Tag Archives: Suspense

Book Review

Review: The New Neighbors

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The New NeighborsThe New Neighbors
By Simon Lelic
Berkley, 9780451490452, April 2018, 352pp.

The Short of It:

You might have a pre-conceived notion about what this book is about but you’d be wrong.

The Rest of It:

Jack and Syd find their dream home. It’s way outside of their means, but after the open house where couple after couple put in their offers, they toss theirs in as well thinking they don’t have a chance in hell of it being accepted but why not?

Well, it’s accepted.

The house is large and majestic in the way large, neglected homes are. It’s has good bones and potential but Jack and Syd can’t shake the feeling that something is off. When Jack goes into the attic to find the source of a strange smell, he discovers something and from there, one bad thing after another happens.

This was a good story but it’s not all “creepy house” and woo-woo if you get my drift. I think it’s marketed to be that way and in all honesty, the title doesn’t quite fit the story. It took a long time for something to happen and it wasn’t until 100 pages in that I began to really look forward to reading it. This is one of those reads where if you give it time, it does pay off in the end. There are some twists and interesting choices made with character and plot but ones that had me turning those pages. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Source: Copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Book Review

Review: When The Stars Go Dark

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When the Stars Go Dark

When the Stars Go Dark
By Paula McLain
Ballantine Books, 9780593237892, April 13, 2021, 384pp.

The Short of It:

A grieving detective flees her family for her old hometown and becomes enmeshed in a missing persons case.

The Rest of It:

Anna Hart’s experience as a missing persons detective comes in handy when she returns to her hometown only to find that a girl has gone missing. Anna left home after a tragic event shook her to the core. Trying to put some space between herself and what’s happened, she quickly agrees to help her friend Will when he shares his concern about the case he’s working on. He has no leads and with Anna’s help, he hopes to piece things together and put the suspect behind bars.

Anna’s ability to accurately read young people is a result of her time spent in the foster care system. She understands them better than most because she’s seen how abuse and emotional damage can play a role in how they view themselves and it’s this edge that allows her to focus on certain details that other detectives might overlook. As Anna and Will work together to find this missing girl, Anna can’t help but become obsessed with the case. She must find her and she must find her alive.

What I liked about When the Stars Go Dark, is that the author weaves in actual missing persons cases like Polly Klaas, which gives this story an edge and a realistic feel. I would have liked a little more of a lead-up to the suspect. The big reveal felt sudden and rushed. I was reading a review copy and it’s possible some paragraphs were left out because all of a sudden the suspect was identified. I actually went back a few pages to verify.

Anyway, I was immediately pulled into this story but felt like it could have gone a little deeper into Anna’s past to make it really compelling.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.