Book Review

All the Dirty Secrets by Aggie Blum Thompson [Book Review]

Book Review

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BOOK INFO

Title: All the Dirty Secrets

Author: Aggie Blum Thompson

Publisher: Forge Books

Publish Date: July 12, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

All the Dirty Secrets by Aggie Blum Thompson

BOOK BLURB

One warm summer night twenty-five years ago, Liza Gold and her friends celebrated their high school graduation with a party on the beach. It should have been the best night of their lives, only one of them never came back out of the ocean.

The tragedy haunted Liza Gold for years. Now, she’s a recently divorced working mom struggling to connect with her standoffish teenager daughter Zoe when history repeats itself. Another young woman has drowned at Beach Week, and this time the victim is Zoe’s secret best friend.

Liza begins to suspect that the two deaths are somehow related, which causes her to face hard truths and take an unflinching look at the people she’s called her closest friends for the past two decades. She must discover what really happened to both women before it’s too late.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Twenty-five years ago, tragedy struck when Liza and her friends went to the beach, and one didn’t make it in after her midnight swim. Now, another young woman has died in a similar way, and this time it was a friend of Liza’s daughter that died.

All the Dirty Secrets is told using multiple points of view and multiple timelines. The POVs are Liza and her teen daughter, Zoe. The timelines are present day and twenty-five years earlier. Liza suspects the two deaths are related somehow. To find the truth, she has to take a hard look at those closest to her.

This started as a slow-building novel, but picked up the pace around the middle of the book. All the Dirty Secrets is a suspenseful mystery of secrets and deception. A good read for fans of this genre.

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

Books by Aggie Blum Thompson:
  1. I Don’t Forgive You
  2. All the Dirty Secrets
Book Review

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin [Book Review]

Book Review

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BOOK INFO

Title: Stay Awake

Author: Megan Goldin

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Publish Date: August 9, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

BOOK BLURB

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers—a stranger who claims to live in her apartment. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing. In its place is a bloodstained knife. Her hands are covered in scribbled messages, like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, similar to the message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget—permanently.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Liv awakens in a taxi, and has no memory of the past two years. Someone else lives in her apartment, “stay awake” is written on her hands, and she’s in possession of a bloody knife. She soon finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing.

Stay Awake is told using multiple points of view and timelines. The timelines are present day and two years earlier. The POVs are Liv and the detective investigating the murder. Liv is trying to figure out what has happened to her. The detective is trying to solve a case. Both viewpoints are interesting and add to the story.

Stay Awake is a fast-paced thriller with an intriguing plot. Recommended for fans of suspenseful thrillers and crime.

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
Book Review

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Local Gone Missing

Author: Fiona Barton

Publisher: Berkley Books

Publish Date: June 14, 2022

Genre: Crime & Detective

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

BOOK BLURB

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she’d ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.

Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.

The conflicts boil over when a newcomer wants to put the town on the map with a weekend music festival, and two teenagers overdose on drugs. When a man disappears the first night of the festival, Elise starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it’s full of secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Elise is a detective on medical leave. She misses her work, but is uncertain of when she will return to her job. In the meantime, she spends her time watching the changes in her small town of Ebbing. One of Ebbing’s new residents wants to host a music festival in town. On the first night of the festival, a local man goes missing. Elise can’t resist investigating the disappearance.

Local Gone Missing is a slow-building story. The seaside town, atmosphere, and characters were all well developed. Elise’s detective skills were the highlight. This was a complex and clever mystery.

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

Book Review

Upgrade by Blake Crouch [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Upgrade

Author: Blake Crouch

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publish Date: July 12, 2022

Genre: Technothriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

BOOK BLURB

“You are the next step in human evolution.”

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked. And there’s a reason he’s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what’s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan’s the one person in the world capable of stopping what’s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he’ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he’s fighting, he can’t help wondering: what if humanity’s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Upgrade is set in the future, after “The Great Starvation” has killed two hundred million people. This famine was unintentionally caused by a genetic engineer. That engineer was Logan’s mother. She was a brilliant scientist, but her experiments had devastating consequences. Now, genetically modifying anything is a crime and Logan works for the Gene Protection Agency.

Logan is exposed to a gene modifying virus on the job, and starts to notice changes in his mind and body. He has become sharper than ever. He has better concentration, vision, and strength. With this new version of himself, Logan is the only one capable of saving humanity by stopping a plan that is already set in motion.

Action, drama, suspense, and science combine in this fast-paced technothriller.

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

Books by Blake Crouch:
  1. Dark Matter
  2. Recursion
  3. Upgrade
Book Review

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Two Nights in Lisbon

Author: Chris Pavone

Publisher: MCD

Publish Date: May 24, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone

BOOK BLURB

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Ariel and her husband, John, travel to Lisbon on one of his business trips. One morning, Ariel wakes up, and her husband is gone. She contacts local authorities, but she is unable to answer some of their questions. When Ariel gets a ransom demand for John, she has to come up with the money, and that means turning to someone she was hoping to never have contact with again.

Two Nights in Lisbon has a complex and multilayered plot that took time to build. The twists and turns were unexpected, which is always enjoyable. A good read for fans of tense and suspenseful thrillers.

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

Book Review

My Summer Darlings by May Cobb [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: My Summer Darlings

Author: May Cobb

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: May 17, 2022

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

My Summer Darlings by May Cobb

BOOK BLURB

A woman in the forest thinks she’s going to die.
                          I know he’s coming back for me.
 
Jen Hansen, Kittie Spears, and Cynthia Nichols have been friends since childhood. They are now approaching forty and their lives have changed, but their insular East Texas town has not. They stay sane by drinking wine in the afternoons, dishing about other women in the neighborhood, and bonding over the heartache of their own encroaching middle age and raising ungrateful teens.
 
Then Will Harding comes to town, moving into one of the neighborhood’s grandest homes. Mysterious and charming, he seems like the answer to each woman’s prayers. He’s a source of fascination for Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia, but none of them are ready for the way Will disrupts their lives.
 
As Will grows closer with each of the women, their fascination twists into obsession, threatening their friendships and their families. When he abruptly pulls away, each woman scrambles to discover the source of his affection. But what they’ll uncover is far more sinister and deadly than any of them could have ever imagined.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Jen, Kittie, and Cynthia lives in the same neighborhood and have been friends for years. A new man moves into town, and has caught all their attention. There goes the neighborhood.

My Summer Darlings is told through alternating points of view – Jen, Kittie, Cynthia, and an unknown person. The POVs are all distinct, though none of them are very likable.

Jen is recently divorced, and is immediately drawn to the new neighbor, Will. Her besties, Kittie and Cynthia, are both married, but they are also attracted to Will. This must be the world’s most charming man. Anyway, the women all fall for this new stranger, and are absolutely ridiculous trying to win him over. It should be no surprise that things do not end well.

My Summer Darlings is a guilty pleasure book. A steamy and dramatic story of rich people behaving badly, with a little mystery thrown in.

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

Book Review

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Hidden Pictures

Author: Jason Rekulak

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publish Date: May 10, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

BOOK BLURB

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Mallory is looking for a fresh start. She’s just out of rehab and gets a job as a live-in nanny for a couple and their five-year-old, Teddy. At first, things are great, but then Teddy starts to draw creepy images. Mallory starts to suspect the drawings may have something to do with an unsolved murder.

Hidden Pictures starts strong. The story was intriguing and I was enjoying the characters. Halfway into the book, things took a turn. The story got wilder and more unbelievable. Overall, it was an entertaining read, but not as thrilling as I had hoped.

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

Book Review

Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Please Join Us

Author: Catherine McKenzie

Publisher: Atria Books

Publish Date: August 23, 2022

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie

BOOK BLURB

At thirty-nine, Nicole Mueller’s life is on the rocks. Her once brilliant law career is falling apart. She and her husband, Dan, are soon to be forced out of the apartment they love. After a warning from her firm’s senior partners, she receives an invitation from an exclusive women’s networking group, Panthera Leo. Membership is anonymous, but every member is a successful professional. It sounds like the perfect solution to help Nicole revive her career. So, despite Dan’s concerns that the group might be a cult, Nicole signs up for their retreat in Colorado.

