A brilliant, edgy thriller about four strangers, a blizzard, a kidnapped child, and a determined young woman desperate to unmask and outwit a vicious psychopath.

A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?

With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.

OK….I can now breathe again!!!

I apologize in advance for this being a very vague review. I am only writing it that way because if you are planning on reading this book, which I suggest that you absolutely should, I don’t want anyone to miss out on this extremely chilling read.

Have you ever heard of the Witching Hour? Do you believe everything happens for a reason? If your answer is yes to both the questions then you are in for an electrifying journey.

Darby Thorne wasn’t planning on going home to Utah for Christmas, however, that changed when she heard from her sister that their mother was in the final stages of pancreatic cancer and that she should come home. On her way, she was caught in a brutal blizzard and decided to wait it out at the next rest stop. It appeared a few other people had the same idea once she entered the Wanashono Rest Stop. It would only be for a few hours until the plows would be out and they could all be on their way. What could go wrong?

That was her thought until she saw a young child in a cage in one of the vehicles in the parking lot. But who was the evil person in that rest stop that was holding this little girl captive?

I started reading this book during the first snow storm and below freezing temperatures that New England had, which made this story even more scary because I could hear the winds blowing, the ice cracking and the feeling of being cold.

Every time I picked up this book, I don’t think I took a breath until I put it down again. I could vividly imagine being at a rest stop with strangers due to the creative and descriptive words that the author used in his writing style.

This book will grab a hold of you from the first few words to the last sentence and will leave you with a WTH just happened ending that was totally surprising.

You might have heard/seen the buzz about this book….well….it’s all that and MORE!

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Forgive and forget? The past and present collide for two sisters who survived a tragedy—and must now survive the truth behind it.

It’s been twenty years since Cara’s boyfriend died in a horrible accident and her sister, Anna, went to prison. The tragedy has become a local legend, but Cara has moved past her grief to have a successful career and a happy family. Pity about Anna. Recently released from incarceration, she’s struggling with addiction, guilt, and shame—a shattered life. Cara’s forgiveness seems to be the only thing that helps her pick up the pieces.

But as Anna pulls herself together, her memories of that night on the bridge start to come into focus. And few of them match her sister’s.

As past secrets unfold and nothing is what it seems anymore, Anna desperately searches for the truth. But what if Cara doesn’t want her to find it?

This is the first book that I have read by this author but I know I will be reading more by her in the future.

Cara Piper Stanley has always been a fixer. But can she fix her younger sister Anna from herself?

Since their young years growing up in Rapid Falls, there has always been jealousy, resentment, sibling rivalry, and what seemed like a love/hate relationship between the two. Cara always felt that Anna was the favorite daughter.

June 6, 1997, was supposed to be the best day in Cara’s life when her boyfriend, the love of her life, attended their prom and graduation party, a tradition in small town Rapid Falls where everyone knows each other. Even though Anna was 1 year younger than Cara, she would be attending the celebration and was the designated driver for the night. But it didn’t end well. Anna, behind the wheel, and under the influence, there was a horrific car accident, which took the life of Jesse, Cara’s boyfriend and soon to be fiancé.

Anna was charged in the death and spent 3 years in prison. Upon her release, her life spiraled downward and became an alcoholic, abused drugs and tried committing suicide 3 times. Cara was always there to pick her up. Anna can’t recall what happened that tragic night, but Cara knows and she holds the secret.

I have been on a psychological thriller reads binge and this one definitely fits that category. I enjoyed the author’s writing style, the twisted turns of the story, the craving to find out what the secret was and the characters, even though some of them I did not like for reasons that I won’t mention to avoid any spoiler.

An exciting read that had me turning the pages, which I’m sure you will too, which I highly recommend!

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One day, barely fifteen, Tiara viciously attacks a woman in a coffee shop, and claims to have no memory of the attack. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Eaton believes the reason for her partial amnesia lies in her past as a former star of child beauty pageants. He digs deep in an effort to unlock her memory. What he discovers is so sinister, it will shock you to the core.

I started reading this book and after the first few pages, knew it would be a page turner. However, as I continued, it sounded very familiar to me. I knew I had read other books by this author, SECTION 132 and BIRTHDAYS OF A PRINCESS, so I checked my blog to double check that I hadn’t read this title before and I hadn’t. So I went back to reading but by the time I got to the 9th Chapter, I knew I had read it so this time I checked GR and found this:
Please note: an early version of this thriller was previously published by the author under the title ‘Birthdays of a Princess’.

So I am reposting my review from June 1, 2013!

Birthdays of a Princess is a chilling fictional read, but sadly, is also a real life actuality.  Scary!!  A white knuckle, edge of your seat read!!

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THE PERFECT LIAR by Thomas Christopher Greene
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: Jan. 15, 2019
ISBN-10: 1250128218
ISBN-13: 978-1250128218
Pages: 288
Review Copy From: St. Martin’s via NetGalley
Edition: eBook
My Rating: 4

A seemingly perfect marriage is threatened by the deadly secrets husband and wife keep from each other, for fans of B.A. Paris and Paula Hawkins.

Susannah, a young widow and single mother, has remarried well: to Max, a charismatic artist and popular speaker whose career took her and her fifteen-year-old son out of New York City and to a quiet Vermont university town. Strong-willed and attractive, Susannah expects that her life is perfectly in place again. Then one quiet morning she finds a note on her door: I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

Max dismisses the note as a prank. But days after a neighborhood couple comes to dinner, the husband mysteriously dies in a tragic accident while on a run with Max. Soon thereafter, a second note appears on their door: DID YOU GET AWAY WITH IT?

Both Susannah and Max are keeping secrets from the world and from each other —secrets that could destroy their family and everything they have built. The Perfect Liar is a thrilling novel told through the alternating perspectives of Susannah and Max with a shocking climax that no one will expect, from the bestselling author of The Headmaster’s Wife.

Susannah and her son Freddy have been on their own for 16 years after her husband Joseph passed away. And then she met Max “W” at a party that Susannah’s boss was hosting for the art community. Not long after, Max proposed on the very spot that they first met.

They had the perfect life, or at least that’s what it appeared to be. Max’s notoriety soared in the art world, after traveling to give his talk on “You Are The Art”. He was sought after and was then offered an academician appointment at a Vermont College. Three years after settling down in Vermont, the cryptic notes started showing up on their front door.

The first note read I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. Two notes would follow.

But who were these notes intended for since both Susannah and Max had deep buried secrets that neither one of them knew about?

The story was captivating from the start. However, at approximately 30-50% of the story, I found it dragged some. But after that, the suspense and action picked up and at that point, I was frantically turning the pages.

I did figure out who the letters were intended for, but not who wrote them nor the why for the motive. It all came together in a climatic ending.

Another psychological thriller that you should read!!

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THE LIAR’S WIFE by Samantha Hayes
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by Bookouture
Publication Date: November 22, 2018
ASIN: B07GX16TFM
Pages: 358
Review Copy From: Bookouture via NetGalley
Edition: eBook
My Rating: 5

When Ella wakes up in a hospital following a hit-and-run incident, she is scared and confused. Close to tears, her eyes fall on a get-well-soon card on the window sill and the nurse reassures her that her loving husband will be back soon…

But Ella has never been married.

In fact, she has lived alone her whole adult life; working hard, rarely socialising, quietly harbouring a terrible secret from her past.

Fear sweeps through Ella when she instantly recognises the man who enters the ward. He is not her husband, but she knows that she must do as he says and play the part of dutiful wife.

What choice does she have? He was there the night of the fire, he knows her secret too…

This book sure packed a wallop!!!!

Ella Sinclair has a strict routine, work, home sleep, work home, sleep. That is until she wakes up in the hospital after being hit by a van as she was riding her bike home after work. But something is drastically wrong. The nurse informs Ella that her husband has been by her side since she was admitted. The problem is that Ella is not married.

For the past 10 years, Ella has kept to herself. She doesn’t share anything about her personal life nor does she interact with her co-workers socially as she is hiding from her past. That is until she opens her eyes at the hospital and sees that her past has caught up with her.

A thrilling and chilling read from the Prologue to the last word!! A white knuckle experience! The story alternates between the present and what happened 10 years ago. The ending was mind blowing, which I did not see coming. I don’t think I have ever hated a character as much as I did with Jacob.

