BOOK INFO

Title: The Perfect Mother

Author: Aimee Molloy

Publisher: Harper

Publish Date: May 1, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

An addictive psychological thriller about a group of women whose lives become unexpectedly connected when one of their newborns goes missing.

A night out. A few hours of fun. That’s all it was meant to be.

They call themselves the May Mothers—a group of new moms whose babies were born in the same month. Twice a week, they get together in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for some much-needed adult time.

When the women go out for drinks at the hip neighborhood bar, they want a fun break from their daily routine. But on this hot Fourth of July night, something goes terrifyingly wrong: one of the babies is taken from his crib. Winnie, a single mom, was reluctant to leave six-week-old Midas with a babysitter, but her fellow May Mothers insisted everything would be fine. Now he is missing. What follows is a heart-pounding race to find Midas, during which secrets are exposed, marriages are tested, and friendships are destroyed. 

MY REVIEW

The May Mothers are a mommy group. They all gave birth in the same month, and now get together to share the joys and fears of being new moms. The group normally meets at the park with their babies, but they decide to go out for drinks one night. One of the mothers, a single mom, is hesitant to leave her little one with a babysitter. The others convince her everything will be fine, but she returns home to find her baby has been abducted. As the new moms fall under suspicion for their night out, relationships are tested.

A relevant topic of a group of new moms that meet on the internet and start a mom group to form friendships, receive advice and support, and get out of the house for a while. Being a new mom is stressful, and moms tend to question and compare themselves, and their kids, to others. The Perfect Mother does a good job of illustrating the pressures we put on ourselves for the unattainable role of perfect mother.

Not all of the members of the May Mothers are central to the plot. The characters, whether they are more fleshed out or not, are all relatable. Nell, Francie, and Collette, are especially well-developed. Sometimes stories with multiple characters can get a little confusing, but the characters are easy to keep up with in this one.

The Perfect Mother is a gripping psychological thriller. Great read for fans of domestic thrillers, especially ones with missing children. Disturbing, complex, and suspenseful.

Books by Aimee Molloy:

1. The Perfect Mother
2. Goodnight Beautiful

BOOK INFO

Title: Reclaiming Raven

Author: Mary Holt

Publisher: Solstice Publishing

Publish Date: June 17, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Murder, even in self-defense, is a preemptive act. Raven Balback’s obsessive husband demands she return to their marriage. The frightened woman, partially paralyzed from her last encounter with him, flees. Unable to locate his wife, Cole burns the buildings that sheltered her in the past and endangers lives. Raven must decide whether to sacrifice herself for strangers or grasp for a life free of her vows.

MY REVIEW

Raven is a disabled woman trying to escape from her abusive husband. Her husband, Cole, has contacts that make escaping from him very difficult. She manages to make her way to a new town, but when Cole is unable to locate her, he starts targeting innocent people to bring her out of hiding.

Raven is determined to get away from Cole. Though she is met with additional challenges due to her disabilities, she remains independent and resourceful. Her disabilities are physical (partial paralysis); however, she possesses all her mental faculties. A good thing, because Cole is coming after her with everything he’s got. Cole is methodical and cruel in his hunt for Raven. He is obsessed with her, and thinks he must control everything about her. The story focuses on Raven’s attempt to stay far away from Cole, but there are flashbacks that highlight some of the abusive and disturbing behavior she suffered while married to Cole.

The characters are mostly well developed. Personally, I didn’t care for Raven, though I did feel for her situation and wanted her to get away from Cole. She possesses several great traits in a female protagonist, like being strong-willed and enterprising, but she is also naive. Considering her position and her past experiences, it seems like she would be more discerning. As for Cole, he is really easy to hate. His behavior is frenzied and brutal. The supporting characters add to the story, with some being likable and others not so likable. Kelsey is a particularly maddening character, though very realistic. Hands down my favorite character is Millie, Raven’s service dog.

