Tag: New Release

The Lost Boy by Jane Renshaw is a solid psych thriller that is a mostly good read with some really good twists.

It is obvious right from the start that something is not right with Anna. Sure, she says it flat out at the end of the very first chapter.

But even in the introduction of her character, it was apparent that there is an oddness about her. That is good foreshadowing by the author because it is solid groundwork for the revelations that come later in the book.

I thought that Penny and Rod were a little more difficult to understand. Sometimes I got their dynamic, and then something would occur that made me question myself.

They also seemed very mismatched. Penny’s description brings to mind a high-maintenance socialite while Rod likes hiking and birding. Not to say that opposites can’t attract, but it was jarring to me at times.

The author excels in two places throughout the story: the description of obnoxious children and location/scenery.

Honestly, the two boys are so well written that one has to think that the author knows an annoying kid or two. And, knowing that these are fictional characters, I found myself rooting more for Anna than I probably should have.

As to scenery, it creates a brooding atmosphere that adds to the danger lurking on the island.

And about that island? I get why the author made it so remote, but it took a little bit of suspension of disbelief that Rod and Penny would accept a trip based on an invitation from a virtual stranger.

That being said, the book does pick up in the second half as the truth about Anna’s background and motivations come to light. And there are still a few twists at the end.

The Lost Boy is a different kind of island adventure. Jane Renshaw has created a moody psych thriller that will keep you turning pages.

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.

The Accident by Daniel Hurst is a psych thriller that is more thriller than psych. It has a great premise but doesn’t entirely deliver. However, if you go in knowing what you’re getting, you’ll enjoy the book.

The best part of the plot is in the first 80 pages. The author does a fantastic job of building the tension to the accident that guides the rest of the story. It was palpable from each of the character’s points of view.

In this opening part, I think we are meant to feel sorry for Carl, as he has gotten himself into a mess – but it is nothing compared to what is about to happen to him later. The same goes for Jo.

The author has a nice “wait, what” moment when the story transitions to after the accident. Maybe I wasn’t reading close enough, but I thought one thing was happening, when it was actually something else.

That makes sense in the context of the plot.

However, the issue I have is that the reader knows within those first 80 pages what actually happened. So, the rest of the story is more of a “who will find out the truth and when” which is why I said it is more thriller than psych thriller.

There is no surprise in terms of the original accident, so a lot of the middle of the book is the guilty party worrying about when the other character will realize what is actually happening. It does get a bit tedious.

The author saves a few twists for the end which suddenly make one of the characters unreliable. I didn’t get the feeling of this through the rest of the book, and I wish more had been done to create this doubt around the character.

The biggest twist at the end is also a head-scratcher because the person responsible seems to forget exactly how they discovered info about the initial accident and gets caught up the exact same way.

Now, that end event itself is a bit of a shocker. But the character responsible tosses it off like it really wasn’t a big deal and just had to happen. I didn’t get that feel for the character throughout either.

As I said at the beginning of this review, if you go into it knowing that you will be reading more of a thriller, when will the other shoe drop type of story, you will definitely enjoy it. Just don’t keep waiting for a typical psych thriller twist. It doesn’t happen.

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. 

As I read Her Perfect Life, the new psych thriller from Emily Shiner, two sayings kept going through my head.

“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” and “Be careful what you wish for.”

Millie finds out the truth of both of these old adages, and she is the worse off for it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The book starts with a great psych thriller premise (and there’s really no spoiler, because it’s all in the blurb). Identical twins have a shared secret; one wants revenge, one has a seemingly perfect life in comparison.

What could go wrong?

Turns out, everything.

Again, the blurb gives a lot of the plot away, which I kind of take issue with. I would have preferred to know less about Eve’s life going into the book. It would have been nice to have the same perception as Millie. I think it would have made Millie more sympathetic.

As it is, even before the prologue, the reader knows that Eve’s life isn’t as wonderful as Millie thinks.

About that prologue – it felt like it almost gave too much away. By blowing the entire surprise of Millie’s revenge, a potential twist was missed.

The author has several twists still in store, but in all honesty, for me, the plot was already revealed and therefore not as engaging as it could have been.

I also thought that Mya and Garth were pretty inept at their chosen profession (no spoiler). It is actually surprising that they were as “successful” as they were.

In truth, none of the characters were very likable, which made it hard to care about any of them as the plot progressed. However, the plot itself was still good.

That makes the plot the true star of the Her Perfect Life. Even though I didn’t like the characters, I wanted to see where the author was going to go next.

I would recommend this book based on that alone.

Author Bio

Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author but first served her time as a banker and a teacher. After a lifetime of devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.