The Housemaid Series by Freida McFadden

       

 

I recently read all three of the books in The Housemaid series by Freida McFadden and I enjoyed the series. I do have to say that I liked the first book better than the other two. I thought the series got weaker with each book. I also read book one in ebook form and really liked it that way. It kept me up into the wee hours of the night. It was just so hard to put down! I ended up listening to the other two books on a road trip, and while they kept me entertained on my long drive there and back, and was one reason I didn't mind the drive so much, I really didn't like the narrator at all. I am wondering if I would have liked those two books more if they had been eye reads instead. That being said, I know I would have still had most of the same issues with book three. 

 

The Housemaid (The Housemaid #1) by Freida McFadden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language, Physical and Psychological Abuse, Confinement

 

There's something about this author's writing style that grabs me and doesn't let go. I could not put this book down! You would think that it would be a 5 star read if that was the case, but there were some things that didn't come off as completely believable to me. Story wise it should probably get a 3 but it's getting a 4 for the sheer entertainment value of all those twists and turns, even the ones I predicted correctly. I'm adding a spoiler tag down below for things that didn't work so well for me. Be prepared for major spoilers if you look.

Things that seemed a bit unbelievable- The way Andrew allowed Nina to let Millie stay in the attic room. That didn't make sense. One of the reasons Nina gives him for allowing it is because if they make the guest room her bedroom his parents won't have anywhere to stay when they're visiting. But we are told his parents have kept their NY house after moving to Florida, so they wouldn't need to stay in the guest room. I have a hard time believing Andrew would have relinquished that much control regardless of the reason she gave him. The fact that Millie stayed when there was a chance Nina could make an accusation that would send her back to prison. I don't believe she would have stayed on after she realized that. She could have just told her parole officer that the employer was a mental case and mistreating her. I'm pretty sure the parole officer would have helped her find a place to stay until she got a different job. She helped her get a job before. Also, if she was bold enough to punch the bartender in the face when he was touching her inappropriately why couldn't she have just told her parole officer what he was doing in the first place? That Millie would have stayed in that locked room the whole time when she had the key. She could have escaped when he was gone. But I think we are supposed to believe that she plotted the whole thing so she could ambush him and lock him in the room. Andrew is given pliers at one point when he's locked in the room, so he can pull out his teeth. Something that I had a hard time believing he would do until the part at the funeral near the end when his mother told Nina she had pulled his baby teeth out as a punishment. So, knowing that I can maybe believe he would have done it. But I'm still not convinced. I knew the whole time that the things Andrew did to women probably came from the way his mother treated him, but I have a hard time believing his mother would ever have told Nina about anything she did to him. When Andrew has the pliers he could have used them to try to pull the pins out of the door hinges. It was mentioned they were on the inside of the room when he was trying to bust the door down. Also, why does no one try to break out the tiny window and yell for help? It wouldn't open but you could still break it. The huge coincidence that the police officer on the scene happened to be the father of the woman Andrew was engaged to in the past, and the fact that he was able to cover up what really happened so easily.

 

The Housemaid's Secret (The Housemaid #2) by Freida McFadden

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language, Abuse

 

In many ways this book followed the same formula as the first book, only with some twists. I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as book one. There's a time lapse of several years that I wasn't expecting but it worked fine. This was a very entertaining book that kept me listening and wanting to know what was going to happen next. I did predict most of the twists but it was still a fun read.

 

 

The Housemaid is Watching (The Housemaid #3) by Freida McFadden 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language, Abuse

 

The main character is married with two kids in book three and she's middle aged now. That didn't bother me, what bothered me was that she just seemed different. Maybe I should just blame it on her getting older and becoming a mother, but she felt more cautious, less willing to take chances, and the lack of communication between her and her spouse annoyed me. It didn't make sense that he wouldn't tell her these things. In fact, it felt contrived, just to add drama to the story. Overall I enjoyed this series though, and I want to read more books by this author. I think her books, while not always completely believable, are very entertaining.

Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language

 

Just before dawn in the hills near the Scottish border, a man murders a young woman. At the same time, a hot-air balloon crashes out of the sky. There’s just one survivor.

She’s seen the killer’s face – but he’s also seen hers. And he won’t rest until he’s eliminated the only witness to his crime.

Alone, scared, trusting no one, she’s running to where she feels safe – but it could be the most dangerous place of all . . .

 

I liked that this was a bit different from the other mystery/thrillers I've read. It starts out with people in a hot air balloon witnessing a crime being committed. I thought it was pretty harrowing for a while as they tried to escape the killer who was following the balloon to try to kill the witnesses. I enjoyed the way this unfolded, slowly revealing the secrets in the story, and it ended up being pretty different from what I thought it would be. Although I predicted all but the very last two twists, it's still a 4 star read, and I want to try other books by this author. 

While listening to this, there were a couple of times where I was confused at the way something happened in the story, but the fact that the story switched from past to present in a non-linear way is what caused that. You have to pay close attention while reading. I think that maybe actually reading this versus listening to it might make it a little less confusing at those parts.

 

 

 

 

The Locked Door by Freida McFadden

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language; Kidnapping, torture, murder, and animal cruelty, although none of that happens on page.

 

Some doors are locked for a reason…

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.

 

After reading the book description, I went into this wondering what was in Nora's basement. I don't think it's a spoiler at all to say this book is set up to make us wonder if we can trust Nora or not. What I really enjoyed about this book was that I could never be sure until the end. I think I followed every single misdirection the story sent my way. I'm not sure how I feel about some revelations at the end of the book but it was thoroughly enjoyable. I was completely glued to this flaws and all. I can see why this author is so popular. I'll definitely be reading more!

 

 

 

 

Girl Number One by Jane Holland

  

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language, One moderately descriptive sex scene

 

As a young child, Eleanor Blackwood witnessed her mother's murder in woods near their farm. The killer was never found.

Now an adult, Eleanor discovers a woman's body in the same spot in the Cornish woods where her mother was strangled eighteen years before. But when the police get there, the body has disappeared.

Is Eleanor’s disturbed mind playing tricks on her again, or has her mother’s killer resurfaced? And what does the number on the dead woman’s forehead signify?

 

I listened the audio of this and I wasn't crazy about the narrator. Overall this was just ok. Nothing surprised me and the main character annoyed me. She did some stupid things. She was also always thinking about how attractive the men she was acquainted with were. She was suspicious of one man but still slept with him, which didn't make any sense to me. Nothing in the book really surprised me at all. The person I suspected the most ended up being the present day killer, and I had also thought about the possibility of the other person being her mother's killer. 

I've noticed there are a few things most of the psychological suspense thrillers I've read by UK authors have in common. The police are inept at their jobs and dismissive, the parents of the main characters are downright mean and unsupportive, and lots of smoking that's portrayed as though it's sexy instead of a health hazard. This one was the same. I'm not sure if this is a trend or just a coincidence, but I'm a bit tired of it. I think I'm going to stick to authors in this genre that I know I like for a while.

 

The New Wife by Karen Clarke

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong language

 

The people you trust are the people who hurt you the most.

Nell Cosgrove is the new wife who got it all. She married her handsome, wealthy boss within six months of meeting him. They live in a beautiful riverside home. She has a flourishing career.

The only problem is her two stepdaughters, Ruby and Poppy, who are fiercely loyal to their mother, and reject all her overtures.

But now everything is falling apart. Nell’s marriage is starting to crack. Her husband spends more and more time away on business.

She gets creepy text messages from an unknown admirer. He sends mysterious bouquets of flowers to her office. She starts making mistakes at work.

Everything Nell thought she knew about her marriage and her new life is about to be turned upside down.

 

I listened to the audiobook of this, and I didn't care for the narration very much. It may have turned me off this one a little. This is also the first book I've read by this author that she co-wrote with another author, so that could also be why this one felt a bit different to me. From now on, I do think I'll stick to actually reading the rest of this author's books.

