Tag: Thriller

Kate’s Review: “Nine Lives”

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Book: “Nine Lives” by Peter Swanson

Publishing Info: William Morrow & Company, March 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: The story of nine strangers who receive a cryptic list with their names on it – and then begin to die in highly unusual circumstances.

Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke – until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from oncology nurse to aspiring actor.

FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next….

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC to this novel!

I’ve been reading Peter Swanson novels since 2016, in which “The Killing Kind” totally blew me away and kept me on my toes. I have come to expect him to find ways to bring in new twists and turns that are totally earned by also shocking and unexpected, sometimes even deconstructing what we have come to expect of the thriller genre as a whole. Because I have this knowledge and because I’m so familiar with his tricky little carpet yanks, one would think that when I went into his newest book “Nine Lives” that I would have figured all of this out. One would think that I would be expecting a twist and that when it came I would say ‘ah yes, I knew that was coming’. And hey, to be fair, there were a couple early on moments that I thought ‘well either that was the twist or perhaps there IS no big reveal this time just to keep me on my toes even more’.

And then this guy STILL manages to completely take me by surprise with a twist I didn’t expect AT ALL.

And it’s just one of a good few in this story! (source)

The thing that I like the most about Peter Swanson, beyond the ability he has to totally floor me, is that he always crafts mysteries that have just enough twists to be interesting without going into wholly farfetched territory. As each stranger on the list of names is slowly picked off one by one, the deaths are done in ways that are almost always matter of fact, totally believable, and in a finite and quick manner that makes the beat punch hard, but then go onto the next. We don’t linger on melodrama nor do we feel a need to explain until it’s fully time for explanations. The clues are placed here and there, and they all fit together once they start to near each other. And while it’s true that I caught a couple of them in advance, the lion’s share were truly surprising. It has definite allusions to the Agatha Christie story “And Then There Were None” without feeling like a direct lifting, and while acknowledging that there are some tweaks here and there. The mystery is strong, even if a lot of the characters kind of fall by the wayside. But I think that that is kind of to be expected in some ways, just because there are nine people on the list, and a limited amount of time that they are going to be alive given that they are all targets of a killer. But for a few of them I felt like we did get some pretty okay insight into who they were as people outside of this, even while others fell flat or into two dimensional tropes.

I have seen criticism of the motive behind what all is going on, and I can definitely get why the criticism is there. Ultimately the construction of the mystery is sound and it has very solid working parts, but the actual foundation of the motive was pretty generic and glossed over. It doesn’t really help that there had to be a huge ‘telling instead of showing’ component at the end, with a big letter that explains just about everything. That’s usually a huge splash of cold water on a book for me, and I remember thinking ‘ah jeeze’ when I realized what was happening.

But hey, I was still having a fun time as we barreled towards the end of “Nine Lives”. The motive may be eh, but the journey through a list of nine marked people is still really fun. Keep on catching me off guard, Peter Swanson! I always like being surprised!

Rating 7: A fun twist on “And Then There Were None” with a few good surprises, “Nine Lives” is another entertaining read from Peter Swanson, even if some of the details are glossed over or undercooked.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Nine Lives” is included on the Goodreads list “Mystery & Thriller 2022”, and would fit in on “‘And Then There Were None’ Trope Novels”.

Kate’s Review: “The Last Laugh”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Last Laugh” by Mindy McGinnis

Publishing Info: Katherine Tegen Books, March 2022

Where Did I Get this Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get this Book: WorldCat | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: In the dark and stunning sequel to The Initial Insult, award-winning author Mindy McGinnis concludes this suspenseful YA duology as long-held family secrets finally come to light . . . changing Amontillado forevermore.

Tress Montor murdered Felicity Turnado—but she might not have to live with the guilt for long. With an infected arm held together by duct tape, the panther who clawed her open on the loose, and the whole town on the hunt for the lost homecoming queen, the odds are stacked against Tress. As her mind slides deeper into delirium, Tress is haunted by the growing sound of Felicity’s heartbeat pulsing from the “best friend” charm around her fevered neck.

Ribbit Usher has been a punchline his whole life—from his nickname to his latest turn as the unwitting star of a humiliating viral video. In the past he’s willingly played the fool, but now it’s time to fulfill his destiny. That means saving the girl, so that Felicity can take her place at his side and Ribbit can exact revenge on all who have done him wrong—which includes his cousin, Tress. Ribbit is held by a pact he made with his mother long ago, a pact that must be delivered upon in four days.

With time ticking down and an enemy she considers a friend lurking in the shadows, Tress’s grip on reality is failing. Can she keep both mind and body together long enough to finally find out what happened to her parents?

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

I’ve been awaiting “The Last Laugh” by Mindy McGinnis since the moment I finished “The Initial Insult”. If you recall, that novel took Edgar Allan Poe tales and turned them into a modern small town setting involving grudge and secret holding teenagers, and did it in a way that worked fairly well. It also ended with a bit of a cliffhanger, one that had my head spinning about where it could go next. I had some theories, and while I was on the money in some ways, in other ways “The Last Laugh” surprised me.

Somehow “The Last Laugh” was even darker than “The Initial Insult”, which is saying something given that the last book ended with a teenage girl being bricked up in a coal shaft and left to die (though in Tress’s defense, she had had a change of heart, but thought that Felicity had died before she could reverse her plan and just left her there… even though Felicity wasn’t actually dead yet. BLEAK!). We are now following Tress again as she deals with her guilt for Felicity’s demise, and we now have two new perspectives to engage with since Felicity is out of the picture and the Black Panther is free. The first is Ribbit, Tress’s cousin who was humiliated via an online video where his classmates got him drunk and filmed it. The second is Rue, the gentle orangutan at Tress’s grandpa’s animal sideshow, who adores Tress. Tress’s story goes the way you think it would: she’s severely injured due to the panther mauling her arm, and is feeling immense guilt. But Ribbit’s perspective was interesting. I knew that he had a part to play given his “Hop-Frog” analog, but getting into his mind shows sides to him that we couldn’t see before that reflect darker things going on not just in his life, but also the entire Usher/Allan/Montor Family Tree. I greatly enjoyed seeing how all of this would come together in terms of its own unique story, but also through the Edgar Allan Poe works that gave it direct inspirations. And the things that McGinnis reveals this time around were deeply, deeply unsettling, and presented in ways that made this book creepy as hell. And Rue’s perspectives were a bit more of a mixed bag, in that I got why we had the Panther in the first book, as the Panther plays a key role in that book in terms of the plot. In this, Rue’s role felt a little more shoehorned in, in that there needed to be symmetry with the poetry animal perspective, but ultimately wasn’t really needed. The thing that does happen (I’m being vague purposefully) didn’t really feel like it needed to happen. But I liked her affection for Tress.

This time around I didn’t feel as if we were as deluged with Poe references, and that was to the benefit of the story. I think that this is probably because so much was set up for this book in “The Initial Insult” that the references were already well established and could flourish a bit more. This time around the biggest influences were that of “The Tell Tale Heart”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, and, as started in the previous book, “Hop-Frog”. But like with the last book, and I think even a little more son, McGinnis subverts the influences and themes and makes them fit a modern setting. A heart buried beneath a floor is now a friendship necklace. A cruel royal court is now less about monarchy and more about Homecoming. And there are far more metaphors at work rather than literal outcomes. It flowed better this time around, and that made for the follow through to be incredibly satisfying as a conclusion to a tale that was set up in the previous volume.

And the gore. OH THE GORE. While I felt that “The Initial Insult” was more akin to the psychological thrills of Poe’s works, “The Last Laugh” falls way more into the horror side of things. And it’s not just because of the gore (but there is a good amount of it). It’s also because of the creeping feeling that something really bad is going to happen before it’s all over. It isn’t just a suspense that builds, it’s true dread.

I was very pleased with “The Last Laugh” and how it wrapped up this love letter to Edgar Allan Poe. McGinnis doesn’t mess around when it comes to dark thrillers, be they for Young Adults or people my age.

Rating 8: A satisfying and unsettling conclusion to a Poe-rich thriller, “The Last Laugh” takes on more Poe themes and will unnerve you.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Last Laugh” is included on the Goodreads list “Books Influenced by Edgar Allan Poe”.

Previously Reviewed:

Kate’s Review: “The Night Shift”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Night Shift” by Alex Finlay

Publishing Info: Minotaur Books, March 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat |Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls working the night shift are attacked. Only one survives. Police quickly identify a suspect who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive. Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words… “Goodnight, pretty girl.”

In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive.

Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

On paper, “The Night Shift” by Alex Finlay was complete and utter catnip for me. There’s a time jumping mystery, there’s a whodunnit murder element, there are multiple characters who may or may not have secrets, and there is a healthy does of 90s nostalgia. I remember that going to Blockbuster on Friday night was an EVENT! I also saw all the hype surrounding this book, so I jumped in really hoping for a home run. And we didn’t quite get there.

There were, however, things to like, and I will start there because I do want to highlight the positives. For one, we have a pretty well thought out and well connected story, told through the perspectives of interconnected characters. The first is Ella, a therapist who was the sole survivor of a multiple murder at her high school workplace, Blockbuster, in which her coworkers were killed and she was not. The second is Chris, a public defender whose brother Vince was the main suspect in the Blockbuster murders, but disappeared off the grid after he was released from custody before he could be tried for the crime. The third is Special Agent Keller, an FBI agent who is trying to connect a new multiple murder scene at an ice cream shop to the Blockbuster murders, as there is, once again, one survivor named Jess, and the perpetrator said the same phrase to her as he said to Ella. I liked how these three characters were separate at first, and then slowly converged into the big story and overarching mystery as they are trying to handle their own baggage and mysteries, and it really kept me engaged and interested as I read. I especially liked Keller’s POV, as she is determined and gritty and had the scenes that I found myself most invested in, since she was doing a lot of the investigating that felt like it was getting somewhere (I have more to say on Ella and Chris in a bit). AND she is doing all of this while eight months pregnant with twins, which was kind of a fun tidbit and felt very Marge Gunderson from “Fargo” (especially since her husband is SUPER doting, much like Norm was in that movie).

Speaking of couples goals. (source)

But that kind of segues into the things that didn’t work for me as much in this book. Firstly, many of the other characters outside of Keller felt pretty two dimensional and not super explored. Ella is a pretty typical and standard examination of trauma, in that she has devoted her life to trying to cope by compartmentalizing, and has completely messed up her personal life because of it (when we meet her she is meeting up for a hook up in spite of the fact she has a fiancé, because wow look at what a mess she is, right?!). Her connection with Jess, the newest victim, is based of her skills as a therapist as well as the fact she’s been there before, but Jess is tragic and precocious and hiding her own issues that only serve to muddy some waters. Since we don’t really get into her head she is, once again, pretty standard fare that we’ve seen before. And then there’s Chris, whose story is tragic in its own ways as he clings to the hope that his brother Vince is innocent, and has been thinking he has perhaps found him via the Internet. This was, admittedly, an interesting plot line, but Chris himself is also pretty two dimensional. And on top of all of that, the mystery itself becomes glaringly obvious in terms of conclusion pretty quickly. There were a few ‘mini’ mysteries here and there that kept me kinda guessing and invested, hence the engaging aspect of this book, but the big one wasn’t shocking, and the journey getting there on that outcome alone wouldn’t have been as compelling. And frankly, the big mystery should be compelling.

I think that I will go back and read Finlay’s previous book, as there is definitely potential in “The Night Shift” that has glimmers of a thriller I’d enjoy. But as a final product and full package it was a little ho hum.

Rating 6: Admittedly super engaging, but the big reveal isn’t very surprising, and most of the characters are pretty two dimensional.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Night Shift” is included on the Goodreads list “Can’t Wait Crime, Mystery, and Thrillers 2022”.

Kate’s Review: “All Her Little Secrets”

Book: “All Her Little Secrets” by Wanda M. Morris

Publishing Info: William Morrow, November 2021

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Book Description: Everyone has something to hide…

Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a “for fun” relationship with a rich, charming executive—her white boss, Michael.

But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice goes to meet Michael… and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head. And then she walks away like nothing has happened. Why? Ellice has been keeping a cache of dark secrets, including a small-town past and a kid brother who’s spent time on the other side of the law. She can’t be thrust into the spotlight—again.

But instead of grieving this tragedy, people are gossiping, the police are getting suspicious, and Ellice, the company’s lone black attorney, is promoted to replace Michael. While the opportunity is a dream-come-true, Ellice just can’t shake the feeling that something is off.

When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma. Suddenly, Ellice’s past and present lives collide as she launches into a pulse-pounding race to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined…

Review: I have honestly been eying “All Her Little Secrets” by Wanda M. Morris since last November when it was about to come out. It made a few lists that I came across on social media, and while I wanted to add it to the pile I had a huge stack. By the time it came out I had left it on a mental hold list, and I didn’t seek it out until after the new year. It took a little bit for my hold to come in, and when it did I had a ‘oh yeah!’ moment. I sat down one day and started it, thinking that I would probably get through it in a few days time… And then I read it in two big sittings, basically being snared from the get go. “All Her Little Secrets” gets right down to business, and doesn’t let up until the last pages.

As someone who enjoys conspiracy thrillers if they don’t get too cloak and dagger or overly twisty, I thought that “All Her Little Secrets” executed all the twists and turns without getting too lost in the weeds. It felt like a pretty good progression as we follow Ellice, our protagonist who gets tangled in a dangerous web at her high powered corporation after her longtime boss and secret lover, Michael, is found dead in his office (by Ellice, actually, though she rushes out and doesn’t tell anybody, and it becomes very clear why). I enjoyed watching Ellice start to realize that a personal loss but professional boon, as she is almost immediately promoted to Michael’s position, is far more insidious than anticipated. But what makes it all the more sinister are the themes of racism and misogynoir that Morris weaves throughout the story, as Ellice isn’t just an unwitting pawn, she is an unwitting pawn who also has to deal with the very real racist corporate environment she has been working within. From the overtly racist interactions she has with coworkers to murkier microaggressions to just being the only Black person in her department, “All Her Little Secrets” finds intensity and dangerous outcomes in Ellice’s life even before it’s all turned upside down when Michael is killed. The themes fit into the story perfectly and make the conspiracy all the more ruinous and upsetting. I loved the mystery as it unfolded, and while I figured out a couple of things, for the most part there were lots of surprises and interesting plot twists.

I also really loved Ellice as our main character. The title and summary let the reader know that Ellice has a lot of secrets that she’s been keeping, from her relationship to her boss to some of the things she’s omitted from her life story to those around her. But finding out all of these secrets really gives us a good sense of who she is as a character, and it makes her very complex and someone who I found myself caring a lot about as the story kept speeding towards danger. We slowly learn some of the things she’s been hiding through the modern day narrative, as well as glimpses into her past, when she first took a step towards her big dream reality by leaving her small town behind to attend a prestigious private school… and therein leaving everyone who cared about her, and the guilt that has manifested because of it. The various struggles that made her want to escape are unfolded and devastating, and it all ties into how she has approached life as this story begins in the modern day. It just fits together so well. It’s an enjoyable character study as well as a taut conspiracy thriller.

“All Her Little Secrets” kept me reading and kept me guessing. If you like conspiracy thrillers this is one you definitely need to check out!

