“She was here, in the daylight. She is breaking all her own rules. She is going to finish what she started.”
Friends, I did it: I finally read a book that takes place in the woods that didn’t scare my pants off! Sure, it made me uncomfortable at times, but it didn’t give me nightmares (yet). Instead, Some Kind of Animal by Maria Romasco Moore used a creepy setting to create thriller centered around the love two twin sisters have for each other.
If you’re looking for a domestic thriller to read this summer, I highly suggest getting your hands on a copy of The Swap by Robyn Harding. She has easily become one of my favourite thriller writers and I was so excited to read this book. Needless to say, it did not disappoint!
If you had the option to clone yourself, would you? I know, it sounds wild, but having two versions of yourself means you could do and be so much more, right? Well, that’s what Lucille Harper, the main character in Half Life by Lillian Clark, thinks. But what we want isn’t always what we get.
For the past few years I’ve eagerly awaited the start of summer because with it comes so many new thrillers! The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda was one of my most anticipated summer reads, and I was so happy when I got an electronic copy. It’s the fourth book by this author I’ve read, and I was so excited to see what it was about.
“An alarm sounds on her phone, letting her know that life doesn’t stop, even when it’s on the brink of ending. She turns to walk back, knowing that she’s running out of places to hide. The ends of the Earth. That’s how far she ran this time. Not far enough.”
When I first read the synopsis for The Split by Sharon Bolton, I was hooked: a young glaciologist takes a job in Antarctica to escape a troubled past that is maybe, somehow, finally catching up with her? Yes please! The setting alone was enough to make me want to read this one, not to mention the glowing reviews already online for this title. While I guessed part of the plot twist early on, I was still invested enough in the story as a whole to see it through to the end.
“They say a grudge is a heavy thing to carry. Good thing we’re extra strong.”
If you thought your relationship with your mother was strained, wait until you read Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel. All I knew going into this book was that it’s a psychological thriller, and that information alone did not prepare me for what I just read. This book was nuts, and I loved every minute of it.
“Usually when people tell me these kinds of tales, they never turn out to be as interesting to me as they are to the teller, much less potential material for a book. But this case was different . . . This was no ordinary murder. The perpetrator had scrupulously planned the whole ghastly deed. What’s more, it was worthy of the label ‘Locked Room Murder Mystery.'”
The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo was first published in 1946, and is the first of many Kosuke Kindaichi novels. Now, it’s being translated into English for the first time (by Louise Heal Kawai), and fans of Golden Age mystery and detective novels should get their hands on a copy.
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“The weird thing about being a victim is, no one expects it to be them. Victims are always someone else, somehow tragically naive who foolishly trust the wrong person. I’d never make bad decisions like that. I was always careful. And yet, it wasn’t enough.”
I’ve always said the hardest book reviews to write are for the books I absolutely loved, and this sentiment applied to The Last Confession of Autumn Casterly by Meredith Tate. I devoured this book in three sittings, and was totally immersed in the story from beginning to end. It’s easily one of the best YA contemporary thrillers I’ve ever read, and deals with incredibly important topics.
Before we get any further, I’ll note that the author has a list of content warnings for this book on her website.
Are you in the mood for a slow-burn mystery centered around a small-town murder, with a hint of witchcraft? Then look no further, because you should get your hands on a copy of Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard, stat!
“You don’t need flickering lights or doors slamming shut, the parlor tricks of a poltergeist, to be haunted. The true ghosts are made of deed and word and live deep inside the marrow and bone.”
If you need an eerie book to curl up with on a cold winter night, filled with unreliable narrators and lots of flashbacks, check out The Dead Girls Club.
