From bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel that perfectly interweaves history, mystery, and social justice.

When Kayla Carter’s husband dies in an accident while building their dream house, she knows she has to stay strong for their four-year-old daughter. But the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new development in sleepy Round Hill, North Carolina, will always hold tragic memories. But when she is confronted by an odd, older woman telling her not to move in, she almost agrees. It’s clear this woman has some kind of connection to the area…and a connection to Kayla herself. Kayla’s elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it’s clear she, too, has secrets that stretch back almost fifty years. Is Ellie on a quest to right the wrongs of the past? And does the house at the end of the street hold the key? Told in dual time periods, The Last House on the Street is a novel of shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, the search for justice, and the tangled vines of two families.

Phenomenal!!!!

Plot/Story Premise

The story alternates between the years of 1965 and 2010.
In 1965 Ellie, is a young woman who decides to help with the cause for allowing African Americans the right to vote. However, the residents of this small town are against her decision and have started harassing her, her family, and the other volunteers.
In 2010, Kayla has moved into the new house that she and her husband designed but while building there was a horrific accident in the house that caused the death of her husband. Has she made a mistake moving in since there seems to be someone or a group of people trying to torment her into moving out? Why? What is it that this house is causing such a disturbance including one night when the Ku Klux Klan decided to show up on her property?
How are these two women connected, besides having only the 2 houses on the street, as construction is moving along for more houses in this development?

Characters

I was so engrossed within the story that I felt that I was there in this little town in North Carolina. I felt the emotions and sensibilities of each and every one of the characters.

Setting

There were different settings in the story but I could picture every one of them, Ellie’s parent’s house, the Church where the volunteers would come together, the families and shanties that the volunteers would stay with for a few days, the houses that the volunteers knocked on doors to explain why it is so important to vote, etc.

Ending/Conclusion

WOW!!!! There were stories within the story and as each page revealed one of those “stories” my jaw dropped. I turned the page and needed to pick up my jaw because it was going to fall again!!!!

Overall opinion

Not only was this an amazing story it was also an eye-opening education for the reader about the history of segregation in the south during the 1960s..
As a long-time reader, as I am sure a lot of you are, if we are honest with ourselves, we have read hundreds+ of books but there are some books read that we probably can’t remember what it is about. But I can promise you, this is a story that will stay with you for years to come.
The narrative is perfection whereas the reader will be kidnapped and become a part of it. A book that you will find any excuse to take you away from adulting and to pick it up and continue reading. A book that is definitely one where you will be telling yourself, just one more chapter and we all know how that goes!!!!
Engaging!! Riveting!! Provocative!! Heart pounding!! Intoxicating!!

I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.

Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.

One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance

There is someone who is killing young girls on the Colf Creek Highway. The book has three subdivisions.

Hailey: A 17 year old who lost her mother at an early age and was super close to her dad, who was a wilderness guide. Then tragedy strikes again when her father is killed in a motor vehicle accident. Being a minor, she ends up living with her maternal aunt, her aunt’s husband Vaughn, and their son Cash. Vaughn is the Sherriff of the RCMP and is quite controlling. But even worse, Hailey finds something quite disturbing about him that she runs away into the woods, in hopes that her family thinks she was one of the victims of the serial killer.

Beth: A year ago, her sister was a victim of the highway killer and has not been able to move forward from it. She leaves the life she knows and travels to Cold Creek in hopes of finding answers about her sister.

Hailey and Beth: The 2 girls team up to unmask the killer.

The storyline kept my interest. The suspense and action were palpable.

Even though I enjoyed this read, there were 2 issues, at least for me, that took away from the story and the reason for my rating.

The settings in the first 2 parts were mainly in the woods and were quite in-depth about surviving there. Not being a camping person, I found myself skimming over a lot of it because it was so detailed that at times, it just took away from the story for me. The other issue was that it was obvious from the beginning as to who had involvement in the killings. And because of those 2 reasons, and the fact that I had a mindset of setting the bar so high because of her previous books, that I was just a bit disappointed.

Would I recommend it? Yes! Just because this wasn’t a read that I didn’t 100% enjoy, I’m sure many will. And now, I wait patiently for her next book. I just hope that I don’t have to wait as long as I did for this one.

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When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

After reading Behind Closed Doors, I knew I had to get a copy of this book in my hands. Was it as good?

The Therapist was a read that checked off all the boxes that I love in a book.
√ Short chapters in which this reader would say “just one more chapter” and I found that I had read not one chapter but many.
√ Hooked right from the start.
√ Felt that I was part of the story and transported into it not knowing what was going on around me (ex: my husband talking to me, which I didn’t even hear him because I was so engrossed)
√ The mystery was so profound that I had no clue how this was going to end.
√Characters three dimensional, believeable and could have been any of them as the suspect.

Was this as good? HECK YES!!! This book was hard to put down!! A riveting and chilling read! Exceptional!! Captivating!!

And let’s talk about the ending. The ending!! I almost passed out because I didn’t realize how long I was holding my breath. A white knuckle read with an explosive finish!!

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From the outside, everyone might think Fern and Rose are as close as twin sisters can be: Rose is the responsible one and Fern is the quirky one. But the sisters are devoted to one another and Rose has always been Fern’s protector from the time they were small.

Fern needed protecting because their mother was a true sociopath who hid her true nature from the world, and only Rose could see it. Fern always saw the good in everyone. Years ago, Fern did something very, very bad. And Rose has never told a soul. When Fern decides to help her sister achieve her heart’s desire of having a baby, Rose realizes with growing horror that Fern might make choices that can only have a terrible outcome. What Rose doesn’t realize is that Fern is growing more and more aware of the secrets Rose, herself, is keeping. And that their mother might have the last word after all.

Twin sisters Rose and Fern have been inseparable since birth. Due to Fern’s disabilities and traumatic home life, Rose has always looked after Fern and became her caretaker. However, Fern doesn’t remember her home life as Rose did but maybe that is because Rose has always protected her. So who had the best recollection?

This was such a captivating read. Fluid throughout, which is why I just had to keep turning the pages. Even though, I figured it out, I still needed to find out more details and how it all ended.

I enthusiastically recommend this book especially if you enjoy psychological thrillers and family dynamics.

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“They found the bodies on a Tuesday.”

So begins this twisty and breathtaking novel that traces the fate of the Pine family, a thriller that will both leave you on the edge of your seat and move you to tears.

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why.

The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother, Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte—was the subject of a viral true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. Though the country has rallied behind Danny, Matt holds a secret about his brother that he’s never told anyone: the night Charlotte was killed Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty of the crime.

When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he’s faced with a hostile community that was villainized by the documentary, a frenzied media, and memories he’d hoped to leave behind forever. Now, as the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

Told through multiple points-of-view and alternating between past and present, Alex Finlay’s Every Last Fear is not only a page-turning thriller, it’s also a poignant story about a family managing heartbreak and tragedy, and living through a fame they never wanted.

After seeing so many posts about this book that I decided to give it a shot. However, I am sometimes skeptical when I see a lot of hype about a book because in the past, unfortunately, I have been disappointed. Was I this time? Especially since, over the past year or so, the majority of my reading has been psychological thrillers, and with this being a debut, could it stand up to those that I have read before it.

The Pine family has become famous, not only in their home state but nationally due to a documentary, whereas the oldest son, Danny, was convicted for the murder of a local girl. His father, Evan, vowed that he would prove that Danny was innocent. On another tip, the family travel to Mexico to chase it down. However, Evan, mother Liv, daughter, Maggie, and youngest son Tommy never make it back alive. Matt, the 2nd oldest son, and Danny are the sole survivors and now there are rumors that they killed the family for the inheritance. Was it foul play or was it a tragic accident as the Mexican officials claimed it was?

I was hooked from that first sentence, “They found the bodies on a Tuesday.”.

The plot was intricately weaved and interweaved where the story was told by different members of the family and alternating between the before and after of the Mexican tragedy. The narrative was so expertly written that I was transported into the story. The characters were believable and three-dimensional. The suspense was intense and profound with no letup. So many twists and turns, and just when I thought I might be onto something, the story veered again.

An extraordinary debut novel that blew me away! A dynamic and captivating read!!! I suggest putting this author on your radar! I can’t wait to see what he has in store next!!!

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“In Wendy Walker’s thrilling novel Don’t Look for Me, the greatest risk isn’t running away. It’s running out of time.

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life.

She doesn’t want to be found.

Or at least, that’s the story.

The car abandoned miles from home.

The note found at a nearby hotel.

The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together.

They called it a “walk away.”

It happens all the time.

Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over.

But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?

When it comes to Wendy Walker’s books, one word comes to mind both as a positive and a negative and that is the word huge.

First the positive, I am a huge fan of her books!!!

Five years ago, the Clarke family endured a horrific tragedy when the mother, Molly accidentally ran over their youngest child Annie. Since then, John, her husband, their daughter Nicole and son Evan have grown apart and tried dealing with their grief in different ways. Sometimes even it being destructive.

Molly knows and feels that her family blames her and wonders if it would be better if she wasn’t present in their lives. But this particular morning, as she is leaving to drive to her son’s school to watch his game, Nicole spews hurtful words in an argument and storms off. After watching him play, she tries to get his attention and he walks right by her not even acknowledging her. On the ride home, her thoughts turn to what the past 5 years have been and she is not paying attention that she is running low on gas and a hurricane is to hit the area. Parking on the side of the road hoping for some help might be her best or worst decision.

How does Ms. Walker do it?

This story did not let up in the suspense! The writing was so descriptive that I felt that I was transported into the story and unaware of my surroundings. The characters were so believable, almost to a fault because I couldn’t figure out who I should be trusting. The twists and turns gave me whiplash. I found myself holding my breath and at other times scaring myself with my audible gasps. And the ending was explosive!

This was truly a white-knuckle, hold onto your seat read!!! Another 5+ star novel!

Now for the huge negative. And that’s having to wait to get my hands on her next book!!

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After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?

I’m not going to reiterate the synopsis, since it is right on for the plot of the story, but do want to mention a couple of caveats upfront.

Over the many years of reading, my “authors to read” list is quite long. So when I see positive remarks about a “new to me” author showing up in my feed, do I take a chance of investing my time into reading the book? I have, in the past, and a few times, unfortunately, the book wasn’t for me. And as one says, so many books, so little time.

So what do I do? I read some reviews, both good and bad, on retail sites. But what makes up my mind is to read reviews by book bloggers/reviewers that I have been following over the years and find to be both honest and credible, which is what happened with this book.

Another caveat is the genre. I have been addicted to psychological thrillers over the past year or so but have yet been able to figure out how a story ends. But finally, I think this was the one I solved. Finally!!!

As I read about the current trial that Rachel Krall was covering in her Podcast, however, with the fluid and descriptive narrative I felt that I was actually in the courtroom as a juror or watching it on Court TV, and I had it all figured out!!! It was a slam dunk!!!!

That is, until the author, threw a 3 point shot with 2 seconds left on the clock!!!

This was one heck of a read and I’m so glad I took the chance on this “new to me” author who is now on my “authors to read” list.

Exceptional! This was definitely a page turner!!! And one that I highly recommend!!!

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From the bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten comes a thriller about two missing sisters, a twisted family, and what happens when one girl comes back…

One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn’t add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister’s return might just be the beginning of the crime.

I know when I pick up a Wendy Walker book that it will be a wild ride. Was it?

Three years ago, Emma and Cass Tanner disappeared, never to be found. Until now!!

Cass knocks on her mother’s door. The mother who both girls had a very rocky relationship with. And all Cass keeps saying is that she came back to find Emma. Because of her return, the police, agents, and Dr. Abby Winter, all that worked the case when the girls disappeared are now back on the case.

This book was a phenomenal read. I became totally engrossed in the story! A story that takes so many twists and turns! I had such a hard time putting this down!!! A thrilling read with an ending that blew me away.

If you are a fan of psychological thrillers then you need to read this one!!!!!

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