Month: December 2021

The New Neighbour has a great premise and promising start. It doesn’t entirely deliver but is still a good read.

If you got through that sentence, and it makes sense, I’ll try to explain better.

The book starts with an incident in the past (just a few months prior) then jumps to the present day. The plot is linear and easy to follow and has good bones.  

With psychological thrillers, the devil is in the details. That is why The New Neighbour is tricky. There are a lot of details and not all of them are pertinent to the plot.

Green burials, autism, affairs, potential domestic abuse, secrets…there is just a lot going on.

Additionally, and not to give a major plot point away, there is an event that occurs roughly halfway through. It could definitely be considered a “twist,” but it sent the book in a totally different direction.

I feel there are two different stories, and the author couldn’t decide which one to actually write. So, they become one.

Again, without giving anything away, I kept expecting that twist to be the catalyst for more. And it was…just nowhere near in the way I thought it would be.

In retrospect, maybe that is all because I expected more out of the initial story. But because of the choices, it almost seems as if the first half was a waste of time because the pieces put in place are (for the most part) not followed through upon.

This is a twisty review, but I guess that’s what the book did to me. There is a hard time separating because it really does feel like two different stories to me.

I like where the author was going in the first half and would have been happy if that had panned out. I like the twists in the second half. There were enough that the story was redeemed.

I just wish that either one had been a complete story. I think it would have been more linear and there would have been more meat in the plot.

But that is all personal opinion. Other readers may have a completely different experience. That is why I ultimately recommend The New Neighbour.

Plus, I am a long-time fan, so I will always look forward to reading the next book from this author. Don’t believe me?

Check out these reviews as well: The Arrangement, Roses are Red, Deserve to Die, What She Knew, The Influencer, The Visitors, You Are Mine

Author Bio 

Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter, and black Labrador.

Miranda is the author of psychological thrillers. This is her fourteenth novel with Inkubator Books.

The New Friends is an engaging thriller that serves as a cautionary tale: be careful of who you befriend – especially while on vacation.

While it is a good rule of thumb to follow, it feels like it is a little too simplistic in the telling of the actual story. In that regard, the first half is better than the second half.

The setup of the story is excellent. Jamie and Becky are “every people.” They work hard at their jobs, scrimp to save for a vacation, and make the best out of the situation they are in. In other words, relatable for many people.

Unfortunately for them, this also means that they are easily intrigued by what they want but can’t have.

Enter Phil and Mel.

You can guess the overall arc of the story from the blurb. But there are a few subtleties to mention as well.

Everybody wants something they don’t have in this book. Jamie wants a comfortable lifestyle where he doesn’t have to work as hard. Becky wants a family and stability. Mel wants friends. And Phil wants bigger marks.

In this regard, Phil and Jamie are very similar in their desires, as are Becky and Mel. It is interesting that the men seem to be more interested in the material while the women focus on the emotional/personal.

I did not put that together while reading, however. It only occurs to me as I am writing this review.

Another thing I am realizing is that there are many more parallels between the characters than I originally thought. Phil will stop at nothing to continue his con, but Mel also will stop at nothing (including sacrificing herself) to stop Phil.

Where everything is a little unclear is in the character motivations. I am still uncertain as to why Mel has an attack of conscience. Why now? Why this couple?

Jamie and Becky seem happy with their lives and give no indication of desiring more prior to meeting Phil and Mel, so Jamie’s insistence also seems to come from left field.

These are a few reasons that I think the first half is better than the second. The author seems to have given more thought to the build-up than to the aftermath.

The second half of the book is rushed, and nothing is fleshed out as well as in the first half. The moments that are supposed to be the most thrilling fall flat.

Actually, one of the most compelling scenes occurs without the reader seeing it at all. We only learn the details from what a character tells us. This is a huge misstep. Action should be in “real-time.”

It also all wraps up very quickly with (again) a narration of events instead of full scenes that the reader gets to experience.

Ultimately, this is repeated often enough that it became disappointing. It is also what kept The New Friends from being four stars or higher.

However, there are some good moments, and I still recommend The New Friends.

You can also check out The Passenger by this author.

Author Bio 

Daniel Hurst writes psychological thrillers and loves to tell tales about unusual things happening to normal people. He has written all his life, making the progression from handing scribbled stories to his parents as a boy to writing full length novels in his thirties. He lives in the North West of England and when he isn’t writing, he is usually watching a game of football in a pub where his wife can’t find him. Daniel writes psychological thrillers. The New Friends will be his fourth novel published with Inkubator Books.

The Stepson, a new psych thriller from Jane Renshaw, has a lot going for it, but there are a few things that almost derailed it for me.

Let’s start with the good.

I like how the author crafted the story. There are unreliable narrators, which makes it difficult to know who is telling the truth at any given time.

There are two timelines and each of them has a main narrator, although other characters chime in as well.

Maggie (in the past) is unreliable due to her personal history. Lulu (in the present) is similar. Although with Lulu, the reader gets that information more from Lulu’s own perceptions of herself than from actual occurrences.

And then there is Nick.

He is the center point of the entire novel, both past, and present. Is he a victim? Is he a brilliant sociopath? The reader is never quite sure.

The author does a good job, especially in the “past” scenes of sowing a seed of doubt. Is Maggie overreactive, or is Nick really creepy?

As events come to a head in both timelines, Nick’s character becomes much clearer. All questions are answered at the end.

I also think that the ending is very satisfying. Definitely one of the best ones I have read recently.

Now to the bad.  

It feels more like a first novel. I have read and liked stories from this author before (Watch Over Me, No Place Like Home, The Child Who Never Was). Unless this is a re-write/re-edit of an earlier novel, I know that is not the case.

But the writing is not sharp, and there are several areas that need editing. At times, the writing is very elementary – verging on lazy.

For example, there is excessive use of “wee” as an adjective (wee bastard, wee coffee shop, wee smile). At one point, I started counting the usage and gave up when I passed 100 after a few chapters.

I get that it is common usage, and establishes character, but this is excessive by any measure. And it is frankly annoying.

All of that being said, if a reader can get past the writing and focus on the story itself, they will find that The Stepson is a decent psych thriller with a satisfying ending.  

Author Bio 

As a child, Jane spent a lot of time in elaborate Lego worlds populated by tiny plastic animals and people. Crime levels were high, especially after the Dragon brothers set themselves up as vets and started murdering the animals in their ‘care’. (They got away with it by propping the victims up with Plasticine and pretending they were still alive…)

As an adult, she is still playing in imaginary worlds and putting her characters through hell – but now she can call it ‘writing’ and convince herself that she is doing something sensible. In real life, she has a PhD in genetics and copy-edits scientific and medical journals.Jane writes psychological thrillers. The Stepson will be her fourth novel published with Inkubator Books.