Rating 8: An intense conspiracy thriller with well thought out themes on race and corporate elitism, “All Her Little Secrets” will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Reader’s Advisory:

“All Her Little Secrets” is included on the Goodreads lists “Mystery/Thriller/Detective Books Featuring and Written by Black Women Part 1”, and “Great Noir and Noirish Novels Written by Women”.

Find “All Her Little Secrets” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Kate’s Review: “This Might Hurt”

Book: “This Might Hurt” by Stephanie Wrobel

Publishing Info: Berkley Books, February 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Book Description: Welcome to Wisewood. We’ll keep your secrets if you keep ours.

Natalie Collins hasn’t heard from her sister in more than half a year.

The last time they spoke, Kit was slogging from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the shower about their dead mother. She told Natalie she was sure there was something more out there. And then she found Wisewood.

On a private island off the coast of Maine, Wisewood’s guests commit to six-month stays. During this time, they’re prohibited from contact with the rest of the world–no Internet, no phones, no exceptions. But the rules are for a good reason: to keep guests focused on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximized Selves. Natalie thinks it’s a bad idea, but Kit has had enough of her sister’s cynicism and voluntarily disappears off the grid.

Six months later Natalie receives a menacing e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she’s about to learn that Wisewood won’t let either of them go without a fight.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

Given that Stephanie Wrobel’s first book “Darling Rose Gold” took inspiration from a notorious true crime case, it’s probably not too shocking that her second book “This Might Hurt” took inspiration from another one. I, for one, am a-okay with such things, as I really enjoyed “Darling Rose Gold” because of the twisty dramatization that Wrobel created from the real life event. When I read the description of “This Might Hurt” I immediately thought ‘oh this is NXIVM’. I mean, an isolated self help community in the Northeast, and family members wondering what is going on with their loved ones? NXIVM was all over the pop culture consciousness these past couple of years, so I wasn’t surprised and was definitely interested.

I liked the narrative structure of this book. It has some of what you would expect, and then an aspect that I wasn’t expecting but ended up liking the best of the three perspectives. But in terms of the more obvious choices, we have both Natalie and Kit providing us with first person perspective chapters, separated into sections. Natalie is rooted firmly in the present, so we get to see Wisewood in the moment and how unnerving and creepy it is as a self help island disguising a cult. For Kit we get some past perspectives, seeing what made her decide to seek out Wisewood in the first place, and how she has adjusted to living there (as well as how she has ascended up the ranks to become a pet of the leader, ‘Teacher’). They eventually come together to play out the story, and it meshes well, even if the way that it all parses out isn’t super surprising or unique.

It does, however, build at a pace that slowly raises the tension and suspense, as Natalie looks for Kit on this isolated island where people are seemingly trying to keep her at arm’s length. Throw in the fact that Natalie has her own secrets and you have double the mystery going on, though that, too, isn’t terribly shocking once we get to it. I think that part of the problem is that neither Natalie nor Kit are interesting enough as characters to me, so I wasn’t super invested in their outcomes. Sure, in the moment the malevolence of Wisewood is definitely unsettling, and the tension in that regard is well done. But since I didn’t really care about Natalie OR Kit, it never felt super high stakes to me.

But it was the third unexpected component that I liked the most and lifted this story up beyond a run of the mill thriller. These were perspective chapters from a mysterious third person, whose childhood with an abusive father and passive mother and older sister sets her onto a path dealing with magic tricks, self control, and eventual thirst for power and dominance. It becomes pretty clear that we are, indeed, seeing the story of Rebecca, the leader of Wisewood, and it was her moments that I was most looking forward to, as she felt like the most complicated character in the book. Certainly more complicated than Natalie and Kit, whose archetypes we have seen in this kind of book many a time. With Rebecca, while we do see characters like her from time to time, the way that Wrobel lets us see the slow and full transformation is the most chilling aspect of this book, and the one that worked the best for me as I read it.

“This Might Hurt” is a solid thriller. Some beats are familiar, while others are surprising, and it is certainly very, very addictive, and fairly disturbing when all is said and done. Wrobel knows how to make a setting feel dangerous, and seeing how a spider catches flies in her web was the biggest success of this book.

Rating 7: “This Might Hurt” is an entertaining book about cults and the relationship between sisters, though it’s the examination of a cult leader’s transformation that is the most interesting part.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Might Hurt” is included on the Goodreads list “The Most Anticipated Mysteries and Thrillers of 2022”.

Find “This Might Hurt” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Kate’s Review: “Within These Wicked Walls”

Book: “Within These Wicked Walls” by Lauren Blackwood

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, October 2021

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

Book Description: What the heart desires, the house destroys…

Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, Andromeda quickly realizes this is a job like no other, with horrifying manifestations at every turn, and that Magnus is hiding far more than she has been trained for. Death is the most likely outcome if she stays, but leaving Magnus to live out his curse alone isn’t an option. Evil may roam the castle’s halls, but so does a burning desire.

Kiersten White meets Tomi Adeyemi in this Ethiopian-inspired debut fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre.

Review: It’s come up on here before, specifically way back when during a joint review of “Jane Steele”, that I really love the book “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë. The Gothic setting and sensibilities, the tough and clever heroine, the admittedly problematic but still, to me, swoony leading man, it’s a book that I hold near and dear to my heart. I am always on the look out for reimaginings, and while some have been good, others have been not, so it always feels like a risk when I dive in. But I kind of knew from the jump that “Within These Wicked Walls” by Lauren Blackwood was going to work for me, because it was not only a retelling based in a non-Western centric gaze, it had ‘exorcist’ in the description. Our Jane equivalent as an exorcist sent to cleanse a haunted manor? Um, HELL YES.

As mentioned, our protagonist Andromeda, or Andi, is a debtera, a trained religious figure who performs exorcisms of people and places. She was taken in by Jember, a volatile and world weary debtera who has been her only connection to others, though his work has left him bitter, cruel, and sometimes flat out abusive to Andromeda. Her life up until this point has made her determined to succeed on her own, and very standoffish around other people. I makes her an interesting protagonist to follow because not only does she have to prove herself to Jember, but she also needs to show herself that she can do these things that she’s been trained to do. It becomes all the more complicated when she arrives at Thorne Manor, as not only is this house INCREDIBLY cursed by the Evil Eye, it also has an occupant, Magnus Rochester, that Andromeda finds herself very taken with. As Andi finds out just how dangerous the spirits and demons are within Thorne Manor, she also finds out that she can make connections with people, like Magnus, and the mysterious but incredibly kind servant Saba. This makes the stakes for Andi all the higher, and it makes it so she perhaps doesn’t realize just how in over her head she may be, despite her prowess and very well honed talents. I definitely liked her relationship with Rochester, as their banter and even footed wits and personalities was very fun to watch. But I was actually more interested in the complicated and sad relationship that she had with Jember, her mentor. As mentioned their interactions are dark and deeply broken, but Blackwood doesn’t opt for easy, black and white lessons or answers when it comes to their relationship. Jember is not good to Andi, it can’t be denied, but I liked how looking into his work as a debtera and through his past traumas kind of give him a lot of depth and complexity.

I also liked the magical systems at play, as well as the setting. Make no mistake, we are not finding ourselves in the Moors for this book, as we are actually in an alternate timeline (I think?) Ethiopia. But the isolation is still there, as are the questions about one’s own strengths and weaknesses, and the fighting of demons within one’s own spirit (as well as literal demons thanks to the Evil Eye resting squarely on Magnus and his home). I know so little about the culture and debteras, but Blackwood lays out the root of the mythology as well as building a fantasy system on top of it. It leads to some pretty creepy demon stuff, as well as interesting magical components that set this firmly into a ‘dark fantasy’ realm. Blackwood has many moments that were tense and scary, and it all felt really well imagined and focused.

I definitely get some of the critiques I’ve seen that question as to whether or not this can really be considered a retelling of “Jane Eyre”, mostly because I do think that you have to look for the parallels beyond the obvious names of Thorne Manor and Rochester. I do argue that they are there, even if they have been tweaked a little bit. While there isn’t a hidden wife in the attic, there is a hidden relationship. Andi may not be a governess but she is a person from one part of society dropped into a highly dysfunctional upper class setting. The simmering and constantly tested romance is alive and well (and once again very easy to root for). It may not be a clear step by step retelling, but, unlike other retellings I’ve encountered in YA literature, at least it feels like it does have the guts and soul of the source material, as opposed to just using it and trying to force it into the box. Maybe ‘reframing’ is a better word.

Overall I enjoyed “Within These Wicked Walls”. It brought fantastical and creepy layers to a Gothic classic, and it had the spirit of the source material while turning the story into something that is very much its own tale.

Rating 8: Immersive, creepy, and incredibly engaging, “Within These Wicked Walls” is a unique and well done reframing of one of my favorite Gothic novels.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Within These Wicked Walls” is included on the Goodreads lists “Jane Eyre Retellings”, and “2021 Fantasy and Science Fiction by Black Authors”.

Find “Within These Wicked Walls” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Kate’s Review: “Reckless Girls”

Book: “Reckless Girls” by Rachel Hawkins

Publishing Info: St. Martin’s Press, January 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

Book Description: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She’s also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.

Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace.

But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven’t been completely honest with Lux about their pasts––and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared.

When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive.

Review: Travel to far off places (at least places that can only be easily reached by plane) is probably still out of the running for me and my family this year as we continue to deal with the pandemic (there’s always Northern MN!), so I will continue to live vicariously through books until things start to die down (or at the very least the kid gets her shots). And while this sometimes leads to a bit of FOMO, I try to tell myself that this isn’t forever and I will surely be visiting these places again in the future….. Hopefully. Well enter “Reckless Girls” by Rachel Hawkins, a book I got through Book of the Month that ended up being a perfect read for an isolated Minnesota winter weekend. Why not transport myself from a chilly house in the North to a tropical island in the Pacific, even if that island ends up being the location of some grisly outcomes and twisted secrets?

“Reckless Girls” has a trouble in paradise theme in which a supposedly idyllic getaway turns into something far more sinister, and even though it has sunlight, beaches, and gorgeous ocean, it has the foundation of a Gothic thriller due to the isolation and dark secrets that some of our characters are harboring. Our main character, Lux, is a bit of a fish out of water, a damaged woman who fell head over heels for a privileged but devil may care boyfriend named Nico, and followed him to Hawai’i thanks to the promise of sailing the world together. But he has foregone his connections and resources to his wealthy family out of stubbornness he sees as noble, and she has to bear the brunt of his pride. So when two college girls named Brittany and Amma approach Nico with an offer of substantial cash to take them to an atoll called Meroe with a buzzed about paradise like backdrop (and a notorious history), Lux, intimidated by their magnetism but desperate for her new start, agrees to go with all three of them. When they arrive and find a flashy couple has already dropped anchor, the two groups start to enjoy their freedom. Hawkins slowly builds up the getaway, showing the present through Lux’s perspective, but giving us background and clues to impending danger through flashback chapters following the other characters, who all are hiding something from everyone else. Hawkins lays out all the clues in a masterful way, and she paces out the slowly building drama and tension with soapy twists that make the entire read very, very hard to put down. Seeing all of these characters interact with each other, grow close to each other in a superficial way like only a vacation can do, and then start stabbing each other in the back, is deeply enjoyable. I figured out a few of the twists and turns, but there were others that were surprising, and even those that I did guess were still fun to get to within the plot.

I also really liked the setting. As I said above, while it’s bright, sunny, and tropical, Meroe Atoll is a deeply isolated and unnerving setting. Hawkins slowly creates a backstory for the island as well, through excerpts from books, texts, emails, and other correspondence, and other epistolary bits that let you know that this place, while beautiful, is unforgiving. I was looking this place up to see if it was real (it’s not; there is an island called Meroe but it’s out by India, not a couple days sail from Maui), as Hawkins made it sound so real with the world building she does for it. I loved how creepy it was once our characters were there, as even though the descriptions were pretty standard, the very thought of being so alone and cut off from everything is very upsetting, especially as stakes start to get higher and survival is becoming more murky for some of our characters. I mentioned it was a bit Gothic, and it has the elements of people slowly going a bit unhinged due to paranoia, distrust, and the sheer unforgiving seclusion of the location. The location really stands out.

“Reckless Girls” is a fun thriller that you should definitely check out if you like the genre. It may make you wish for a tropical trip, but at the same time you may be thanking your lucky stars this isn’t the vacation you are taking any time soon.

Rating 9: Super addictive and compelling with a lush and unsettling backdrop, “Reckless Girls” is a fun thriller and tangly mystery.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Reckless Girls” is included on the Goodreads lists “And Then There Were None: Deadly Parties”, and “Down By The Sea”.

Find “Reckless Girls” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Kate’s Review: “The Violence”

Book: “The Violence” by Delilah S. Dawson

Publishing Info: Del Rey Books, February 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Book Description: A mysterious plague that causes random bouts of violence is sweeping the nation. Now three generations of women must navigate their chilling new reality in this moving exploration of identity, cycles of abuse, and hope.

Chelsea Martin appears to be the perfect housewife: married to her high school sweetheart, the mother of two daughters, keeper of an immaculate home. But Chelsea’s husband has turned their house into a prison; he has been abusing her for years, cutting off her independence, autonomy, and support. She has nowhere to turn, not even to her narcissistic mother, Patricia, who is more concerned with maintaining the appearance of an ideal family than she is with her daughter’s actual well-being. And Chelsea is worried that her daughters will be trapped just as she is–then a mysterious illness sweeps the nation.

Known as The Violence, this illness causes the infected to experience sudden, explosive bouts of animalistic rage and attack anyone in their path. But for Chelsea, the chaos and confusion the virus causes is an opportunity–and inspires a plan to liberate herself from her abuser.

Review: Thank you to Del Rey for providing me with an eARC of this novel via NetGalley.

As this seemingly never ending pandemic goes on, there has been a pattern in my reading and other media consumption that has been consistent: I have been having a hard time with anything that has to do with mass illness and epidemic plotlines. It has tainted my reading experiences, it has made me put off shows I would normally be interested in (“The Stand”? “Station Eleven”? Not right now, thanks!), and I just don’t want to think about it in my reading or viewing things. So when “The Violence” by Delilah S. Dawson ended up in my inbox, I was hesitant. I eventually relented, expecting it to be an entertaining but probably difficult read.

But apparently all a pandemic story needs for me to be completely and utterly in love with it is professional wrestling?

By the way I’m still bitter that this show was cancelled before the last season could happen. (source)

Okay that’s not the only reason that I absolutely adored “The Violence”, but it was definitely one of many lovable aspects of this angry, snarky, and highly entertaining pandemic book. Dawson has created a scary virus mythology that she tackles with suspense, humor, and believability as to how it would unfold, given everything we’ve seen in the past two years. A strange virus causes people to completely disassociate and turn lethally violent, and we follow three generations of women in one family as they experience this new disease through the lens of their own experiences of victimhood and generational trauma. Our first is Claudia, a housewife who has been in a picture perfect but deeply abusive marriage to her nasty husband David. The second is Ella, Claudia’s oldest daughter who has seen the pain her mother has gone through, has protected her younger sister Brookie, and has found herself in a similar relationship with her seemingly wonderful boyfriend at school. And then there’s Patricia, Claudia’s narcissistic mother who is in her second marriage as a trophy wife and lives in privileged wealth. When The Violence strikes, and Claudia sees a potential out from her abusive marriage, all three have their lives change dramatically.

