Book Review: Catherine Ryan Howard - Run Time (published in 2022)

 

I really enjoy CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD's writing. She writes great characters who have solid streams-of-thought, so even now that she has written about a woman who second-guesses everything and as such creates her own mystery (one of my most hated thriller tropes), I don't mind it. 

Adele is a has-been actor. She's faced something in her career in Ireland, which meant that she had to flee the country in order to try to still get a job in her profession. However, it's not as easy as it might seem to get a job in Hollywood. One day she gets a call from a director in Ireland who is looking for someone to star in his horror film. The condition is that filming starts tomorrow and that she can't talk to anyone about it. 

Adele decides to jump on the opportunity, even though she hasn't even read the script. What she finds when she travels to remote cabin is a tiny crew with only men of sometimes questionable morals. When scenes that are occuring in the script are starting to happen in real life, Adele doesn't know what to believe anymore. 

I didn't like the subject matter as much as I like NOTHING MAN. I don't necessarily like novels about actors and film productions. However, it did keep me on the edge of my seat, because what was happening seemed real to me even if things were explained away pretty easily I bought into Adele's fears. 

The structure of the novel is a movie script inside the story which tells the story of the movie that is being filmed. Inside the movie script there's a book that does the same thing. Does that make sense? Unfortunately the ending was a bit too far-fetched for me. I would've liked it if there wouldn't have been quite so many surprises, I think the story was suspenseful enough with the first couple of reveals. 

I will certainly keep reading Catherine Ryan Howard's novels though, and I'm giving this one 3.5 stars. 

Book Review: Megan Goldin - Stay Awake (published in 2022)

 

For some reason Megan Goldin's books read as realistic crime fiction or contemporary novels. I haven't read Escape Room yet but Night Swim definitely had the same characteristics as her latest novel and I'm there for it. 

This time we're following Liv Reese. A woman who wakes up in a taxi with a bloody knife and no memory what has happened. It turns out two years have passed since her latest memory. As she roams around the streets of New York looking for old friends and acquaintances she's able to piece together what has happened to her. That is... until she falls asleep again when all memories of the time before she fell asleep are lost. 

Megan Goldin has done a great job in making this story realistic. It's not necessarily thrilling, but it kept me on the edge of my seat to figure out what happened in the time Liv's memories were gone. Who can she trust? What's clever about the writing is that the reader does retain the memory of Liv, but the storystelling never become repetitive. Liv's path is straight forward to a conclusion and it's a logical path. 

We don't just follow Liv in the current time and two years before when she had her last memories. We also follow Halliday who is an NYPD officer who investigates the murder of a man together with her partner Lavelle. The way they were written is really realistic as well. 

The only reason why I would give it 4.5 stars instead of the full 5 is because I didn't like the reveal. It was very well written and it made sense. It just wasn't as complex as I was hoping for, which is just my personal taste. 

Book Review: Silvia Moreno-Garcia - The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (published in 2022)

 

It's interesting to see that so many people labelled this book as Horror on Goodreads. It is not. Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes a lot of different genres and she's really good at that. 

THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU is a retelling. I would class this as historical fiction or science fiction, because it takes place in the 1800s in Mexico and it reads like a Victorian novel but it contains scientific experiments.

I think many people are aware of Dr. Moreau's (fictional) work. H.G. WELLS is the one that invented him. He lives on an island far away from civilization and he does tests on animals and humans to see if he can combine animal DNA with humans to make them stronger. 

In this retelling we follow Carlota, Moreau's daughter and Montgomery, a Englishman who joins the family as mayordomo. He's hunter and caretaker of the hybrids that Moreau has created. It's very character-driven. We follow the emotional state of these two main characters and through their eyes we find out how others feel about there lives in the estate. 

Moreau is indebted to the Lizaldes who finance the estate they live on. One day, Lizalde's son and cousin come to visit their house and the son falls in love with Carlota.  Things spiral from there. 

The only thing I didn't enjoy were the fight scenes. It was easy to lose track of what was happening, but other than that the human (and hybrid) aspect was very well-fleshed out and I was rooting for the main protagonists throughout. I can really recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Victorian novels with a character driven story and a bit of suspense. 