There was a lot going on in this book, and although I guessed pretty early on what was going on with the main plot and who was behind it, I didn't see some of the subplot stuff coming. I kind of felt like there were too many elements to the story. One thing I do like about this author are the epilogues. There's usually some shocking little twist in them, and this one was no exception. I have mixed feelings about the end of this one, although I liked how things ended up for most of the characters. 

I may have jinxed myself when I said I was on a winning streak with psychological suspense in a previous review. This is the second 3 star read from this author now, which isn't bad, just not as good as the ones I read before.

Your Life for Mine by Karen Clarke

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Off page sex

A stranger died to save you… now it’s your turn.
Meet Beth Turner.

From the outside, she looks like any other thirty-three-year-old woman, with a gorgeous house and beautiful daughter.

But Beth has a secret that has haunted her past for as long as she can remember. A secret that only those closest to her know.

Aged seven, she almost drowned on a family holiday… and a stranger died saving her life. Survivors guilt has been the defining characteristic of her life ever since.

So, when Beth receives a threatening text message from an anonymous number on the way to her surprise birthday party, she knows her time is up.

"Enjoy your birthday, Beth. It’ll be your last."

As she arrives at her house, there’s only one thing she knows for certain, someone at the party wants her dead.

 

I've been really loving this author's books, but this one was a bit of a miss for me. The whole feel of this book was different from the others. On a positive note, it was the first one of her books that I didn't have figured out halfway through. Although I did consider this person could possibly be the culprit at one point, I suspected several people. 

The thing that I disliked about this book the most was the main character. I usually really like the main characters in Karen Clarke's books, but there were many times I thought this one was too stupid to live. I also really disliked the way she treated her estranged husband. This woman's whole life was ruled by fear, and it all stemmed from something that happened when she was only 7 years old. I feel like she should have been able to get past it years before she did, and I think her parents just made things so much worse for her. The thing was always there because they couldn't forget about it and treated her differently because of it. I also have to question how much a woman in her 30s would remember about the smells of a place from when she was 7 years old. I almost drowned once in a river when I was a child and I couldn't tell you anything about the way the place smelled. 

So overall this was a disappointment, but I'm still looking forward to reading more books by this author. One 3 star book amongst several 4 star books isn't bad. 

The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong Language

 

How well do you know your neighbour?
Would you trust them with your life?

I heard Emily before I saw her. The harsh smack of heels against cheap wooden floorboards. The loud phone calls. The incessant music.

I knew Emily before I met her. Discarded receipts in our communal hallway. Sticky leftovers in the shared food waste bin. Wine shop vouchers in the letterbox.

Now she’s gone missing, and I’m the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her.

Because I know her best, and I heard everything.

The Girl Upstairs is a spine-tingling psychological thriller of grief and obsession that explores how lonely London can be and how sometimes it’s our neighbours who see us most, who know us best…

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it enough to want to read her other books. It started off a little rocky for me. At first I didn't like the main character, Suzie all that much, but that gradually changed as I continued to read the book. I also didn't like Emily, the girl that lived upstairs, but for a completely different reason. That also changed as I read. The story goes at a slow pace and there were no real big twists or revelations that I didn't see coming, but it worked for me. My favorite character ended up being the main character's sister. I loved the way she helped, protected, and defended Suzie. 

Lately, I feel like I've been on a real winning streak with the psychological suspense books I've chosen, and I'm glad to have found some books by authors that I enjoy reading.

The Silent Woman by Minka Kent

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: A very small amount of strong language

 

Newlywed Jade Westmore has finally found her forever in husband Wells, a charming, successful, and recently divorced architect—only there’s one caveat. Behind the gates of their elysian estate, hidden from street view in the caretaker’s cottage … lives Wells’ first wife, Sylvie.

Three years ago, the original Mrs. Westmore suffered an unfortunate accident—and hasn’t uttered a sound since. Not a physician, psychologist, or world-renown specialist has been able to elicit so much as a word from the silent woman … until now.