And I loved all three of these characters in all of their well rounded, complicated, and messy glory. Dawson explores all of them and all of their depths, and she has created strong, sometimes maddening, always relatable characters who I ended up caring about very deeply. I also loved how she draws out explorations of trauma and abuse and how victims of abuse find themselves in terrible cycles that they can’t escape from so easily, and how that in turn can make them do things that are harmful. It’s all so sympathetic and raw, and even when I thought that I was going to feel one way about a character, Dawson would surprise me with how I would end up feeling about them. I loved everyone in this book. I loved all of their journeys, be they literal ones or ones within themselves, and how they all changed and grew. And yes, without spoiling too much, I will say that Claudia ends up as part of a pro wrestling league during her storyline, so she absolutely became Betty Gilpin in my head during my time with this book.

And what of the Violence itself? I really enjoyed this virus mythology in this book, as Dawson creates something that feels as scary as it should without becoming overwrought with aspects that would make it ultimately untenable in a real world setting. The transmission of The Violence, the way that people try to study it, the things they discover about it, and the way that the public reacts to it all feel correct after all we’ve seen these past few years dealing with COVID. Dawson doesn’t feel a need to over explain, but she does find ways to make it seem believable in terms of transmission and origin, as well as how society would deal with it (there is a whole plot point about vaccine hoarding and how the privileged can deal better with pandemics than lower income people can, and man oh man do we know that that’s absolutely correct after everything). And while it’s all dark, it’s also supremely entertaining. As our characters find themselves in dangerous situations, and they certainly do, the tension is always on point and is paced in a way that it reads quick while still keeping the reader into what is coming next. There were plenty of moments where I was on the edge of my seat, and the tone definitely goes to twisted places, but still inspires a lot of hope. And I absolutely needed that hope in this story, since hope has felt hard to come by in the face of the inevitability of Omicron. Seeing these relatable and likable characters find hope in the hopelessness really, really resonated.

“The Violence” is my first 10 read of the year. It’s phenomenally entertaining and cathartic in this moment. Just great.

Rating 10: So. Much. Fun. Not to mention twisted, hopeful, and cathartic.

Reader’s Advisory

“The Violence” is included on the Goodreads lists “Anticipated 2022 Horror/Thriller Releases”, and “Books Containing One of the “Clue” Game Weapons On the Cover Or in the Title” (I had to, the concept is too good).

Find “The Violence” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Kate’s Review: “The Red Palace”

Book: “The Red Palace” by June Hur

Publishing Info: Feiwel & Friends, January 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I received access to an eARC via NetGalley from the author.

Book Description: Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, eighteen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father’s approval.

But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon’s closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher’s innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.

In her hunt for the truth, she encounters Eojin, a young police inspector also searching for the killer. When evidence begins to point to the Crown Prince himself as the murderer, Hyeon and Eojin must work together to search the darkest corners of the palace to uncover the deadly secrets behind the bloodshed.

June Hur, critically acclaimed author of The Silence of Bones and The Forest of Stolen Girls, returns with The Red Palace—a third evocative, atmospheric historical mystery perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Kerri Maniscalco.

Review: Thank you to June Hur for providing me with an eARC of this novel via NetGalley!

I was amped to see that June Hur had another historical mystery/thriller coming out this year, and I was very lucky to get an eARC from Hur herself through NetGalley. Given that Hurs books, which take place in historical Korea, are always a hit with me, I was eager to check out “The Red Palace”, a mystery involving shady royals, a palace nurse, and a creepy moment in Korean history involving murder.

The story itself is at times creepy and always suspenseful, given that someone is murdering palace nurses and it may well be the Crown Prince himself. As our characters Palace Nurse Hyeon and Inspector Eojin investigate, the puzzle pieces fall into place, but as they do so the stakes raise higher and higher. I liked both of them so much (and I loved their chemistry as they investigated together) that I was fully invested in their safety, almost as much as I was invested in their romance. Maybe that should be switched around in terms of priorities, but whatever. I thought that Hur did a really good job of putting all the clues in place and revealing them at just the right times, and I was genuinely surprised by some of the reveals. They all made perfect sense upon reflection, and I enjoyed going on the investigation with our protagonists. It feels a lot like a procedural formula that you could see in modern times, of the medical person assisting the police officer, and it is a tried and true trope that works here too.

And I really loved the protagonists, specifically Hyeon. Her backstory has a good balance of angst and determination, and I completely bought her motive for wanting to solve this mystery given her close relationship with Nurse Jeongsu, her mentor and mother figure (as he own mother is cold and their relationship is complicated) that has been accused of the murders of their fellow nurses. We didn’t see as much of Jeongsu as I would have liked, and there was more telling as opposed to showing their relationship, but we DID get to see the complicated one between Hyeon and her concubine mother, while her Lord father has denied her acknowledgement and care. It’s established that while Hyeon has a lot to lose by investigating, but we completely believe why she pursues it, doggedly so. And as I mentioned above, I really loved her working (and romantic tension filled) relationship with the young inspector Eojin. He, too, has a lot to prove and a lot to lose, and it means that they work as good foils for each other.