Book Review: Lesley Kara - The Apartment Upstairs (published in 2022)

 I read THE DARE by KARA last year and I liked it a bit more than THE APARTMENT UPSTAIRS as this novel is called in the UK. The ending was a bit more satisfying, whereas it left me unimpressed this time around.

We're following Scarlett and Dee. Scarlett's aunt was murdered in the apartment upstairs in a murder-suicide by her boyfriend. Dee has a funeral service together with her best friend, so they get hired to arrange Scarlett's aunt's funeral. However, Dee and her friend know the aunt. She was a substitute teacher and for some reason she might even have a bit more of a connection with their friend Gina who has disappeared ten years ago.

Slowly the plot unfolds, which is fun. Kara's writing is really relaxed and enjoyable. I was never bored and I got the feeling that I got to know the whole cast of characters well, which is why when the ending kicked in I couldn't really believe what I read anymore. There were a bit too many coincidences at the end.

It was still an OK read for me, so I will definitely check out more books by this author in the future.

Book Review: Jason Rekulak - Hidden Pictures (published in 2022)

 

This whole time I was thinking I would give this book a decent four stars. Then the ending blew me away. The way everything connects was well-done in my view and I think everything wraps up perfectly (including the one thing that doesn't wrap up at all, which I found entertaining).

This story is about a recovering addict Mallory. She's 18 months sober and is looking for a summer job. She's finds this with the help of her sponsor with a family who is looking for an in-house babysitter for their child Teddy. Teddy warms to Mallory immediately and he draws her many pictures. There's something off about the pictures though, they start transforming into more sinister images and who is this woman Teddy is talking to in his room during Quiet Time? 

This book could touch upon one of my major tropes in thrillers when female protagonists are projected as weak. It does not however. Mallory has been written as a decent female protagonist (even though she does somethings that made me shout out in frustration), and the plot evolves in a very interesting manner. It's certainly something I didn't really expect even though I had a bit of an inkling. 

It's a very entertaining read, and I'm looking forward to more books from this author in the future. 

Book Review: Darcy Coates - From Below (published in 2022)

 

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!

I did not like the ending of DARCY COATES' latest horror novel, but there's a big but coming: I loved how it wrapped up all elements of the story so nicely. Nothing is left hanging. All plot points I could think of have a nice ribbon tied around them. 

I read THE WHISPERING DEAD by Coates recently and I enjoyed it, but it was slightly bland. This is not that. The pacing of FROM BELOW is a bit slow. It's not 400 pages but it felt like more, and it didn't really need to be. It nail-bitingly creepy though. I've not read many horror books lately that contain real suspenseful horrific scenes and this one does. 

The story is about an expedition to a sunken ship. No one knows why it sunk back in the day, so a film crew is out to capture footage of the vessel to see if they can uncover more information. And that they do. 

The characters are all interesting and well-fleshed out. It's easy to understand all their motives. Expeditions and explorations where horrific scenes are found are a favourite thing of mine in books, so it has all the elements for me to love. If the pacing wouldn't have been off and if the thing that happened at the end wouldn't have happened it would've been five stars. 

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: Emily Henry - Book Lovers (published in 2022)

This book ticked all the right boxes for me. EMILY HENRY can write such good characters and dialogues it's difficult to think they only exist on the pages of a book. 

BOOK LOVERS felt like a suspense novel for me. I've never been so invested in love story as the one between Nora and Charlie. She's a literary agent living in New York. The men she has dated have almost all had small town flings and have left her. She's living in a romance novel, only she is at the wrong end of it. Charlie is an editor. He also lives in New York. They meet, argue and hate each other. 

Nora's sister Libby has a great idea for her. They have to live the small town life that Nora's exes have done. Who knows, maybe Nora will run into the love of her life there? They move to a small town which was the setting of one of Nora's client's books. There she runs in to Charlie of all people. 

I'm going to leave you there, just know that when you read this book you should be ready for realistic and laugh-out-loud dialogues between the characters; a real heartfelt story; and I can't promise you you won't cry. 

Book Review: Gabriela Garcia - Of Women and Salt (published in 2021)

 

I enjoyed my time with this short story collection by GABRIELA GARCIA. I like it when all stories intertwine and kind of come together by the end. 