Once there, she meets the other women who will make up her Pride. A CEO, an actress, a finance whiz, a congresswoman: Nicole can’t believe her luck. The founders of Panthera Leo are equally as impressive. They explain the group’s core philosophy: they’re a girl’s club in a boy’s club world.

Nicole is all in. And when she gets home, she soon sees dividends. Her new network quickly provides her with clients that help her relaunch her career, and a great new apartment too. The favors she has to provide in return seem benign. But then she’s called to the congresswoman’s apartment late at night where she’s pressed into helping her cover up a crime. And suddenly, Dan’s concerns that something more sinister is at play seem all too relevant. Can Nicole extricate herself from the group before it’s too late? Or will joining Panthera Leo be the biggest mistake of her life?


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Nicole Mueller is an attorney needing a boost in her career. She gets invited to join an exclusive group for professional women. She thinks this is just what she needs, so jumps at the chance to join. She soon sees improvement in her career and life. The favors she provides to the other members of the group seem minor, and she’s elated with how things are going. Then she gets called for more than a favor, she’s asked to help cover up a murder.

Please Join Us is told from Nicole’s point of view. The first part of the novel is slower paced. Nicole joins an exclusive networking group, and meets the other women. There is a good mix of professional women involved, and Nicole starts to immediately see the benefits of being a member. Later in the novel, things get messy. Nicole is in for a wild ride, and tries to escape the toxic group.

Please Join Us is a deliciously twisted thriller of corporate culture, first world problems, and secret organizations.

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

Books by Catherine McKenzie:
  1. Smoke
  2. Fractured
  3. The Good Liar
  4. I’ll Never Tell
  5. You Can’t Catch Me
  6. Six Weeks to Live
  7. Please Join Us
Book Review

First Born by Will Dean [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: First Born

Author: Will Dean

Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Publish Date: July 5, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 4/5

First Born by Will Dean

BOOK BLURB

Sisters. Soulmates. Strangers.

Molly Raven lives a quiet, structured life in London, finding comfort in security and routine. Her identical twin Katie, living in New York, is the exact opposite: outgoing, spontaneous, and adventurous.

But when Molly hears that Katie has died, possibly murdered, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. As terrifying as it is, she knows she must travel across the ocean and find out what happened. But as she tracks her twin’s final movements, cracks begin to emerge, and she slowly realizes her sister was not who she thought she was and there’s a dangerous web of deceit surrounding the two of them.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Twin sisters with opposite personalities. Molly lives a life of quiet and security in London. Katie lives a life of spontaneity and adventure in New York City. When Molly learns that Katie has died, and it may have been murder, she takes off for New York to uncover what happened to her sister.

First Born is told from Molly’s point of view. She is analytical and paranoid. At first, I found her eccentricities tiring, but they eventually grew on me. The characters, setting, and story are all a bit dramatic. As the story progresses, it grows more twisted and wild.

First Born is an intense and suspenseful thriller. Recommended for fans of thrillers with complex stories and surprising twists.

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

Book Review

Dark Circles by Caite Dolan-Leach [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Dark Circles

Author: Caite Dolan-Leach

Publisher: Ballantine

Publish Date: April 19, 2022

Genre: Mystery Thriller

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Dark Circles by Caite Dolan-Leach

BOOK BLURB

Olivia Reed needs a break. She doesn’t want to think about her name plastered on tabloids or be reminded of her recent meltdown on a Manhattan street. Her micromanaging publicist has just the thing in mind: a remote retreat in upstate New York—the House of Light. It’s not rehab; it’s a Spiritual Center, a site for seeking realignment and personal growth. There will be yoga and morning meditation, soft bamboo-blend fabrics and no shortage of crystals to cleanse her energy.
 