And finally, the time and place is great. Given that “The Red Palace” is partially inspired by the notorious life and death of Crown Prince Sado (a prince who did, indeed, murder a number of people and then was executed at the behest of his father), we get a look into a dark footnote in Korean history and get some expansion on the themes it harkens to. Hur’s books are always so great for time and place, jumping through various centuries in Korea, and this one had some good insight into the workings of the Palace culture and hierarchy for those who serve it. I also liked the fact that she put an author’s note in about Crown Prince Sado, which contextualized the story at hand and gave it a bit more depth. Man do I love me an author’s note that has to do with historical context!

I quite enjoyed “The Red Palace”. I implore historical mystery and thriller fans to pick up June Hur if you haven’t already.

Rating 8: A creepy and tense historical mystery based in notorious fact, “The Red Palace” is another fun thriller from June Hur with very likable characters and a unique time and place.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Red Palace” is included on the Goodreads lists “Historical Fiction w/ POC”, and “ATY 2022: Asian or Pacific Islander Author”.

Find “The Red Palace” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Kate’s Review: “Reprieve”

Book: “Reprieve” by James Han Mattson

Publishing Info: William Morrow, October 2021

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

Book Description: A chilling and blisteringly relevant literary novel of social horror centered around a brutal killing that takes place in a full-contact haunted escape room—a provocative exploration of capitalism, hate politics, racial fetishism, and our obsession with fear as entertainment.

On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, “reprieve,” they’ll win a substantial cash prize—a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house’s long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants.

Those who were present on that fateful night lend their points of view: Kendra Brown, a teenager who’s been uprooted from her childhood home after the sudden loss of her father; Leonard Grandton, a desperate and impressionable hotel manager caught in a series of toxic entanglements; and Jaidee Charoensuk, a gay international student who came to the United States in a besotted search for his former English teacher. As each character’s journey unfurls and overlaps, deceit and misunderstandings fueled by obsession and prejudice are revealed, forcing all to reckon with the ways in which their beliefs and actions contributed to a horrifying catastrophe.

An astonishingly soulful exploration of complicity and masquerade, Reprieve combines the psychological tension of classic horror with searing social criticism to present an unsettling portrait of this tangled American life.

Review: You all know what a big fan I am of Halloween, and while for various reasons I haven’t done this in a long time I also really enjoy doing haunted hayrides, and living in Minnesota it’s not hard to drive outside the city limits to find such shenanigans. But I’m not as big into walk through haunted houses, and am certainly NOT into any ‘extreme’ haunted houses. Locally we had something called The Soap Factory, which made you sign a waiver before you went through, but they closed a couple years ago. The most infamous ‘extreme’ haunt, however is almost assuredly McKamey Manor, a combined haunted house escape room puzzle experience that is notorious in the haunt industry. Yes, you sign a waiver, and you may be subjected to physical and psychological torture for hours on end all in the name of thrills. There is no question in my mind that “Reprieve” by James Han Mattson is partially inspired by McKamey Manor, and that made an already enjoyable reading experience that much better. This book seems to be polarizing. I’m firmly on the ‘love’ team.

“Reprieve” is a deeply layered and multidimensional horror story that comes to life through literary structure. The guts of the tale involve a slowly revealed violent incident at Quigley House, a hardcore escape room/haunted house that offers players serious money if they can solve the puzzles in all the ‘cells’ while actors inflict psychological terror upon them. What exactly happened is slowly revealed through court room transcripts, flashbacks through character perspectives, and the straight narrative of the timeline of what happened in each cell up until the moment in question. I liked the slow build up and the combined story telling techniques, and how all of them combined to make a building tension of dread while also getting to know each character and what role they play. I’m sure that it’s the literary structure that threw readers for a loop, as I can definitely say that the creative choices made here are probably not for everyone. Which is totally okay. I, however, really liked it. I’m not the kind of person who thinks that horror needs to be elevated or classed up by any stretch of the imagination, but “Reprieve” does this without feeling pretentious or disingenuous. The scares are knowing what is coming (even if only in part), seeing it all unfold, and seeing the way that the REAL horror is in the bad behavior of villainous people, unwitting or not.

This is also a really well done commentary on capitalism, the weaponization of entertainment, and race in America. Many of the characters are POC, some are LGBTQIA+, and many of them feel lost, isolated, or Othered. Kendra is a new resident of this small Nebraska community and one of the few Black people (outside of her family) and finds herself working at Quigley House. The ‘we’re family here’ mentality definitely pulls her in deeper when she feels isolated in other ways. Contestant Jaidee is an international student from Thailand who is also gay, and feels scrutiny from his college peers because of both of these facts. And then there are the characters of Leonard, a hotel worker who feels inadequate in his personal life, and John, who owns Quigley House. Their friendship is a toxic concoction that encapsulates misogyny, xenophobia, and aggression, and sets off the first domino that leads to tragedy. Mattson knows what he’s doing with these characters, and while they easily could have felt like two dimensional villains, we get into their minds a bit, and it makes them fascinating, and all the more upsetting.

Boy did I enjoy “Reprieve”. It’s one of the more unique horror novels I’ve read lately, and it finds the horrors in both an extreme haunted house, and the darker side of American cultural consciousness.

Rating 9: A stunning literary horror thriller, “Reprieve” is mesmerizing, blistering, and deeply sad.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Reprieve” is included on the Goodreads lists “Deliciously Chilling Horror”, and “If You Like ‘Squid Game’, You Should Read…”.

Find “Reprieve” at your library using WorldCat, or at a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!