The author has given every single woman their own distinct voice, which makes the read surprising and refreshing throughout. We start in the Cuba in the past, in a cigar factory, which I think is immediately my favourite story because it brings back memories of my trip to the country. Then we move from Cuba to present-day USA and we skip backwards and forwards in time and through different countries. 

The subject matter is hard-hitting because it deals with migration and displaced families, but because it's all done from the point-of-view of the women living through it it never becomes overtly dramatic. 

The audiobook narrator has done a good job giving all the women their voices. 

Many thanks to the publisher Picador and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

3.5 stars

Book Review: Nicholas Sparks - The Wish (published in 2021)

 

I've never read a novel by NICHOLAS SPARKS, but I'm incredibly familiar with his heartbreaking stories. I've seen every single movie that has come out. THE NOTEBOOK, SAFE HAVEN and THE CHOICE are ones I rewatch regularly. 

When the opportunity presented itself to pick up an early copy of his latest books, I decided to go for it. I'm happy I did, because I loved my time with THE WISH. 

The story is about Maggie, a 16-year-old who finds herself pregnant after a night with a stranger. She is shipped off to Ocracoke on the East Coast of the US, as far away from her parents and friends in Seattle. There she stays with her aunt Linda, and she meets Bryce. A young man with wild ambitions who offers to tutor her. 

We cut back and forth between Maggie now, where she receives devastating medical news and Maggie then. 

A lot of the fun of this novel was in getting to know the characters. Everyone, including the Bryce's pupper, became alive on the page. I couldn't wait to find out how the story would conclude. I had many guesses, and many of them were correct. That didn't mean I was fully invested & inthralled in the expert storytelling on the pages of this book. 

I laughed when Maggie laughed, I cried when she cried. 

I secretly can't wait to see who will be cast for the movie, but for now I'm really happy I checked the book out first. 

Many thanks to the publisher Little Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: Lexie Elliott - How to Kill Your Best Friend (published in 2021)

 

This novel has a lot of the elements I love in my thrillers. It has a strong cast of characters who are wel fleshed out. It has a concise plot and clear mystery elements which trip you up as you go. 

It was a bit more predictable than I wanted it to be though. I never guess the outcome of a novel, because it doesn't even occur to me to ever guess what will happen. In this case I guess it around the 25% mark and I was correct. That's a bit of a pity, but that's not were the thrill is alway so it doesn't matter to much. 

The story is about a group of best friends who reunite for their best friend's funeral at a luxury resort where she lived with her husband. The whole group are swimmers and the two girls left Georgie and Bron miss their swimming buddy. 

The way she has passed is very strange and they can't help but investigate a little bit while they're on the island. 

I like how the story unfolds and how we get to meet all the characters. I have a really good picture of what Georgie, Bron, Adam, Duncan, Jem and even Lissa (who has passed) are like. I feel like I know them. 

The ending felt a bit muddled and too slow, but the last scenes blew my mind. I will 100% read LEXIE ELLIOTT's other novels, because if she serves more of this - I'm there for it!

Many thanks to the publisher Atlantic Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: A.S. King - Switch (published in 2021)

I was surprised by how easily I understood what was written and in general how easy it was to be swept away by the writing in this book. I'm not normally one to like "experimental" writing like this. I prefer an author who writes like a real person does, rather than a poetic interpretation. 

That having been said, A.S. KING does a great job in making her writing incredibly accessible. The narrative flows like poetry on the pages, but it remains understandable. 

Tru Beck is a teenager in a world where time has stopped. This happened a few days after her mother left her father and her father lost her job. She's been trying to deal with this new reality for over nine months, and everyone around her has slowly settled in to the fact that there is no such thing as time anymore. 

There's a switch in her house but she doesn't know what it does, because her father has constructed boxes around it to protect the switch. Not only that, the layout of her house shifts around at the whims of her father as well. 

There's quite a lot going on in this short novel. A lot of topics are addressed, but the message always remains clear. The parallel that teenagers kind of have to deal with a similar situation today (in COVID times) makes the overall meaning of this book even stronger. 

I would certainly recommend this novel even if you're not a fan of magical realism or poetical writing, I think you might still enjoy it.

Many thanks to the publisher Text Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy! 

