Close to You is one of the most exciting books I have
read in a while, and I have read a lot of cracking psychological thrillers
lately. Because of the number of books I go through, I have become quite good
at usually figuring out at least one or two plot points.
That was not the case with this book. It kept me guessing
right up to the very last page, and for that reason, it is one of my favorite books
that I have read in a long time.
Right from the beginning, the author grabbed me with the
unique premise of the story. I liked that the main character had an unusual job
(personal trainer) and that the plot started with a bang. I have found that my
favorite books often state something shocking, and then elaborate on how the
characters got to that particular point.
In this case, the story unfolds with mostly alternating “then”
and “now” chapters. As always, there are no plot spoilers here. Suffice to say
that the author does a fantastic job of keeping the narrative flowing in spite
of the jumps back and forth in time.
I also appreciated how I was never quite able to get a total
read on the main characters. Just when I thought I had figured out a character’s
motivations, there was a red herring or an incident that changed my mind. And
about the red herrings: sometimes an author uses them in a way that is too
obvious, and they stand out by a mile. Not the case in this book. They are perfectly
placed and just plausible enough to keep the reader turning the pages.
One thing, however: this is the third book in a week where the author has felt the need to throw in a political comment that has no bearing on the characters nor the story. Frankly, I’m getting tired of it, because it takes me out of the drama at hand. It is gratuitous and (as I have stated before) annoying. Authors (and editors) would do well to remember that people from all walks of life read their books; alienating a large population for the sole purpose of earning some sort of “cool points” seems counter-productive, self-indulgent and childish.
I’m marking it a 5-star read because I didn’t see the twist coming for a change. But I do wish that authors would wise up and stop pandering. Next time, I might just stop reading – and that would be a shame.
Ria is a single mom because her husband, Grayson, walked out
on her five years ago. Her mother-in-law has kept her as part of the family,
even though the family is not very tight. One day, Ria receives some emails
exposing family members’ secrets. Who sent her the emails, and why?
It is an exciting premise, and the author does a great job of
layering the lies that each family member tells to cover their secrets. The
result is that the reader is never quite sure what is a lie or what is the
truth. Furthermore, one also can’t tell which lie is being covered up. It becomes
an intricate spiderweb, and as Ria looks into the emails further, she becomes
more entrapped.
I thought that overall it was a very well-done story. I felt
that the different personalities of the daughters-in-law (Ria, Ashlin, and
Samira), as well as that of Christine (the daughter), were all sharply written.
The male characters were not as strong, mainly because I think that the author
wanted to showcase how women unknowingly influence each other’s personalities.
And then there is May, the matriarch of the Parker clan. From
the beginning, it is apparent that she is headstrong and the driving force of
the family. She is also an enigma, as her chapters often end with a thought or
comment that leaves the reader questioning her motivations.
No spoilers here, so that’s all I am going to say about the plot. I will repeat that it’s a page-turner, and the multiple twists were well done. I only guessed one of them, partially guessed another, and didn’t see one coming at all. One of the notes that I made was that the story was like a bizarre game of Family Clue.
Now, to the not-so-good. The location of the story is Chicago.
Last I checked, this is in the United States. Forgive the snark, but I counted
at least 18 instances of phrasing that were inconsistent with American English.
Everything from “bollocks” to “ringing” someone on their phone. Now, it might
seem inconsequential to some, but to me, it feels lazy.
Just as I would expect a story set in England or Australia
to use UK terms, I expect a story set in America to use American words. We don’t
“ring” people, we call them. We don’t “lose the plot,” we “go crazy” or “lose it.”
There were a few other examples as well. They were jarring and took me out of
the flow of the story.
If a writer is going to set a story in a location, I wish
the writer would do the simple research necessary to make everything fit
together. Or, at the very least, that the editor would catch these things before
publication.
That was really the only detraction, however, and I still would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good page-turner.
Lots of books claim to be page-turning thrillers with unbelievable twists. Some live up to the hype, and some don’t. In The Last Wife, all of the characters had secrets of some kind. The author did a fantastic job of keeping me off-balance and wondering which secret was affecting which character. In fact, there were layers upon layers of lies that unraveled throughout the story. There were a couple of writing issues that seemed jarring to me, but overall I thought it was a well-done thriller with an original (and unexpected) twist. Yes, this one did live up to the hype. For a full review, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a complimentary digital ARC of this book.
USA TODAY bestselling & multi-award winning author Nicola Marsh writes feel-good fiction with a twist!
She has published 68 books with Harlequin, Amazon and indie, and sold over 8 million copies worldwide. She currently writes women’s fiction/rural romance for Harper Collins Australia Mira imprint, emotional domestic suspense for Bookouture and contemporary romance for Harlequin Dare.
Her first mainstream contemporary romance, BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD released to rave reviews, including a nomination for RWA’s RBY, Romantic Book of the Year. Her first indie-pubbed contemporary romance CRAZY LOVE is an Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller, and was nominated for an ARRA award. Her women’s fiction novel SAVING SARA with Lake Union hit the #1 kindle romance spot on Amazon UK.
Her young adult fantasy SCION OF THE SUN won a National Readers’ Choice Award for Best YA novel.
She’s also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a RBY and National Readers’ Choice Award winner, is a multiple finalist for awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, Booksellers’ Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has won several CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.
A physiotherapist for 13 years, she now adores writing full time, raising her two dashing young heroes, sharing fine food with family and friends, barracking loudly for her beloved North Melbourne Kangaroos footy team, and her favourite, curling up with a good book!
I loved T.M. Logan’s first book, Lies, and was
hoping that he wouldn’t suffer a “Sophomore Slump” in the second book.
Spoiler Alert: He didn’t. This book was even
better than the first.
From the teaser prologue, the book jumps back
in time a mere two weeks to when the main character’s life takes a turn for the
worse. Sarah is in a job that she loves with a boss who could win the title of “Worst
Boss Ever.” A chance encounter and a split-second decision ultimately give Sarah
the chance to change the trajectory of her life.
Sarah’s character was fascinating. I loved her
job, and the academic setting was more interesting than a typical business or corporation.
It also made the differentiation between public and private personas more striking.
As always, no spoilers, but in this case, I
feel strongly about not saying much more about the plot because readers should
be allowed to experience it on their own. As with the author’s first book, the action
moves along at a swift pace. I finished this in less than 24 hours, reading
deep into the night and getting up early in the morning to finish it (a girl
has to sleep sometime; otherwise I would have read straight through the night.
It was that good).
Also, similar to the first book, there are a
few twists that keep the reader guessing. At one point I wasn’t sure about
anything I had just read because it went in a different direction than I
thought it would.
There were only two brief parts that I could
have done without, and they involved mention of American politicians. I have commented
on this with other books as well. If the book is not politically-oriented, and
there is no bearing on the characters, there is no reason to throw it in. It
seems gratuitous, and it takes away from the story at hand. I, for one, avoid
political thrillers for this reason – I read to escape. And a jarring mention
takes me right out of the story.
Those were minor, however. Overall, this is
one fantastic book, and I don’t know why you’re still reading this review – go pick
it up now!
I picked this book up expecting it to be a decent psychological thriller with the ever-popular “shocking twist.” What I got was a lot more than that.
On the surface, The Good Neighbor is about a
missing girl and how the community (one neighbor in particular) comes together
to help find her. On another level, however, there are astute observations
about homeschooling, social media, and society as a whole that gave this book
tremendous depth.
Being a homeschooling mom myself, I am always
a little suspicious when I see it as a plot point. Is the author going to do it
justice, or go with a stereotype? I was pleased to find that this author knows
her stuff. Whether she homeschools herself or spoke with homeschooling
families, she perfectly captured so many aspects of the experience.
Brittany’s observations about her homeschooled
peers were especially true-to-life. While they may be more advanced in book
knowledge, there is a large number of students who falter at social situations
and lack common sense knowledge gained through peers.
She also described a significant attraction of
homeschooling – the ability to focus on what interests a student and complete
guided learning instead of having to do rote memorization or be distracted by 30
other students.
Obviously, I was impressed with how the author
handled this sometimes controversial topic. But I digress from the actual plot.
I thought the author also had some accurate reflections
on social media and its impact on society, which was illustrated by Taylor’s
obsession with her Facebook page. I found it interesting that the more Taylor
wanted to build community within her neighborhood, the more she seemed to
bastardize it for her purposes, which brought her motives into question.
As with all of my reviews, you will not find
any reveals or spoilers here. But I will say that the book went in a different
direction than I expected it to more than a few times. And the shocking twist?
Yeah, it’s in there. And that is what ultimately made it an excellent read.
The Good Neighbor by Cathryn Grant My rating: 4 of 5 stars You will find everything from commentary on social media to accurate descriptions of homeschooling in this psychological thriller. The characters are realistic, the action is plausible, and the author gives the story depth by weaving the topics mentioned above into what could be a run-of-the-mill basic plot. It was definitely a page-turner, and I highly recommend it. For a full review, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. This review was written based on a complimentary pre-release digital ARC of the book. View all my reviews
About Cathryn Grant:
When she’s not writing, Cathryn reads fiction, eavesdrops, and tries to play golf without hitting her ball into the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California coast with her husband and two cats. Cathryn’s fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines, The Shroud Quarterly Journal, and The Best of Every Day Fiction. Her story “I Was Young Once” received an honorable mention in the 2007 Zoetrope Fiction contest. She’s the author of the Alexandra Mallory Psychological Suspense series, Psychological Thrillers, Suburban Noir novels, The Haunted Ship Trilogy, and the Madison Keith Ghost Story series.
I loved this book! Through the first part of it, the author did an outstanding job of planting seeds that made me doubt who was telling the truth and who was lying. At any given moment, I could swing my “allegiance to the truth” between Aidan and Caroline. By Chapter 26, I was convinced that Aidan was a creepy stalker. By Chapter 42, my notes read, “Wth is going on?” and “What’s real and what isn’t?” And by 52, my notes were nothing but “Omg, no way!” (and variations thereof). I cannot stress what a fantastic book this was. It is an absolute page-turner and a perfect “end of summer” novel. I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC.
It started as a reasonably straightforward plot; a woman (Caroline)
finds out her husband (Jason) is cheating and finds solace in another man’s (Aidan’s)
arms, then deals with the aftermath of the “affair.”
Or is that the truth of the matter?
It isn’t long before events start happening that make both the
reader and Caroline question everything. Or should the reader believe Aidan?
The author deftly manipulates the action to keep the characters
off-balance, and in turn, that keeps the reader off-balance as well. And that
is the beauty of the book. I kept going back to re-read passages to see if I
could figure out what was happening. By the time I got to the end, I wanted to
read the whole thing over again to find possible clues.
As I mention in my Goodreads review (below), the twists come
periodically at first. But roughly halfway through, the tension and the action
speed up, and the hits and twist come fast and hard.
Reading this book was the absolute equivalent to a roller
coaster. There is a slow build, but then holy hell, hold on to your seats for
the rest of the ride.
It’s an excellent page-turner and a great way to spend a few
days – especially if you need an escape from the coming school year or pressures
of work. Lose yourself in this twisty thriller. You won’t be disappointed.
I loved this book! Through the first part of it, the author did an outstanding job of planting seeds that made me doubt who was telling the truth and who was lying. At any given moment, I could swing my “allegiance to the truth” between Aidan and Caroline. By Chapter 26, I was convinced that Aidan was a creepy stalker. By Chapter 42, my notes read, “Wth is going on?” and “What’s real and what isn’t?” And by 52, my notes were nothing but “Omg, no way!” (and variations thereof). I cannot stress what a fantastic book this was. It is an absolute page-turner and a perfect “end of summer” novel. I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC.
Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for this amazing book. In short, you don’t want to miss this one, so go get it to read, NOW!
But if you need more convincing, read on.
The opening chapter of this book was a total shocker. I thought, “If it starts like this, it is going to be tough to keep the level going through the whole book.” It may have been tough for the author, but whatever work went into it was worth it because it definitely kept the level of intensity throughout.
The author used everything from characters lying to gaslighting to allusions to past events to propel the plot, but always with a very deft hand. I never felt manipulated or had that “Oh, come ON” feeling. You know, the one you get when the author throws something into the story that seems to come out of left field and is solely there to bridge from one event to another? Boy, do I hate those.
But not to fear, none of those here.
I also thought that the characters were complex and fleshed out completely, and the interactions were natural and true-to-real-life, especially Tamara. She had a creepy vibe from the beginning and it was just delicious to watch how her character developed – the glimpses of her reasoning along the way were believable and it was satisfying to see the entire arc.
I did think that Stacey was a somewhat weaker character – I did think that there could have been a little bit more addressed to make her character’s arc a little more believable, but that’s being nitpicky.
And let me just say that for once, the tag line of “…a heart-stopping ending” was entirely accurate. I found myself holding my breath through the last few pages. Do yourself a favor and go pick this one up today!
I love a good thriller that keeps a reader guessing without overt manipulation. You know the kinds of books that I mean. The books that throw a last minute character or event in to tie it all together? I find those to be dishonest.
The Dream House definitely kept me guessing, but only because the plot was masterfully crafted. I knew that everything was going to tie together somehow, but the writer did an excellent job of sneaking those ties in subtly. As I have mentioned, I leave notes on my Kindle as I read so when I write my reviews, I can remember what I was thinking/feeling at the time of reading.
In this book, I have six separate times where I left a “Wow!” or “No way…” (and even one “Holy Shit!!!!”) in my notes.
Now, y’all know that I read a lot. And I’m pretty good at guessing plot twists. I will admit that I guessed one, and half guessed another. But the others totally took me by surprise. And that’s just freaking awesome in my bookish world.
I also want to discuss the subject matter. I imagine that domestic violence is a difficult subject matter to write about. It’s a fine line between wanting to get the cruelty and depth of abuse across clearly while still treating it with respect to the victims – all while making sure it doesn’t become overly dramatic or cartoonish.
I think the author thoroughly succeeded in getting the points across succinctly and without it becoming overwrought. I especially liked how the various types of abuse were explored (again, subtly) so that characters in the present showed signs of committing the same abuses that they were against.
I know that sounds a little complicated, but psychological abuse, making excuses for the abuser, and abuse causing personality changes (among other things) are all woven into the plot, creating a tapestry of abuse-related actions that are inter-related.
This is not to say that’s all the book is. Far from it. It’s an excellent character study with a tight plot, deep characters, and twists galore – a psych thriller that truly earns the moniker “unputdownable.”
Oh, and one more thing: The title of the book switched from The Guest to The Dream House. The new title has a double meaning (which you will understand when you read the book) and I think it was a good choice to change it.
There are psych thrillers that are “unputdownable,” and then there are ones that keep giving you one-two jabs of “holy heck what just happened?!?” The Dream House is the perfect combination of the two. I read it in two sittings (only due to a prior commitment) otherwise I would have read straight through. It is masterfully crafted with a plot that is both brutally realistic and hauntingly beautiful. It should probably be mentioned that the subject matter (domestic violence) might be triggering to some readers; descriptions can be rather frank. But the author deals with it in an honest and true-to-life way. Visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews for more thoughts on this excellent book. Thank you to Bookouture (via NetGalley) for a complimentary pre-release digital ARC of this book (formerly titled The Guest).
I’m a fan of The Walking Dead. One of my favorite quotes of the entire series is Carol’s reaction when she first encounters the Kingdom.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on in the most wonderful way!”
That pretty much sums up how I felt reading the latest release from Wendy Walker.
First, there are so many meanings to this title that it’s difficult to cover them all.
It could mean a night that occurred a decade prior to the story, where the main characters lives (Laura’s in particular) were changed forever. Or, it could mean the night of Laura’s date, when her sister worries if she is ready to get back in the dating pool. Or a few other “nights before.”
The author also does a fantastic job of giving the reader just enough information to feel comfortable in the direction that the story is headed, only to change abruptly with a thoroughly probable event that sends it in a different direction.
Laura was one of the most complex characters I have read in a long time. There was so much to her, but she remained an enigma, even to her own sister. It isn’t until the end that there is a revelation which neatly explains nearly all of her behaviors, as well as reasons for being the way she is in general.
As always, no plot points here, but I will tell you that there are some “Holy crap, I had no idea” and “No WAY!” moments scattered throughout. It makes for one helluva story that you won’t be able to put down!
This story grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let go. There were a lot of twists, a few red herrings, and a whole lot of guessing (and being wrong). The author did a phenomenal job of keeping the reader off-balance. Occurrences which sent the book in a different direction were plausible enough so that it didn’t feel forced. Everything felt like it could actually happen. I read this book in one day, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes. See my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews for a more in-depth review. Thank you to St.Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a pre-release digital ARC.