But Liv will soon find that the House of Light is filled with darkness. A prickly local, Ava, informs her that something twisted is lurking behind the Light’s veneer. There have been a series of mysterious suicides committed by women caught in the Light’s web, and no matter who Ava talks to, no one believes the Center is involved. To find out what’s really happened and put her celebrity to good use, Liv starts a podcast, seeking to connect the dots and expose the Light’s true intentions. Because beneath the glowing skin of the Light’s inhabitants lie rotten souls, and Liv starts to wonder if anything—even her own life—is how it appears.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Olivia is a minor celebrity who hits rock bottom. She goes to a rehab facility, but soon finds it’s not all yoga and meditation. The facility is more like a cult, and not something Liv is onboard with, so she starts a podcast to expose the darkness.

Dark Circles has an intriguing story with interesting characters. The story is told from Liv’s point of view and through podcast episodes. The podcast element was the most entertaining part of the novel.

Dark Circles is a tense and atmospheric thriller. Recommended for readers who enjoy thrillers about cults and podcasts.

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

Book Review

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen [ Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: Pay Dirt Road

Author: Samantha Jayne Allen

Publisher: Minotaur

Publish Date: April 19, 2022

Genre: Private Detective

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

BOOK BLURB

Annie McIntyre has a love/hate relationship with Garnett, Texas.

Recently graduated from college and home waitressing, lacking not in ambition but certainly in direction, Annie is lured into the family business—a private investigation firm—by her supposed-to-be-retired grandfather, Leroy, despite the rest of the clan’s misgivings.

When a waitress at the café goes missing, Annie and Leroy begin an investigation that leads them down rural routes and haunted byways, to noxious-smelling oil fields and to the glowing neon of local honky-tonks. As Annie works to uncover the truth she finds herself identifying with the victim in increasing, unsettling ways, and realizes she must confront her own past—failed romances, a disturbing experience she’d rather forget, and the trick mirror of nostalgia itself—if she wants to survive this homecoming.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Annie McIntyre returns to her small hometown after college. She’s working as a waitress while figuring out what she wants to do with her life. One of the other waitresses goes missing, and Annie decides to investigate. She and her grandfather, a private investigator, work together to uncover what happened.

Pay Dirt Road is a slow-burning, atmospheric mystery. With strong character development and a haunting setting, this debut novel was an entertaining read. I look forward to more from this author.

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

Book Review

The Lives of Diamond Bessie by Jody Hadlock [Book Review]

Book Review

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, read my Disclosure Policy.


BOOK INFO

Title: The Lives of Diamond Bessie

Author: Jody Hadlock

Publisher: SparkPress

Publish Date: April 5, 2022

Genre: Historical Mystery

Series: na

My Rating: 3/5

The Lives of Diamond Bessie by Jody Hadlock

BOOK BLURB

Pregnant out of wedlock, sixteen-year-old Annie Moore is sent to live at a convent for fallen women. When the nuns take her baby, Annie escapes, determined to find a way to be reunited with her daughter. But few rights or opportunities are available to a woman in the 1860s, and after failing to find a respectable job, Annie resorts to prostitution in order to survive.

As a highly sought-after demi-mondaine, Annie—now Bessie—garners many expensive gifts from her admirers, and eventually meets and marries the son of a wealthy jeweler. With her marriage, she believes her dream of returning to proper society has finally come true. She’s proven wrong when she suffers the ultimate betrayal at the hands of the man she thought would be her salvation. But Bessie doesn’t let her story end there.

Inspired by a true story and set amid the burgeoning women’s rights movement, The Lives of Diamond Bessie is a haunting tale of betrayal and redemption that explores whether seeking revenge is worth the price you might pay.


Purchase Links: Amazon


MY REVIEW

Diamond Bessie was killed and her killer was never brought to justice. Before that, Diamond Bessie was Annie Moore. After much tragedy in her young life, Annie became a prostitute known as Bessie. One day Bessie met Abe Rothschild, they fell for one another, and got married. Not long into their marriage, they traveled to Jefferson, TX, where Bessie was killed.

The Lives of Diamond Bessie is told from Bessie’s point of view. While most people suspected they knew who Bessie’s killer was, he was never convicted. This novel is Bessie’s story of bringing her killer to justice.

I was okay with the first part of the novel, but when things switched to Bessie’s spirit’s point of view, I lost interest. It felt almost like two separate novels. A solid start with a lackluster ending.

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