Tropical Girl Reads

Title:- The Staying At Home Mother

Author:- Nicole Trope

Date published:- will be published on 3rd January 2023

No. of pages:- 286 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

Her chest tightens, her heart speeding up. The kitchen is chaos. She steps on something hard, and looks down. Toy dinosaurs are scattered everywhere. But her son is nowhere – her baby boy is gone.

The police arrive. She can’t look at her husband. Instead, she studies the network of lines on her shaking hands.

Then her phone beeps with a voice message. ‘Listen to it on speaker,’ says the detective.

A woman’s voice fills the air.

‘I’m assuming this is the Andrea Gately listed as a contact on the Missing Children of the World website. I’m calling to let you know that I’ve given your details to the police. Why are you using a picture of my son on a missing children’s website? Why are you using it and where did you get it?’

Nicole Trope has become one of my favorite psychological thriller authors and this must be the seventh book I have read from this author.

The story starts with a picture of a young boy named Jack posted on the missing children’s website by his mother named Andrea and a woman is demanding to know how Andrea got a picture of her own son. Andrea Gately is pregnant with her second child and is a loving mother to Jack although she is dealing with her gambling husband, Terry. She meets a woman named Gabby, who lives next door to Andrea’s house. Gabby’s husband had recently divorced from her and is now living in US and she has a son named Flynn. The two women become friends until Andrea gives Gabby to babysit Jack. Then Jack goes missing with Gabby.

I feel this was a fast paced thriller with some twists and turns along the way. The story is told in Andrea’s and Gabby’s POV and we do have an unreliable narrator The ending was what actually blew me away and there’s a slight cliff hanger, as to what is going to happen next. Overall, if you are looking for an unputdownable thriller, then this book is worth the hype–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Title:- Only Girl Alive (Eve Bennett Series Book 1)

Author:- Holly S Roberts

Date published:- will be published on 13th January 2023

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 280 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

As day breaks over the Tanner family home, the house is deadly silent and the door is firmly closed. Upstairs, the whole family lie cold and lifeless in their beds. All with the same look of fear in their unblinking eyes…

Detective Eve Bennet takes a steadying breath as she enters the main bedroom of the Tanners’ modest home in the tight-knit town of Hilldale, Utah. Mrs Tanner’s high-collared nightgown and her long plaited blonde hair are soaked in blood. Next to her, Mr Tanner’s hands are clasped together in a final prayer.

Filled with dread, Eve forces herself towards the children’s rooms. But instead of two children, she only finds one. Where is the youngest daughter, Hannah? And why are there long scratches across the walls?

Eve tracks Hannah down to her uncle’s house nearby. But he won’t let her step foot in the house. Eve knows what it’s like to be held captive by a family member, and fears for Hannah’s safety. What is he terrified Hannah might reveal?

Back at the Tanner home, Eve makes a shocking discovery in the dust covered attic. Mr Tanner was hiding a dark secret from the rest of the community—the kind of secret someone would kill for.

Realizing another family could be in danger, Eve runs from the house and stumbles into the path of the one man she spent years trying to forget— and he won’t let her get away this time. Can Eve escape the evil that has haunted her whole life? And will she catch the killer before another innocent family is murdered?

Wow! I have to say, this is one of the best series and unusual detective series I have read in a very long time!

Detective Eve Bennet is called to a crime scene in a fundamentalist Mormon community in Utah, where a family is brutally murdered. Upon investigation, they find that their youngest daughter, Hannah is missing. Eve Bennet, who also used to belong to this fundamentalist group before escaping to live with her mother is haunted by the past memories and the fact that she had to work with her stepbrother Aaron, with whom she doesn’t get along. As the police start investigating the case, they realize that the community is refusing to speak up, and that they are protecting someone. What are the secretes this community is hiding and who are they trying to protect?

Few months ago, I watched a docuseries on Netflix called Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey and talked about the Fundamentalist Mormon Group, polygamy and underage brides. Reading this book actually reminded me of those series and the things that Eve Bennett went through as a child while being in the community was too horrific to read, knowing that these things did happen in real life in that community. The author as mentioned at the back, tells how much research she had done about this community who are isolated from the world. Other than that, the story is fast paced, though not much twists and turns, but still the author manage to make the reader hook into the story and make the reader feel like they are part of the story as well. Overall, I cannot wait to read the next book of the series and worth 4.5 stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Title:- Pieces of Her

Author:- Karin Slaughter

Date published:- August 21st 2018

No. of pages:- 476 pages

Genre:- Psychological thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ?

Andrea knows everything about her mother, Laura. She knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Belle Isle; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . .

Have you watched the Netflix series? Well before I dwell into the differences between the Netflix and the book, let me tell you about the book.

I think this would be my fourth or fifth book written by Karin Slaughter. And so, when I read this book, I can guarantee that this book is the least violent book written by Karin Slaughter as most of her books are too gory and disturbing at times to read (but I enjoyed reading her books though)

The story starts with Andy Oliver who is working as a 911 dispatcher meeting for a brunch with Laura Oliver in a diner. While the mother and daughter duo are having brunch, a shooting incident takes place, killing another mother and daughter and Laura tackling the shooter, instantly killing him. This became a widespread news coverage and soon an unknown assailant comes and attacks Laura and Andrea with Laura giving directions to Andy to a garage and where she should go. And soon, Andy finds the car and finds a car, loaded with cash and polaroids of her own mother and state identities. Who is her mother actually?

