Tag Archives: thriller

Review: The Woman in the Window

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The Woman in the Window
by A. J. Finn
4 stars

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn is a psychological thriller that had my attention from the opening pages. Anna Fox is an agoraphobic in her New York City restored four story home who spends her days taking her prescription drugs with a lot of wine, watching old thriller movies, and spying on her neighbors. One night, looking through the windows, she witnesses her neighbor lady being murdered across the street. Or did she? She calls the police, but Anna is shocked and confused when the neighbor is just fine, but this other woman she has never seen. What’s going on?

Author Finn does an excellent job of offering us a view into an agoraphobics suffocating claustrophnic world when she does leave the safety of her house. When Anna seemed frustrated with what is real or not real, you are right there questioning if she is hallucinating. I liked that Anna’s past is intertwined within what is gong on in the current story. You’ll be guessing until the end! Watch for the upcoming Hitchcockian movie in 2019!

Read-alikes

If You Knew Her by Emily Elgar

The Girl in the Woods by Patricia MacDonald

If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin

 

Review: The Boy

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The Boy
by Tami Hoag
4 stars

I resisted reading anything beforehand about Tami Hoag’s latest novel, The Boy, because I know I’ll love anything she writes. I was joyous when I reached the second chapter and realized Hoag was revisiting Annie Broussard, her heroine from one of my favorite books, A Thin Dark Line. I suggest reading that book first before The Boy so you can understand the relationships among town member’s better, but the mystery itself can be resolved without reading the first book.

The titular boy is KJ, who has been murdered. Broussard and the sheriff’s department are tasked with solving the bewildering crime as well as an attack that was perpetuated on his mother. I found this to be a rather “tame” storyline for a Hoag novel at first (I know that sounds bad), but, alas, Hoag brings up many twists and turns making The Boy a breathless ride through the closing chapters. Even better than the thrills and chills are Hoag’s cast of characters and their associated pathos. Highly recommended!

Read-alikes:

Deadline by Sandra Brow

Don’t Let Go by Harlan Coben

Full Wolf Moon by Lincoln Child

 

 

Review: Ten

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Ten
by Gretchen McNeil
4 stars

Based loosely on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, YA novel Ten by Gretchen McNeil is like a slasher movie in print. I felt like I was in the middle of a 90s teen horror movie like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. Meg and her best friend Minnie head off for a weekend of partying at their friend’s house on Henry Island. They soon find themselves without a way to communicate with the mainland and trapped on the island due to a storm…then people start dying in increasingly gruesome ways. The killer is obviously among them, but who is it?!

Ten is a fast-paced thriller with plenty of whodunit drama, best friend drama, and boy drama. It was a fun bit of escapism that kept me entertained!

 

Recommendations:

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

 

Review: The Death of Mrs. Westaway

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The Death of Mrs. Westaway
by Ruth Ware
4 stars

I had wanted to try out a Ruth Ware book, but they always seem to be checked out! So I jumped at the chance to read her newest. The story starts out about a young women named Harriet (Hal) who is on her own after her mother had died three years before in a hit and run. She never knew her father’s identity, so she is on her own. Hal can barely keep up with expenses needed to eat and keep her flat not to mention she owes some bad guys some money. It’s always rainy, cold and bleak out. But one day, she receives a letter from a lawyer informing her that her grandmother has died and that she has been named in the will. But she has no grandparents left. Soon, she is on to Trepassen House, the Westaway estate in the English Countryside. In no time, Hal is caught up in old family secrets and past demons with an inheritance at stake. The creepy house just adds to the sense of menace. This is one of those books that you just stay up late reading because you just want to know who murdered who and why and if Hal would survive. Who is Hal’s father? I thought the author’s style of writing was different and fresh for me and I can’t wait to read her other books.

 

Read-alikes

Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson

 

Review: Watch Me Disappear

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Watch Me Disappear
by Janelle Brown
4 stars

Watch Me Disappear was GPL’s Well Red book club’s pick for June.  Mystery/thrillers are my favorite genre, so I was excited to read this and have a chance to discuss it.  The plot centers on wife and mother, Billie Flanagan, who one days goes for a hike and disappears.  A hiking boot is found and nearly everyone assumes Billie is dead.  A year later, her 15 year old daughter, Olive, begins to have visions that her mother is alive and begs her father to help her search for Billie.  Jonathan is in the process of writing a loving memoir about his life with Billie when he finds some information on Billie’s computer. Perhaps Billie’s life is not what it seemed.   As the story continues more revelations about Billie’s past and present are revealed.    Where is Billie and was her disappearance something that she orchestrated?  Or was she kidnapped?  Or did she fall and was killed like everyone originally believed?  Brown does an excellent job moving the plot alone and writing some great twists.  I will definitely check out more of her books!

Read-alikes

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison