Tag: thriller

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey

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The List of Suspicious Things is an unforgettable, tragic story with a serial killer, two twelve-year-old girls and a small town frantic to figure out who the murderer is and why. But the story is so much more. It encapsulates how people who are different are treated, grief, mental illness and determination. And of course, the shocking discovery of just who the killer is. But by the end of the story and the damage to the mystery has caused to some of the innocent is palpable.

Twelve-year-old Miv and her best (and only) friend Sharon have decided to try and investigate who is killing women in their town. Miv needs to find out as her father has just told her they may be moving to another town. With Miv’s mother who does nothing but stay in her room, not speaking to anyone and then getting shuttled off for months at a time to somewhere, Miv has no idea where to, she cannot and will not accept the move.

So, she and Sharon devise a plan to look at the local men and write down reasons they feel they may be the killer. Unfortunately, they have many on their list. As they begin to investigate Miv is much more determined to find the killer. Sharon just wants to be with Miv and be her listener.

As they gather information, what they discover is there is much more going on in this small town than just having a serial killer amongst them. They will learn people who are innocent of everything can be found guilty just by the color of their skin. They will also learn some married couples have deep dark secrets which they desperately try to hide. And they will also learn that evil is not that far away from them.

Their lives will be changed forever as the danger intensifies, but Miv will try to help those who can’t help themselves, and try and put a murderer, yet unknown in jail.

The List of Suspicious Things is a thriller but also explores many different types of characters and their deep flaws as well as loss, grief and humanity. In the end, this story has so many lessons which the reader needs to see and understand in order to discover who and why the characters do what they do. The ending, bittersweet…

Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #JennieGodfrey #TheListofSuspicousThings for the advanced copy.

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The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf

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The Perfect Hosts is another chilling, shocking story by author Heather Gudenkauf. It centers around a gender reveal party where something goes terribly wrong. Someone dies. The story so mesmerizing you won’t be able to put it down. Sometimes the rich just don’t know when to stop as they try to outdo each other. Unfortunately, this time it’s so over the top that unbeknownst to all the guests, many deep secrets and lies will be exposed and we will all learn the deep dark hidden truths.

Madeline and Wes Drake are having a baby and decided to have a gender reveal party at their sprawling horse ranch. Wealthy beyond belief, they spared no expense to make it the party of the year…and oh, it was. Just as the reveal was set to begin, there was a massive explosion which leaves many injured and one dead. But unfortunately, it seems it was not an accident.


Enter ATF Agent Jamie Saldano who must now return reluctantly to a town, Nightjar, Wyoming where he lived as a child, was almost beaten to death by someone they never found and whose sister disappeared. Although he has changed his name, he knows Wes Drake. He was the one who found him when he was almost killed.

Shaken, Madeline is taken to the hospital to make sure she and the baby are fine. There she meets a young woman who helped cater the party. She too is pregnant. Because the girl has nowhere else to go, she invites her to stay at the ranch. And another surprise awaits Madeline when she gets home…her stepsister Lucy has shown up at the ranch as well. The last time they saw each other was at their father’s funeral where Madeline was given control of his estate which included his and Lucy’s horses.

As Agent Saldano investigates, it seems that the Drake family’s hands are not clean. But which of them, if any, would benefit by killing someone? Saldano also takes this opportunity to revisit the mystery of what happened to his sister all those years ago.

But, secrets have a way of being exposed in many different ways. The Perfect Hosts are absolutely not perfect and the shocking twists, lies and jaw dropping ending proves that!

Heather Gudenkauf is the critically acclaimed author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Weight of Silence, The Overnight Guest and Everyone Is Watching. She lives in Iowa with her husband and children. 
Website: https://heathergudenkauf.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Heather-Gudenkaufs-Books-259685275092/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathergudenkauf/ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hgudenkauf/ 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/heather-gudenkauf 


The book is available now at the following sites:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Hosts-Novel-Heather-Gudenkauf-ebook/dp/B0DQQ9BRLR 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-perfect-hosts-heather-gudenkauf/1146709766?ean=9780778360049 

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-perfect-hosts-original-heather-gudenkauf/22162822?ean=9780778360049&next=t 

Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781488236150-the-perfect-hosts 

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Perfect-Hosts/Heather-Gudenkauf/9780778360049 

Target: https://www.target.com/p/the-perfect-hosts-by-heather-gudenkauf/-/A-94483956?preselect=94481317#lnk=sametab 

Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/otherwise-engaged-a-novel/9780778387268.html  

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-perfect-hosts?sId=7c9b6427-a9f0-4dbf-824b-e63babdb3880 

AppleBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-perfect-hosts/id6739534386 

Thank you #NetGalley #ParkRow #HeatherGudenkauf #ThePerfectHosts for the advanced copy.

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz

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The Last Ferry Out is a chilling mystery with twists and turns and secrets galore. This can’t put down book is more than a thriller. It also encapsulates the relationship between two women who have just gotten engaged, but both are feeling unable to completely give themselves to their relationship for different reasons. It also deals with the death of one of them and the feelings of what could have/should have been said and the regrets that are left behind as one of them searches for answers as to what really happened to cause the death of her partner.

Isla Colel is a haven for people who are trying to escape their lives…for whatever reason. Years ago, this island was a popular resort but now is a dilapidated fishing area where you can hide out openly. No one asks questions as to where you are from or what you used to do. They understand the reason you are here, because they are here for the same reason.

So when Abby gets off the ferry to try and find out how her fiancé Eszter ended up dying here, all she sees and feels is her pain and loss. Also guilt at all the times Eszter tried to engage her while she was here only to have Abby ignore her.

As Abby begins to explore the area, she meets a group of people who actually knew Eszter. All of them have their own secrets but all Abby cares about is getting to the bottom of Eszter’s last days and how she ended up dead.

When one of these “friends” of Eszter, Brady tells Abby that he knows what happened to Eszter and will tell her the next day, she is relieved. Until he never shows up again and seems to disappear leaving her confused, angry and scared.

Abby begins to believe something dark is happening on the island but can’t put her finger on what it is. She feels as if this group of people are hiding things from her. She begins to work on her own to discover the secrets they all are keeping.

While all this is happening, through chapters by Eszter we begin to see what her life was really like and as Abby will discover, Eszter’s own secrets. Did she even really love Abby? She learns Eszter had been in danger and now realizes she too could become a victim of the island. Where does Abby go from here? Who can she trust?

The Last Ferry Out is chock full of intrigue and surprises but also delves into relationships, love and mourning. The lies on this island run very deep and the revelations at the end…no words!

Thank you #NetGalley #BallentineBooks #AndreaBartz #TheLastFerryOut for the advanced copy.

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

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Pour yourself a beer and settle into a comfy chair for another funny, entertaining mystery by the master of using social media in her written books, Janice Hallett. In her unique writing style, email, text and notes, you will begin to explore the goings on in a small town and its pub life including their exciting and competitive trivia nights. With very quirky, some humorous and some shady characters, and a sudden murder to solve, your only job if you should accept it is to enjoy the ride!

Mel and Sue Eastwood own a pub called The Case is Altered in a small town in England. They run a popular trivia game each week. Through text we soon will discover that some teams are more competitive than others. There is also a bit of cheating which is tried, but the pub owners in the area try to keep each other abreast of who the other’s need to watch out for.

As is the case with one group who come in and try and start trouble in The Case is Altered. Mel will have none of it and immediately throws them out.

It also seems there is a new group called The Shadow Nights who have been coming around and they are beating all the other quizzers by a mile. None of the pubs can figure out how they are cheating.

They come to trivia night at The Case is Altered and needless to say, win so big it makes the other quiz teams reevaluate themselves. The Shadow Nights decide they like Mel and Sue’s pub and become regulars…and weekly winners.

But a dead body changes everything.

One of the men who came into the pub that Mel threw out is found dead in the water near the pub. It looks like someone murdered him. As the police begin to investigate it is discovered that Sue and Mel use to be police detectives, (as seen through chapters which go back to a particular case, they were in charge of years ago). This is information they never wanted anyone to know about their past for reasons unknown.

Another question… why is their nephew trying to sell a documentary about Sue and Mel’s lives to Netflix?

How on earth does all this come together and solve a murder?

Are you exhausted? Well don’t be!

The Killer Question will have you hooked from the first text, keep you laughing and intrigued and startled at the explosive outcome to the story!

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #JaniceHallett #TheKillerQuestion for the advanced copy.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

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The Locked Ward is a shocking, twisted thriller with continued stunning revelations and you won’t be able to figure out who the real villain could possibly be. But rest assured as the story unfolds the exciting suspenseful ending will startle you.

Georgia Cartwright is successful in her own right as a party planner. She comes from a wealthy family and is locked in a psychiatric ward. She is accused of killing her sister Annabelle. Actually, Annabelle and Georgia never really got along. You see, Georgia was adopted and her sister and mother never let her forget that fact. But kill her sister? No. Strangely the only person she is requesting to see to get her out of this mess is someone she has never met.

As the news media runs wild with this story, a woman named Amanda Ravenal who owns a bar passed on to her by her father hears about the story and doesn’t make much of it. Until she gets a call about the accused murderess and is told she needs her to come to speak with her.

Why her? She agrees to meet Georgia and what she is told will change her life and everything she ever believed. She discovers they are twins who were separated at birth. Georgia needs Amanda to help her find out who killed her sister.

Shocked, Amanda goes down the rabbit hole of Georgia Cartwright’s life. And it is a bit disturbing. She also now must reevaluate her own parents who are both dead and who never told her she was adopted let alone had a sister, a twin no less. Is Georgia trying to use her? Why did her parents not tell her any of this? What secret were they holding?

The chapters flip from Georgia to Amanda and what they are separately doing and thinking. For Georgia it’s surviving the locked ward, for Amanda it’s trying to snoop on the Cartwright family to see what she can discover.

It seems both Georgia and her parents are hiding some things. Why? And where does Amanda fit in to all this?

Who’s telling the truth? Who killed Annabelle?

The Locked Ward is not only a can’t put down psychological thriller, but a fascinating study into the habits of twins who never knew the other existed. This was such an interesting perspective and a creative, fascinating plot twist. Oh, and the astonishing ending is everything!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #SarahPekkanen #TheLocked Ward for the advanced copy.

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

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Daughter of Mine is another nail-biting, shocking, twisted mystery by the amazing storyteller Megan Miranda. With so many questions seemingly not answered and no idea where the plot is going, the reader will be lulled into just enjoying this rollercoaster but hold on tight for each surprise!

Hazel Sharp is an architect who has come home to Mirror Lake to bury her father who died suddenly. She does not come home often as she does not particularly get along with her brother Caden. Her other brother Gage has always been the one to referee the two. But now she must face not only the death of her father, a police officer in the town, as well as her brothers who have followed in his footsteps, but also her past which includes her mother’s abandonment of her years ago leaving her only a note.

At the same time, the town is experiencing a drought like no other. It’s been over 60 days since there has been any rain. The lakes have receded including the one their own house overlooks.

Suddenly, a car emerges from lake a few miles from their house. As her brother Caden goes to investigate, she must now deal with another reason she left years ago. Her best friend Jamie from childhood decided to go and marry her brother Caden without even mentioning to Hazel while she was away at college they were dating.

So, Hazel decides she will stay at their house which was her father’s, and some chilling things begin to happen. Motion sensor flood lights go on for no reason in the middle of the night and batteries seem to have been taken out of the fire alarms in the house when she was asleep.

Then another car is unearthed from the lake only this time it is their lake, and Hazel knows whose it is. Her best friend Jamie disappears after looking at some old pictures, and her brother Caden doesn’t seem all too concerned; only they have a young daughter who wants to know where her mother has gone.

Does she really want to know what happened all those years ago? As she begins to try and figure things out, she is being stopped by her father’s own co-workers who tell her to let sleeping dogs lie. But she can’t and she won’t, and this determination will open a can of worms which could possibly kill her.

What happened all those years ago and why now is this all coming to the surface?

Daughter of Mine is a twisty, warped mystery with page after page of shocking revelations. Your head will begin to spin. And of course, the always unexpected Megan Miranda ending you never would have seen coming and all you can do is gasp!

Published by S&S/Marysue Rucci Books. Thank you Bookreporter.com for the advanced copy.

The Tapes by Kerry Wilksinson

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Imagine you’re mourning the loss of your father, cleaning his house out and in the garage, you find old, dusty cassette tapes one of which has your name written in your mother’s handwriting. Except your mother disappeared years ago. You begin to listen and after the shock of hearing your mother’s long forgotten voice you hear…If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you are listening to this, I have been murdered.

Thus begins a quest for answers in this absolutely chilling all-consuming mystery which involves a missing woman who had emotional issues, her daughter hanging on by a thread to her sobriety and keeping her daughter in check and also, a serial killer. Get ready for the ride of your life!

Eve’s life has been hard. She dealt with her mother leaving years ago, got into trouble herself but now she is clean and sober, and she and her daughter Faith are now trying to deal with the death of her father who they will be burying at the end of the week.

But now after finding a tape made by her mother, Angela, and not being able to ask her father about any of this, she begins to investigate. Her mother had many emotional issues including she was a habitual liar and a kleptomaniac. As Eve begins to read the tapes, she discovers that her mother says she had stolen a jewelry box which she insisted was from the Earring Killer, a serial killer who tortured their town years ago. She also states she knows the name of the killer. But is any of this true? With her mother’s history, what should she believe?

Where is this jewelry box? Eve has never seen one in their house. Does she go to the police? She feels like with her history they would discard anything she has to say. So, she begins to try and not only piece whether her mother was killed, but also if her disappearance could really have been from this mysterious killer who after torturing their victim took one of their earrings as a souvenir.

Solving this mystery will not be easy for Eve. But what she does not realize as she begins her search is that she has accidentally awakened a serial killer who has been dormant for years and now she could possibly be the next victim.

The Tapes is a terrific murder mystery with a great deal of heart and soul and love. You won’t be able to put the book down and you won’t be able to breath until you discover the shocking, twisty ending you never saw coming.

Thank you #NetGalley #Bookouture #TheTapes #KerryWilkinson for the advanced copy.

Julie Tudor Is Not A Psychopath by Jennifer Holdich

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Oh yes…Julie Tudor is a psychopath, in the book Julie Tudor Is Not A Psychopath, for real, but the more interesting question we should ask ourselves in this very dark but absolutely hysterical story is why? How on earth does a woman in her forties who has been perhaps killing lots of stuff over the years have so much confidence in herself to believe a young man in his twenties would ever look at her and find her, well, interesting, um romantically. And really believe it!

The story which jumps from one era to the next explains Julie’s logic as to why she feels the need to do what she does. When she’s bored, or when she believes someone is standing in her way or when she wants what she wants when she wants it. But unfortunately for Julie her reign just might be coming to an end with her “love affair” with her co-worker.

When Sean becomes an employee at the company Julie has worked at for years, after being unable to fulfill getting her nursing license…you’ll find out why…well she just knows he’s into her. No matter that he has a girlfriend. She knows Sean is only with her for her rent money. But, when they (Sean and his girlfriend) become engaged, well, that’s a totally different story. So of course, Julie must fix the situation, for Sean, of course something she has been doing for years for those who need help.

For me, the most interesting piece of Julie’s life is just exactly how she became a psychopath. Dispersed throughout the story, believe it or not, you will find you are empathizing with Julie. Does that mean I am a psychopath?? Well, back to the review. Anyway, Julie did not have a very good childhood and perhaps or probably that could be why Julie Tudor is now a psychopath.

Julie Tudor Is Not A Psychopath is darkly hysterical yet extremely empathetically sad as the reader perhaps begins to understand Julie and although absolutely knows she’s crazy, wants to see what she will try next. This is certainly a can’t put down book because you want to see where this is going, and no surprise, the ending is everything!

Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #JenniferHoldich #JulieTudorIsNotAPsychopath for the advanced copy.

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead

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This Book Will Bury Me will exhaustingly haunt you making you crave more! The story, told by a young college girl who has suddenly lost her father will pull at your heartstrings as she tries to come to grips with the sudden loss but by also her sudden obsession with true crime. By doing this, she doesn’t have to think about her father as she falls into the rabbit hole of true crime murders and her father’s untimely death. What she does discover as she delves into these horrific murders is to her shock and surprise in the end, they somehow will help her heal and process loss. This is Jane Sharp’s own story.

Jane Sharp receives a call from her mother while she’s at college living her life happily with her friends and going to classes. Her father, her best friend she suddenly learns has died unexpectedly. As she goes home to bury him still unable to process the death, still unable to even come to grips with what all this means becomes lost in her thoughts and fears of the future. She doesn’t understand, she still feels him with her.

Depressed, angry and confused one night Jane is looking through internet threads and notices a group of true crime chatters talking about a mystery surrounding the murder of woman which has been unsolved in her area. She discovers the true crime site where sleuths exchange information and tips. She begins to do a deeper dive into the story and not only becomes obsessed with the case but with a group of other sleuth-hounds who begin to bond actually break the case wide open.

Still mourning her father’s death Jane decides against her mother’s wishes that she doesn’t want to go back to college and gets a job working at a coffee shop. She needs to figure out for herself how and why her father allowed himself to get to the point where he died.

When a second case comes to the group in which three college girls in Delphine, Idaho are murdered, her true crime partners and herself decide they are going to not only go visit the scenes of the crime but solve this murder themselves. Ah, be careful what you wish for!

As they move deeper into the case with no clear suspects, no clear evidence at the scene and a police chief unwilling to take their help, the group decides to gather their own information, some of which becomes terribly explosive and causes unnecessary harm to some people.

But something about this case does not feel right to Jane and although she can’t put her finger on why, she seems to believe there is more to this case than they are seeing. As they proceed and get closer to some answers they can hardly believe, and when they finally figure out the shocking reality of the case Jane discovers a book is being written and that is when she finally decides she must speak her truth and tell exactly what happened, and why.

This is when Jane finally discovers her much needed closure not only with this case and all it delivered to their true crime group but how it enabled her to let go of the anger for her father and to love him for himself and for just being him. This Book Will Bury Me is a fascinating, on the edge of your seat story with unimaginable surprises and an incredibly intense look at how true crime murders can be solved by amateurs. A must-read book!

Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #AshleyWinstead #ThisBookWillBuryMe for the advanced copy.

I Would Die for You by Sandie Jones

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I Would Die for You is a twisted psychological drama told in both the past and present. But what will really draw you in to the story are the secrets. And there are so many! The anticipation in this thriller is palpable from the first page and the ending astonishing!

It’s 2011, Nicole Forbes is living a great life in California trying to not only save the seals but is happily married with a young daughter. Although she is a transplant from London, England, she has lived in the states for many years. Her life is perfect.

Until a woman shows up at her door who seems to know her from her past. A past she has intentionally kept hidden from everybody. Rattled, Nicole still does not want to believe someone knows what happened back in London all those years ago but when her young daughter goes missing and she tells her mother when they discover her, she was taken by her aunt, Nicole’s sister, she becomes fearful because Nicole has no sister.

As her family starts to spiral Nicole must now decide exactly what she should expose to her husband. Her first instinct is to still continue to lie. But things begin to go from bad to worse when he starts to turn on her. As her fear for her daughter grows and as we see her life in flashbacks from her days in London, we begin to have the realization that something very bad happened in her family all those years ago.

It all began in 1986 when we discover Nicole had a sister named Cassie who was 16 and became obsessed with an upcoming rock band called Secret October. Her sister became infatuated with Ben Edwards the lead singer. But unfortunately, Cassie begins to make very bad decisions and heads down a terrible path. This begins the destruction, and dark secrets which pulls them apart. But what was it that happened?

Who is this woman? What does she want with her family and why now. Nicole knows one thing and that is she is here to destroy her life.  She needs to understand what is going on and why before her life as she knows it shatters. Her daughter is her life and heart. She will never let anything happen to her.

I Would Die for You will be the obsessive beach read you will need this summer. The story leaves the reader craving the satisfaction of being in on the secrets. And then when all is revealed well, the ending is to die for.

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotourPress #SandieJones #IWouldDieforYou for the advanced copy.