This is the first book that I have read by this author, however, it won’t be my last. I am putting Ms. Hayes on my “authors to read” list.

If you like psychological thrillers, then I highly recommend this book.

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• This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.
• I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
• I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

BEAUTIFUL BAD by Annie Ward
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by Harlequin
Publication Date: March 19, 2019
ASIN: B07BW2R5WT
Pages: 368
Review Copy From: Harlequin via NetGalley
Edition: eBook
My Rating: 5

In the most explosive and twisted psychological thriller since The Woman in the Window, a beautiful marriage turns beautifully bad.

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry… That something is really, really wrong with me.

Maddie and Ian’s romance began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son, Charlie; and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.

WOW! This was one heck of a jaw dropper!

An intense, complex and twisted story with a cast of characters that are equally complex and filled with flaws.

The story takes place in 3 main time frames, the past, present and 10 days before the killing, 9 days, etc. With that being said, and not wanting to give away even the slightest spoiler, I kept turning the pages since I wanted to know who the victim was and the possible suspect. However, there was even more that was chilling, and that was the motive.

A story that will have your heart pounding and shaking your head! It will grab you from the first page and suspenseful to the last word!

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, then this one is for you.

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WHEN NEVER COMES by Barbara Davis
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Published by Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN-10: 1503950174
ISBN-13: 978-1503950177
Pages: 352
Review Copy From: Author
Edition: TPB
My Rating: 5+

Author Barbara Davis deftly explores an emotionally charged landscape of pain, loss, and despair—and the risk one woman will take in the hope of loving again.

As a teenage runaway and child of an addict, Christy-Lynn learned the hard way that no address was permanent, and no promise sacred. For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.

Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?

This is the first book by this writer that I have read and she is now on my “authors to read” list.

I honestly don’t know where to start because this book blew me away. I don’t want to give anything away so I say ditto to the synopsis.

Even though I figured out how this book would end, it’s the journey to that point, that the author takes the reader on with her written words that cut me to my core and filled my heart and soul.

I read this book within 24 hours because I literally could not put it down. It is what I call a book that transports the reader into the story, being so engrossed and feeling that I was a bystander in Sweetwater, VA.

The characters felt like my friends. I could feel their emotions of betrayal, despair, excitement, grief, guilt, happiness, the bonds of friendship, love, and the complexity of their thoughts.

Sweetwater, a small and quaint town, reminded me of a town that I lived in for 4 years and was my 2nd home, especially with the scenes about the 4th of July traditions.

There were a few passages that hit me hard:

pg. 215 Never is all the doors we keep shut. It’s the things we won’t let ourselves have or be because we don’t think we’re good enough or strong enough for more.

pg. 219 …there are places in our minds where we lock up all the things we don’t want to remember…filled with all the stuff we don’t want anyone, including ourselves, to see and then one day something yanks these doors open.

A raw, emotional, realistic, and compelling read! Poignant and impassioned! A dynamic and powerful message. An intense story that will stay with me to my dying day!

Warning: you will need a box of tissues for both the happy and sad tears!

I can’t stress enough how much this book touched me. I highly recommend!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

• This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.
• I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
• I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND by Michele Campbell
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published by St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN-10: 1250081807
ISBN-13: 978-1250081803
Pages: 336
Review Copy From: St. Martin’s Press
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny. They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge . . and someone else is urging her to jump.

How did things come to this?

As the novel cuts back and forth between their college years and their adult years, you see the exact reasons why these women love and hate each other—but can feelings that strong lead to murder? Or will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?

There is a fine line between love and hate.

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny have been friends since their freshman year at college. All three girls come with pasts that have shaped them, but despite the differences, they become inseparable. And then a horrific incident, the death of another student, which they all witnessed will test their friendship. Do they protect the truth or be honest with what they saw?

Twenty years later, the truth of that fateful night still haunts them. Then one of them loses her life at the same exact location. Was it suicide or murder? Who has the most to lose if the truth comes out from 20 years ago?

The police are convinced that the husband had a hand in his wife’s death, but the other 2 ladies know and believe that Griff could never harm his wife. He has loved her since their freshman year.

A twisted and gripping story that had me turning the pages. I thought I had it figured out but the ending was jaw dropping. An intense read!

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