Category: Thriller

Categories
Fiction Thriller

The Boyfriend, Michelle Frances

Amy is approaching her 30th birthday. Whilst she is a highly independent woman with a high-flying career and her own flat, the one thing she doesn’t have -which her mum in particular doesn’t let her forget – is a romantic relationship.

Amy is due to go away with her mum and best friends to her auntie’s chalet in Val D’lsere to celebrate her birthday when she suffers a serious fall. Whilst the doctor’s allow Amy to go ahead with her travel plans the impact of the fall means she cannot remember anything from the last six months, including meeting her current boyfriend Dr. Jack Stewart, who also joins them on the trip.

Everyone is smitten with Jack, but as Amy begins to get her memory back, is he really as perfect as he seems?

The Boyfriend is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in a long time! I was hooked the whole way through. The storyline is well crafted, and I have not come across anything quite like it before. I have seen some people say it is a little too far-fetched but isn’t that the point of fiction?

Michelle Frances’s descriptions of the characters led me to really emphasise with them. There is a point where Amy has a different belief to all the other characters, and I could really feel myself feeling the anxiety and desperation she was facing in the situation and almost felt like I was there with her.

The story is left on a cliff-hanger which makes me really hope there is a sequel. I also think it would make a thrilling Netflix series.

Overall, The Boyfriend is chilling and suspenseful; a rollercoaster of a thriller. 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Boyfriend is out TODAY (3rd February 2022).

Categories
Fiction Thriller

Death on the Aisle, Kate Johnson


Death on the Aisle follows Molly Higgins as she prepares for her wedding to fiancé Conor. Except this isn’t any normal wedding. Conor is a celebrity and the pair take part in a celebrity wedding show, the benefits of which mean the show pay for EVERYTHING(!), but that means they have little say in how their special day goes.

Their assigned wedding planner is Kiranda Kell, who whilst very passionate about her job happens to be the most annoying person ever and there is no stopping to her imagination when it comes to wedding ideas! For Molly the day can’t come soon enough, as she continuously battles with whatever Kiranda’s newest flamboyant idea is,  however when Kiranda is found dead on the aisle as the title suggests, Molly takes it upon herself to solve the murder.

Death on the Aisle is a very well written and nicely paced mystery. I have to admit I nearly gave up at around 6% as I was struggling to keep up with the characters, however I am so glad I kept on as Kate Johnson developed the characters so well that I began to really immerse myself amongst them. I also thought the pace of the mystery unravelled nicely.

Admittedly, I was unaware the book was the third in a series so perhaps the characters would have made more sense had I of read the first two novels. However, aside from that, the book stands very nice alone and I don’t believe it is a necessity for you to read the first two to enjoy this one.

Overall, a very light hearted murder mystery. Four stars.

Categories
crime fiction Fiction Thriller

The Anniversary, Laura Marshall

On 15th June 1994 Travis Green walked through the streets of Hartstead and killed eleven of his neighbours. The final victim was four-year-old Cassie Colman’s father.

With the twenty-fifth anniversary approaching, the Hartstead shooting is brought back into the limelight and, like many, Cassie would rather forget the past. That is, until she discovers something which suggests that those murders did not happen quite like everyone said. However, unlike Cassie, not everyone is so keen for her to dig up the past.

The Anniversary is quite possibly the best crime fiction book I have read in a very, very long time. Having read one of Laura Marshall’s books before and remembering how much I enjoyed it, I was keen to read The Anniversary, and wow, it lived up to my expectations and more! I was thoroughly hooked the entire way through.

Some crime fiction books are predictable but this one was not in the slightest. The entire way through I was kept in suspense, and I truly did not expect any of the twists and turns.

Themes in the book included violence (including domestic violence), becoming a first time parent, single parenting, questioning morals and dementia. I thought the themes were handled sensitively and I actually really enjoyed how the author explored the idea of new parenting and how other parents make it look easy. Whilst I am not a parent myself, I enjoyed the whole façade vs. reality, and how the author dared to go down the route of a character who doesn’t make motherhood look like a breeze. I am sure a lot of parents will appreciate this.

I was sad to get to the end of this book and cannot wait for the next release by Laura Marshall.  All in all The Anniversary was a compelling read, full of twists and turns, and worthy of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Anniversary will published on the 5th August.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

The Lies We Tell, Jane Corry

What would you do if your only son came home one night and told you he had killed someone? Would you hand him in? Or, would you go to great lengths to try and protect him?

That is the dilemma which Sarah and Tom are faced with, when 15-year-old Freddie comes home one evening and tells them exactly that.

The book rewinds back to the past and takes us on the journey of how Sarah and Tom met. Two, very different, people with very dissimilar traits and personalities, both of whom have experienced turbulent pasts and mistakes.

Overall, this book centres around the moral dilemma, of would you protect your child if they told you they murdered somebody, or not? Sarah takes a more nurturing approach, whereas Tom wishes to call the police. I think for some this may seem too far fetched- you may like to hope you would do the obvious right thing- but Jane Corry has a way with writing which really makes you feel Sarah’s pain. She wanted to be a mother to correct the wrongs of her own up-bringing, she suffered multiple miscarriages, therefore for Sarah the pain of giving up her son is unfathomable.

Jane Corry is one of those authors who I know will not let me down, and The Lies We Tell did not fail to impress. Her writing is spot on. The characters in the book, were well thought of, not just the main protagonists but also those supporting, such as Olivia and Gladys, and the pace was perfect. Whilst a huge timeframe was fitted in to one book, it did not drag and it kept my attention. The novel was full of twists and turns and every time you thought you knew you didn’t.

Overall a great book. A solid 4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

The Family Friend, C.C. McDonald

Erin is a mum, living by the sea with her fiancé Raf. when looking at Erin’s Instagram it would easily fool you into thinking she is living the perfect life. With thousands of followers, her posts suggest she is super mum, managing to have it all, whilst remaining upbeat and happy. However, in reality Erin is struggling with anxiety, finding connecting with her son challenging and is estranged from her family.

One day Erin gets home from a retreat to find Amanda, at their house. Raf explains Amanda is a family friend, from Australia. Having never heard of Amanda, Erin finds this strange at first. However, these suspicious thoughts quickly turn to gratitude when a famous agent offers to help Erin with her Instagram career and Amanda offers to move in and babysit.

However, the novelty of Erin’s new career soon wares off, when she begins to get trolled. Videos are posted which not only leads to a backlash from her followers, but her agent isn’t happy. To make matters worse these videos could have only been taken by someone close to Erin, leaving her second guessing all those closest to her.  

The Family Friend is a modern-day thriller, which could have done with a bit more thrill. From a thriller you expect twists and turns, but unfortunately the twists and turns failed to surprise and the plot was predictable.

Whilst the plot wasn’t amazing, I did still find this novel easy to read and enjoy the level of detail C.C. McDonald writes in. The immaculate detail really impacted the way I perceived the characters. For example, at first, I failed to connect with Erin, I wanted her to get off her phone (hypocritical really!), but the detail used to describe the trolling she experienced, as well as the details used to describe her anxiety, particularly around the other mum’s, really made me feel for her. I found myself feeling as though I was in her shoes and could really sense these worries and fears.

The themes which were discussed throughout The Family Friend are very relevant and relatable to today’s society. These themes included social media vs reality, trolling, anxiety, being a new parent and control in relationships. Pretty much all of us have a different persona online, and if you think you don’t then ask yourself how often you post about your worst days. Not to mention, those who feel parenting does not come naturally to them often feel too afraid and guilty to admit it, particularly when on social media it looks like all the other parents are doing everything swimmingly perfect. Therefore, I thought it was an important portrayal, which is not often seen, or if it is it is normally a bad character (think wicked non-maternal stepmothers in fairy tales). I would hope that Erin’s characterisation would make at least one new mum feel a little less alone.  

Overall, I would give The Family Friend 4/5 stars. It was an easy read, which was well written and discussed important issues, it would have just been nice to have a little less predictability.  

Thank you to Random House UK and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

Surrogate, Susan Spindler

Ruth Furnival has a highly successful career as a television executive, lives in a beautiful London home with Adam, her lawyer husband, and has two grown up daughters. Sounds perfect right? However, at 54 years old Ruth finds herself feeling dissatisfied.

Lauren, Ruth’s eldest daughter, has had multiple rounds of IVF, and after her latest miscarriage she is told that the only way she will ever have her own child is through surrogacy. However, surrogacy laws in the UK can be complicated, which leads to Lauren unsure about letting a stranger carrying her baby. When Ruth realises that it is possible that she can reverse the menopause and carry Lauren’s baby, Lauren and her husband, whilst reluctant at first, agree out of desperation.

However, not is all as simple as it seems.

Surrogate is an extremely powerful read. It touches upon such a delicate topic yet Susan Spindler portrays it perfectly; delicately but authentically, as she shows all the realities which need to be considered, and the emotional turmoil it can cause to all involved. Aside from surrogacy and infertility other themes in the novel include relationships, identity and self-purpose.

The characterisation in this book was spot on. Every character had something to bring to the novel and I found it interesting to understand the impact of the surrogacy on each of their personalities. Sometimes when reading you like and dislike certain characters- with this book I liked and disliked them all during different times- as the author managed to bring out the worst and best in all of them, which showed the rollercoaster of emotions and feelings each of them faced.

I really enjoyed the pace of this book. There were lots of twists and turns and things which you don’t expect to happen. It was a topic which a lot of people may shy away from and therefore very much if anything similar to this before and overall found it a very powerful and emotionally charged read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

Stay Home, Ava Pierce

Stay Home is a mystery thriller which evolves around London during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. It centres around two main characters; Caitlin a mother of two and wife, who has been having an affair with the victim Daniel, and Ali, a just-about-functioning, lonely alcoholic whose main hobby is neighbourhood watch.

