When 3 men stumble upon a downed plane in the middle of a field, their lives are changed forever. Their fates decided and forever intertwined. For insWhen 3 men stumble upon a downed plane in the middle of a field, their lives are changed forever. Their fates decided and forever intertwined. For inside that plane lies a dead pilot and a duffle bag full of money. How much money? Approximately $4.5 million total.
What would you do? Turn it in? Call the police? Keep it?
Hank, his brother Jacob and his brother’s best friend Lou are faced with this dilemna. After counting the money on the side of the road and discussing it they formulate a plan- a simple one. Hank, the “reasonable accountant” will hold on to the money for 6 months. If nothing comes of the downed plane, or missing $4.5 million, they’ll split the money amongst themselves and go their separate ways.
But things are never that simple, are they?
After agreeing to not tell their significant others, Hank immediately tells his wife Sarah. Lou tells his as well. Jacob, the loner, has no one to share the secret with. Lou is a heavy drinker, has a bit of a gambling problem and a big mouth to boot. He mentions to another buddy that he’s coming into some money. The fear of being caught and the paranoia that follows lead to a whole new chain of events that none of them foresaw.
The saying is typically said incorrectly that money is the root of all evil. It’s the greed of money that is the root of evil. The desire to keep this money, the future it held for them all leads this group down a very dangerous and evil path. They make decisions before thinking through their options. They are ruthless and stop at nothing to protect their stake in the money.
It’s easy for me to sit in my relatively comfortable life to think that I could do the right thing. That I would see that bag full of money and call in to report it. But seeing all that money would probably trigger some deeply rooted longing in me. A longing stemmed from a childhood of growing up without all the new and flashy things my friends had. But the reality is we really don’t know what we would do if faced with this kind of money or what decisions we would make thereafter. This was a pantless buddy read with some great friends that had us all in heated(friendly heated, of course!) discussion. Exactly the type of book that makes reading with a group so much fun!
Rowan Caine is browsing the internet one day when she happens across an ad that seems entirely too good to be true. It’s a jop posting for a live-in nRowan Caine is browsing the internet one day when she happens across an ad that seems entirely too good to be true. It’s a jop posting for a live-in nanny promising a very generous salary and bonus. Rowan currently works at a day care and has been looked over for a promotion. She decides to go for it. She submits her perfect resume and wills the universe to smile upon her.
Rowan is asked to come to the home for an interview. The parents are well-known, borderline famous for their architecture business. They own a Tesla and a Smart Home that is pre-programmed to do nearly anything you could want. It’s all controlled through an app, of course! When Rowan arrives she’s surprised to find that the father is not there to meet her. She expects a mother and father to both be present to interview her. Afterall she will be the one seeing their children the most.
Rowan realizes when she gets there that the life of finer things is the life for her. She rememebrs her shabby apartment, used furniture and stale pizza as if it’s from another life altogether. Realizing this, she knows she must do whatever she can to seal the deal and get this position. She takes on a persona of sorts and tries to be the polished version of herself. Smiling all the time and never swearing or smoking. You know, the things we all do when trying to make a good first impression.
As the days go by Rowan waits for their decision. Finally they call her and offer her the posting. Rowan quickly finds out the reasons why they are offering such a substantial salary. From rumors of hauntings to their unruly children to the cameras monitoring the entire home- yes even the bedrooms.
Rowan’s first nights in that house are the stuff of nightmares. My skin crawled through the first half of this book. Her sleepless nights, her panic, her fear- it all came through the pages making an atmospheric read. I felt her terror. And that is a hard feat with someone who spent most of her life devoted to the horror genre.
There were a few twists I didn’t see coming and a couple things that seemed unneccessary, but overall it was quite enjoyable. I just wish the ending had matched the rest of the book. It seemed to end rather upbruptly and without any real sense of resolution. So for those reasons I knocked a star off my rating. Still, a great way to start the year off and a fun buddy read with my favorite girls!...more
Oh Lawd! Here we go again-ANOTHER book being compared to Gone Girl. Let the eye rolls begin. I hate books being compared to books PERIOD. “You liked H
Oh Lawd! Here we go again-ANOTHER book being compared to Gone Girl. Let the eye rolls begin. I hate books being compared to books PERIOD. “You liked Harry Potter? You’ll just LOVE 50 Shades of Gray!” Or “You enjoyed Divergent? You’ll love Twilight.” Comparisons are never right. Ever. Even if there are vague similarities scattered throughout they are never the same.
When I saw that the Girl on the Train was the “next Gone Girl” I almost didn’t pick it up. Gone Girl left a horrible taste in my mouth and I wasn’t ready to have a repeat of that experience.
But I saw a review by someone I love and whose opinion I trust. You can find that here!
The storyline is split into three perspectives- Rachel, Megan and Anna. All three of these characters are intertwined into this wonderfully written web. Rachel, the girl on the train, watches the same houses every day on her daily commute. She obsesses over the lives of one couple in particular- "Jason and Jess".
One day, as Rachel is cruising along, she happens to see Jess, who is actually Megan, kissing a man; a man who isn’t Jason. Rachel’s picture of their perfect life is shattered and she resorts to the one friend she knows she can- alcohol. She drinks away her problems, as she has for a long time. Rachel wakes up naked and bruised and with a feeling in the pit of her stomach knowing something happened- something very bad.
And when Megan turns up missing she can’t help but wonder if she had something to do with it.
This story is filled with twists and turns and forces you to keep reading, or in my case, listening. You are left to put the pieces of the three women’s stories together in hopes of figuring out what happened to Megan.
I really enjoyed this one. So much so that on Saturday I sat there with my earphones on listening to this book while I colored in my new Harry Potter coloring book while I hammered out the last 9 ½ hours! Now, just for the record- I listened to it at a bumped up speed so it wasn’t 9 hours that I sat there, but still! I had to know what happened! I couldn’t stop! I couldn’t put it down.
Just know before you pick it up, regardless of your feelings on Gone Girl, this book is NOTHING like that book. Drop all of your preconceptions and just enjoy the ride. You’ll not be disappointed.
When I read The Night Sister it is fair to say I was blown away. I thought McMahon had something really special. An aptitude for suspense and storyte
When I read The Night Sister it is fair to say I was blown away. I thought McMahon had something really special. An aptitude for suspense and storytelling like I have not yet seen.
I was so excited about reading her work I moved on shortly thereafter and picked up the audio CD of The Winter People. Delee’s review had already sparked my curiously of this book but reading the Night Sister bumped my curiosity to a longing.
The Winter People was not as good as the Night Sister in my opinion. But it was still a damn good book. McMahon’s writing style is very reader-friendly. You are allowed differing points of view varying from different time periods. But you get only enough detail to get you by. She manages to string you along where you are begging her to fill you in. The pages begin to turn of their own accord and next thing you know you’re still up and it’s 3 am and you have to work at 8.
Hey, don’t worry. It happens to the best of us!
When you find a writer that can spin a story as well as McMahon does you tend not to mind forgoing sleep. The story has you so hooked it’s better than any drug on the street… please take my word for that. ;)
My question for you is this- what would you do to get a loved one back from the dead? Or better yet- what wouldn’t you do? If you found there was a way to have a loved one back, would you do it? Would saying good-bye again be worth it? Just to have them back for a few more days?
This book is a book that forces you to think about it. The last time a book made me call everything into question like this was with Pet Semetary.
Pick this book up, if you dare. Find out all about sleepers and what it means to lose someone you love…
Joe Goldberg is what nightmares are made of. He is a charming intellectual who works in a local Initial Reaction: What. Did. I. Just. Read.
Full review:
Joe Goldberg is what nightmares are made of. He is a charming intellectual who works in a local bookstore in New York City. He’s young, handsome and quite likable…until you get to know him. And boy, do you really get to know Joe.
While at work one day, a young lady walks in and chats Joe up at the counter. Joe immediately interprets her casual convesation with the clerk at the bookstore as a come-on. He takes the name off her credit card and looks her up. He finds her address, her Facebook and Twitter accounts. He calls in a gas leak at her aparmtent building so that he can pose as her boyfriend and go “grab a few things” out of the apartment for her. Can you say psycho?
The sad part is, that is merely the tip of the proverbial ice berg. This guy has absolutely no limits. No sense of personal space, respect or really any human emotion. Joe is obsessive. He will stop at nothing to get Guinevere Beck-known as Beck- in his life in a permenant manner. He creates scenarios based off her social media posts to force himself into her life- chance encounters if you will.
All the while, Beck has no idea of who she is actually dealing with here. Sure, he’s a nice guy she can keep trailing along, but her heart belongs to another. What she doesn’t realize though, is that Joe knows exactly who her heart belongs to and means to put an end to that as soon as he can.
Where will he stop? Is there nothing he won’t do to have her in his life?
This book is so disturbing. I have read some really fucked up books in my day, but this was disturbing in a way that made me uncomfortable in my every day life. I hated talking to clerks at stores, hated waiting on customers at work, wondered if someone was currently stalking me in the same manner…. Has that car been following me the whole time??
Until you read You, you just won’t understand. It’s very well-written and will have you checking the locks on your doors at night. I did this one on audio, and I think it was a great listen. Be warned, if you pick this book up, you may not feel safe for a long, long time if ever again. ...more
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