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Aldrich University is rocked to its core when a hacker dumps 40,000 people’s e-mails—the entire faculty, staff, students, alums—onto an easily searchable database. Rumors and affairs immediately leak, but things turn explosive when Kit Manning’s handsome husband, Dr. Greg Strasser, is found murdered. Kit’s sister, Willa, returns for the funeral, setting foot in a hometown she fled fifteen years ago, after a night she wishes she could forget. As an investigative reporter, Willa knows something isn’t right about the night Greg was killed, and she’s determined to find the truth. What she doesn’t expect is that everyone has something to hide. And with a killer on the loose, Willa and Kit must figure out who killed Greg before someone else is murdered.

Told from multiple points of view, Reputation is full of twists, turns, and shocking reveals. It’s a story of intrigue, sabotage, and the secrets we keep—and how far we go to keep them hidden. Number one bestseller Sara Shepard is at the top of her game in this brand-new adult novel.

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MY REVIEW

A university’s emails are hacked, and leaked online for all to see. Lives are turned upside down as everyone tries to minimize the fallout of having private emails go public. Things escalate when a man is murdered, and it turns out everyone is keeping secrets.

Told using multiple points of view – Kit, Lynn, Raina, Laura, and Willa. Kit works at the university, is married to Greg, and has two daughters. Lynn works with Kit. Raina is a college student and friend of Kit’s daughter. Laura worked with Greg and is married to a police officer. Willa is Kit’s sister. A large cast of characters, but the various viewpoints are easy to follow.

Reputation is a fun and intriguing thriller. Good for readers who enjoy juicy mysteries. Gossipy, exciting, and twisty.

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

Books by Sara Shepard:

1. The Elizas
2. Reputation
3. Safe In My Arms
4. Nowhere Like Home

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It’s something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it’s a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn’t do as she’s told, the boy will die.

“You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last.” Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals — and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim , and then commit a horrible act you’d have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago.

But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning.

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MY REVIEW

Rachel is on her way to a doctor’s appointment when she receives a phone call. On the phone is someone who has kidnapped her daughter Kylie. To get Kylie back, Rachel must obey the rules of The Chain.

A fantastic, yet horrifying, plot. The Chain is a kidnapping for ransom scheme. It starts with parents receiving a phone call that their child has been kidnapped. In addition to paying a ransom, they must also kidnap another child to keep The Chain going. As long as the parents follow the rules, The Chain stays active and everyone stays alive. Of course, once someone is in The Chain, they are forever watching over their shoulder, afraid someone will kill them or their child.

Told in two parts. The novel starts off exciting, and the entire first part is thrilling to read. The second part wasn’t as strong for me, but it stayed entertaining. Most of the novel is told from Rachel’s point of view, but other viewpoints are also included.

The Chain is a fast-paced and action-packed thriller. Gripping, addictive, and intense.

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When former journalist Rain Winter was twelve years old, she narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. The abductor was eventually found and sent to prison, but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice–and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, spending her days as a stay-at-home mom. But when another criminal who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case, forced to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

Introducing one of the most compelling and original killers in crime fiction today, Lisa Unger takes readers deep inside the minds of both perpetrator and victim, blurring the lines between right and wrong, crime and justice, and showing that sometimes even good people are drawn to do evil things.

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MY REVIEW

Rain is a stay-at-home mom, but misses her work as a reporter. When the suspected killer in a case she once worked is found murdered, she is drawn back into the case. To complicate matters, the recent murder is similar to an old case that Rain had a personal connection to. Rain is consumed with finding the killer.

Rain is taking a break from work to stay home with her child, but her reporter instincts kick in when a vigilante killer seems to be on the loose. The recent murder of a suspected killer is eerily similar to the murder of the man who attempted to abduct Rain when she was a kid. Rain was able to escape her kidnapper, but her best friends were not so lucky. As an adult, Rain still has a hard time with the guilt she has from her surviving while her friends suffered. Rain uses her skills and connections to discover the killer and how it connects to her past.

The Stranger Inside is an addictive thriller that alternates between points of view. This is my second book to read by Lisa Unger, and she’s an author I’ll be sure to read more from in the future. Dark, captivating, and suspenseful.

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

Books by Lisa Unger:

1. The Red Hunter
2. Under My Skin
3. The Stranger Inside
4. Confessions on the 7:45
5. Last Girl Ghosted
6. Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
7. Christmas Presents
8. The New Couple in 5B

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Six went in…only one came out.

The Standedge Tunnel, the longest canal tunnel in England, has become one of the rural village of Marsden’s main tourist attractions. Now it’s also a crime scene.

Six students went into the tunnel on a private boat. Two and a half hours later, the boat reappeared at the other end of the tunnel carrying only one of the students, Matthew. He had been knocked unconscious and has no memory of what took place in the tunnel. The police suspect he killed his friends, hid the bodies and later moved them to an undisclosed location. But sitting in a cell awaiting trial, Matthew maintains his innocence.

When Matthew contacts a famous author asking him for help in return for information he claims to possess about the author’s long-lost wife, it’s an offer that can’t be refused. But before the author can prove Matthew’s innocence, he must first answer a far more unusual question: How did five bodies disappear into thin air?

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MY REVIEW

Robin’s wife, Samantha, went missing in 2015. Three years later, Robin has written a book about her to help him with his grief. He misses her terribly, and especially wishes he knew what happened to her. At a book signing, he receives a mysterious call from a man saying he spoke with Samantha years earlier. The caller, Matthew, is a man who has recently been arrested for killing five of his friends. Matthew and his friends went through the Standedge Tunnel on a boat, but only Matthew came out of the tunnel. Matthew claims he is innocent and asks for Robin’s help, promising more information about Samantha if Robin helps him. Robin is intrigued and heads off to Marsden, location of Standedge Tunnel. While Matthew maintains his innocence, there is still a big question about his friends – where are the bodies?

Robin is grieving for his missing wife and having difficulty moving on. With the hope of learning something about Samantha’s disappearance, he jumps into investigating Matthew’s claim of innocence. However, the townspeople of Marsden have already decided Matthew is guilty, and they are not welcoming to Robin and his inquiries about the Standedge Five. This makes Robin’s task more difficult, but he presses on to discover what happened in the tunnel, and in turn, hopes to learn what happened to his wife.

The atmosphere Now You See Me is fantastic. The claustrophobic tunnel and tight knit community of Marsden make for a dark and eerie setting. The characters are complex and not all that trustworthy. A compelling and suspenseful mystery.

I read Chris McGeorge’s previous novel, Guess Who, and was amused to see it referred to a couple of times in this book. Both books are entertaining thrillers.

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

Books by Chris McGeorge:

1. Guess Who
2. Now You See Me
3. Inside Out
4. Half-Past Tomorrow

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Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style—but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.

Invited to participate in an escape room challenge as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high-rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.

Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?

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MY REVIEW

Four coworkers attend an escape room challenge. They are trapped in an elevator, where the puzzles they are presented become increasingly personal. As tempers rise and egos bruise, it seems that not everyone will make it out of the elevator alive.

Told using multiple points of view and multiple timelines. The book is largely told from Sarah’s POV. Sarah is a former coworker, with her story starting when she took a finance job at a top company. Sarah is a recent graduate with a desire to succeed. The coworkers in the elevator are Vincent, Sylvia, Sam, and Jules. As they come to terms with their present situation, bits and pieces from the past are included to pull it all together. Vincent is the boss, Sylvia is the seductress, Sam is the charmer, and Jules is the alcoholic. They are all workaholics and ruthless in their rise to top.

Interesting characters in a unique setting. I enjoyed the trapped elevator with puzzles to get released. Besides that, it’s the world of Wall Street finance, with workaholic, extravagant, and outrageous behavior. The four escape room characters aren’t all that likable, since they are greedy, corrupt, and selfish. Sarah, the former coworker, is mostly likable. She is smart and driven, and struggles to fit in with her team.

I found this to be a fun and intriguing read. The Escape Room is a revenge type story against some greedy Wall Street investors. Everyone on the team is out for themselves, and more than willing to throw the others to the wolves. Recommended for readers of finance thrillers. Complex, absorbing, and entertaining.

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

Books by Megan Goldin:

1. The Girl in Kellers Way
2. The Escape Room
3. The Night Swim
4. Stay Awake
5. Dark Corners

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How far will you go to protect your family? Will you keep their secrets? Ignore their lies?

In a small town in Virginia, a group of people know each other because they’re part of a special treatment center, a hyperbaric chamber that may cure a range of conditions from infertility to autism. But then the chamber explodes, two people die, and it’s clear the explosion wasn’t an accident.

A powerful showdown unfolds as the story moves across characters who are all maybe keeping secrets, hiding betrayals. Chapter by chapter, we shift alliances and gather evidence: Was it the careless mother of a patient? Was it the owners, hoping to cash in on a big insurance payment and send their daughter to college? Could it have been a protester, trying to prove the treatment isn’t safe?

“A stunning debut about parents, children and the unwavering hope of a better life, even when all hope seems lost” (Washington Post), Miracle Creek uncovers the worst prejudice and best intentions, tense rivalries and the challenges of parenting a child with special needs. It’s “a quick-paced murder mystery that plumbs the power and perils of community” (O Magazine) as it carefully pieces together the tense atmosphere of a courtroom drama and the complexities of life as an immigrant family. Drawing on the author’s own experiences as a Korean-American, former trial lawyer, and mother of a “miracle submarine” patient, this is a novel steeped in suspense and igniting discussion.

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MY REVIEW

A courtroom drama that recalls the events leading up to the night of the explosion. Told with the alternating points of view of the patients and the family that ran the Miracle Submarine. The Miracle Submarine, an experimental medical treatment, explodes. Two people are killed and others injured. The investigation into the explosion leads to a patient’s mother on trial for murder.

The Miracle Submarine is a pressurized oxygen chamber that is large enough for multiple people to receive treatment at the same time. The patients that are involved in the treatment include Matt (infertility), Teresa and her daughter Rosa (cerebral palsy), Kitt and her son TJ (autism), and Elizabeth and her son Henry (autism). Matt is the only adult undergoing the treatment. The others involved are receiving treatment for the children, though the chamber allows the mothers to accompany their children. Each of the families has something to contribute to the mystery of the submarine and what happened on the night of the explosion.

The family that ran the treatment facility – Pak, Young, and Mary Yoo – are Korean immigrants. Pak and Young are married, and Mary is their teenage daughter. Their facility was a target of local protests in the small town of Miracle Creek. Since it is an experimental treatment, some viewed it as dangerous. Family drama (secrets and not really understanding one another) comes into play for the Yoos.

Intriguing mystery with unique characters. With so many characters, there are multiple stories. Things are happening in each character’s life, and it all culminates into a disastrous event. Everything is not as it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets. Captivating and powerful.