When Caitlin discovers Daniel dead one morning when she is supposed to be on her ‘daily run’ she is reluctant to tell a soul. After all she is breaking the lockdown rules, not to even mention reporting the incident to the police will unlock the truth of her affair and therefore she risks losing her family as a result of her deceptive secret. However, little does Caitlin know she is being watched.

I was really excited to read this book as it was the first mystery I have read which centres around the pandemic we are living through. Although, I was nervous- was it a bit soon? I have to say the bravery of the author did pay off!

Admittedly, I did find the start slow. However, the pace of the storyline started to pick up and before I knew it I was racing through the book, finding it difficult to put down as twists and turns occurred. I have to say I particularly loved the character development of Ali, Ava Pierce led me to really emphasise with her pain, and I enjoyed the growth of Ali and Caitlin’s ‘chalk and cheese’ companionship throughout the novel and how ultimately they were not very different from each other at all.

Without giving any spoilers, I did find the ending a tad predictable. Perhaps I just read too many thrillers and my guessing game has got good? As a result of this, was Stay Home the best thriller I have read? Unfortunately, not. However, that does not undermine how much I enjoyed the journey of the novel and I would give it a solid 3 stars.

Overall, a very current read, relatable and full of twists and turns.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

The Whole Truth, Cara Hunter

A few years ago I read Close to Home by Cara Hunter and was so surprised at the end that I had to read the final chapter twice, so I was super excited to read The Whole Truth, and to see whether it was as good as I had remembered Close to Home had been.

The Whole Truth cleverly revolves around two mysteries. One involves an investigation of an alleged rape of a male student by a female professor, and the other the death of a woman, who is feared to have been killed by a serial rapist. Both storylines had me captured as they were full of twists and turns and led to unpredictable endings.

Themes touched upon in this book include sexism, power and gender politics. I thought Cara displayed these themes in a very thought-provoking way as she tied in real life examples such as the #MeToo movement.

Whilst this is book No. 5 in the DI Adam Fawley saga, the story stands alone. As I previously stated, I have read one other book in this series but did not find having not read the others to negatively impact the story. However, if you are still not convinced then the author does kindly include a rundown of all the characters at the start of the book. This is great for not only people who haven’t read the other books in the series, but also for those who may need a little refresher.

Overall, a really gripping read. Cara Hunter really does have a talent for ‘WhoDunIt’ storylines!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

The Perfect Sister, Zoe Miller

‘The Perfect Sister’ is told from the viewpoints of Alice and her sister, Holly. When Holly was born, Alice vowed to herself that she would look out for Holly enough to make up for their absent father who walked out before Holly was born. Alice lives up to her promise, however in recent years the two sisters, who were once very close, are driven apart by secrets and jealousy.

When a block of flats Holly used to live in is being demolished, she gets worried. She wants to talk to Alice about it.. but how can she? They are not that close anymore and Holly’s husband Luke barely gives her a second to herself when Alice is around.

Meanwhile Alice, gets a knock on the door with questions about Holly. Whilst Alice knows her sister is hiding something, there is no way that Alice believes Holly would have been involved in anything so sinister. Forced to dig through the past to uncover the truth- Alice uncovers years of Holly’s secrets and begins to doubt her innocence.

The Perfect Sister is a psychological thriller which keeps you on your toes guessing! The bond between the sisters was excellent and the book really showed that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, as both sister’s fought their own troubles. Zoe Miller, made it easy to relate to the emotions of the characters and the motives behind their actions. For example, Holly didn’t want to admit her debt to Alice, which led to a spiral of problems. Whilst it is easy to say ‘Well why didn’t you say so’, you can totally understand why she wouldn’t want to admit that and feel for her about how she got into the situation that she found herself in.

Overall, a really good read. Every time I thought I knew, something else came to light.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for an advanced copy.

Categories
Fiction Thriller

The Vow, Debbie Howells

Amy is due to get married in two weeks but when her fiance Matt disappears she is left with no choice but to call the wedding off as the police investigation is underway. Meanwhile, Fiona also reports her missing partner, Matt, to the police. He was supposed to be moving in with her.

Amy refuses to believe that Matt has been living a double but police quickly prove this is the case and begin questioning both women. Where is Matt? And, who’s version of events do the police believe?

The Vow, is a beautifully written domestic thriller told from the perspectives of Amy, Fiona and Amy’s daughter Jess. The book, goes between the present day and the past, allowing us an insight into Amy’s childhood.

The characters and the story of this book are so well developed. For example, Amy is a herbalist and it was evident Debbie did her research as within the story we what different herbs and flowers mean etc. I thought this was really well done as it gave so much depth to Amy’s character and made her profession and passion come to life. Furthermore, it wasn’t just the main characters who were well portrayed- so often in books minor characters get name dropped and it is hard to imagine them – but even minor characters were brought to life throughout this book.

The Vow sucked me in right from the start and I found it immensely gripping. Unfortunately, the book was a little predictable as I guessed the ending about half way through, but never the less I was still hooked and keen to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy.