Tag: thrillers

Play the Fool by Lina Chern 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!!

This was such a fun murder/mystery! Katie works at this kind of strange store in the mall, among the many odd stores that can be found in malls everywhere. When a man bleeding from a head wound comes in, Katie offers to give him a tarot reading partially just so she can figure out what is going on with him. What she doesn’t expect tho, is finding out her friend Marley is dead. And, this starts her on the case.

I loved the main character. Katie is relatable and an overall cool person. The cop that becomes involved, Jamie, is another favorite character. Really all the characters are great. This book was funny and enjoyable.

Out March 28, 2023!

The Angel Maker by Alex North 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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I’m reading lots of good books lately and this is another one. Super dark and absolutely thrilling, this book had me hooked, especially with the back story of the murder victim.

Allan Hobbes was murdered in his creepy mansion, and the detectives are on the case. However, this leads them in a lot of directions, making it seem like there is an underlying connection between everything.

Sarah is a protective sister with her own family, a daughter, and her husband. However, she hasn’t had a chance to be that protective sister for her little brother in over a decade. When she finds out her brother, Chris, is missing, she immediately takes it upon herself to start the search.

Chris is, in fact, in hiding. But it is not for what I first believed. There are connections, like a spiderweb, over the different character’s and their pasts. This story really drew me in with the brutal history of serial killer jack lock and his creation of a book that reveals the future. It’s almost as if the future is laid out, pre-ordained, and nobody even has any real choices. (A very interesting and quite depressing thought🤣🤣)

I loved this. I loved the darkness of the theme that ran through this story and following these characters. Definitely recommend for fans of thrillers!

Out February 28, 2023!

Content Warnings for violence and disturbing imagery

Such Pretty Flowers by K.L. Cerra 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This was one of those weird, creepy thrillers, and I loved every second! Give me the weird and strange with a Savannah setting and goth goth gothic style, and I am happy!!

Holly recently lost her brother to suicide and she has been picking apart the possibilities, the reasons why, nonstop. When she begins thinking of Dane’s girlfriend that he moved in with right before the tragedy, she feels not only suspicion but an attachment to this girl, Maura.

Holly soon finds herself interacting with Maura, trying to parcel together clues for her brothers sudden decline. However, when she decides to move in with her to further along her chances of figuring this out, everything seems to start slipping sideways. Maura seems to all at once to be in and out of control while Holly realizes she has stumbled into something beyond her understanding. Something so strange and unthinkable that she may follow the same path as her brother.

This was so fun! The author didn’t hide that Maura was a suspect, so I really felt like I was being led into the finale very purposefully. But, the finale itself!!! I am so glad I got to dip into this author’s creative and creepy mind! And, I’m looking forward to their next book!

The Drift by C.J. Tudor 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This ominous thriller definitely gave me some horror vibes along the way. Needless to say, I was not disappointed!

This is a terrifying story of the absolute worst-case scenario for our world dealing with a dangerous virus. This has the gore, the twists and turns, and a surprising ending that kept me on the edge of my seat!

There are three storylines in this book. All of which are equally interesting. Hannah finds herself waking on a coach that has crashed. Luckily, her knowledge as a medical student keeps her and the other survivors mostly alive. Meg wakes in a groggy state on a cable car with five others on their way to be test subjects. Carter is at The Retreat, or what is left of it, and is living with some strange roommates who all seem to have secrets.

Definitely a riveting thriller that I could not put down! Content Warnings for gore, death and murder.

Out January 31, 2023!

The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Shocked silence. Give me a moment. This was brilliant! From the prologue to the epilogue, this was fascinating. Just the constant feeling that something is off, that something is rotting, keeping me in an almost constant state of curiosity mixed with an unexplainable unease.

The prologue opens the story with a few snippets of a scene that was left unexplained for quite a while in the book but was never far from my mind due to its disturbing nature.

Claire is the MC, telling the story from her point of view. It begins with her starting University at Edinburgh and having a desire to meet not just any friends, but a certain type. This felt unhinged to me, the way her thought process around this worked. Of course, when she zeroes in on her targets she seems to effortlessly slip into their lives. Quickly she became a favorite of the groups ringleader, Tabitha, and Claire felt a new sense of self as she basked in the rays of Tabitha’s attention.

This all, of course, gets weird fast. Claire can’t figure out what is really going on. And, she seems to be keeping secrets of her own. But as the plot is revealed, everything seems to happen like a wave… a major high and a huge crash.

This was really intense for me. I felt surprised with where this went and the amount this book was able to disturb me. (Is it weird that I enjoyed being disturbed? I guess that’s a whole other topic, lol)

Definitely recommend this for fans of thrillers!

Out January 10, 2023!

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins 🌟Arc Review 🌟

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I am freaking out! This was incredible!!!! If you haven’t read a Rachel Hawkins book yet then this is the one! This is the one to read because it absolutely hooked me and had me on edge from start to finish. Not only that but the story itself was so creative and unique, just mind blown 🤯 Soooo good!

There is Emily, the main character. Author of a series of cozy mysteries but going through a harrowing divorce (her ex-husband is horrible). She goes to Italy and Villa Aestas to spend the summer there with her best friend, Chess. But is Chess really a friend?

And, the mystery of this Villa is intense. Emily starts digging up all these secrets about a real tragedy that happened in the 70’s. I got to see another story unfold and how it affects Emily and Chess.

But what is the real ending? There is so much manipulation and greed from all the characters, past and present, that the true outcome becomes fuzzy.

This is the best thriller I’ve read in a long time and I highly recommend it!

Out January 3, 2023!

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This is a really mind twisting and fairly disturbing thriller about how an imaginative and open mind can be manipulated by the wrong person to cause harm.

This was a really intriguing read.  I saw in the acknowledgements that this author was inspired to write this from their thesis for their MFA.   I absolutely love that little piece of information because it adds a bit of background to where this story came from within the author.

The main character,  Maya, is going through so much right now.  Klonopin withdrawal mixed with some irresponsible drinking.   She sees a video online of a woman dying seemingly from nothing except the fact that this woman was with a man that was familiar to Maya and a history she’s been trying to forget.

Out January 3, 2023!

Come Out, Come Out Whatever You Are by Kathryn Foxfield 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This was a thrilling read but, unfortunately, the characters (the main character, Lex, especially) just got on my nerves! A high level of arrogance is not my thing, ya’ll!

However, the story was so creepy and cool. A reality TV show putting five strangers together in a spooky spot for a night to see who lasts till morning. Except, in this case, things got way too real.

The Umber Gorges is a cave system that’s been locked up for years now because people who go in sometimes never come out. The local story is that the ghost named the puckered maiden steals their hearts and is even an object of some very strange town rituals.

Out November 29, 2022!

Five Survive by Holly Jackson 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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OMG!!!! This. This. This. This is a thriller!!! This!! Forget what you think a good thriller is and just read this! As soon as possible. I thought my teeth were going to break bc I was clenching my jaw so hard, ya’ll! This is beyond…. I shall call it: a jawclenching, heart racing, thriller masterpiece.

Six people go on a road trip from Pennsylvania to the Gulf for spring break. Four of them are high school students and two are in college. One of the reasons they are in an RV to travel is because Red can’t really afford a plane ticket so her best friend Maddy planned this trip with that in mind. It’s a good group but there is immediate tension already because Maddy’s pre-law brother, Oliver, puts himself in charge. (It’s incredibly annoying).

When they arrive in South Carolina to stop for the night at a camp site, they get lost and wind up in the middle of nowhere. (And, as someone from SC, I can promise that getting lost in the middle of nowhere there is seriously the freaking middle of nowhere and it’s so scary, lol) . However, this seems to be no random just getting lost, especially when all the tires and the gas tank are shot out. There is a sniper in the woods. They communicate through a walkie talkie. And, the sniper wants to know a secret that only one of them can tell. But who is it? And, what is the secret?

This book is incredible. The author really illustrates how basic humanity can be lost and turned into something horrifying and ugly in a situation like this that is so frightening and puts a group in such a vulnerable position.

I recommend this for all fans of thrillers!

Out November 29, 2022!

Friends Like These by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!

Talk about toxic!! Whew… this was a wild ride and it had my head spinning with the possibilities in this intense small town thriller.

I think this was the point, but I didn’t really like any of the characters. Plus, right from the start, the author throws the reader into the middle of one of the worst things that could happen at a party… or anytime, anywhere really.

When Jessica is ready to leave a huge summer party the TV suddenly turns on and she sits in horror watching her boyfriend hook up with her ex- best friend. This story continues with a missing persons case and much more. So be ready and hold on bc this does not slow down!

Out November 1, 2022!