Tag:

Suspense

Review

The Sunshine Man

by Brian Kenney

It’s a big day for both Bridget Keller and her old family friend Jimmy Maguire. Jimmy’s being released from notorious English prison Wandsworth, having served decades for the murder of his childhood friend Providence. And Bridget, Providence’s older sister, is on her way to the prison gate to meet Jimmy and kill him. But things aren’t quite right for the attack, so Bridget puts it off…and puts it off…while she tails Jimmy as he visits old haunts, planning to kill him at every stop. As we journey with the ill-fated pair, readers look back at Bridget and Jimmy’s childhoods. Both have been abandoned by their mothers, Bridget physically when her mother took off, Jimmy emotionally as he survives life with his alcoholic mother; “the mister,” an abusive man whom Jimmy just KNOWS isn’t his father; and his small-time-criminal brothers. Nobody expects good from a Maguire. But as readers come to know Jimmy from his friendships, efforts to escape a life of crime, and sometimes-sparkling inner thoughts, it becomes harder to view him as just a criminal. Solid twists add to the emotional uncertainty to create a thought-provoking look at intersecting tough lives and longings for love.

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Review

A Killer Getaway

by Charlotte Del Vecchio

For the past five summers, Lily Lennox has left her successful business in Cincinnati to work as a lifeguard at elite Caribbean Island wellness resort the Riovan. But no one knows why. They also don’t know about the string of deaths attached to the Riovan that conveniently align with Lily’s annual stay. As the protagonist returns to her annual island lifestyle, she exposes the truth behind the Riovan’s problematic wellness practices and her own reasons for returning. But this year, Lily’s plans are interrupted by a mysterious journalist, Daniel Black, who is intent on chipping away at any crack in the resort. Their attraction to each other only grows as Lily resists and attempts to divert his attention away from the resort’s secrets. This summer-vacation thriller provides a witty outlook on wellness culture and exposes the harsh impacts of body-image obsession while following a female antihero along a dark path of revenge, reflection, and romance. For fans of Emily Henry’s feel-good nature and Jeneva Rose’s twisted thrills, who will be uncovering its mysteries until the very end.

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Review

The Intruder

by Henrietta Thornton

Casey just wanted a quiet life in the New Hampshire woods. That’s mostly what she’s got, despite the neighbor that seems a bit off and the icky landlord whose suggestive comments she could do without. When a massive storm bears down, her cabin’s failing roof is a worry but turns out to be the least of her problems. Then she sees someone outside. It’s a teenage girl who’s been hiding in the garden shed, and when Casey tries to help her, Casey soon becomes captive in her own home while the storm rages. The girl, who seems enraged at Casey for reasons that are a mystery to readers and the hapless captive alike, is ready to make this night a violent one. Alternating with that story is the tale of Ella, a girl who lives with her abusive, hoarder mother, and her desperation to escape that life and the bullying at school. McFadden brings her usual tight plotting and twists to this massively absorbing work of psychological terror, which will be a winner with her fans and all who enjoy a tense, character-driven read.

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Review

The Vanishing Place

by Henrietta Thornton

There’s no horror here but plenty of scares as nine-year-old Effie must parent her siblings in her family’s freezing shack in the western New Zealand bush. With the nearest town, Koraha, six hours walk through dense forest, Mum with a new baby and Dad mostly off hunting and fishing, it’s all Effie can do to keep the little ones fed and warm. The new baby, the fourth child and named four, heralds a much harder chapter for the family, one that ultimately sees Effie living as an adult in Scotland. She’s compelled to return to New Zealand when reports reach her that a little girl—unknown to Effie but looking exactly like her—has shown up in the town, injured and starving. Who she is and what happened in the past is a twist-filled saga that drops readers right into the dangerous landscapes that are both the New Zealand wilderness (“an unforgiving thing that would eat them up”) and the off-off grid family. One to remember, and a must for fans of Barbara Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible and Alisa Alering’s Smothermoss.

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Review

She Didn’t See It Coming

by Jeff Ayers

Bryden seems to have the perfect family. She has a loving husband, Sam, and an adorable three-year-old daughter named Clara. One night when he’s working late, Sam gets a call from Clara’s daycare. Bryden has not picked up their daughter and is not answering her phone or responding to texts. Sam picks Clara up and arrives home to find Bryden’s cell phone and purse in the apartment and her car parked in the garage. Where did she go, and what happened to her? Detective Jayne Salter of the Albany Police Department gets the case. From the moment she starts investigating, she finds Bryden’s family, friends, and neighbors all seem to be hiding something. But does that make one of them guilty? Lapena keeps the suspense and mystery going to the final page. Readers, at one point, will think everyone is responsible for Bryden’s disappearance, but the truth is shocking and surprising. Jayne will uncover more murder and chaos than she’s bargaining for, and Lapena could have a series character on her hands with this charismatic detective.

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Review

It Should Have Been You

by Brian Kenney

Hang on to your hat! This latest from Andrea Mara is one twisty terror ride that will have readers glued to the page. The premise starts out simple enough. Susan O’Donnell, a high-school math teacher, is a new mother, her daughter Bella having been born four months ago. Safe to say Susan is exhausted, sleep deprived, and anxious. So when she reads a snide WhatsApp message from the local neighborhood queen, clearly directed at Susan, she sends it on to her two sisters with her own remarks: “omg she’s such a smug wagon. I’d love to send her the pics of her husband wrapped around the PR girl at the opening party for Bar Four…” Bitchy? Totally. Funny? Yes, indeed. Except that Susan makes a dreadful mistake: she sends her post to not just her sisters, but to the 300 residents of her housing estate. Time to grovel and beg for forgiveness. Except things don’t work out quite that way. Instead, this one incident sets in motion a series of lies, violence, and murder that no one can stop. A knock-out.

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Review

The List

by Jeff Ayers

Berry delivers a novel unlike anything he’s ever done before. Rather than exploring history, this one takes pieces of John Grisham’s The Firm and mixes them with the business aspects of a Joseph Finder novel and storytelling elements from David Baldacci. Brent Walker left his hometown and the woman he loved ten years ago, and now he’s come back to help his sick mom. He takes a job at the small-town paper mill in a legal role beneath his level of expertise to oversee their negotiations with the local union. The company’s management is not trustworthy, and more than doctoring the financials, they have created a list, and the purpose of the names on it is beyond reprehensible. Brent and his lifelong friend and co-worker, Hank, are given a series of what appear to be random numbers, but research reveals to them the horrendous nature of what the numbers mean. They are not random at all, but to say anything more would spoil the fun. Someone given the pages without knowing the author’s identity would never identify Berry as this book’s writer, and his going outside his comfort zone to resurrect one of his early, desk-drawer novels is beneficial to him, his fans, and thriller readers alike. The List would be a perfect story to be turned into an Alfred Hitchcock film, and this should only add to Berry’s fanbase.

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Review

The Gallery Assistant

by Brian Kenney

A powerful, sophisticated novel of suspense that follows the life—and losses—of Chloe Harlow. A denizen of New York’s latest up-and-coming trendy enclave, Williamsburg, Chloe lives a boho-ish lifestyle while working in an art gallery. Having dropped out of several endeavors—such as college—Chloe finds herself fascinated by gallery work, despite the punitive salary and relentless snobbery. Then September 11, 2001 comes along. Chloe was delivering a drawing to the North Tower right when it was hit. Miraculously, she escapes, although she’s much changed: drinking to excess, always late for work, anxious. Until the night when she parties so hard, celebrating a new artist the gallery signed on, that the next day she can’t remember a thing. Then the NYPD stops by to interrogate her. From there, Chloe’s life begins to spin out of control: her best friend is missing, their apartment is broken into, her boss is fired and disappears, the cops won’t let up, she’s pursued by several thugs. Then she comes across information that, if all the pieces fall into the right place, could totally scandalize the art world. A fast narrative, this novel is as emotionally moving as it is incredibly suspenseful, and with one of the most sensitive depictions of New York during and after 9/11 I’ve ever read. For fans of Katy Hays and Elizabeth Kaufman.

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Review

The Living and the Dead

by Brian Kenney

A powerful novel that spans generations as it takes us deep into rural western Sweden. It’s the holidays in the winter of 1999, and most people are anxious about little more than where to hide their money before it disappears into Y2K, when the police discover a terrifying accident. A car is found smashed into a tree, leaving behind a bloody steering wheel and the body of a local teen in the trunk. With such a small community, you would think that the secrets would come tumbling out. But no. These people aren’t talkers. Terse and taciturn, both adults and teens remain reserved. Even the new young officer, Siri Bengtsson—who is closely watching two young men as suspects—can’t successfully crack either the families or the teens. Jump ahead 20 years, when there is a similar murder, strange enough to coax Siri out of retirement, and to finally get some of those teens—now adults—talking. Carlsson (Blaze Me a Sun, Under the Storm), who has a doctorate in criminology, is the recipient of several prizes in Scandinavian crime writing. Readers who enjoy his work will also appreciate Liza Marklund, Ragnar Jónasson, and Tana French.

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Review

The Bachelorette Party

by Willy Williams

Agatha Christie’s 1939 And There Were None set the template for the island mystery with its protagonists trapped on a remote isle and stalked by an unknown killer. The arrival of cell phone technology has forced writers to up their thriller game. As with the guests in Sean Doolittle’s Device Free Weekend, the five girlfriends who arrive at Baltic Vinyasa on Isle Blind off the Swedish coast for a four-day yoga-themed bachelorette party must give up their cell phones and other digital devices to the proprietor, Irene. “I wish I wasn’t so addicted to my devices,” confesses Lena. Her sister Tessa, the bride-to-be’s best friend, has another, more secret, motive for joining the party. A true-crime podcaster whose latest episode crashed and burned in the wake of a scandal, she hopes to redeem her career by solving the mystery of the Nacka Four. A decade earlier, four young women, who had traveled to the archipelago for their annual reunion, disappeared, presumed by police to have drowned when their boat was found floating. Tessa suspects they may have been murdered on Isle Blind and is determined to find evidence. But from the moment she steps on the island, her sense of dread grows. While elements of this twisty mystery require a suspension of disbelief (the luxurious hotel is built on a rocky island too barren to support crops yet has plenty of water for hot showers), Sten (The Resting Place) excels at building the creepy horror and chilling tension. Readers who like their thrillers bloody and gory will enjoy this dark Nordic take.

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