Tropical Girl Reads

Title:- The Influencers

Author:- S.V. Leonard

No. of pages:- 276 pages

Date published:- will be published on March 10th 2022

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:- 4/5 stars

A filter can hide all manner of secrets…

When budding true crime blogger Maggie Shaw is invited to the Influencer of the Year awards, it feels like everything is finally falling into place. The party is held on a glamorous yacht and presents the perfect opportunity for Maggie to network – the first step towards achieving her dream of turning her hobby into a full-time job. But by the end of the night, there’s one question on everybody’s lips: who killed Stella Knight?

Stella was beautiful and famous. Her life appeared to be perfect. But behind the façade, Stella had made a number of enemies – and all of them were on board.

A page-turning crime thriller, perfect for fans of Catherine Cooper and Lucy Foley.

Maggie Shaw is a budding blogger and gets invited to a high profile award show, with a party held in a glamorous yatch. While trying to gain connections, the party soon turns to a nightmare when a famous blogger Stella Knight was found murdered. Maggie along with another blogger must find who killed Stella Knight.

The story first started slow and I was slightly bored. The story is mainly told from Maggie’s perspectives as Maggie is determined to find out who killed the infamous blogger. I felt like I was watching some soap opera crime drama show with all those wannabe rich people and bloggers who wanted to be recognized. But despite the flaws, the writing was good and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. But towards the end, the story started getting more interesting and…yes the reason my initial 3 star rating bumped up to a 4 star rating was the ending! The ending was completely unexpected and I was literally flabbergasted!

So as I mentioned, the ending in this book was really good despite the fact that the story started slow, not very fast paced and not much of twists and turns. Worth four stars in my opinion!

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

S. V. Leonard grew up in the little coastal town of Formby, a suburb of Liverpool. She studied Classics at Oxford University and has been lucky enough to live in Australia, Poland, and Malaysia. She is now based in London. When not writing, she can be found breaking out of escape rooms; doing historical walking tours of London; or drinking wine.

Title:- Turn of the Key

Author:- Ruth Ware

No. of pages:- 337 pages

Date published:- August 8th 2019

Publisher:- Vintage Digital

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

When Rowan comes across the advert, it seems too good to be true: a live-in nanny position, with an extremely generous salary.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare – one that will end with her in a cell awaiting trial for murder.

She knows she’s made mistakes.

But she’s not guilty – at least not of murder.

Which means someone else is…

This is the third book I have read of Ruth Ware and since I heard so many raving reviews about this book, I was excited when I got a copy of this book.

Rowan who is working at a nursery answers an ad where the ad says they were looking for a live in nanny in a mansion up in Scotland. Rowan answers the ad, goes to the interview and was surprised when she received the job offer. But soon, she encounters a series of things inside the house, and in one of the incidents, she ends up in a jail, where the story is told through the letters she was writing to the lawyer.

As usual, this was really good–from the first chapter to the end. You as a reader will think, ok…how did Rowan end up in jail? Rowan denies killing the child and as a result, you get hooked into the book. I didn’t like the children except for Ellie and Petra though and then there are some twists and turns in the book that will make you chill down the spine. As you read, you wonder, is this a supernatural horror or is there is someone, or something sinister? Nonetheless, this was fast paced packed with unexpected twists and turns and the author does a good job of drawing the reader into the story.

However, even though this book is a standalone, the ending was sort of a cliff hanger, inviting the reader to decide what was the fate of Rowan? Was she found not guilty? Or did she kill herself while in jail? Those questions have no answers and I would like to imagine what really happened to Rowan.

Overall, this book will keep you up all night–worth five stars!

Ruth Ware is an international number one bestseller. Her thrillers In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs Westaway, The Turn of the Key and One by One have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the Sunday Times and New York Times, and she is published in more than 40 languages. She lives on the south coast of England, with her family.