On an ordinary Tuesday while Wells was away—despite instructions to never disturb the fragile woman—Jade visited her isolated predecessor bearing a peace offering: a bouquet of white lilies. Only she wasn’t expecting Sylvie to have something for her as well: a slip of torn notebook paper with a single word scrawled in shaky black ink.

That word? Run.

 

I've read several books by Minka Kent and enjoyed them all, so I was happy to try another one. I loved the premise of this one, and from the description, it seemed pretty straightforward. However, I know this author likes to add in some wild twists to her stories, so I had developed some theories as I read and I was sure one of them would be correct. I have to say that this book surprised me in more than one way. The non-spoiler way in which it surprised me, is that the main character is very smart and keeps her cards close to her chest most of the time, instead of blabbing her suspicions to other people. There were only a couple of times that I thought maybe she shouldn't tell someone something. I loved that she went about investigating what happened to her husband's first wife in an intelligent way. Also, nothing in this book stood out to me as not in keeping with the characters as they developed, even when we finally find out the truth. This was a problem I had with one of this author's other books, Unmissing. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and stayed up late to finish it. I'm looking forward to reading even more books by this author.

214 Palmer Street by Karen McQuestion

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong Language

A house with a secret. A woman with nothing to lose.

When Maggie sees the beautiful Venetian blinds moving in the Caldwells’ front window, she freezes. Her favorite neighbours Cady and Josh are away, so who is in their house?

The pretty young woman who answers the door tells a convincing story. She’s Sarah. The house-sitter. Just here for a month. An old friend of Cady’s who needed a place to stay. She’s pleasant and warm, and Maggie wanders back to her house thinking she might have made a new friend. Yet she can’t help but wonder why Cady never mentioned Sarah.

What Maggie doesn’t know is that on the other side of the door, Sarah is starting to panic. No one was meant to see her at 214 Palmer Street…

An unputdownable psychological thriller from number one bestseller Karen McQuestion, which will make you question what secrets your own neighbors are hiding… For fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl.

I liked some things about this book and other things not so much. For me, it was compelling despite the fact that it was very predictable and I had it all figured out pretty early on. There were a few things that happened that were pretty hard to believe, and I thought it was obvious who the 'Her' chapters were about. From the beginning there were only two characters she could have been and it was pretty easy to rule one of them out as I read, so I don't know why the author bothered to hide this woman's identity during these chapters. 

One other issue I had with it, is that I thought from the description it would be from the woman Maggie's point of view, and that she would be trying to figure out who the person was that she saw in the house and why they were there. For some reason that seemed like a much more interesting way for the story to go, but Maggie is hardly in the book, and the book is from Sarah's point of view. This threw me off a little because it wasn't what I expected. 

I still liked this book despite it's flaws, probably because it was the type of book I was in the mood to read. and I'll probably try another book by this author.

My Best Friend's Secret by Karen Clarke

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong language

 

When Rose’s old friend Elise suddenly arrives on her doorstep having just escaped a controlling marriage, she offers her a place to stay. But Elise wants more than a safe refuge, she wants Rose to help her get her daughter back, so that she can truly start afresh with five-year-old Daisy safely in her arms. Every little girl needs her mother, after all. Ready to insert herself into Elise’s old home, Rose gets a job as a teacher, home-schooling Daisy. But when Rose is asked to take the little girl and bring her to Elise, she gets cold feet… Elise’s behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic, and Daisy’s father is far from the monster described… Will Rose take Daisy and return her to her mother, or is the real danger closer to home? Who should she trust?

 

This is the first book I've tried by this author and it won't be my last. One thing I really liked about this story is how likable the main character was. She was at turns foolish and smart, which I felt was a little inconsistent but possibly realistic. Sometimes we all do foolish things. What I really liked about her, is that she had a conscience, and genuinely loved the little girl, Daisy that she was in charge of. 

There was a lot of deception in this book and it took a while to unravel what was happening but I started to put the pieces together and figure everything out at around the 60 percent mark. Even though I figured it out, I still wasn't quite sure if I had gotten it right until I got close to the end. I was actually surprised at how accurate my guesses were. That didn't ruin the book for me though. I will say that I'm not sure I care how things ended up with Elise.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the pace and author's writing style, and it kept me reading until late at night.

Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong language; A couple of teen girls are kidnapped, beaten and raped repeatedly, but nothing is described.

 

Margot Lewis is the agony aunt for The Cambridge Examiner. Her advice column, Dear Amy, gets all kinds of letters - but none like the one she's just received:

Dear Amy,
I don't know where I am. I've been kidnapped and am being held prisoner by a strange man. I'm afraid he'll kill me.
Please help me soon,
Bethan Avery

Bethan Avery has been missing for years. This is surely some cruel hoax. But, as more letters arrive, they contain information that was never made public. How is this happening? Answering this question will cost Margot everything ...

  

I finally found another psychological thriller that I really liked. For some reason I've have a hard time with these of late. They seem to be full of such unlikable characters, but with this one I was able to actually like the main character Margot. 

In the beginning I wasn't sure if I was in the mood to read something that was rather dark, and I was afraid there would be descriptive scenes of what was happening to the kidnapped girl. I stuck with it and it ended up not being too dark, and thankfully those parts were not described. 

Like all psychological thrillers, there's a big twist and I did guess what it was, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of this book. I thought the details of why and how things happened the way they did helped to make the story feel more plausible.

I liked this enough that I'll probably look up other books by this author to try.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery
Content: Strong language; Masturbation is alluded to; A violent killing, but without much detail

The daughter of two astronauts, Romy Silvers is no stranger to life in space. But she never knew how isolating the universe could be until her parents’ tragic deaths left her alone on the Infinity, a spaceship speeding away from Earth.

Romy tries to make the best of her lonely situation, but with only brief messages from her therapist on Earth to keep her company, she can’t help but feel like something is missing. It seems like a dream come true when NASA alerts her that another ship, the Eternity, will be joining the Infinity.

Romy begins exchanging messages with J, the captain of the Eternity, and their friendship breathes new life into her world. But as the Eternity gets closer, Romy learns there’s more to J’s mission than she could have imagined. And suddenly, there are worse things than being alone….


This book took me by surprise. I was expecting sci-fi, but what I got was a psychological thriller set in space. That ended up being a good surprise. Even after I figured out this wasn't the type of book I thought it would be it still kept surprising me. Just about every one of my theories ended up being wrong. There were some pretty tense moments that kept me on the edge of my seat. The isolation of space worked really well to set the tone for the story, and Romy, an isolated girl who has never lived in the world beyond her space ship was an interesting and sympathetic character.

If you're looking for a YA book that is a bit different then you might like this one. 

 

 

 

Follow You Home by Mark  Edwards

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Content: Lots of F bombs, rape, and other atrocities that I won't mention because of spoilers

 
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, a final adventure before settling down. But after a perfect start, an encounter with a young couple on a night train forces Daniel and Laura to cut their dream trip short and flee home.

Back in London, Daniel and Laura vow never to talk about what happened that night. But as they try to fit into their old lives again, they realize they are in terrible danger—and that their nightmare is just beginning…

Well that was quite a ride! I spend most of the book trying to figure out what the heck was going on. This was a twisty thriller, and I actually got a bit frustrated with how long the author drew out the suspense. For goodness sake, I just wanted to know what happened at that creepy house in the woods! Needless to say, this book kept me reading. At times I thought both Laura and Daniel were loony toons, and I was beginning to wonder if some things really happened.

I was convinced that since there was so much suspense leading up to what happened, it was going to be a big let down when it all was finally revealed. In the end, it wasn't a let down, and I was so glad of that, even though once we started getting those parts of the story, it was easy to piece together what was going on in that house. The thing that kept me most intrigued was trying to figure out how all the events fit together, or if they were completely unrelated. Some of the events seemed a bit far-fetched, while others seemed pretty plausible.

I loved that this book kept me guessing, so that automatically gives it 4 stars, and I didn't see that last twist coming at all, so that was another plus. The thing I had a hard time with, was some of the things that happened were pretty hard to read about. After reading this, I am most certainly going to try another book by this author.

No Place Like Home by Rebecca Muddiman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Psychological Thiller
Content: Strong Language (includng the C word a couple of times), A sex scene without much detail

 
What would you do if you came home to find someone in your house?

This is the predicament Polly Cooke faces when she returns to her new home. The first weeks in the house had been idyllic, but soon Jacob, a local man, is watching her.

What does he want and why is he so obsessed with Polly?

There isn't a lot I can say about this book without spoiling it so I'll keep my review brief. I found this easy to read and hard to put down. I know some reviewers have said they had a hard time reading this because the jumping back and forth in the timeline was confusing to them, but I didn't find it confusing at all. Probably if the author had kept adding where we were in the timeline at the beginning of each chapter it would have eliminated the confusion, but I found it quite easy to figure out.

The story has some twists in it that are supposed to be surprising, but I guessed what was going on pretty much from the beginning. When this happens there is always that feeling of satisfaction that I was able to figure out what was going on, but also the feeling of disappointment that I wasn't surprised. That isn't to say that the book didn't offer any surprises at all though. There were things done in this book that still surprised me, mostly I was surprised at how horrible a certain someone ended up being and how they were able to do the things they did to someone else.

Overall this was a good read and I would recommend it to fans of psychological suspense thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for providing me with a copy of this book.

Our Little Secret by Darren O'Sullivan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller 



A deserted train station: A man waits. A woman watches.

In the middle of the night Sarah is waiting for the train when she notices a man standing on the platform. A man who thought he would be alone at this hour. Alone so he could step under the train and end his life without any witnesses. Because he doesn't want any witnesses, Chris tries to get rid of Sarah by offering her money so she can go buy herself a cup of coffee to warm herself up while she waits for her train. She mistakes his offer as an act of kindness and instead of leaving feels drawn to him. She soon realizes that something is not right and stays until finally Chris leaves the train station. After Sarah stops Chris from committing suicide she becomes obsessed with finding out who he is and why he wanted to kill himself.

But there are some secrets that are meant to stay buried…

Our Little Secret was a quick read that was pretty engrossing even though the plot was obvious to me almost from the beginning. In fact it was so obvious that I wondered if it was supposed to be a mystery who the killer was. The book is broken mostly into two points of view, Sarah's and Chris's, with the occasional point of view from Chris's friend Steve thrown in. There are also journal entries from Chris's murdered wife. The mystery is all about who killed Chris's wife and why. As I already said though, I figured it out very early on so there was very little mystery for me in this book. Mostly just how exactly it all happened. The why was pretty easy to predict, almost as easy as who had done it.

I thought Sarah made some incredibly stupid choices at times and that really annoyed me. Sarah was not the best judge of character, especially when it came to men and her younger sister and her fiancé pretty much took on a rather parental type role to try and save her from her stupidity. This irked me a little, but I could also understand why they did this. I did not always feel like Sarah's actions were plausible. Who meets some random person and then becomes that obsessed with them? I guess the whole suicide thing played a big part in it, but still, Sarah just seemed like a glutton for punishment. From the ex-boyfriend who she kept going back to in the past, even though he treated her badly. To the way she kept going back to Chris, even when he made it clear he didn't want her there. I really can't say that I cared whether she lived or died at the end of the book, but I won't spoil that here.

Despite not really connecting with Sarah and the lack of mystery I still enjoyed this enough to give it three stars. This is one of those books that does not end happily for everyone, but the end was fitting.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher HQ Digital for giving me a copy of this book.


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The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Psychological Thriller



'I was born two years into my mother's captivity. She was three weeks shy of seventeen. If I had known then what I do now, things would have been a lot different. I wouldn't have adored my father.'