4 stars

Book Review: Sebastian Fitzek - The Soul Breaker (Translated in 2021)

 

In my opinion, this novel is trying to do a bit too much. I was thrilled but also confused and sometimes a little bit bored which isn't the greatest combination in a suspenseful thriller. 

SEBASTIAN FITZEK has written and published this book back in 2008 in German. It has now been translated to English. I think that's a clever call, because it's essentially a good book, about a topic I've not seen in thrillers very often. 

The story is about the Soul Breaker. A serial "killer" who doesn't kill their victims. They paralyse their victim leaving them stuck in their own body. They have a note in their hand. Then one day a man shows up in a remote clinic with no memory of his past and who he is. Then due to bad weather, the clinic becomes shut off from the world and when a woman ends up paralysed in the bath tub with a note in her hand, it's very likely the Soul Breaker in in there with them. 

There's a bit of a story in a story narrative which I liked. The main story is read by students who are participating in a psychology trial. This give the story a bit more of a twist. In the end though, I was left wanting more and at the same time less. 

The last thirty or so pages are dedicated to explaining everything that happened. I didn't think that was necessary. Also, the scenes inside the clinic became a bit confusing at times. 

All-in-all I enjoyed myself and I'm curious to read more of Fitzek's more recent work. 

Many thanks to the publisher Head of Zeus and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: Megan Abbott - The Turnout (published in 2021)

 

I have seen that MEGAN ABBOTT has a tendency to gather both negative and positive reviews for her books. I have never read her previous releases so THE TURNOUT is my first foray into her writing. 

I can tell why this book has mixed reviews. The way she has constructed the novel will work for some people but not for all. It didn't work for me. 

There were parts I did enjoy/was horrified by. The language is dark. I got a grim feeling from everything on these pages. It's incredibly tense, even though it's hard to tell (until the ending) why it would be. I don't know much about ballet, but the way Abbott tackles the challenges of this "sport" gave me a good idea about it. I will never look at those shoes in the same way. 

The novel is about two sisters Marie and Dara who have inherited a ballet school from their parents with they run with Charlie who was kind of part of their family since a young age. We follow Dara who has married Charlie and who is struggling with her slightly more enigmatic sister Marie. One day there's a fire in one of the ballet studios, right before the school starts their rehearsals for The Nut Cracker, which is when everything starts to unravel. 

I'm in the middle of renovating an apartment, so I was horrified by some of the scenes in this novel when the contractor Derek starts working on the project. That's beside the point though. 

Like I mentioned the novel is taut with suspense and dread, but at the same time I felt it didn't really deliver. I feel that Abbott creates a distance between the reader and Dara, which results in the shrugging of shoulders when we reach the ending. 

In summary, I did enjoy the language and in a way the writing style but the fact that it didn't deliver means it fell flat for me. I don't think this book will stick with me. If you enjoy slow-burning novels that centre on family dynamics and deal with ballet, you might really like this. Don't just take my word for it, do check out different reviews if you're in doubt. 

Book Review: Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - The Doll (translated in 2021)

 

I had a hard time deciding on my rating for THE DOLL. There are elements to this novel I adored and there are plenty of things I did not enjoy so much. It's a hard book to recommend to others, that's for sure. 

The story is about a mother and daughter who find a destroyed doll in the ocean. The child wants to take the doll home even though it's an unsightly thing. The mother reluctantly agrees. Not soon after the mother dies. 

Years later a boy contacts the authorities about the fact that he was abused by a guardian from the state. This gets immediate attention. Huldar, a police office and Freyja, a child psychologist have to work together to interview all the kids that the accused was a guardian for. In the trail they find out that the little girl who spoke out as a witness in the case, is the same girl who found the doll on the bottom of the ocean. Could this be related? 

It's a slow-burning thriller. I don't think this book is over 400 pages, but it felt much longer. That having been said, Yrsa's writing style really works for me. The way she describes scenes and thoughts of characters are so incredibly realistic I really enjoyed myself. I can tell she's an incredibly adept writer. I liked how things, like the snake in Freyja's apartment, made a comeback in the most interesting ways. 

I did actually expect a bit of a more horrific thriller. The start is pretty rough and the ending is as well, everything in between is a bit more like a police procedural where witnesses are interviewed and wit is sharpened. I wish it would've been more terrifying. 