Visit http://www.ruthware.com to find out more, or find her on facebook or twitter as @RuthWareWriter

Title:- Little Rumours

Author:- Bryony Pearce

Date published:- will be published on March 31st 2022

Publisher:- Avon

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

It started with a rumour. But rumours can be deadly…

In a small town, three mothers wave goodbye to their children at the school gates.

Naomi has lived in Exton Cross since she was born, and she knows everything there is to know about everyone.

Aleema hates it here. It’s been three years and she’s yet to make a single friend. And she’s sure the other mums whisper about her behind her back.

Kelly is an outsider. New to the town, she arrives with nothing but her son – and a dark secret.

By the end of the school day, one of their children will be missing. And rumours will swirl that one of them knows why…

Not sure why there’s some low rating but I actually enjoyed reading this book!

Three families living in the small town called Exton Cross. Naomi has lived in Exton Cross all her life. Aleema is trying to be a part of the small town and Kelly is new to the town with a dark secret. Their children, Leon, Mia and Joe become friends. Then one day, one of them goes missing.

The story started out slightly slow and a bit boring but gradually, it started reaching the climax when Kelly’s dark secret was revealed later in the middle of the book. The plot is really good as well and the writer does a good job of drawing the reader into the story. The story is told from the perspectives of Naomi, Kelly and Aleema and so as a reader, you could get an insight of what each of these characters are thinking. I was really literally hooked into the book and couldn’t put it down, wanting to know what is going to happen next! And there were some parts where it was emotional and slightly heartbreaking. The ending was good. I have read this author’s previous book and in my honest opinion, I think this book is better than her previous book.

Overall, I actually enjoyed this fast paced thriller that is unputdownable and would keep you are the edge of the seat. Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Avon for giving me the invitation to review this book. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Bryony Pearce writes dark thrillers, both for young people and adults. Her Young Adult novels include, among others, award-winners Angel’s Fury, the Phoenix duology and Savage Island.

Her adult thrillers are published by Avon books.

Bryony also writes science fiction short stories for anthologies, published by Newcon Press.

Bryony lives in a forest with her husband, two children (a girl and boy) and cat. She loves chocolate, wine and books.

Before becoming a writer and a mother she went to Cambridge university, then worked in the Market Research sector in London.

She visits schools, festivals and events and loves it if people come and say hello … particularly if they have enjoyed her work.

Title:- The Escape Room

Author:- Megan Goldin

Date published:- July 30th 2019

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

No. of pages:- 368 pages

Rating:-

Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style―but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.

Invited to participate in an escape room challenge as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high-rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.

Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?

After reading Night Swim by Megan Goldin, this book has been in my want to read list for a while, as this is her debut book. Finally, I got my hands on this book and was excited to read this, wanting to know, why this had so much of raving reviews.

And…I was not disappointed at all.

Vincent, Sam, Sylvie and Jules are ambitious Wall Street financiers. So they are invited for a “escape room” challenge and they were locked in the elevator on their way to the HR. What turned to be solving crptic codes soon became a nightmare, when the lights go off and each of them reveals a dark secret that made them climb up the corporal ladder.

This was…such an intense book! The story divides between the time when the four were stuck in an elevator to the the past, told from the perspective of a young woman named Sara Hall, who gets the job in the same investment bank company as well. From start to finish, this book was intense, fast paced and the author has done a good job of drawing the reader into the story. As a reader, you wonder, are they going to make out of the elevator alive…or will all four of them die? Who is behind this sick escape room challenge? Is it one of their own? I was glued to the book, to see what was going to happen at the end. The twist at the end was so unexpected that I took a breather for a moment, thinking what did I just read! This was a unputdownable thriller that will keep you up all night!

Megan Goldin is the author of The Escape Room, a 2019 thriller that Lee Child called “one of my favorite books of the year” and Harlan Coben called “thrilling and unforgettable”. Megan’s new novel The Night Swim will be released in August 2020. