Tropical Girl Reads

We were all there that prom night, but one of us didn’t make it home…

Ten years ago: We laughed together on the dance floor that night, our dresses glittering in the swirling lights. One final night of fun before the rest of our lives. We couldn’t have known that for one of us, it would be our last…

Now: They say that I’m the lucky one, the survivor. But no one knows the truth—the thing I’ve been running from all this time. How I escaped.

Back in my hometown a decade later—the place I’ve avoided—I can feel the questioning eyes on me, the whispers. The rumors.

I can’t shake the feeling that I am being followed, the shadow of a reflection in the glass storefronts, the murmur of footsteps before I turn to look. But no one’s ever there, and I tell myself it’s all in my head. Then the anonymous messages land in my inbox, overly familiar and insistent: I’m watching. I’ve been waiting for you.

I should have known I couldn’t run forever. I want to feel safe surrounded by my best friends. But everyone has something to hide, and I don’t know who I can trust.

Someone out there won’t let me forget what really happened that night, what I promised. What if, this time, I’m not so lucky?

After reading this author’s debut novel, I was excited to read her next novel The Lucky One and I must say, this was a very interesting premise.

Norah is a sole survivor of ruthless serial killer, known as Hansel and had watched her friend Augusta killed by Hansel. Now almost ten years later, Norah who is known a WWE coach living in California moves to Kansas where her story is being adapted into a book. But soon a dead body, similar to what Hansel had murdered years ago was found by the alley, implying Hansel is back.

This was a fast paced thriller with twists and turns. The story is mainly told in Norah’s perspective and devides between the present day and the past, when Norah escapes from the clutches of the serial killer. The great thing about this book was there were too many suspects and one of them, someone close to them, could be that notorious serial killer. Although I prediced as to who would be the killer, this did not stop me from enjoying this book. Quite a page turner that will keep you at the edge and the author had done a good job of keeping the reader in suspense.

So if you like a fast paced thriller, then this book is one for you. Worth five stars!

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

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.

Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.

Just as he did to her.

This was really an unusual thriller that I read and I actually enjoyed reading this thriller. This is a story about a woman who is known as “Jane Doe” (we don’t know if that’s her real name) coming back to Minneapolis to avenge on her friend’s Meg’s death. She meets Steven at the work, who is or might be responsible for Meg’s suicide and soon works her way to make Steven fall in love with him. Eventually, she is able to enact her revenge plan.

The story is mainly told from Jane’s perspective and I was surprised that I actually enjoyed reading this book. From the first chapter till the end, I was hooked into the story, wondering if Jane will actually kill Steven or not. The author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Though there wasn’t much twists in the story, nonetheless, I enjoyed the fast paced theme in this book. The ending was really a gripping and unexpected ending. Overall, it was a fast paced and unputdownable thriller that will keep you at the edge of the seat. Worth four and a half stars!

It used to be more of a community round here. I was going to say something like this wouldn’t have happened then, but it would, wouldn’t it? Maybe a lot of it was kept quiet. But was it really any safer? Is anywhere safe?

Kath has lived on the same London estate for decades. Lately she’s become friendly with the little girl next door, who is often left alone for hours at a time while her mum is at work.

They have a system. When Mina gets home from school to the empty flat, she knocks on the wall three times. Knock, knock, knock. I’m home safe and sound.

But one day Mina’s knock doesn’t come. Kath raises the alarm and the police begin the search. Kath was the only person looking out for Mina – now she might be the only one who can bring her home

This was actually a good thriller and I simply couldn’t put the book down as I was reading this. Nelson Flats is where Kath, a seventy something year old woman lives and in another apartment, Mina and her mother Sandy also living in that apartment. Kath befriends the little girl Mina as Sandy spends most of the time working and have a sort of routine where MIna knocks on Kath’s door. But one day, Mina doesn’t knock on the door and Kath realizes that Mina had gone missing.

The story is told from Kath’s, Sandy and another man named Den’s points of views as Den becomes the suspect. It was quite unputdownable as well as Den started facing backlashes from the community as they suspect that he was responsible for Mina’s disappearance. Honestly, the author made all these three characters, Kath, Sandy and Den unreliable narrators that one of them could be responsible for Mina’s disappearance. This was also a page turner as well. I wanted to really find out what really happened to Mina in the end. Not much of twists and turns you normally expect in a thriller but nonetheless, it was an engaging thriller. The ending was slightly predictable as well.

Overall, this was a good, unputdownable thriller–worth four stars!

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

20 years ago, a little girl disappeared. You thought it was your fault. Until now…

To the outside world, I am just like any other mother. I juggle my job with the school run and taking care of my mum, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My family is everything and I want to keep them safe.

But when a young woman arrives on my doorstep, a past secret that I have spent years running from comes hurtling into my present.

In an instant, I am taken back to a dream trip to Thailand and to a job as a nanny that changed my life forever. It was supposed to be my chance at a better life. But it turned into a nightmare.

I try to tell myself that I am overreacting. But the woman in front of me looks so much like him. Is she the child who vanished without a trace? Does she want to be part of my life, or destroy it?

Wow this was such a gripping psychological thriller that had me hooked from the beginning till the end and was up till all night reading this book!

Hayley and Lars are in a bit of a financial problem that they decided to look for a lodger. So when a woman named Johanna answered the ad, Johanna reminded her of someone long time ago…Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, while Hayley and her friends are backpacking around Thailand, Hayley answers an ad that was looking for a nanny. She gets the job but her dream job soon becomes a nightmare…

The story shifts back and forth between the present day and the year 1999 when Hayley was in Thailand. I enjoyed reading the part where Hayley was in Thailand and the descriptions of the Bangkok including the temples and the lives of the expats living in Bangkok for the reader felt like they are also in Bangkok with the main character. The present was also an interesting read as a man had found out about Hayley’s secret back in Thailand and is pursuing after her coupled by the fact that Johanna makes a shocking revelation. There were some unexpected twists and turns along the way and the pace of the story was fast paced that the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story! The ending was a complete shocker to me and completely unexpected.

Overall, if you are looking for a thriller that will take you on a roller coaster ride, then I highly recommend this fast-paced unputdownable thriller that is packed with twists and turns–worth five stars!

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

You can save hundreds of lives. Or the one that matters most.

A claustrophobic thriller set over twenty hours on one airplane flight, with the heart-stopping tension of The Last Flight and the wrenching emotional intensity of Room, Hostage takes us on board the inaugural nonstop flight from London to Sydney.

Mina is trying to focus on her job as a flight attendant, not the problems of her five-year-old daughter back home, or the fissures in her marriage. But the plane has barely taken off when Mina receives a chilling note from an anonymous passenger, someone intent on ensuring the plane never reaches its destination. Someone who needs Mina’s assistance and who knows exactly how to make her comply.

It’s twenty hours to landing. A lot can happen in twenty hours.

So this is the fourth Clare Mackintosh book I have read and after reading her debut novel “I LET YOU GO”, I was determined to read all her novels.

HOSTAGE is very different type of thriller from the psychological thrillers that Clare Mackintosh usually writes. In this novel, Mina, a flight attendant is getting on the inaugral non stop flight from London to Sydney when she gets a threatening note from an anonymous person, asking her to do something for them if she wants to save her daughter Sophia. Meanwhile back in London, Mina’s husband, Adam with the daughter Sophia is locked up in the cellar by the babysitter Becca.

To me, this felt more like an action packed thriller with a mysterious Passenger 1G who seemed to be in charge of the hijacking situation. The scenes in the plane was so dramatic that I actually feel like watching a blockbuster movie. The story is told from Mina’s and Adam’s perspectives, each of them carrying a secret of their own–Adam’s gambling addict and the fact that he owed money to loan sharks and Mina’s past. The ending felt like a heart beater as the reader was put on the edge of the seat, wondering what is going to happen next and the Epilogue was completely and totally unexpected and I must say, I did like how the author ended the book.

Overall, if you like an action packed thriller that will keep you on the edge, try this book out–worth four stars!

Such a quiet and ordinary wife and mother. Who will even notice what she’s done?

Lillian Smith leads an unexceptional life, writing obituaries and killing time with her inattentive husband and disconnected son. Then she meets David, a handsome stranger, in a coffee shop. Lured into an affair, she invents a new persona, one without strings, deadlines, or brooding husbands.

Lillian has never felt so reckless, unpredictable, or wanted. But as her affair with David intensifies, she withdraws from everything that’s real, even her closest friend. When evidence of her life as a secret lover finds its way onto her son’s social media, she risks ruining much more than her marriage or reputation.

As lies beget lies, Lillian’s two worlds spiral dangerously out of control. And betrayals run deeper than she imagines. Because Lillian isn’t the only one leading a double life

This is such a gripping psychological thriller that I nearly stayed up all ngiht finishing this book! And still my mind is reeling on what I have just read!

This is the second book I have read from this author. The story starts with Lillian Smith who writes obituaries and killing time by posting murder trivia on the Twitter. She is having an inattentive husband Mike and a son Jacob who seems disconnected to her. Then she meets handsome man named David and begins a love affair with him. But soon, with the affair, Lillian’s life soon spiral out of control.

The story was told from Lillian’s and Mike’s perspectives and both the characters are kind of unreliable. The first part of the story was a few weeks before the “DEATH” of someone–we do not know who is going to die but we do know that it has to be one of the characters. Then when you reach the middle of the book, you soon find out who has died and that’s when the story starts getting interesting. There are so much twists and turns and I feel like I was watching a very interesting criminal show that is putting me on the edge of my seat! So much of unexpected moments something that I did not expect showed up in the book, including the fact that Mike too had flaws and had an affair with someone. The ending was what completely blew me away when the killer was finally revaled.

So if you are looking for a nail biting thriller that will put you on the edge with twists and turns, then this book is one for you–worth 4.5 stars!

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