To be honest, I did like this book but not as much as the other books. This was more like a cat and mouse chase game story dividing between present day set in 2018 and past set in 1987. I do like reading about the past scenes as I found these parts more interesting than the present day ones. I do like how the relationship between Andrea and her mother became better and some of the parts in the book kept me at the edge.

Now there’s a TV series based on this book and if you have watched the series, it is slightly different from the book. I will not tell what the differences are but I found the book better than the TV series in general. Overall this book worth four stars.

Title:- The Girl With the Dragon Fruit Tattoo (Trouble in Paradise Book 3)

Author:- Carrie Doyle

Date published:- will be published on 31st January 2023

Publisher:- Poisoned Pen Press

No. of pages:- 336 pages

Genre:- Cozy Mysteries

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3/5

Sometimes you have to rock the boat to catch a killer!

On the tropical island of Paraiso, Plum Lockhart has a new zest for life. Her villa rental company is growing like a weed, she’s solved a couple of pesky murders, and things with her long-time crush are finally starting to heat up.

Plum does sometimes miss her sparkly life in the Big Apple, so she’s thrilled when she gets an invite to dinner on the yacht, where she can mingle with famous singers, up-and-coming stars, society swans, and billionaires. After a few hours on the boat, Plum wonders what secrets are lurking beneath the surface.

Two days later, one of the servers from the yacht―a girl with a dragonfruit tattoo―washes up dead, and Plum’s sweet bit of paradise quickly goes sour. As the ship prepares to set sail across the Caribbean, Plum hops onboard to investigate the case, undercover. But the best laid plans turn deadly as it becomes clear that everyone on the boat has a motive and Plum must sleuth out the killer before she becomes the next victim…

When a girl with a dragonfruit tattoo was murdered, the police ask Plum to take up on the invite to board on the yatch. She meets her friend Ellen, and her husband Joel who seems to be flirting with an upcoming actress India and there were others such as Nashelle, Harris, Robert and Suki.

In my opinion, the romance between Plum and Juan Kevin was interesting but then the real story actually started after about 30% of the book. The story wasn’t as interesting but it wasn’t boring either. There were so many short sides where it was left unanswered such as what happened to Juan’s ex wife Victoria the rivarly between Carmen and Alexander and Plum’s business. Things got interested towards the end, which is where finally my interest was piqued. Nonetheless, there were some funny parts in the book that will make you laugh out loud and the characters are also interesting as well.

Overall, this book worth 3 stars. Not as good as the previous books but not bad either.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen press for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Carrie Doyle is a bestselling author of thirteen books. (She also has written under the name Carrie Karasyov.)

THE MURDER GAME was nominated as one of the best YA books of 2021 by Suspense Magazine.

IT TAKES TWO TO MANGO was named one of the best books of 2021 by KING’S RIVER LIFE MAGAZINE.

Her new book, SOMETHING’S GUAVA GIVE just dropped in January 2022.

Carrie checks Goodreads every day and loves it when readers reach out!

Title:- Best Friends Forever

Author:- Shannon Hollinger

Date published:- will be published on 18th January 2023

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 341 pages

Genre:- Psychological thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

I emerge from the trees, drenched in sweat, my voice lost as I take in the scene in front of me. The blood. The body. Emma’s eyes meet mine for a second. “It was an accident,” she whispers.

Emma and I were childhood best friends. We did everything together. Until that terrible night in the woods.

I couldn’t tell anyone what I’d seen. We never discussed it, but our bond was too strong; I could never betray my best friend. Even if she had killed someone.

But I also couldn’t stay in town and watch her live a normal life, knowing what she’d done. So I left.

Now, ten years later, I’m back. The guilt and the fear have stayed with me. And I have realized I need to reveal the truth if I’m ever going to move on.

But I never get the chance. Because the day I turn up, Emma is found dead, and the way she died means I start to doubt everything I thought I knew about that night all those years ago.

As my grief turns to anger at all those lost years of friendship, I realise with horror that Emma might not have been the only killer. Someone else is out there. Someone who was close to us both, someone who knew the smallest details of what had happened back then. Who from our small town could have murdered not once, but twice? And who’s next…?

The story starts with Kate returning back to her childhood home after running away from a traumatic event that happened. When she returns back, she finds out that her best friend Emma had died…or murdered. The story goes back and forth with Kate reminiscing the events on what happened on that fateful night and trying to find the reason as why Emma was dead. In the past, Kate witnessed an event, leaving her younger sister Lily traumatized and witnessing Emma murderding someone.

Initially, to me this started a bit slow burn but in the middle of the book, it got interesting with the twists and turns and soon hard to put down the book. The story is mainly told from Kate’s POV and the past event is described in the third person’s narrative. I simply couldn’t put the book afterwards, wanting to know what is going to happen next. The ending…now that was what made me rate this book higher. The ending was completely highly unexpected and twisted that I literally was like OMG. Nevertheless, I cannot believe that this was the author’s debut book and is looking forward to read more of her books in future.

If you are looking for a twisted and unputdownable thriller that will keep you at the edge, then this book is one for you, worth four and a half stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based om my honest opinion only.

With degrees in Crime Scene Technology & Physical Anthropology, Florida author Shannon Hollinger hasn’t just seen the dark side of humanity – she’s been elbow deep inside of it! She finds writing to be a much cleaner way to spend her time than the autopsy suite. Most days it smells better, too.

Her debut novel, the psychological thriller Best Friends Forever, will be released in January 2023 and is the first of a five-book deal with publisher Bookouture.

Her short fiction has appeared in Suspense Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and The Saturday Evening Post, among a number of other magazines and anthologies, and her story Lady Killer was a finalist for the 2021 Al Blanchard Award sponsored by the New England Crime Bake.