AFTER NIGHTFALL by A.J. Banner
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Published by Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: Aug. 10, 2018
ISBN-10: 1503949249
ISBN-13: 978-1503949249
Pages: 256
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

Beware of friends with secrets…

Imagine your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.

Newly engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping, the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.

Bestselling author A. J. Banner keeps readers on a razor-sharp edge in this intricately plotted novel of psychological suspense…in which nothing is as it seems.

This was a “new to me” author but after seeing many great reviews and recommendations in the FB book groups I follow, I thought I would pick it up at my local library.

This is an edge of your seat read from the first word to the last. An elaborate puzzling plot that had me thinking I knew who the murderer was and then thinking it was another character. Not even close! And for the motive, WOW!, didn’t see that coming.

This author is now on my “authors to read” list and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

Gripping! I definitely recommend it if you enjoy psychological thrillers.

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THE LIAR’S ROOM by Simon Lelic
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published by Berkley
Publication Date: January 15, 2019
ASIN: B07CKPBT1W
Pages: 352
Review Copy From: Publisher
Edition: ARC
My Rating: 4

ONE ROOM. TWO LIARS. NO WAY OUT…
Susanna Fenton has a secret. Fourteen years ago she left her identity behind, reinventing herself as a counsellor and starting a new life. It was the only way to keep her daughter safe.

But everything changes when Adam Geraghty walks into her office. She’s never met this young man before – so why does she feel like she knows him?

Then Adam starts to tell her about a girl. A girl he wants to hurt.

And Susanna realises she was wrong.
She doesn’t know him.
BUT HE KNOWS HER.
AND THE GIRL HE PLANS TO HURT IS HER DAUGHTER…

The addictive new thriller with an ending you’ll never guess, The Liar’s Room is perfect for readers of Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door and A J Finn’s The Woman in the Window.

SIMON LELIC – THRILLERS TO KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT:

After reading THE NEW NEIGHBORS, I knew I wanted to read more by this author and was lucky, very lucky to receive an ARC.

…”the past has a way of catching up” pg.268

Susanna has escaped her past but her secrets are still hidden, or she thought until a new client has come in for counseling.

Secrets are revealed but with a price! A taut and intense read filled with tension as each page is turned!

I enjoyed this chilling tale!

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Synopsis:

When her child’s life is at stake, a mother will do anything to save him.

Clara McNair is running out of time to save her son, James. When the two-year-old is diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, only an experimental treatment can save his life. She desperately needs money to pay for the surgery, but she’ll have to travel back to the site of her darkest memories to get it.

Clara has escaped the demons of her youth—or so she thinks. It’s been ten years since the mysterious disappearance of her parents. Widely suspected of murdering her mother and father, Clara fled west to start a new life. Now, a documentary film crew is offering cold, hard cash—enough to pay for James’s treatment—in exchange for the sordid secrets of her past.

With no other choice but to delve into a long-ago tragedy, Clara must unravel the lies surrounding that terrible night. Facing hostile gossip, Clara is fighting to clear her name and learn the truth about what really happened. But how far will she go into the dark to save her son—and herself?

Click Here to get your Audiobook copy of A Mother’s Lie, today!

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by: Relay Publishing
AudioBook Release Date: April 23, 2018
AudioBook Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
ISBN: 978-1979295420
Purchase Links: Amazon | Audible | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Author Bio:

Jo Crow gave ten years of her life to the corporate world of finance, rising to be one of the youngest VPs around. She carved writing time into her commute to the city, but never shared her stories, assuming they were too dark for any publishing house. But when a nosy publishing exec read the initial pages of her latest story over her shoulder, his albeit unsolicited advice made her think twice.

A month later, she took the leap, quit her job, and sat down for weeks with pen to paper. The words for her first manuscript just flew from her. Now she spends her days reading and writing, dreaming up new ideas for domestic noir fans, and drawing from her own experiences in the cut-throat commercial sector.

Not one to look back, Jo is all in, and can’t wait for her next book to begin.

Catch Up With Our Author On: Facebook & Goodreads!

Tour Participants:

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Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jo Crow. There will be 5 winners of one (1) A MOTHER’S LIE by Jo Crow audiobook. The giveaway begins on October 2, 2018 and runs through October 8, 2018. Void where prohibited.

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SCAR TISSUE by Patricia Hale
Genre: Thriller
Published by: Intrigue Publishing
Publication Date: September 1, 2018
Number of Pages: 194
ISBN: 978-1-940758-85-5
Series: Cole and Callahan #3
Review Copy from: Publisher
Edition: ARC TPB
My Rating: 5

Track star, Ashley Lambert, has just been accepted into the prestigious Johns Hopkins University, so when she jumps eighteen stories to her death her parents hire the PI team of Griff Cole and Britt Callahan to find out why. The investigation exposes a deeply disturbed family hiding behind a façade of perfection and follows Ashley’s descent into performance enhancing drugs and blackmail. Ashley’s coaches, peers and even her parents come into question. The disturbing truth behind Ashley’s death is testimony to lines crossed and allegiances sworn…. in the name of love.

Meanwhile, things don’t add up next door. Britt’s working overtime researching their new neighbors whose one-year-old son disappeared four years ago. Rhea McKenzie, has a secret and bruises aren’t the only thing she’s trying to hide. When an off-hand comment discloses a connection to Ashley Lambert the two cases become entwined, setting off an unstoppable chain of events. Britt is sucked into an alliance with Rhea and driven to make decisions that challenge her ethics, threaten her relationship and in the end, push her over a line she never thought she’d cross.

The P.I. team, of Griff Cole and Britt Callahan are back and taking the reader on another exciting case!!!

This is the third book in the series but easily read as a stand alone. You can see my review of THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CHILD HERE.

Griff and Britt have been hired by the parents, whose daughter has supposedly committed suicide, which they don’t believe since she was an exceptional student with a very promising future.

During this time, the couple has also made a big step in their relationship, when they buy a house together. But something isn’t right with their new neighbors and Britt starts to investigate. What really happened when the neighbor’s 1 year old son went missing and never found. And now that this mother is pregnant again, but the bruises she is hiding, infuriates Britt and she will stop at nothing to help.

The story grips the reader from the very first page and doesn’t let go! The author’s writing style is fluid and descriptive. The characters believable. An engrossing read with an ending that had this reader holding her breath!

Highly recommend!

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Enter To Win:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Patricia Hale. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on October 1, 2018 and runs through November 1, 2018. Void where prohibited.

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A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE by Shari Lapena
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Published by Penguin Books
Publication Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN-10: 0735221138
ISBN-13: 978-0735221130
Pages: 336
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 4

In this neighborhood, danger lies close to home. A domestic thriller packed full of secrets, and a twisty story that never stops—from the bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

He looks at her, concerned. “How do you feel?” She wants to say, Terrified. Instead, she says, with a faint smile, “Glad to be home.”

Karen and Tom Krupp are happy—they’ve got a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind.

There’s a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident, and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town.

The accident has left Karen with a concussion and a few scrapes. Still, she’s mostly okay—except that she can’t remember what she was doing or where she was when she crashed. The cops think her memory loss is highly convenient, and they suspect she was up to no good.

Karen returns home with Tom, determined to heal and move on with her life. Then she realizes something’s been moved. Something’s not quite right. Someone’s been in her house. And the police won’t stop asking questions.

Because in this house, everyone’s a stranger. Everyone has something they’d rather keep hidden. Something they might even kill to keep quiet.

I remember seeing a lot of buzz about this book prior to its publication and recently I read another book, AN UNWANTED GUEST by Ms. Lapena, so I put a reserve request for this one at my local library.

Tom and Karen Krupp have been married 2 years and are extremely happy, that is, until that fateful night of the accident. From that point on, their lives are changed drastically.

An intricate and convoluted plot. The suspense flowed throughout the story making it unputdownable. However, I was a bit ambivalent about the ending. The whodunit was surprising but I was somewhat disappointed as it ended with a cliffhanger.

If you enjoy domestic thrillers, this is one book you should pick up!

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AN ANONYMOUS GIRL by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Thriller/Suspense, Women’s Fiction
Published by St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
ISBN-10: 1250133734
ISBN-13: 978-1250133731
Pages: 384
Review Copy From: Publisher via NetGalley
Edition: eBook
My Rating: 5

The next novel of psychological suspense and obsession from the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us comes an electrifying new novel about doubt, passion, and just how much you can trust someone.

After reading THE WIFE BETWEEN US, I knew I had to read this book and asap. If you haven’t read either book, put them on your list.

Jessica Farris, a makeup artist, is just about making ends meet financially. While at a client’s home, she overhears her say that she has an appointment the following day for a survey being conducted by a psychiatrist at NYU, which is paying $500, but the client states she is not showing up. Jessica, in an impulse decision, checks the client’s phone for the information to take her place. But what ends up being a generic survey turns into so much.

Jessica ends up being Subject 52 but soon learns that she is the sole focus that the psychiatrist wants for her Morality and Ethics study. What ensues is more than Jess has bargained for. Did she just sell her life and soul for financial gain?

An intricate, complex and profound psychological thriller that will leave you breathless. A chilling white-knuckle read!

Highly recommend!

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09/20/18

INTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Women’s Fiction
Published by Riverhead Books
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN-10: 0735211221
ISBN-13: 978-0735211223
Pages: 400
Review Copy From: Personal purchase
Edition: HC
My Rating: 4

In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind. But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . .

Last year I read THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, which I liked but didn’t feel that it was as exciting as all the buzz I saw/heard about it. Fast forward, I read mixed reviews for INTO THE WATER and decided to read it for my own satisfaction and see if the buzz was correct for this title.

Nel Abbott, author and photographer, is writing a book about the Beckford Pool, which is also called the Beckford Drowning Pool. History and myths claim that this body of water is not a suicide spot but is a place to get rid of troublesome women (pg. 89). Many women, starting in 1679 to present, have died here. Nel was researching if the deaths were suicide or was there something more sinister happening? There are many secrets and despair but what is the real truth? However, Nel doesn’t get the chance to finish her book because she becomes the latest victim of the Beckford Drowning Pool.

I really liked this book. If I had to choose which book was more engrossing and kept me captivated, it would be this one. Throughout the book I kept changing my opinion as to the outcome and who was hiding the biggest secret but then the last chapters brought it all together and I was only partly right.

This book held my interest to the very end!

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Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job, and her best friend Marilyn, but when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it’s time to let her terrifying secret past go. Then her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see. Lisa’s world explodes, and she finds everything she has built threatened. Not knowing whom she can trust, it’s up to her to face her past to save what she holds dear.

O!! M!! G!! This is one hell of a psychological read!

After reading BEHIND HER EYES, I have been waiting for this book. And let me tell you, it was another chilling read by Ms. Pinborough.

From these words in Chapter 1, He will destroy her, begins a continuous inventive and mysterious read.

Lisa and Ava, mother and 16 year old daughter seem to be living a “normal life”. That is until Lisa starts receiving items and messages that someone knows her past. And it gets worse when Ava saves a little boy from drowning and their pictures are in the newspapers and shown on T.V. Someone alerts the media outlets that Lisa is someone else and is a murderer.

An intricate psychological thriller that had me turning the pages as fast as I could. This is an engrossing and hair-raising book! A white knuckle read!

Kudos Ms. Pinborough!!!! You outdid yourself with this one! I truly hope your next book is in the works. I can’t wait!!!

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