The Marsh King's Daughter is the first book I've read by this author and I must say it was a very compelling read. I love it when I get pulled into a book from the very first page like I was with this one. Based on the description and tag lines, I was expecting a bit more of a thriller here. It was more psychological than thriller, although it did have its moments, especially towards the end.

Helena is married with two daughters and she's been keeping a secret from everyone, including her husband. Helena was born into captivity. Her father was the infamous Marsh King, the man who abducted a 14 year old girl and kept her there as his 'wife' and after Helena was born kept her there too in a remote cabin away from civilization. Helena wasn't aware of any of this as she grew up, not until she and her mother escaped when she is 12 years old. One day on the way home from an outing Helena hears on the radio that her father has escaped from prison and immediately fears for her family's safety. The book alternates between past and present as Helena tells us her story.

"I won't tell you my mother's name. Because this isn't her story. It's mine"

I appreciated the fact that this wasn't Helena's mother's story and that I wasn't privy to the horrible things she went through any more than her daughter was. The details of rape and most of the beatings were left out of the story. I don't think that I could have read this had it been from the mother's perspective.

I think the author did an admirable job of showing what it would be like to be raised in captivity (even though Helena didn't know she was) and the psychological effect it has on her and on her mother. The way her father shaped who she became, the way he turned her against her mother, and the way her mother was almost invisible as a person to her was hard to read at times. There were times when I wanted to hate Helena because she idolized her father and felt next to nothing for her mother, but I could understand why so I couldn't hate her. Even as an adult though, sometimes her thoughts about her parents infuriated me, then I would have to remind myself that she was psychologically manipulated as a child and so her view was inaccurate to an extent even as an adult. In the end though it did seem like she finally understood everything the way it really was.

I liked the ending of the book and the showdown with her father was good and had its thrilling moments, but it felt a bit rushed considering how much time was spent on the backstory. I felt like the past, even though it was essential to the story, actually took over a little too much of the book. Overall this was very good though and I recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons for giving me a copy of this book.





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Night Machines by Kia Heavey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Psychological Thriller



Maggie decided to have an affair. No one needed to know, not even her lover. . . .


I was intrigued by the description of this book. A lonely woman decides to carry on an affair in her mind just for fun, only to realize that there may be something more to it than just her imagination. I decided to give it a try even though I was afraid it might turn out to be something I wouldn't like. I soon discovered that I could not put Night Machines down. I was so intrigued by the plot I stayed up reading into the wee hours of the morning, hanging onto every word.

Maggie, the main character in the story decides she needs something in her life other than being a wife and mother. After being at home with her kids for 5 years, she's aching to find her own individual identity again. I liked the exploration of relationships, what being faithful in a marriage means, and hanging onto your own individual self after marriage and kids. I think most of us women can relate to this feeling of wanting something that is just our own and not about our family. Maggie takes a part time job at a drug company that develops and manufactures sleep aids. I did find it quite humorous that her boss was named Cambien, a name that sounds very close to a real sleep aid.

As the story unfolds we are taken into the world of Maggie's dreams. I liked the whole premise of dream travel. I've read several fantasy novels with this concept and I always enjoy it. Maggie’s dreams start out romantic, but become more intense and even horrifying as she decides they are unwelcome. I liked that we got a glimpse into other peoples thoughts other than just Maggie’s. We get to see her husband’s point of view a few times, her bosses, and her best friend’s as well as a few other more minor characters. I’m not sure I would have revealed quite as much about the villain so early on, but there are still many questions left unanswered until almost the end of the story.

I would say just as the book blurb says, this book is most certainly hard to categorize. Many who enjoy women's fiction might enjoy it, but then it also is paranormal fantasy, and psychological thriller. I don't think I've ever read anything like it. And while the book did suffer from a bit too much unbelievable masterminding on the villains part (I mean how can he predict how a person will really act if something happens, e.g. the husband investigating the murder case, the wife applying for the job that just happens to be there at the right time.) and a few unlikely coincidences I still felt the story was solid. This author definitely has talent and I would love to read whatever she writes next.



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