Reclaiming Raven is Mary Holt’s debut novel. A gripping thriller about a woman on the run. Dark, disturbing, and fast-paced.

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

BOOK INFO

Title: The Exes’ Revenge

Author: Jo Jakeman

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: September 11, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A wickedly dark debut thriller about three women who’ve all been involved with the same man and realize the one thing they have in common is that they all want revenge against him…

Divorces are often messy, and Imogen’s is no exception. Phillip Rochester is controlling, abusive, and determined to make things as difficult as possible. When he shows up without warning demanding that Imogen move out of their house by the end of the month or he’ll sue for sole custody of their young son, Imogen is ready to snap.

In a moment of madness, Imogen does something unthinkable–something that puts her in control for the first time in years. She’s desperate to protect her son and to claim authority over her own life.

But she wasn’t expecting both Phillip’s ex-wife and new girlfriend to get tangled up in her plans. These three very different women–and unlikely allies–reluctantly team up to take revenge against a man who has wronged them all.

MY REVIEW

Imogen and Phillip are getting divorced. They are both done with their marriage, but Phillip is making things more difficult with his controlling and abusive attitude. For one, Phillip is demanding Imogen and their son move out of the house by the end of the month, and every time she says no to his demands, Phillip threatens to sue for sole custody of their child. Imogen is frustrated and threatened with Phillip’s behavior, so much so, that she finally snaps when Phillip shows up unexpectedly at the house one night. When Phillip’s new girlfriend and his ex-wife also show up unexpectedly, things get even more complicated.

Told from Imogen’s point of view as she tries to deal with a controlling husband and a messy divorce. Imogen, frankly, seems a bit of a doormat. Until she’s not. She has been in an abusive marriage for years, but never felt she could do anything about it. Phillip is the abusive husband, and while he’s occasionally physically abusive, he’s always controlling and threatening. He’s the kind of character readers love to hate. The other women in Phillip’s life are his girlfriend, Naomi, and his ex-wife, Ruby. Naomi is young and beautiful, so, of course, Imogen hates her, even though she’s happy to finally be rid of Phillip. As Imogen gets to know Naomi a little better though, she learns all is not perfect in her and Phillip’s relationship either. Lastly, Ruby. The ex-wife and staunch supporter of Phillip.

I love a good revenge story, and this one seemed to have the right mix – three wronged women (wife, girlfriend, and ex-wife) and one narcissistic jerk. The Exes’ Revenge was an entertaining read, but not what I was expecting. Each woman has a different history with Phillip, and each woman has a different issue with him. Plus, Phillip has things happening in his life that the women aren’t even aware of. This makes for a story that is all over the place. While it starts out somewhat believable, it gets more outlandish as even more things happen.

With dark humor and some crazy situations, The Exes’ Revenge is a fast-paced, fun read. Entertaining, suspenseful, and twisty.

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

Books by Jo Jakeman:

1. The Exes’ Revenge
2. Safe House

BOOK INFO

Title: When the Lights Go Out

Author: Mary Kubica

Publisher: Park Row

Publish Date: September 4, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A woman is forced to question her own identity in this riveting and emotionally charged thriller by the blockbuster bestselling author of The Good Girl, Mary Kubica

Jessie Sloane is on the path to rebuilding her life after years of caring for her ailing mother. She rents a new apartment and applies for college. But when the college informs her that her social security number has raised a red flag, Jessie discovers a shocking detail that causes her to doubt everything she’s ever known.

Finding herself suddenly at the center of a bizarre mystery, Jessie tumbles down a rabbit hole, which is only exacerbated by grief and a relentless lack of sleep. As days pass and the insomnia worsens, it plays with Jessie’s mind. Her judgment is blurred, her thoughts are hampered by fatigue. Jessie begins to see things until she can no longer tell the difference between what’s real and what she’s only imagined.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier and two hundred and fifty miles away, another woman’s split-second decision may hold the key to Jessie’s secret past. Has Jessie’s whole life been a lie or have her delusions gotten the best of her?

MY REVIEW

Jessie is on her own after her mother’s death. As she grieves the loss of her mother, Jessie moves into her own place and adjusts to life on her own. Unfortunately, Jessie soon learns something that makes her question everything. To complicate matters, Jessie has suffered from insomnia since her mother was dying in the hospital. Due to her lack of sleep, she starts having difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction.

Told from the alternating viewpoints of Jessie and Eden. Jessie is a young woman who suffers a great loss when her mother dies. Eden is her mother. Jessie’s story takes place after her mother’s death. Eden’s story takes place twenty years earlier, before Jessie.

Both stories are interesting. Eden’s story is about her desire to have a child, and the trouble she and her husband have with conceiving. Jessie’s story is about her starting out on her own, moving to a new place, applying to college, but also grieving the loss of her mother. When she learns something that makes her question everything, an intriguing mystery follows.

I’m not a big fan of alternate points of view, especially when they involve alternate timelines. It is nice to see how the pieces come together in the end, but the ending isn’t spectacular enough to make this a great read for me. I’ve seen a few reviews that complain of the ending for this one, but I felt it fit with the story being told.

A slow burn psychological thriller. Dark, tragic, and suspenseful.

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

Books by Mary Kubica:

1. The Good Girl
2. Pretty Baby
3. Don’t You Cry
4. Every Last Lie
5. When the Lights Go Out
6. The Other Mrs.
7. Local Woman Missing
8. Just the Nicest Couple
9. She’s Not Sorry

BOOK INFO

Title: The Elizas

Author: Sara Shepard

Publisher: Atria Books

Publish Date: April 17, 2018

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

When Eliza Fontaine is rescued from the bottom of a hotel pool just a few weeks before her first novel is going to be published, her family assumes that it’s another failed suicide attempt. But Eliza swears she was pushed. The problem is she remembers little of that night, a result of the large quantity of alcohol she consumed and a worsening struggle with memory loss due to a brain tumor. Feeling ignored and vulnerable, she decides she must find the truth of what actually happened.

As she searches for answers, something very peculiar begins to happen: The people closest to her start to confuse the events in her novel with those in her real life. The dividing line between fact and fiction seems to be dissolving, and even Eliza is becoming uncertain about where her protagonist’s story ends and hers begins. She glimpses a shadowy presence hovering nearby, a mirror image of herself…but is it all in her head or is there really someone following her, studying her, wishing to do her harm? Perhaps the answers to all her questions already exist in the pages of her novel, if only she could put the pieces together in the right way.

The Elizas is a heart-pounding, Hitchcockian double narrative composed of secrets, lies, false memories, and an unreliable narrator you’ll never forget.

MY REVIEW

When Eliza is found in a hotel pool, she claims she was pushed, but her family thinks it was another one of her suicide attempts. That’s right, another attempt. It seems Eliza has made several suicide attempts. Eliza has a hard time convincing anyone that someone pushed her, so she investigates on her own.

Eliza is dealing with two main issues in this story. One, she was found in a pool. She can’t swim, and her family believes she tried to kill herself, but Eliza is convinced someone pushed her. The other issue concerns Eliza’s new book that is about to be published. She’s excited about it, but her family doesn’t want the book out, and Eliza can’t quite figure out why they feel that way.

Told from Eliza’s point of view, who seems to be an unreliable narrator since she has a gap in her memory. Eliza spent some time in a hospital recovering from an illness. This time of her life is a little hazy. However, Eliza’s growing paranoia does seem justified with the way things are going in her life.

The Elizas is a slow building psychological thriller. This is lighter than a lot of adult thrillers, so a good intro for people looking to read more thrillers, but not interested in too heavy of a story. Dark, chaotic, and suspenseful.

Books by Sara Shepard:

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