I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Murder Thriller, Mysteries
Format - Paperback
Length - 299 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

What would it take to make you intervene?

When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it―until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls―beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard―has disappeared.
A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters―letters that make her fear for her life.
Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night―and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own.
Someone knows where Anna is―and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

 

*My Review* 

 

I did NOT see the ending coming!!! Although the book was slow and not all that suspenseful, I would've never guessed the ending. In a way it made me think in the beginning...would I have said anything? Honestly, I don't think I would have, or many other people. Mind your business is just how things are. I didn't really care for the main character, Ella. I mean bad things happen to good people all the time. Even if she had spoken up, teenagers will do what they want and I don't think it would've changed anything....except then there wouldn't have been a book.
Regardless, Ella becomes obsessed with the disappearance of Anna which makes her a bit creepy. The only reason I rated the book as high as I did is because of the ending.

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘
Genre - Kidnapping Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Murder Thriller
Format - Paperback
Length - 432 pages


*Amazon Blurb*

The danger isn’t all in your head . . . 

Growing up, Kate Priddy was always a bit neurotic, experiencing momentary bouts of anxiety that exploded into full blown panic attacks after an ex-boyfriend kidnapped her and nearly ended her life. When Corbin Dell, a distant cousin in Boston, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate, an art student in London, agrees, hoping that time away in a new place will help her overcome the recent wreckage of her life. 

But soon after her arrival at Corbin’s grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered. When the police question her about Corbin, a shaken Kate has few answers, and many questions of her own—curiosity that intensifies when she meets Alan Cherney, a handsome, quiet tenant who lives across the courtyard, in the apartment facing Audrey’s. Alan saw Corbin surreptitiously come and go from Audrey’s place, yet he’s denied knowing her. Then, Kate runs into a tearful man claiming to be the dead woman’s old boyfriend, who insists Corbin did the deed the night that he left for London. 

When she reaches out to her cousin, he proclaims his innocence and calms her nerves . . . until she comes across disturbing objects hidden in the apartment—and accidently learns that Corbin is not where he says he is. Could Corbin be a killer? And what about Alan? Kate finds herself drawn to this appealing man who seems so sincere, yet she isn’t sure. Jetlagged and emotionally unstable, her imagination full of dark images caused by the terror of her past, Kate can barely trust herself . . . So how could she take the chance on a stranger she’s just met?
Yet the danger Kate imagines isn’t nearly as twisted and deadly as what’s about to happen. When her every fear becomes very real. 

And much, much closer than she thinks.

*My Review* 

 

I was really too into this one. I know that Kate is supposed to be neurotic, but she really just kind of annoyed me with how involved she got with things and then seemed to take everything into her own hands. For me there wasn't much suspense as I felt I was able to figure things out quite quickly.

The Widow by Fiona Barton

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Kidnapping Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Murder Thriller
Format - Paperback
Length - 432 pages


*Amazon Blurb*

There’s a lot Jean hasn’t said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment. 

Now her husband is dead, and there’s no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. She can tell them that there were secrets. There always are in a marriage. 

The truth—that’s all anyone wants. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything...

*My Review* 

 

How faithful would you be to a man that's dead. Do you tell the story you've always told, do you tell the people what you want them to hear or do you tell them the truth? As much as I enjoyed this book, I found Jean another character that really annoyed me (seems to be almost every book lately, so maybe it's me). She seems to just go along with whatever any tells her. First her husband, then the reporter and even the police. 

If her husband is innocent of the crime everyone thinks he committed then why not move and start somewhere fresh where you don't have people practically living on your doorstep for the story? If he's guilty, then why hide it? He's dead and not going to hurt you if you tell.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Murder Thriller
Format - Hardcover
Length - 336 Pages


*Amazon Blurb*


Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations―a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

*My Review* 

Alicia is found guilty of murdering her husband. The question is...did she really do it? No one can be 100% certain because she refuses to speak. Remember the saying, actions speak louder than words? What if the person won't even give any action or reaction to go on? She wouldn't give the police a statement, wouldn't talk to her lawyer and is now doing her time in an insane asylum. I mean she has to be crazy if she won't speak, right?

I am not one to be vocal while reading a book, but when the bomb drops I actually said "No way, that's so messed up." and then proceeded to rethink what I had already read. My husband looked at me like I had 2 heads. He isn't a reader, but I made he listen while I described what had happened and what I'd just found out.
I mean that book bomb...... WHAT?!?! If you are looking for a book with a major twist, then you MUST read this one.

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

An Unwanted Guest

by Shari Lapena

Availble on Amazon

Rating (1-5) 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Murder thriller, Psychological thriller
Format - Hardcover
Length - 290 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away

It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.

So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.

Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic.

Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm--and one another.


*My Review* 

I enjoyed this book for a few reasons. First is that is is set in Upstate New York where I live. I always enjoy reading books set in my local area. Second, the book takes place in the winter and I was reading it during that same time of the year. So when there was a snowstorm followed by and ice storm, I was able to relate with the weather. My third reason is that is was a really book.

The guests are all enjoying the looks of the beautiful resort they find themselves staying at. They are all looking forward to a weekend away, well most of them anyways. The first night one of the guests is found at the bottom of the staircase, dead. Was it an accident or did someone push her? That day a ice storm makes the power go out and travel impossible. When the second body is found the guests really start wondering if it was just a coincidence that another accident happened or worse.