All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Have you all noticed that books that are in the thriller category are compared to one or both of the following books? It's either "for fans of Girl on the Train," or "for fans of Gone Girl," read this title. I think All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda can stand just fine on its own two feet. This book will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, and keep you wondering who was involved in, and who was ultimately responsible in the disappearance of two girls, a decade apart. When Corinne disappeared, you haven't the faintest idea how it happened, until the story slowly unfolds and characters are caught up in the fray. Each one of them becoming a part of the puzzle, but the author holds that last piece, the one that fits it all together, in the palm of her hand. In a town full of ghosts, both past and present, Nicolette is back in Cooley Ridge and the story that follows is incredible.

Megan Miranda crafts a narrative that wraps you in from the very start, and weaves an intricate web of deception that readers will be stuck in until the ending is revealed. A perfect poolside read!

 

Synopsis via Amazon
It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I'm Thinking of Ending Things
By Iain Reid

With a story that keeps you on your toes from start to finish, I have to applaud Iain Reid on his debut novel. About halfway into the book things start looking really odd when Jake and his girlfriend arrive at the farm house. Up until this point, you just think Jake and his girlfriend are just a normal couple. The story of the pigs had me closing my eyes, and swallowing a big lump down my throat. The whole tale, including the commentary sections that reveal what happened leaves you wondering who the Caller is, who has been killed, and how everything is connected in the whole story. When you begin with a line like "I should have ended things", you know you are in for a book that will leave you guessing (and horrified) but will also have you checking your caller I.D. a little closely now. Sleeping with the lights on for a bit now. You have been warned!

Synopsis via Amazon
In this smart, suspenseful, and intense literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel pulls you in from the very first page…and never lets you go.

Happy Reading!
*Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press for my copy of  I'm Thinking of Ending Things*

My Mrs. Brown by William Norwich

Featuring 

My Mrs. Brown
by William Norwich

Pearls of wisdom can be found in each and every book that we read, but there are many in My Mrs. Brown that resonate with the reader. It is true that once you think positively and you practice those thoughts they become true. The power of an Oscar De La Renta dress to change your life becomes the main focus of this novel, and readers can delight in the chosen words that convey a message from author to reader.

Synopsis via Simon & Schuster 
From William Norwich, the well-known fashion writer and editor, an unforgettable novel about a woman with a secret who travels to New York City on a determined quest to buy a special dress that represents everything she wants to say about that secret…and herself.

Sometimes a dress isn’t just a dress.

Emilia Brown is a woman of a certain age. She has spent a frugal, useful, and wholly restrained life in Ashville, a small town in Rhode Island. Overlooked especially by the industries of fashion and media, Mrs. Brown is one of today’s silent generations of women whose quiet no-frills existences would make them seem invisible. She is a genteel woman who has known her share of personal sorrows and quietly carried on, who makes a modest living cleaning and running errands at the local beauty parlor, who delights in evening chats with her much younger neighbor, twenty-three-year-old Alice Danvers.

When the grand dame of Ashville passes away, Mrs. Brown is called upon to inventory her estate and comes across a dress that changes everything. The dress isn’t a Cinderella confection; it’s a simple yet exquisitely tailored Oscar de la Renta sheath and jacket—a suit that Mrs. Brown realizes, with startling clarity, will say everything she has ever wished to convey. She must have it. And so, like the inspired heroine of Paul Gallico’s 1958 classic Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris, Mrs. Brown begins her odyssey to purchase thedress. For not only is the owning of the Oscar de la Renta a must, the intimidating trip to purchase it on Madison Avenue is essential as well. If the dress is to give Mrs. Brown a voice, then she must prepare by making the daunting journey—both to the emerald city and within herself.
Timeless, poignant, and appealing, My Mrs. Brown is a novel for every mother in the world, every woman who ever wanted the perfect dress, and every child who wanted to give it to her.

Happy Reading!
*Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my copy of  My Mrs. Brown*

Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

There isn't a doubt in my mind that Chris Cleave is a brilliant, talented writer, and this book is no exception. Readers who enjoyed Little Bee will devour this novel as well. All readers will find this book to be an enjoyable read, but fans of historical fiction will be particularly excited for this novel. For me, the connection to the main character was a the selling point. I hope you all enjoy reading Everyone Brave Is Forgiven. 

Synopsis
It’s 1939 and Mary, a young socialite, is determined to shock her blueblood political family by volunteering for the war effort. She is assigned as a teacher to children who were evacuated from London and have been rejected by the countryside because they are infirm, mentally disabled, or—like Mary’s favorite student, Zachary—have colored skin.

Tom, an education administrator, is distraught when his best friend, Alastair, enlists. Alastair, an art restorer, has always seemed far removed from the violent life to which he has now condemned himself. But Tom finds distraction in Mary, first as her employer and then as their relationship quickly develops in the emotionally charged times. When Mary meets Alastair, the three are drawn into a tragic love triangle and—while war escalates and bombs begin falling around them—further into a new world unlike any they’ve ever known.

A sweeping epic with the kind of unforgettable characters, cultural insights, and indelible scenes that made Little Bee so incredible, Chris Cleave’s latest novel explores the disenfranchised, the bereaved, the elite, the embattled. Everyone Brave Is Forgiven is a heartbreakingly beautiful story of love, loss, and incredible courage.

Happy Reading!

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

I find it utterly fascinating that there are people in the world who change their identities and lives every so often. To feel the freedom to let yourself become another person time and time again is an unknown dimension. In Lisa Lutz's The Passenger, the main character does just that. Burner phones and cash-only transactions become the M.O. for Tanya who eventually becomes other women throughout the story. She becomes another person to evade the possibility of being discovered for the person she left behind long ago. As the story unfolds, you read letters written from the past, that translate into the current situation and the reader begins to understand why Tanya ran in the first place. Tanya's situation becomes clear, and just as you think you know what will happen, the story takes a turn. You find out just who Tanya really is, and what she is running from but the twist at the end is what is truly wild! This book definitely keeps you at the edge of your seat, and the pages turning like mad. 

 

Synopsis

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.

She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.

It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret . . . can she outrun her past?

With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.

Happy Reading!