psychological thriller

The Woman Downstairs by JD Kirk

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Bookouture publishers in the UK always sends me the most tantalizing books! I love psychological thrillers and this was a great one.

Here’s the scoop:

‘Hi,’ she says, ‘I’m your new neighbour.’ Her smile is bright but her shoulders are tense as she stands on the leafy green Edinburgh street. She seems friendly. But soon I’ll discover her dangerous secret…

On the first day I meet my new neighbour, we share a glass of wine and talk into the night. We swap numbers and I vow to get to know her better. But as I get closer to her, I discover something about her past that changes everything. She isn’t who I thought she was.

Then when I step into her home, my jaw drops. Everything in here is identical to my own flat – every cushion, every picture on the wall.

Except for the knife, covered in blood. My heart pounds in my chest. What has she done? What is she capable of?

I should never have come here. I should never have got close to her. I need to run.

But then I hear a creak outside the door. And I realise, it may be too late…

An absolutely gripping psychological thriller from multi-million-copy, bestselling author JD Kirk. This book will have you flipping the pages until the final jaw-dropping twist! For anyone who loves Freida McFadden, John Marrs and T.M. Logan.

This was SO GOOD – I could not put it down!

Thank you for my review copy!!

Bookouture Blog Tour for Two Perfect Couples by Renita D’Silva

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m on the blog tour today for a new psychological thriller that is SO twisty and SO fast-paced that it left me breathless! The twists and turns kept coming in this story and I couldn’t put it down. It’s the perfect summer escape!

Here’s the scoop:

We seem like perfect families. But our secrets must never come out…

I trust my best friend Lydia with my life. We share everything, even the things we can’t tell our husbands. So when we go on a beach holiday together, it’s a dream come true. One night, we treat ourselves to dinner on the beach with our husbands while our children sleep soundly in the cottage behind us.

But when I go to check on them, my entire world shatters. My son’s bed is empty, the window wide open, his favourite teddy left between the crumpled sheets. I stifle a scream as my worst nightmare comes true. My little boy is gone. It’s all my fault.

As the police question us, Lydia gives me a nervous look. She’s the only one who knows I’ll have to lie. Because there’s something about my son that not even my husband knows. And if anyone discovers the truth, they’ll never let me see my darling boy again.

No one can find out my secret. No one knows just how far I’ve gone to have the perfect family. And I will stop at nothing to get my son back…

A completely addictive thriller that will keep you flipping the pages into the early hours of the morning. Perfect for fans of Shalini Boland, Sue Watson and K.L. Slater.

Author Bio:

Renita grew up in a picturesque coastal village in the South of India, the oldest of three children. Her father got her first story books when she was six and she fell in love with the world of stories. Even now she prefers that world, by far, to this.

https://www.facebook.com/ RenitaDSilvaBooks/

https://www.instagram.com/ renita_dsilva/

https://twitter.com/ renitadsilva

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Renita D’Silva here: https://www.bookouture. com/renita-dsilva

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon:  https://geni.us/B0F8CVCNC1social

Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!

Bookouture Blog Tour for HOME IS WHERE THE LIES LIVE by Kerry Wilkinson

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I love a twisty thriller and this one had me reading it straight through! I wanted to figure out what each of these characters were up to and who was hiding what. It reminded me of a Shari Lapena read, if you enjoy her novels (I do!). When I read these novels, I just want to move to England and live in one of these neighborhoods (but no murders, please!). And no, I did not figure it all out. And look at that author bio. This author is on a roll!! He’s definitely one to watch.

Thank you for my copy, for letting me participate in the tour, and for giving me the opportunity to share this one with readers!

Book Description:

Even the most perfect home can hide shocking secrets. But on this peaceful street, is one of them dangerous enough to kill for?

Young married couple Heidi and Freddie just moved to Huntington Grove. All the neighbours see they are friendly and polite but why is one door in their house always locked?

Across the street, Willow tries not to argue with her teenage daughter – even as her marriage is falling apart. And where does her husband really go each night, leaving the bed beside her cold?

Feeling lonely, she always waves hello to single dad Dylan next door. His wife died in a tragic murder. The culprit was never found. It’s no surprise there are rumours he was involved…

On a beautiful sunny day, it’s time for the whole street to gather for a summer party. Everyone plasters on a fake smile. But soon the picnic tables will be overturned, sirens will blare – and one of the residents will be marched away in police handcuffs.

Everyone at the party will be questioned. But everyone will lie…And with every household hiding something, who has a secret big enough to kill for?

An absolutely addictive psychological thriller that proves you can never really know what goes on behind closed doors. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena and The Perfect Marriage.

Author Bio:

Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.

He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.

https://kerrywilkinson.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KerryWilkinsonBooks/
https://twitter.com/kerrywk

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Kerry Wilkinson here: https://www.bookouture.com/kerry-wilkinson

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0DLP7KZ12social

Bookouture Blog Tour for THE DAY SHE VANISHED by Jen Craven

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m always happy to take part in Bookouture blog tours! This one was a psychological thriller that had me reading the entire thing in one sitting as I could not put it down and I needed to know what happened! Need I say more? Here’s the scoop:

Clutching my husband’s hand, I screech with delight as the rollercoaster loops through the air. I feel young and free for the first time in years, but as we roll to a stop and I look for our three beloved children in the crowd, I panic. I can only see two. Where is my daughter?

Today was meant to be special. A final fun family day out before five-year-old Summer joins her big siblings at school. But in an instant, we’re plunged into a nightmare. We scream her name as we frantically search the amusement park for a glimpse of her flaming red hair.

When the police ask about strangers, grudges and enemies, I have no answers, just questions. Why did I think I could leave my children alone, even for a minute? What kind of mother am I?

I feel in my heart that Summer is out there somewhere. But as I obsess about finding her, my family is falling apart. My eldest daughter Merritt is withdrawn. My son Gus is angry. And after seventeen years of marriage, my husband has never felt more like a stranger. Where does he go when he says he’s working late? Who is he constantly messaging?

I must fight to hold my family together, but I’m terrified Summer’s disappearance will destroy us all. Will I ever forgive myself for letting her out of my sight? Will I ever hold her tiny hand in mine again?

A completely gripping and emotional page-turner about every parent’s darkest fear. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Kate Hewitt.

Author Bio:

Jen Craven is the author of emotional and suspenseful women’s fiction, stories where one decision changes everything. A former college instructor, she loves dark campus novels, which led to her contemporary debut, Best Years of Your Life, published in August 2022. Her writing style blends poignancy with drama to create what-would-you-do narratives of the human experience.
Aside from fiction, Jen has personal essay bylines in national outlets, including The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Today’s Parent, Scary Mommy and many more.
She writes from northwestern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and three children. When not working on her books, she can be found thrift shopping, taking long walks, and beating her kids in backgammon.

https://www.jencraven.com/

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Jen Craven here: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/jen-craven

Buy Link: NOT affiliated with BBNB

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0DB84RY56social

Thank you for my copy!


The Boy at the Door by Alex Dahl

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

cover132483-medium.png

Description

So — I found this title on Net Galley and I love a suspenseful read, even more if it takes place in Norway! This was well-plotted and suspenseful, though I did figure out what was happening. Moving through time and place with different narrators, the stories eventually weave together to the present.
I have to say that I did not like the main character, Annika, at all. I wanted to feel something for her — sympathy, empathy, pity, a connection, something! — but I didn’t. She was pretty much a self-centered, selfish, egotistical, cruel, immature, and heartless person. Pretty much.
If you like suspense, you should check out The Boy at the Door. Thank you for my review e-copy!

THE BREAK DOWN by B. A. Paris

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

51Va0R3MSWL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

So I really enjoyed BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, and especially liked their marketing of the book (I got creepy postcards asking for help from the protagonist), so I was more than thrilled when the good folks at St. Martin’s Press sent me a review copy of THE BREAK DOWN, the newest thriller from B. A. Paris. I read it in July in two days since I couldn’t put it down!

Here’s the overview via Amazon:

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

You won’t be able to put down B. A. Paris’s The Breakdown, the next chilling, propulsive novel from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors.

***********************************************************

So — I did really like this novel, but I think I liked BEHIND CLOSED DOORS more. I will admit, I figured this story out by page 24 — unbelievable and maybe just a lucky guess, but it kind of ruined the rest of it for me. It is thrilling, suspenseful, scary, and one that makes you ask, “what would I do?”

If you like this type of suspenseful thriller, don’t miss THE BREAK DOWN by B.A. Paris!

Review: “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn

/ drbethnolan / 7 Comments

So – everyone in the blogosphere has read “Gone Girl”. Generally I stay away from books like that (Facebook friends know how I felt about “Shades of Grey”). However, several friends who typically love the books I do have LOVED this book, so I bought it from Amazon.

First I must say that every review on this book I’ve read has said things like: “I can’t really write about what happens in this book without giving it away”. I must say I had to wonder what the scoop was on this. Can’t write about the plot without spoilers? Can’t tell us what you liked or didn’t about the writing? What was this book anyway? I read in the synopsis that it was about a young wife who goes missing on her and her husband’s fifth wedding anniversary. I wasn’t sure if it was a mystery or something else.

(WARNING  – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS). I’d classify this book as a psychological thriller. First you’re in his head, then hers, and as the story progresses you aren’t sure who is truly in their right mind. Every time I thought I had this book figured out it twisted and changed. I was up late reading. I was up early reading. I’d wake up at 3 am (which I do sometimes) and start reading. I could not put this book down. In one way I loved it. I didn’t love the ending, though. In fact, I didn’t like the ending/last section of the book. Why? I just didn’t like how it turned out. But during most of my reading, I couldn’t stop thinking about this book and its characters. Gillian Flynn is quite brilliant at making characters come to life. These people were real.

Okay – so I didn’t spoil too much for you I hope. Are you still reading this? If so, you should be reading “Gone, Girl” instead!