Tag: Bookouture

Nicole Trope has become one of my favorite psych thriller authors, and The Stay-at-Home Mother is the perfect example of why she is so good.

In a nutshell, whatever story she is telling is really only partial. It’s enough on its own, but if you’ve read her books, you know there is always another shoe to drop somewhere along the way (usually toward the end).

In this case, Gabby is the stay-at-home mother in question. She has an online following that commiserates with her over her troubles with her teenage son.

When Andrea (very pregnant), her husband Terry, and their 3-year-old son Jack move in across the street, Gabby can’t help but offer assistance to a frazzled Andrea. And Andrea is all too willing to rely on this virtual stranger who seems like the perfect lifeline.

However, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is…not true.

Not only does Andrea have pregnancy fog, but her husband’s “issue” rears its ugly head at the same time as everything else comes to a climax. It’s really a perfect storm of distraction.

I don’t want to give anything away because, like any good psych thriller, the fun is in realizing what is actually occurring without any spoilers to wreck the enjoyment of the plot.

But I will say that even if you think you have it all figured out (which I did a few times) – there is still more that you will not guess.

And that is why The Stay-at-Home Mother is a quintessential psych thriller. Nicole Trope has cemented herself as an absolute go-to for a jaw-dropping read.

Sometimes a psych thriller has so much going on that it takes a couple of re-reads of a section to understand what is happening. That is the case with Her First Child by Sheryl Browne.

That’s not to say that it is complicated. It is actually pretty straightforward. But there are some parts where it took me a second to recenter myself and figure out what I just read.

As with many a psych thriller, the story starts with a prologue. It seems fairly normal…right up until the final sentence of the section.

In fact, there are a few times that occurs throughout the book – blink, and you’ll miss it mentions that would be easy to skip over if you aren’t reading carefully.

The plot is interesting because, in some ways, it really doesn’t go anywhere. Eve’s mom shows up essentially unannounced, which freaks Eve out for…reasons. But Eve hasn’t explained anything about her past to her partner, Dom, so he doesn’t understand what the issue is.

For the reader, it stays that vague, even as there are flashbacks to Eve’s past. The reader does find out the basis for Eve’s fears long before Dom does. But even so, there is still a lot that isn’t clear.

Eve’s best friend Chloe is present in both the past and present threads. I never got a good beat on her. Was she jealous? Protective? Angry? All of the above? Who knows. And a plot line with her husband Steve seemed gratuitous.

The author kept me guessing right up until the very end, which I appreciate. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, there were several times I had to re-read a section to make sure I knew what had actually happened.

This occurred more in the second half of the book. Everyone starts pointing fingers at everyone else and lies pile on each other. There is just too much going on. I was being tossed around like a pinball machine.

There were also throw-away sections that led nowhere. And I’m still not sure about the resolution of a couple of things. It just seems as if the author had two books going, and they melded together.

Her First Child took a lot to get through – it’s a solid story that took a lot of effort to understand. Others may have a different experience. I still recommend the book.

And I remain a fan of Sheryl Browne. I’ll look forward to her next psych thriller.

I like a good psych thriller where there are multiple suspects for whatever trickery is going on. The Daughter-in-Law by Shalini Boland falls squarely in that category.

The story starts with a prologue (as these often do) and then jumps to the current time. This prologue is one of the ones that you know involves the main characters – you just don’t know who or why.

I thought the premise was good, maybe a bit unbelievable, but that’s the way psych thrillers go. In this case, the cleverness of the author is that the characters are written in a way that makes the reader unsure of who to trust.

For example, alternating points of view between Caroline and Lillian give us the plot and tell us the story. However, it is difficult to get a handle on both of them. Caroline is off on the wrong foot, and Lillian seems overbearing.

But are they actually in the positions they seem to be in?

I know that sounds convoluted, but (as always) I don’t want to give anything away.

After their roles are (somewhat) clear, a third perspective appears. At first, those brief chapters seem disjointed. But a little more information appears each time.

It’s up to the reader to put 2+2 together, and some readers may come up with 5. I did figure out one twist, but the author had a couple of others I did not guess. Some of my guesses were wrong. I appreciate a plot that makes me change my mind about the characters.

A psych thriller is difficult to write about because a small slip could ruin the experience for another reader. However, I will say that you can read this quickly. I read it in one sitting. It clipped along at a good pace, and I was never bored.

Shalini Boland has become a favorite psych thriller author, and The Daughter-in-Law is a perfect example of why I will continue to look forward to her novels.

The Nurse’s Secret by Liz Lawler is a psych thriller that self-identifies as a police procedural. The result is….well, read on.

I thought the premise was good. I mean, a story should be good when it starts with a murder, right? And obviously, nurses are supposed to help people, so the title indicates that this may not be the case.   

The story unfolds from three points of view, Sarah, Nick, and Charlie. It’s an interesting choice because as a psych thriller, I would have thought more would have been from Sarah and another character’s point of view.

Nick and Charlie are both law enforcement, investigating the murder, so their perspectives are more similar to each other. And since they make up two-thirds of the story, I think that’s why I got a definite police procedural vibe.

That’s okay, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Additionally, there’s a history between two of the main characters (not saying who), so that complicates some of the aspects of the story.

There are also a lot of extraneous characters. Some of them, we get to know, and some are already out of the picture before the story even starts. In fact, everything is very character driven.

This means there are a lot of balls to keep in the air, and a lot of connections to try to keep straight. Add this to the detailed police info, and it all of a sudden isn’t a page-turning psych thriller. It’s more, “I hope I can keep everything straight” and “Wait, who is that again?”

It also doesn’t help that the murderer is pretty obvious from early on. The reveals come fast and furious in the last 10-15% of the book, but by then so much has occurred, it’s almost a throwaway.

And that’s another thing: the pacing is uneven. There are long sections that seem to serve no purpose and then everything happens very quickly at the end. I like a bit more evenness in my stories.

If you’re looking for a traditional psych thriller, The Nurse’s Secret isn’t it. However, if you understand that there is mystery upon mystery, lots of focus on character and convoluted motives, along with a hefty focus on police work, then Liz Lawler has written the book for you.

I think I would have liked it more if I had known the latter.

The Girlfriend by K.L. Slater is a psych thriller that is heavy on the psych – but almost as heavy on the thriller.

I knew it was going to be a different read when there was no prologue.

There’s almost always a prologue in psych thrillers.

Instead, this one uses the first few chapters of “real-time” action to set the stage for the events that follow.

I really like this approach. It felt more like watching the opening of a crime show with the whole set-up that occurs before the opening credits.

If you’re a careful reader, you may also notice that there are clues in these opening chapters that play a bigger part in the overall story. But they’re difficult to find.

Without giving anything away (read the blurb and the cover for an overview), let’s just say that not everything is as it seems. The characters you think you understand, you probably don’t.

And the motives you think you’ve figured out, you probably haven’t.

One thing that is done very well in this book is the “psych” part of psych thriller. There are layers upon layers of psychological warfare at play.  

There are also a lot of little clues and hints dropped along the way. Some are red herrings, and some are legit. It’s nearly impossible to tell which is which until you get to the end, though.

As the book reaches the climax, there are a few revelations that I did not see coming. Pretty sure if I went back in, there were hints that would have told me (like I already mentioned).

And about the climax and the end? Those felt rushed. The author had been very methodical to a point and then it all just…sort of went whoosh and it was over.

I am not so keen on that.

At any rate, The Girlfriend is an intriguing read. K.L. Slater has written another solid psych thriller.

Ellery Kane knows how to write a psych thriller that keeps the reader guessing, second-guessing, and then doubling back and guessing yet again. The Good Wife had me doing just that. Multiple times.

One thing I love about this author’s books is the pacing. The reader knows that the groundwork is being laid for future twists, so it’s comfortable to just float along and let the story be spun.

Not to say that there isn’t a lot of action in this book because there are several “can’t put it down” sections. I guess I’m trying to say that even in the “not-so-exciting” portions, I remained enthralled, wondering where the author would go next.

And it usually was not where I expected it to go.

The more I think about it, however, the more I see where it would be easy to slip up and give away the big secret, so I’m going to try hard NOT to do that.

I liked how the author left little clues along the way, but also kept revealing certain things that had nothing to do with the bigger reveal.

Or did they?

I guess the simplest way to put it is that the author built an intricate web of connections, lies, half-truths, and deceit. Really, nobody was safe from being caught in it.

I thought the use of the courtroom drama was effective and added another layer of character study to the plot. How far will a sconed woman go to defend her husband?

And how much do we ever really know about the people who are supposed to be the closest to us?

There was also a very quick, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment late in the book that mirrors the beginning. I caught it, but not sure others will. An extremely telling moment in retrospect.

Ellery Kane has written another compelling psych thriller. The Good Wife will keep you turning pages until the final reveal.