Happy Thursday, everyone! I’m back with a long overdue book review post. I’m currently on the hunt for the next good read, so if you have a recommendation please leave it in the comments!
1. THE PERFECT STRANGER by Megan Miranda
If you read any book from this list – read this one!! I would give this book 10 stars if I could. It’s one of those books that you start in the morning and are so immersed in it that you can’t do anything else but read, and before you know it, it’s nighttime and the book is finished (at least, this is what happened to me 🙂 Megan Miranda is the author of one of my other favorite books, so when I heard she had a new release, I was eager to read it. It goes like this: former journalist Leah Stevens loses her career, boyfriend and life in Boston in the blink of an eye, so when she bumps into an old friend, Emmy Grey, they decide together to start over their lives in a small town in Pennsylvania. Leah begins a new job as a high school teacher and life in Pennsylvania is an adjustment, but everything seems to be going well – until a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is left for dead near their house and Emmy goes missing. This book has everything I love in a book: mystery, a little romance, and spine-tingling suspense. Like I said, ten stars!
2. RIGHT BEHIND YOU by Lisa Gardner
I actually just finished this book last night! Apparently this book is #7 in a series, but you can read it as a standalone (like I did) and it makes perfect sense. I loved this book, but it’s a little different than your typical thriller – although there is a killer and lots of suspense, there are also a lot of heartwarming scenes that tugged at my heart strings (I cried a few times!). This novel is very well written, the characters are fully developed and the family dynamics are incredibly realistic. For that reason, you can’t read it in a day – I had to read it in small chunks to be able to digest and understand the story. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to forge a connection with the cast of characters in Right Behind You. The story begins with a flashback from eight years ago, when Sharlah May Nash’s older brother beats their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Fast forward eight years later, and both children have been placed in foster homes and kept far away from each other. Sharlah has finally found happiness and is about to be adopted by FBI profiler, Quincy, and his partner, Rainie. Then the call comes in – there’s been a double murder at a gas station and all of the signs point to Sharlah’s older brother – it looks like his killing spree has only just begun, and that he may be headed to kill Sharlah next.
3. WAIT FOR DARK by Kay Hooper
Wait for Dark is the latest book in Kay Hooper’s Bishop/SCU Series (which I’ve blogged about in the past). This series is probably my FAVORITE series of all time, each book features a different case from the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit, a department made up of men and women with unique psychic abilities. In Wait for Dark, a small town in North Carolina witnesses several deaths that all appear to be seemingly random accidents – until the sheriff realizes that all of the victims received a text message telling them to “Wait for dark” the day that they died. My favorite partners from the series, Hollis and Reese, are called in to investigate the series of deaths, and are barely there 24 hours before the killer strikes again. This novel is a really good addition to the series and is enthralling (I read it in a few days), however if this is your first Bishop/SCU novel I would recommend starting with the first one – otherwise it won’t make much sense!
4. GONE WITHOUT A TRACE by Mary Torjussen
This book is a good beach read and the perfect one to bring with you on vacation (I read it while I was traveling in Italy) and can easily be devoured in a couple of days. Hannah Monroe comes home from work one day to find that her boyfriend, Matt, is gone. His belongings have disappeared from their house, and every call she made to him and every text she ever sent has vanished from her phone. As Hannah begins her obsessive search for Matt, the reader is forced to constantly question her sanity – did Matt even ever exist? Maybe Hannah is the crazy one? Although this novel is a pretty slow burner for the first half, stick with it – it turns into a wild and crazy ride about halfway through the story. The ending is totally unexpected and shocking (albeit a little bit unrealistic). This book will appeal heavily to the reader who doesn’t need any sense of realism in their thrillers; if you have enjoyed books in the past with lavish twists and can suspend your sense of needing a realistic explanation, then this will very likely be a five-star read for you.
5. ALL BY MYSELF, ALONE by Mary Higgins Clark
Ironically, I read this novel about a cruise ship murder while I was on a cruise ship. It actually made the story more interesting for me, because I could see it coming to life! All by Myself, Alone takes place on a brand new luxurious cruise ship, the Queen Charlotte, which commands a list of wealthy passengers, including eighty-six-year-old “Lady Em,” who intends to wear her priceless emerald necklace that once belonged to Cleopatra. Three days out to sea, Lady Em is found dead, and the necklace missing. Many of the chapters are very short, as they are narrated from different points of view by the passengers and the crew, as the search unfolds to figure out who the killer is. Although the story is written on a third-grade reading level without any real depth or character development, I did find it highly entertaining, although a little predictable. This is a good one to read if you’re a beginner to the thriller genre.
If you’ve read a good book lately (especially a thriller!), I’d LOVE to know! Please let us all know in the comments. Oh and if you missed my book reviews in the past, you can catch up here: Round One, Round Two and Round Three. Each list is filled with books I read & loved!
xoxo
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Ooooh, fun recommendations.. I always come to your blog for book recommendations/gifts for my mom. She loves the same kind of stuff as you do. I personally am more of a nonfiction girl, but The Perfect Stranger looks worth checking out! Thanks for these!
http://www.basicbritt.com
You have to read Behind her Eyes!
It is such a good book but like you book #4, it has an unrealistic ending. BUT SO GOOD.
I read a book called I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes a few summers ago. I STILL think back to that book today! I read many of the same books that you do on your list. This one is a little different but keeps you glued to the pages! It could totally be made into a movie!
These book reviews are my favorite! I have found so many good books because of them and actually just finished The Couple Next Door last night which I know was a recommendation of yours from a past review 🙂 Can't wait to read some of these!
I absolutely love your book reviews! I have read so many of the ones you've recommended and loved them all 🙂 The new Nora Roberts book, Come Sundown, is amazing. I haven't finished it yet but it's turning out to be one of my favorites! Thanks for these reviews! Can't wait for the next one!
~SS
I'm definitely going to have to try that first one. Sounds so good!
One of my all time favorite books is The Year She Fell by Alicia Rasley. It's confusing because each part is from a different characters perspective but it is so interesting. Basically it's a family of sisters, and a young man comes forward with a birth certificate claiming one of them to be his mother and their entire lives are turned upside down as they try to figure out who he is and why he is there. It took a little for me to get into it but once I did, I couldn't put it down.
Erin Schabo
Top Knots & Sweatpants
I was going to suggest The Girl Before, but I see you already read that! I recently read Outlander and really liked it. A bit different, but really good!
I love reading so much and haven't done enough of it recently. I'm determined to try to make a dent in my kindle stash so I can start reading more recommendations! x
LuxeStyle
Always love your recommendations!
xo, Katie
Willow and White
I listened to Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens on audio and really enjoyed it. Then I also read B A Paris's new one Breakdown. I'm glad you told us about Paris in one of the other blog posts. She is my favorite author now. 🙂
I always love your book reviews because we have the exact same taste in books! I downloaded The Perfect Stranger the day it came out and finished it in no time and immediately texted all my sisters that they needed to read it – SO GOOD!
I recently finished Into the Water, which is the new one from the author of Girl on the Train. It actually was really good (though it took a while to get into, by the end I was tearing through it) but it didn't compare to Girl on the Train. That one was just so exceptional, it was impossible to top. But you should definitely give that a read!
If you haven't read The Girl Before about the three girls who live in the same house at different points in time, you definitely should, that was another great recent read!
I completely agree about The Girl Before! It really good!
Gina || On the Daily Express
Thank you for these suggestions! I love finding out about new fantastic books!
Great post hun!
http://www.evdaily.blogspot.com
Looks like you've read some great books. I really need to read All the Missing Girls and then The Perfect Stranger. I'd recommend A Murder in Time – it's a bit of a thriller/mystery along with a time traveling MC. 🙂
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
You should join Goodreads 🙂
Every time you post a book review my to read list gets longer. I love that you are into thriller and suspense novels!
https://maureengetsreal.wordpress.com/
Great recommendations! I'm not a fiction fan but I will give them a try <3
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So excited! There are 3 on your list that I now can't wait to read! Right now I'm reading Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. I'm about 3/4 though and it is so good! It's definitely a thriller–some parts are a little dark–just fyi. It's also a good size book so unless you have all day to read it, it may take more time. I don't want to give too much away but lots of suspence!
I recently read Pretty Girls and it was so awesome! I always love your recommendations. Great post!
http://www.kristlelauren.com
I love your book reviews! I highly recommend The Good Girl for your next read!
I love your book review posts! I highly recommend The Good Girl by Mary Kubica for your next read!
Omg thank-you for topping up my summer TBR! Ha! These all sound like great reads!
I hope you're having a lovely Thursday,
Michael
https://www.mileinmyglasses.co.uk
I think you would love Big Little Lies. I just finished it, and I seriously couldn't put it down. It follows the lives of three different mothers. At the beginning of the book, you're told that someone dies, but you know neither who the killer is nor who the victim is. I was shocked by the ending. Usually, I'm pretty good at predicting the endings of thrillers, but this one left me hanging on until the very end.
I love this series of posts with book recommendations – thank you! Please keep doing them 🙂
Loved reading this book review girl! I can't wait to add these to my summer reading list! <3
Lots of love,
Rachel
http://www.looklovelyliving.com
Love the reviews! I just did my May Book reviews and one of my favorites last month was Mean Streak by Sandra Brown. If you liked the TV show Dexter, you'll like the main male character in this. (I liked to imagine this is how Dexter should have ended!)
Gina || On the Daily Express
Thank you so much for recommendations ! I love the perfect stranger <3
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Thanks for the recommendations! Love thrillers! I highly recommend Robert Bryndza (start with Girl in the Ice), the Tracy Crosswhite Series by Robert Dugoni, the Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter and author Kendra Elliott.
Blood on the Tracks (Sydney Rose Parnell #1) by Barbara Nickless – On my top 5 list of favorite books ever!
Just started reading a perfect stranger ! Like it so far ! Thanks for the recommendation !
i was just looking for books to take on my vacation so thanks for the post!
http://www.thestyletune.com
You should give "Into the Water" a read! I just finished it and it was even better than The Girl on the Train!
Love your book reviews! Immediately bought The Perfect Stranger and read it nonstop yesterday. Curious if you've ever read Night Film by Marissa Pessl, it was such a page-turner for me.
I love your book reviews! Thanks to you I'm currently reading The Perfect Stranger. I'm moving fast, but I'm calling it right now that Emmy is Leah's other personality. I could be wrong, but that's been my hunch since the beginning! 🙂
I always adore your book reviews, they give me a jump start on what to try next.
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If you like thrillers, you have to read Ruth Ware! I just finished "In a Dark, Dark Wood" and "The Woman in Cabin 10" and they are both SO great. I also love, love, love "You" by Caroline Kepnes – very dark, but so well written and intriguing!