BOOK INFO

Title: Necessary People

Author: Anna Pitoniak

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publish Date: May 21, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

One of them has it all. One of them wants it all. But they can’t both win.

Stella and Violet are best friends, and from the moment they met in college, they knew their roles. Beautiful, privileged, and reckless Stella lives in the spotlight. Hardworking, laser-focused Violet stays behind the scenes, always ready to clean up the mess that Stella inevitably leaves in her wake.

After graduation, Violet moves to New York and lands a job in cable news, where she works her way up from intern to assistant to producer, and to a life where she’s finally free from Stella’s shadow. In this fast-paced world, Violet thrives, and her ambitions grow — but everything is jeopardized when Stella, envious of Violet’s new life, uses her connections, beauty, and charisma to get hired at the same network. Stella soon moves in front of the camera, becoming the public face of the stories that Violet has worked tirelessly to produce — and taking all the credit.

Stella might be the one with the rich family and the right friends, but Violet isn’t giving up so easily. As she and Stella strive for success, each reveals just how far she’ll go to get what she wants — even if it means destroying the other person along the way.

MY REVIEW

Stella and Violet have been friends since college. They seem like opposites, but they balance one another out. Stella is privileged and irresponsible. Violet is hardworking and serious. After graduating, Stella travels and Violet starts an internship at a cable news station in New York. When Stella returns to New York, Violet’s advancements are overshadowed and threatened when Stella is hired at the same station. Violet has always been there for Stella, but Violet isn’t giving up on her dreams.

Told from Violet’s point of view. She’s driven and hardworking, but not always likable. Both women are manipulative with one another and others in their lives. While they both have traits that are unlikable, they also both have moments to sympathize with. Necessary People is one of those novels where unlikable characters really works. Even though I wasn’t loving either woman, I was curious as to how their relationship would play out.

Necessary People is an intriguing thriller about a toxic friendship. Well developed characters that make this a highly enjoyable read. Dark, complex, and compelling.

Books by Anna Pitoniak:

1. The Futures
2. Necessary People

BOOK INFO

Title: Here to Stay

Author: Mark Edwards

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publish Date: September 1, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

A beautiful home. A loving wife. And in-laws to die for.

Gemma Robinson comes into Elliot’s life like a whirlwind, and they marry and settle into his home. When she asks him if her parents can come to stay for a couple of weeks, he is keen to oblige – he just doesn’t quite know what he’s signing up for.

The Robinsons arrive with Gemma’s sister, Chloe, a mysterious young woman who refuses to speak or leave her room. Elliot starts to suspect that the Robinsons are hiding a dark secret. And then there are the scars on his wife’s body that she won’t talk about . . .

As Elliot’s in-laws become more comfortable in his home, encroaching on all aspects of his life, it becomes clear that they have no intention of moving out. To protect Gemma, and their marriage, Elliot delves into the Robinsons’ past. But is he prepared for the truth?

From the two million copy bestselling author comes a tale about the chilling consequences of welcoming strangers into your home.

MY REVIEW

Elliot has a comfortable life with a rewarding career and a beautiful home he remodeled. The only thing missing is a family. When he meets Gemma, she seems perfect for him, and they have a brief courtship before marrying. Soon after getting married, Gemma’s family (mother, father, and sister) need somewhere to stay. Elliot is happy to welcome them into his home for a couple of weeks, but the time keeps passing and his in-laws aren’t leaving. In fact, they’re taking over his home and starting to destroy other areas of his life too.

Elliot is a decent man who works hard and enjoys his quiet life. He wants love though, and is happy when he meets Gemma. Then his in-laws move in. When his in-laws refuse to leave, Elliot is pushed beyond the breaking point. It’s a difficult time for him and Gemma. In some ways it brings them closer and in other ways pushes them apart.

While I enjoyed the story, I did feel it was a little too slowly drawn out. The in-laws are smart though, and stay within the law as they disrupt Elliot’s life. Elliot tries to remain calm, but there is only so much that a man can handle.

Here to Stay is an intriguing story involving the in-laws from Hell. Good for readers who enjoy family drama in domestic thrillers. Crazy, suspenseful, and entertaining.

Books by Mark Edwards:

1. What You Wish For
2. Because She Love Me
3. Follow You Home
4. The Devil’s Work
5. The Lucky Ones
6. The Retreat
7. In Her Shadow
8. The House Guest
9. The Hollows
10. No Place to Run
11. Keep Her Secret
12. The Darkest Water

BOOK INFO

Title: The Body Lies

Author: Jo Baker

Publisher: Knopf

Publish Date: June 18, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

A dark, thrilling new novel from the best-selling author of Longbourn: a work of riveting psychological suspense that grapples with how to live as a woman in the world–or in the pages of a book–when the stakes are dangerously high.

When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote English countryside, it’s meant to be a fresh start, away from the bustle of London and the scene of a violent assault she is desperate to forget. But despite the distractions of her new life and the demands of single motherhood, her nerves continue to jangle. To make matters worse, a vicious debate about violence against women inflames the tensions and mounting rivalries in her creative-writing class. When a troubled student starts turning in chapters that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognizes herself as the main character in his book–and he has written her a horrific fate. Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it’s too late? At once a breathless cat-and-mouse game and a layered interrogation of the fetishization of the female body, The Body Lies gives us an essential story for our time that will have you checking the locks on your doors.

MY REVIEW

A pregnant woman is assaulted. Three years later, she is struggling with living in London and afraid to go out alone. For a fresh start, she takes a job teaching creative writing at a university in the remote English countryside. During her course, a male student writes disturbing stories that blur the line between fiction and reality.

The unnamed narrator is a woman who struggles with life after an assault. The assault colors her view of the world, and eventually leads her to move away from London. Her husband chooses to stay in London for his work, so they attempt to maintain a long-distance relationship, spending time together on holidays and occasional weekends. She move to the countryside with her son and starts a new job that proves to be more challenging than anticipated. The new job has a higher workload than she agreed to, and no guidance. Add in the loneliness of not having her husband around and the struggles of being the mother of a toddler, the narrator is stressed and exhausted. The character development is well done, and provides an insightful look into challenges of being a woman.

The narrator’s life is stressful enough, and when a male student writes disturbing stories, she starts to feel unsafe. The suspense builds slowly in this atmospheric novel. The Body Lies is a good read for fans of literary crime fiction. Slow-burning, dark, and unsettling.

BOOK INFO

Title: The Birthday Girl

Author: Melissa de la Cruz

Publisher: Dutton

Publish Date: August 6, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

In the thrilling, suspenseful new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz, all of Ellie de Florent-Stinson’s secrets come to light in one eventful evening full of twists, turns, and surprises.  

Before she became a glamorous fashion designer, Ellie de Florent-Stinson was a trailer-park teen about to turn sixteen. But a night of birthday celebration doesn’t go exactly as planned and descends into a night she’ll never be able to forget.

Now, on the cusp of her fortieth birthday, it appears Ellie has everything she ever wanted: a handsome husband; an accomplished, college-age stepdaughter; a beautiful ten-year-old girl; adorable and rambunctious six-year-old twin boys; lush, well-appointed homes in Los Angeles, Park City, and Palm Springs; a thriving career; and a dazzling circle of friends.

Except everything is not quite as perfect as it looks on the outside—Ellie is keeping many secrets. But hiding those skeletons has a cost, and it all comes to a head the night of her fabulous birthday party in the desert—where everyone who matters in her life shows up, invited or not. Old and new friends and frenemies, stepdaughters and business partners, ex-wives and ex-husbands congregate, and the glittering facade of Ellie’s life begins to crumble. 

Beautifully paced and full of surprises, The Birthday Girl is an enthralling tale of a life lived in shadow and its unavoidable consequences.

MY REVIEW

Ellie is turning forty, and she has a big birthday party planned. She’s invited everyone she knows and has everything planned to the last detail. Things do not go according to plan though. Something is up with her husband, her daughter has returned home unexpectedly from college, her best friend can’t make it, someone from her past has decided to drop by, and Ellie’s waiting on a last minuted business deal.

The Birthday Girl is told with alternating timelines – past (24 years ago) and present (birthday party). The past timeline is about Leo and Mish, two girls from the wrong side of town, on the night of Leo’s 16th birthday. They are best friends and excited to go out and celebrate, but things do not end happily. The present timeline is about Ellie, her lavish party, and the things happening in her life.

The Birthday Girl is listed as a thriller, but nothing is particularly surprising or shocking. Ellie is not the most likable character, but she’s realistic. She wants perfection, and to prove that she belongs. An entertaining book for readers who enjoy drama and mild suspense.

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

BOOK INFO

Title: The Turn of the Key

Author: Ruth Ware

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publish Date: August 6, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

BOOK BLURB

When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the home’s cameras, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults around apart from the enigmatic handyman.

It was everything.

She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder—but somebody is.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, The Turn of the Key is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

MY REVIEW

Rowan answers an ad for a live-in nanny position. The position seems a little too perfect, but Rowan ignores the warning signs. After getting the job, Rowan experiences some unexplained and disturbing events in the home. Her time there is difficult, and Rowan admits she made mistakes. When one of the children dies, Rowan insists she is not the killer.

Told from Rowan’s point of view in letters from prison to her attorney. Rowan attempts to explain everything that happened during her time with the family, and what led to her arrest. Strange events in the home, the creepy smart features of the house, and the behavior of the not-so-perfect children. Rowan is not a likable character, but she is realistic and evokes a little sympathy.

I enjoy the atmosphere that Ruth Ware creates in her novels. She is a master at writing creepy and atmospheric psychological thrillers. The setting for The Turn of the Key is a remote smart home in the Scottish Highlands. The property is large and has a dark history.

The Turn of the Key is a slow-burning and eerie psychological thriller. While there are some predictable things in the story, there are enough twists to keep it interesting. Fans of Ruth Ware are sure to enjoy The Turn of the Key. Creepy, unsettling, and atmospheric.

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

Books by Ruth Ware:

1. In a Dark, Dark Wood
2. The Woman in Cabin 10
3. The Lying Game
4. The Death of Mrs. Westaway
5. The Turn of the Key
6. One by One
7. The It Girl
8. Zero Days
9. One Perfect Couple

BOOK INFO

Title: Someone We Know

Author: Shari Lapena

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Publish Date: July 30, 2019

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

BOOK BLURB

Maybe you don’t know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . .

“This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out.”

In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too.

Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?

In this neighborhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .

You never really know what people are capable of.

MY REVIEW

A nice, quiet neighborhood. Well, except that a man’s wife goes missing and a teenager is breaking into houses and hacking into computers. Everyone in the neighborhood is hiding something, and one of them is a killer.

Someone We Know has a lot of characters, and is told with alternating points of view. Some of the characters are better developed than others. All of the characters are keeping secrets, and most are suspects in a neighbor’s murder.

I enjoyed the mysterious plot, but had a hard time connecting with the characters. The setting is one of my favorites – idyllic neighborhood where everyone has something to hide. The ending isn’t a big shock, and a lot of readers will likely figure it out, but there are enough suspects and twists in the story to keep most readers guessing a bit.

Someone We Know is an entertaining and twisty thriller. Suspenseful, fun, and clever.

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

Books by Shari Lapena:

1. The Couple Next Door
2. A Stranger in the House
3. An Unwanted Guest
4. Someone We Know
5. The End of Her
6. Not a Happy Family
7. Everyone Here Is Lying