The way the author ties everything together in the end once again shows her superior writing skills. I don't know if I really liked the ending though, but I think that's a matter of taste. 

All-in-all, I liked the way the novel was written. I even liked the qualities of the characters, they felt real. I liked the plot, up until the ending. It was just a bit too slow in my opinion, and not horrific and terrifying enough. I will look for future and past releases of this author though. 

Many thanks to the publisher Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: Clare Mackintosh - Hostage (Published in 2021)

 

Some books are harder to review than others. That's when I know I have to stick with my first thoughts. I do know that I will look upon this book way more favourably in the future than I am now, because the things that will stick are the things I loved from this novel.

HOSTAGE is a claustrophobic thriller set partly on one twenty hour airplane flight from London to Sydney. Mina is trying to focus on het job as a flight attendant, not on the problems of her five-year-old daughter and the disintegration of her marriage back home. Her attention is pulled into the plane when she receives a note from someone in the cabin who is intent on ensuring the plane will never reach its destination. However, Mina will have to help and the note explains her exactly why.

I'm absolutely there for the premise. The second half of the novel delivers exactly what the premise promises. I couldn't put the book down from that point onward. The first half is an incredibly slow burn with (sorry to say) fleshed out but uninteresting characters. The fact that everyone has ab satisfying story arc at the end does redeem a big part of that.

The danger with a slow start is that if this would not have been an advanced reader copy, I might have put it away. I just couldn't get into it. I didn't feel any fear, danger, just annoyance with what was happening to the characters and their thought processes. If you're thinking the same thing, believe me continue reading because CLARE MACKINTOSH does make good on it.

Pre-corona I travelled (read by plane) 8 times per year. I have seen the insides of a plane for 1.5 years, next week is the first time I'll be flying again and I have to say the events in this book have me a bit spooked which is a big compliment!

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: Taylor Adams - Hairpin Bridge (published in 2021)

 There are certain authors whose books I look forward to every year. Taylor Adams (maybe strangely for people who are not familiar with his writing is one of them). I fell in love with <b>No Exit</b> two years ago and his release this year is almost equally thrilling and captivating. 

<b>Hairpin Bridge</b> is about Lena Nguyen who is investigating her sister's alleged suicide on the titular bridge. She thinks there was foul play and she invites Corporal Raymond Raycevic who found her sister to tell her more about it on the isolated location. 

What follows is a thrilling and quite suspenseful (for Taylor Adams' standard) back-and-forth between the two characters. <b>No Exit</b> did not tone done the action, and neither does <b>Hairpin Bridge</b>. The action is non-stop. I love reading his novels, but I would love to see them on the big screen as well. 

There are elements to the story I didn't find necessary. First of all, the blog posts and other media may have been limited but it took away from the action. Secondly, it may have been a little bit longer than necessary. I would rate this book 4.5 stars, but looking at all other books I read this year I rounded it up to 5 stars. 

What I loved about his writing is mainly the knowledge he pours into the pages when he's describing a scene. It's so visceral it's almost like you're there and he's teaching you things about the attributes and tactics. It reminds me a little bit of how <b>Lee Child</b> writes. I've already mentioned the action-packed scenes. I liked the conversations between the main characters. The dynamics are insane and I was on the edge of my seat to find out what would happen next. The fact that it once again takes place on an isolated location is a big plus. 

Taylor Adams' latest release is a real ride and I can't wait to see what he comes out with next!

Many thanks to the publisher Joffe Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

5 stars

Book Review: Alex Michaelides - The Maidens (published in 2021)

 

My review for <b>The Silent Patient</b> actually still holds true. I think that means that Alex Michaelides is a very consistent author. 

I couldn't stop reading the books, because I wanted to know who was responsible for it all. I was quite shocked by the ending. I don't think everyone will like it, but I thought it was an enjoyable twist. 

The story is about Mariana, who travels back to Cambridge to console her niece whose best friend was murdered. Mariana is a group therapist and from the get-go she is convinced Edward Fosca, a charismatic professor with a group of "followers" aka Maidens aka secret society, plays a role in the murder. 

She decides to stick around, to help the police. 

I disliked a lot of this book, but keep reading because there's a positive twist as well. There is one narrator I thought was too presumptuous because he's the self-proclaimed "villain" of the story. I thought Mariana's involvement in everything was a bit ridiculous and the way she prosecutes people is outrageous. The characters weren't very strongly build and there are a lot of instances where I wish the author would've decided to show rather than tell. Mariana makes a lot of conclusions about people's emotions because she is a therapist, I found it hard to correlate those emotions with what I was reading. In other words, I didn't really believe her when she described a person. 

There are so many elements flowing through the pages that I did like though, and if they speak to you you should check this novel out as well. There's Greek Mythology and Greek Tragedy seeping through the pages and the narrative. Guessing how these elements play a role is fun. Secret societies with charismatic leaders are awesome. The mentions of Alfred Tennyson are also nicely tucked into the narrative. 

I thought the ending was surprising. I forget a lot of books I've read but The Silent Patient's conclusion is one that etched in my brain. I think The Maidens will have the same faith. As such I can recommend it to people who enjoyed Michaelides' previous novel or for fans of Greek tragedy/mythology. 

Many thanks to the publisher Orion Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy. 

Book Review: Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock - Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town (published in 2021)

 

This is a beautiful collection of short stories. What I hadn't expected is that all these stories are connected in some way. 

They all take place in small towns in the US and the cast of characters are related in some way, either by trauma or by passing. 

The stories are all thoughtfully told. Bonnie-Sue takes her time and focuses on what's important about these people. There's no fluff, there's just beautiful, painful and heartwarming stories in this collection. 

I'm sad I read this book on my Kindle. There are so many paragraphs and sentences I wanted to mark and annotate. I will pick up a physical copy as soon as it's out so that I can take it all in one more time because this short story collection really deserves that. 

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

4 stars

Book Review: Peter Swanson - Every Vow You Break (published in 2021)

 

I was really happily surprised with this novel. It's not that I think Peter Swanson does not write good books, but sometimes I see negative reviews which kind of turn me off reading his latest novels. I'm being silly, because his latest novel twists and turns deliciously just like <b>The Kind Worth Killing</b>.

The story is one I don't usually pick up myself. Abigail, a soon-to-be-wife cheats on her husband during her bachelorette party. She decides to keep this to herself, but when her husband whisks her off to an isolated island and her one night stand shows up, she doesn't know if she can keep this information from him. 

I was annoyed at the start of this novel because I don't like the lying and the cheating, especially not in my protagonist. 

This annoyance soon turned into edge of my seat thrills because the mysterious island and her one night fling showing up had me guessing like crazy what would happen. Let me tell you, it's pretty difficult to guess because Swanson can throw a curve ball in there like the best of them. 

The question Abigail asks herself at times is: "What movie am I in?" I love that question, and I have to say that this novel is pretty unique. I had a hard time plotting it in a novel. 

Sure, sometimes the motives are not easy to understand. The ending is a bit hap-hazard and rushed, but it's a thrill and I love it. I still have Swanson's <b>Before She Knew Him</b> on my shelves and I actually can't wait to dive into that one. 

Many thanks to the publisher Faber and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

Book Review: Aimee Molloy - Goodnight Beautiful (published in 2020)

 

There's something about Aimee Molloy's writing that pulls me in. Her debut novel The Perfect Mother is about a subject that does not appeal to me in the slightest. Yet, I found the story to be incredibly enjoyable, though not thrilling enough to label it a thriller. 

I did really feel the thrill in her latest novel. Again, there are elements to this book that don't appeal to me. I don't like the main character for example, because I don't like protagonists who lie and deceive. However, overall this book is a wild ride with so many real surprises, it's crazy. 

Goodnight Beautiful is about newlyweds Sam and Annie who move from the big city to Sam's old hometown in upstate New York. Sam is a therapist. What he doesn't know is that his conversations with clients can be heard from the room above. This is all fine, until a French girl shows up in his office and Sam disappears. 

As I said, there are so many elements that surprised me in this novel. They're not necessarily shockers, but some of them are. Molloy seems to understand where the readers' minds are going and she tries her best to put us off track every now and then. I like that. 

There are time I dislike what is happening or how it is happening, but it takes a good writer to still give me the feeling of a thrill when events are unfolding. 

I can't wait to see what novel Molloy comes up with next, because I'm here for it. 

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!

4 stars