Note: I read an ARC so hopefully it is edited by publication date but as of now-Chapter 35 of this book completely SPOILS the first-so if you haven’t read it AND you plan to-start there.
If you do, however, you WILL know where this one is headed and although you will feel like you are privy to the secrets of what is really happening, you also WON’T find this book as SHOCKING.
If you haven’t read the first, and don’t plan to-this will rate higher for you, than for me-as it will be more SURPRISING.
The synopsis of this book says MUCH TOO MUCH, and I am not even going to recap it. For the BEST experience with either book-go in blind!
Let’s just say that neither wife is as THRILLED with Paul’s dates as he is! And, these are definitely NOT love stories!
NOW AVAILABLE!
Thank You to Bookouture for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. These are my candid thoughts!...more
Amy and Greg have just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary and they are expecting their first baby.
LIFE is GOOD
So when Greg fails to come home Amy and Greg have just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary and they are expecting their first baby.
LIFE is GOOD
So when Greg fails to come home from walking their dog Rusty, Amy knows he didn’t leave of his own accord, despite what the POLICE think- forcing Amy to do some sleuthing of her own.
Kirsten and Nick are “the other couple”.
They have just enjoyed a romantic weekend away but on their rainy drive home, they swerve to avoid hitting a dog-and instead accidentally kill his owner.
They SHOULD call for help – but they DON’T
Instead they decide to conceal the accident-after all nothing will bring the dead man back-but THEY have MUCH to hide and even MORE to lose.
But they underestimated the man’s widow- If Amy can’t get justice – she will settle for revenge.
But, WHO ends up on trial?
Letters from an unidentified person, in the courtroom, will keep you guessing.
This was a fun buddy read with my friend Susan, and this CLEVER book had us both revisiting earlier chapters when we realized what we had missed.
We kept swapping theories and we couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, to find out how it would all play out. (Be sure to watch for her insightful review)
It’s only my second book by the talented Diane Jeffrey-the first being “The Guilty Mother” (or The Appeal” if you are in the UK) and both have been addictive, satisfying reads!
I can’t wait to catch up on some other earlier titles!
Warning ⚠️ Perla Wultz is one of the most despicable, vile, manipulative characters that you will ever meet!
Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum, (iWarning ⚠️ Perla Wultz is one of the most despicable, vile, manipulative characters that you will ever meet!
Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum, (inmate 82145) was found holding his daughter in his arms, her throat slit-the two friends invited to his daughter Jenny’s 12th birthday sleepover party, lying beside them-DEAD.
An inquisitive doctoral student, Dr. Timothy Valden has decided to interview Folcrum for his dissertation. He hopes to discover WHY he committed the crime and what REALLY happened the night of the “FOLCRUM PARTY”??
What will it take to get Folcrum to agree to an interview? An “Arby’s Beef N Cheddar, upsized with curly fries and a root beer.
And, what will it take to convince Perla Wultz to mimic that famous crime and kill her own daughter, Sophie, on her 12th birthday?
EVEN LESS
In fact, it’s her own idea. She has saved a life before and knows it is thrilling to do so, but that the feeling pales in comparison to TAKING a life.
But, first she will have to set a plan in motion to frame someone else to take the fall.
This is a DARK, DARK story (but not graphic) filled with DECEPTION and SURPRISES! The tension is palpable as the days grow closer to Sophie’s 12th birthday party.
Will she survive?
The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of Perla, the journal entries of 11 year old Sophie, and the interviews between Dr. Valden and Leewood Folcrum, with emails and commentary from neighbors peppered in.
The pace is fast and short chapters allow you to say “just one more” as you race to find out if Perla will succeed.
A.R. Torre is a pseudonym of Alessandra Torre- her dark alter ego writes psychological thrillers while Alessandra writes spicy romances-And this novel is definitely A.R. Torre’s MOST UNSETTLING yet.
It was “unputdownable”!
AVAILABLE NOW!!
Thank You to Thomas & Mercer for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!...more
Ever since reading “The Widow of Weeping Pines” (Mad Women series #2), I have been meaning to read about some more “mad women”-but ARC obligations havEver since reading “The Widow of Weeping Pines” (Mad Women series #2), I have been meaning to read about some more “mad women”-but ARC obligations have kept me from picking up another one of Amanda McKinney’s books. The solution? When “Marriage of Lies” was offered before publication date, I requested it! ...more
Just SIX months earlier, Will was lovingly waking his wife Erin on Valentine’s Day, with a kiss and a delicate necklace, to celebrate their love, and Just SIX months earlier, Will was lovingly waking his wife Erin on Valentine’s Day, with a kiss and a delicate necklace, to celebrate their love, and their toddler daughter, Sadie. But, when he tries to fasten it around her neck she flinches, and feels a fear she can’t explain.
Then the “unthinkable”happens that evening.
While Will is supposed to be watching Erin’s beloved dog, Coco, he loses her. And, searching the neighborhood and posting signs, brings no results. Erin is inconsolable, and when she isn’t able to forgive Will for being so careless, a downward spiral begins.
They seek marriage counseling to try and save their relationship-and their family.
When Erin and Will walk into Maggie Day’s office for the first time, Maggie believes they are an ordinary couple with the usual issues, including an overbearing mother-in-law and a son who won’t acknowledge that fact.
But soon Maggie begins to sense that Coco was just a trigger for issues that started many years prior.
As they delve into Erin’s troubled past, she mentions something which could tie in to the therapist’s own personal traumatic experience years prior.
Maggie knows her “code of ethics” as a therapist should have her immediately stopping her work with the couple, but her own desperation keeps her pushing for answers, and she can’t resist using her position to delve deeper into Erin’s memories to find out what she might know.
The book continues to count down the time from SIX MONTHS ago to the PRESENT DAY and opening prologue which foreshadowed Erin being rushed to the ER-the Victim of a hit and run.
This is mostly told through the alternating perspectives of Erin and Maggie, which allows us to get to know both women well.
This story captured my interest from the opening page, and I was completely engaged throughout! And, it remained plausible without being predictable which is a big plus for me!!
AVAILABLE NOW!
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of this title!...more
What Have You Done? by Shari LaPena Expertly narrated by January Lavoy (main text) with narrator Jorjeana Marie as Diana and narrator Barrett Leddy as What Have You Done? by Shari LaPena Expertly narrated by January Lavoy (main text) with narrator Jorjeana Marie as Diana and narrator Barrett Leddy as Evan 8 hrs 49 min at 1.0x speed, 5 hrs 53 mins at 1.5x speed
The turkey vultures found her first.
Roy Ressler thought it would be a deer that the vultures were circling in his field, as he drove his big farm tractor early Friday morning. Nothing could prepare him for what he found instead. A local girl lying naked, and dead and one he recognizes-Diana Brewer.
Nothing like this ever happens in the sleepy town of Fairhill, so Detectives Stone and Godfrey are called in from the Major Crimes unit of the Vermont State Police. As they begin to investigate, three suspects emerge, and I kept changing my mind about who I thought might be guilty.
Cameron Farrell-her possessive boyfriend Joe Prior, a customer who had been stalking her at her job at the Home Depot, and Brad Turner-her high school gym teacher and Coach-whom she has recently filed a complaint against for “inappropriate behavior”.
The pace is FAST as the story unfolds from multiple, alternating POV’s delivered in short, snappy, “just one more” chapters. We even have some from Diana, as she tries to make sense of her own death from beyond (reminiscent of Lovely Bones). Her best friends, Riley and Evan take an active role in the investigation and we are also privy to Evan’s journal entries as the story progresses. I found it interesting that different narrators were used to voice the viewpoints of the teens-Diana and Evan.
I read to be entertained and as always, Shari Lapena has done so, with her engaging writing style. Not once was I tempted to skim ahead-she held my interest from start to finish.
DO read the author’s note at the end to hear about the farmhouse and the ouija board which helped inspire this story.
I paired my reading with the audiobook for an enhanced experience and wish to thank the Chandler Public Library for the loan of both formats.
She is home alone in a blizzard with her eight year old daughter and her five year old son, when she hears a noise. It’s the sound oFrom the synopsis:
She is home alone in a blizzard with her eight year old daughter and her five year old son, when she hears a noise. It’s the sound of footsteps, heavy and slow, coming up the stairs.
Shrouded in the shadows, she sees the figure of a man who appears down the hallway.
Terrified, she quietly wakes her children and hustles them into the oldest part of the house, a tiny, secret room concealed behind a wall.
“Hold still-he”ll see you!!” She whispers.
They hide there as the man searches for them-“Come out, Come Out, Wherever you are!”
“Mama, you said monsters don’t exist” her son whispers again, suppressing tears.
Yes, all of this is paraphrased from the first 3% of the book!! And, as you can see, you can cut the tension with a knife!!
BUT-that tension isn’t maintained as much of the middle of the book isn’t the action packed survival story that I expected.
There is a lot of ruminating about, shall we say, demons from the past, much of which is a bit WEIRD, and reads more like horror and those passages will take you out of the action and away from the present danger. That created an uneven pace as you question what is real, and what may be imagined before returning to the action.
Mislabeled?
With those subtle vibes of horror (which I don’t really care for) and written in the third person limited POV, (which is a style that I really don’t care for) I felt distant from the characters and couldn’t connect with them emotionally. For these two reasons, I cannot say that I really ENJOYED this story.
BUT-if you don’t mind that viewpoint or genre, you may want to give this one a try!
Tracy Sierra NAILED the ending (extra .5 ⭐️) and I can certainly appreciate the writing AND the many FIVE star reviews, but for me it’s a 3.5 ⭐️rating rounded down-not a great fit for me.
Available Now!!
Thank You to Pamela Dorman books for extending an invitation to read this book early, and providing a copy through NetGalley. It was a pleasure to offer a candid review!...more
If you are not a fan of Hallmark sweet Christmas movies or Company Christmas parties, this may be the seasonal read*Seasonal Christmas read for 2023*
If you are not a fan of Hallmark sweet Christmas movies or Company Christmas parties, this may be the seasonal read for you!
Beware the beautiful “Party Girl” that you don’t recognize from the office.
There’s a reason for that. It isn’t because she is new-it’s because she is crashing your company’s Christmas party and it isn’t free booze that she is looking for.
Naughty or Nice?
If you fail her “test” you just might become her next Victim.
On the case in this Christmas Police Procedural are DI Eddie Carmine and DS Becky Greene who were introduced to readers in an earlier book, “The Deaths of December”.
There are multiple POV’s, including that of our “Party Girl”. I knew who she was from the start, but I don’t think the author was really trying to fool us here. There is also a big COINCIDENCE that helps to solve the case, but you know what?
I didn’t care about either of those things as this was definitely more FUN to read than attending my own company’s Christmas party!!
I didn’t realize this was a sequel and although some things from the first book in the series are mentioned, the serial killer from book one is only referred to as “The Photographer” so this CAN be read as a stand-alone and now that I have backtracked and read the first- I can say for certain that reading this book first DID NOT spoil book #1.
Happy Holidays everyone-enjoy your Party Season! ...more
I HIGHLY recommend the Audible version, narrated by Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan and Jessica Lyman. (10 hours, 2 minutes)
Each narrator captured the mI HIGHLY recommend the Audible version, narrated by Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan and Jessica Lyman. (10 hours, 2 minutes)
Each narrator captured the mood perfectly and sounded exactly as I imagined their character would sound . Plus-when a certain tape is played, complete with whispers, it was downright creepy!
“My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it” THOSE were the opening words to “Lying in Wait”, the first book by Liz Nugent to capture my attention, and she has continued to shock me with her dark, twisted stories of dysfunctional families since then.
And, the opening sentence for Strange Sally Diamond:
“Put me out with the trash” he said regularly. I’ll be dead so I won’t know any different. You’ll be crying your eyes out-(and he would laugh, and his daughter Sally would laugh too, because both knew that Sally NEVER cried)
But then the day arrives and when Sally finds her father has stopped breathing- the reclusive and “Socially Deficient” Strange Sally Diamond does just that-attracting the attention of an entire town!
Her father has left her THREE letters to explain why she has no memories from before the age of 7-(our minds are very good at blocking out disturbing events)
But as Sally discovers WHY she “IS AS SHE IS” and steps out into the World for the first time, at age 44, she will actually come into her own despite the traumatic events of her earliest years, AND the man on the other side of the World who knows her as “Mary”.
Chapters narrated by Peter, fill us in on what Sally and her mother endured (heartbreaking) but I was most captivated by Sally in the present day, as you cannot help but root for her to succeed. (heartwarming).
Strange Sally Diamond will NOT soon be forgotten!
As always with Liz Nugent, there are many possible triggers including but not limited to Captivity, Pedophelia, Rape, Mental and Physical Abuse. No animals are harmed.
AVAILABLE NOW
Thank You to the Chandler Public Library for the loan of this Audible....more
HUSBAND: “We need to find a moment to talk. It’s important” WIFE (rendered speechless) thinking…”Is the marriage over?”
Rewind a week…and the story begiHUSBAND: “We need to find a moment to talk. It’s important” WIFE (rendered speechless) thinking…”Is the marriage over?”
Rewind a week…and the story begins, told in the first person POV of the WIFE, over the course of one week, one COLORFUL day at a time…
⚠️ You will hear the words “MY HUSBAND” so many times throughout this book that you will have already lost track of the number of times you have heard it, before MONDAY is even over.
That is by design, because she is in fact, OBSESSED with her husband.
Monday: “I’m in love with my husband or should I say, I’m still in love with my husband. I love my husband as much as the first day I met him.”
And, OBSESSED about wanting to be sexually desired by her husband.
But is her love and passion reciprocated? She will TEST her husband often.
She doesn’t feel the need to spend time with friends, her parents or her CHILDREN-she only needs to spend time with her husband.
She will in fact, forget to kiss her children goodbye when she leaves the house, and be angry when her husband only gives her a peck on the cheek in greeting.
And, so help him, if he dares to try to discuss the weather!
She can JUSTIFY everything that SHE does.
Over analyzing everything that HE says and does, she will punish him in both passive aggressive ways when appropriate, and in ways more unforgivable and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was like this when the two married, or if had perhaps been a slow descent into madness over the fifteen years of their union.
YOU WILL LEARN THE TRUTH IN THE EPILOGUE
LIKE A CAR WRECK that you can’t help but peek at as you drive by-I couldn’t stop listening to this crazy AUDIBLE, narrated brilliantly by Kiiri Sandy.
This dark, entertaining, character study written by Maud Ventura and translated from French by Emma Ramadan runs for only 5h 33 minutes and I listened to it in one sitting.
It’s an impressive DEBUT, and the winner of France’s First Novel Prize.
I loved the glimpses into the culture of France-the exquisite descriptions of food, and family life, and of course, I was captivated by this MARRIAGE and our VERY unlikable WIFE.
Clearly, it’s not for everyone with a current average rating on Goodreads of 3.74 but, it is UNIQUE and QUITE UNFORGETTABLE so it’s earning 5 stars from me!
Positive reviews on the same day by both Michelle H and Brandice, caught my attention and I am so glad they put this one on my radar!
AVAILABLE NOW
Thank you to the Chandler Public Library for the AUDIBLE loan of this title....more
Sometimes, you just have to bump a book straight to the top of your TBR pile…
An ex-boyfriend once told her that his favorite part of a night out, was Sometimes, you just have to bump a book straight to the top of your TBR pile…
An ex-boyfriend once told her that his favorite part of a night out, was walking home, just him and his thoughts on a deserted street. He didn’t need to walk to the front door with his keys squeezed between his fingers, ready to scratch or disable. He didn’t need to text a thumbs up before he went to sleep so that someone at the receiving end could sleep too. The part of the night HE loved, was the part that SHE had to survive.
And, yet, she sets a TRAP, night after night, walking the desolate streets where her sister was last seen, hoping to attract a monster.
And, that realistic, opening chapter when she voluntarily GETS INTO THE CAR-is TERRIFYING!! (Shout out to the Cover Art for both editions!)
Three women have disappeared, never to be seen again.
Tana Meehan, legally separated from her abusive husband was the first. Nicola (Nicki) Sullivan, who was last seen leaving a Pub after drinks with friends was next. And, 17 year old, Jennifer Gold vanished while out walking her dog, who returned home without her.
Operation Tide was formed when the girls were linked because their smashed cell phones were all found at the scenes where they were last seen.
When Angela Fitzgerald, a Gardai support staff member member for the Missing Persons Unit (MPU) receives some “physical evidence” brought in by a Charity Shop employee, she finds herself teamed up with a fast rising Detective, Denise Pope, who has been the Family Liaison Officer (FLO) for two of the families with missing women.
Could there be a fourth Victim?
“You’re not being told everything. Call me, and I”ll tell you”
Lucy Sullivan, who is currently living with her sister’s boyfriend, Chris, has admittedly been RECKLESS as she searches for answers into her sister’s disappearance. So, when she gets that message from former tabloid correspondent, turned “True Crime Expert” Jack Keane, she bites.
She cannot move forward without answers, or stop herself from doing “stupid things”.
And, interspersed with the chapters of Lucy, and the two women who have teamed up to investigate the crimes outside of “Operation Tide”, are some from the first person POV of the ABDUCTOR-deemed “The Phantom” by that author who wrote the book, “The Nothing Man”.
He will CONFIDE to us, how he succeeds in getting his Victims into his car, AND how he chooses his VICTIMS, and you, yes YOU, might recognize yourself as a person he may have preyed upon.
How CREEPY is that?
Catherine Ryan Howard, delivers YET AGAIN, with her latest, and I was thrilled to receive an early copy. No regrets on moving this one straight to the top of my TBR! It will make my favorites list for 2023.
I am still thinking about that haunting ending!
AVAILABLE NOW!!
Thank You to Blackstone for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!...more
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