Thriller

Review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewel

Posted by

0

I’m torn on this one…somewhere around four stars but not really if that makes sense. It’s sufficiently creepy, suspenseful, intriguing, and all that.

When Libby turns 25, she discovers that she’s now the owner of an abandoned mansion. Along with this newfound knowledge comes the revelation of the true identity of her birth parents. As if that’s not enough, she begins to discover the sordid secret of who she truly is.

I liked this book. I really did. But something about the ending didn’t satisfy me. Still, I kept coming back to it whenever I had time to read a few pages so that says a lot.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Family Upstairs

Quick review: Where the Blame Lies by Mia Sheridan

Posted by

0


Under the definition of a roller coaster read would be a picture of this cover.

NO SPOILERS!!

Don’t read reviews or posts about it. Go straight to the book and dive in. You don’t wanna know anything!! I’ll admit I did read the synopsis before I read the book, and I rarely do that, but it took nothing away from the story. Nothing could prepare me for what was to come.

I’m still reeling and it’s been a few days since I finished it. I can’t believe the ups and downs this books had. So many theories and only once did I get something right. I don’t remember the last time a book put me through this type of insanity. Was it uncomfortable at times? Heck yeah. Did I ever wanna stop? Definitely not. I needed to know how this ended.

Mia really knocked it out of the park with this. I don’t remember the last time I felt this type of adrenaline rush while reading. My heart was racing like crazy! I’m still all twisted. And emotionally drained. Can’t get it out of my mind.

SYNOPSIS

Abducted.
Terrorized.
Imprisoned.

At nineteen-years-old, college student Josie Stratton was kidnapped by a madman and held shackled for ten months in an abandoned warehouse before she finally escaped her hellish prison.

Eight years later, when the body of a young woman is found chained in the basement of a vacant house, Cincinnati Police Detective Zach Copeland is instantly reminded of the crime committed against Josie Stratton. Zach was just a rookie on the perimeter of that case, but he’s never forgotten the traumatized woman with the haunted eyes.

As more information emerges, the crimes take on an even more sinister similarity. But Josie’s attacker died by suicide. Does the city have a copycat on its hands? A killer who picked up where the original perpetrator left off? Or are they facing something far more insidious?

Josie has spent the last eight years attempting to get her life back on track, but now there’s a very real chance she could be the unknown suspect’s next target. As Zach vows to keep her safe, and Josie finds herself responding to him in a way she hasn’t responded to any man in almost a decade, the investigation takes on an even more complex edge of danger.

As past and present collide, Josie and Zach are thrust toward a shocking and chilling truth. A revelation that threatens not only Josie’s life, but everything she’s been fighting so desperately to reclaim.

~Melpomene

click the pic to buy

Review: The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

Posted by

0

I don’t know how this one slipped by me. I love Karin Slaughter and always greedily snatch up her latest books. And yet I missed this one…

A shocking crime. A mother and her two daughters are held at gunpoint, victims of a revenge crime. Some escape, one does not. But nobody comes out of this tragedy unscathed.

Flash forward twenty plus years. Another shocking crime, and Charlie finds herself involved yet again. This time, not so much a victim. Still, old memories come rushing to the surface.

Once again, the author has written a can’t-put-it-down kind of story. It’s fast-paced, has great characters, and includes a few little twists and turns. Everything you’d want in a thriller!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Good Daughter

Review: The Wolf Wants In by Laura McHugh

Posted by

0

What a richly woven, compelling story this one was. It starts off with a death, an unexpected one for sure, but still a suspicious death to Shane’s family. From there it spirals into a complex tale of family loyalty, secrets, suspicions, and bonds too strong to be broken. Bouncing back and forth between two time periods, the author gives us a glimpse into the events right before Shane’s death. Because Sadie just can’t let it go, she’s drawn deeper and deeper into a part of her brother’s life that she wasn’t a part of. It’s a mystery, yes, and a bit of a detective story as well. But the story is so well-written, the characters so fully developed, that it reads nothing like the procedural pieces we’ve come to expect from the genre. Definitely five stars!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Wolf Wants In

Review: My Daughter’s Secret by Nicole Trope

Posted by

0

This one started off in a big way…two young women stumble upon a body hanging from a porch. And even though Julia’s death is immediately ruled a suicide, her mother Claire just can’t let it go. So she begins to dig into Julia’s life, looking for answers. Why would her daughter kill herself? Eventually this question changes to, DID Julia actually kill herself? Although the story lost a bit of momentum about halfway through, it’s still a gripping, twisty story up until the very end.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: My Daughter’s Secret

Review: The Better Sister by Alafair Burke

Posted by

1

I don’t even know where to begin with this one. It begins with a betrayal, one sister turning her back on the other. And then, over the course of 14 years, there’s more betrayal culminating in a murder that brings everything back full circle. Two sisters, estranged for years, now find themselves on the same side fighting to save their shared son. I’m not joking when I say I read this one in a day, it was that good. Lots of twists and turns up to the very end!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Better Sister

Review: We Told Six Lies by Victoria Scott

Posted by

0

Young love is hard, y’all. All those emotions and hormones and stuff running wild. It’s easy to see how feelings could get out of control. But how far is too far?

Molly is missing. Just disappeared. And of course, the first place the police look is at her boyfriend Cobain. But he’s just as perplexed as the authorities are. He would never hurt her. After all, she’s his everything. Before Molly came into his life, he was just existing as he wandered through life. Molly brought the light to his world. And now she’s gone.

Cobain is determined to find out what happened to Molly. He knows more than what he’s told the police, and he has a suspect list. Did he really know Molly, though? What secrets was she hiding from him?

There’s A LOT going on with this story. It’s told from two different perspectives as well as shifting from past to present. Surprisingly, though, it’s easy to follow and suspenseful enough to keep you reading until the twisty end.

~Thalia

Buy It Now: We Told Six Lies

Review: The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson

Posted by

0

I seem to be on a roll with these kinds of stories lately. Stories so far outside of the norm that it’s hard to wrap your brain around them. But so good that you can’t pull yourself away…

When seventeen-year-old Eleanor wakes up in the river, she’s not quite sure what happened. A strong sense of choking, water filling her lungs, being held down, all these things soon add up to the realization that she was drowned. And that she died. But, inexplicably, she’s not completely dead. Sure, there are some annoying things she can no longer do. Like eat. Or sleep. Or feel anything. Oh and she’s always cold, even though it’s the middle of the summer. Still, she’s determined to find out what happened to her that night in the river. All the while knowing that not everyone wants her to discover the truth.

I loved this story. It’s much easier to follow than it may seem. It’s very intriguing and twisty, one I couldn’t put down!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker

Review: You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart

Posted by

0

I tried. Really I did. But I just couldn’t do it. No matter how badly I wanted to stay awake into the wee hours of the morning to finish this thriller, my eyes just wouldn’t cooperate. So I did what any self-respecting book worm would do. I reached for it as soon as I woke up the next morning and didn’t get out of bed until it was finished.

In the blink of an eye, Jessica Chamberlain finds her world turned upside down. With one phone call, life as she knows it is forever changed. Even though she and Evan were separated, in her heart she always believed that eventually they’d find their way back to each other. But his unexpected death put those hopes to rest.

So she tries to move on, if nothing else then for the sake of her two young sons. Something was going on with Evan, though. Something that involved their youngest son, Gabe, and his birth mother. Jessica is determined to find out what Evan was working on and how it led to his death.

This book has been described as a “race to the finish” drama and that’s no lie. I honest to goodness didn’t know what was going to happen until almost the very end. Trust me, you want to read this one!

~Thalia

Buy It Now: You Were Always Mine