depraved murderer. Yet to do that, she must speak to Michael Reave herself, and expose herself to truths she may not be ready to face. Something dark is walking in the woods, and it knows her all too well.

MY REVIEW

Heather returns to her childhood home after her mother’s suicide. While going through her mother’s things, she discovers letters between her mother and a notorious serial killer, Red Wolf. Not only is Heather struggling to understand why her mother would commit suicide, she is now concerned with the stack of mysterious letters. Red Wolf has been in prison for 20 years, and Heather decides to talk to him to find out about his connection to her mother. Heather wants to understand what was happening with her mother, but she is also drawn into a mystery when copycat killings start happening. With a series of new murders, people start to wonder if the police caught the real Red Wolf.

A Dark and Secret Place has a dark and eerie atmosphere. When Heather visits with Red Wolf, he uses twisted fairy tales to tell her stories. Heather is not exactly a likable character, and I had a hard time connecting with her. Still, the story was intriguing, and I wanted to know where it would lead.

A recommended read for fans of psychological thrillers and dark fairy tales. A Dark and Secret Place is atmospheric, disturbing, and haunting.

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

BOOK INFO

Title: Just One Look

Author: Lindsay Cameron

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publish Date: July 27, 2021

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

Eyes aren’t the windows to the soul. Emails are.

Cassie Woodson is adrift. After suffering an epic tumble down the corporate ladder, Cassie finds the only way she can pay her bills is to take a thankless temp job reviewing correspondence for a large-scale fraud suit. The daily drudgery amplifies all that her life is lacking—love, friends, stability—and leaves her with too much time on her hands, which she spends fixating on the mistakes that brought her to this point.

While sorting through a relentless deluge of emails, something catches her eye: the tender (and totally private) exchanges between a partner at the firm, Forest Watts, and his enchanting wife, Annabelle. Cassie knows she shouldn’t read them. But it’s just one look. And once that door opens, she finds she can’t look away.

Every day, twenty floors below Forest’s corner office, Cassie dissects their emails from her dingy workstation. A few clicks of her mouse and she can see every adoring word they write to each other. By peeking into their apparently perfect life, Cassie finds renewed purpose and happiness, reveling in their penchant for vintage wines, morning juice presses, and lavish dinner parties thrown in their stately Westchester home. There are no secrets from her. Or so she thinks.

Her admiration quickly escalates into all-out mimicry, because she wants this life more than anything. Maybe if she plays make-believe long enough, it will become real for her. But when Cassie orchestrates a “chance” meeting with Forest in the real world and sees something that throws the state of his marriage into question, the fantasy she’s been carefully cultivating shatters. Suddenly, she doesn’t simply admire Annabelle—she wants to take her place. And she’s armed with the tools to make that happen.

MY REVIEW

Cassie is an attorney who suffered a public downfall at her previous job. She takes a job working as a temp at a large law firm. Her job is to read through emails for a fraud case. It’s a rather boring job, but she soon reads emails exchanged between Forrest and his wife Annabelle. Cassie becomes more and more interested in Forrest, going from reading private emails to wanting to see Forrest in person.

Cassie is an intriguing character, though she’s not very likable. As her story slowly unfolds, it also gets crazier. Just One Look isn’t the most believable story, but it is entertaining.

Just One Look is a complex thriller. A story with obsession and stalking, making it a good read for fans of You by Caroline Kepnes.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Other Passenger

Author: Louise Candlish

Publisher: Atria Books

Publish Date: July 20, 2021

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

It all happens so quickly. One day you’re living the dream, commuting to work by ferry with your charismatic neighbor Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn’t turned up for the boat and his wife, Melia, has reported him missing.

When you get off at your stop, the police are waiting. Another passenger saw you and Kit arguing on the boat home the night before and the police say that you had a reason to want him dead. You protest. You and Kit are friends—ask Melia, she’ll vouch for you. And who exactly is this other passenger pointing the finger? What do they know about your lives?

No, whatever danger followed you home last night, you are innocent, totally innocent.

Aren’t you?

MY REVIEW

Jamie and Kit ride the ferry together. One day, Kit doesn’t show up, and soon the police are questioning Jamie. Kit’s wife has reported him missing, and Jamie was last seen arguing with him. Multiple questions arise, like what happened to Kit, and did Jamie have anything to do with it?

The Other Passenger is told from Jamie’s point of view. Jamie is nearing fifty years old, suffers from agoraphobia, works at a coffee shop, and relies on his partner, Clare, to pay for everything. Jamie seems to have a pretty good life, and is enjoying taking things easy. Kit is in his late twenties, in debt, and married to Melia. Jamie and Kit ride the ferry together everyday, enjoy the occasional after work drink, and form an unlikely friendship.

Interesting and unlikable characters make for an intriguing read. The Other Passenger is a slow burning thriller with some twists along the way. Fans of Louise Candlish’s other books are likely to enjoy this novel too.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Books by Louise Candlish:

1. The Swimming Pool
2. Our House
3. Those People
4. The Other Passenger
5. The Heights
6. The Only Suspect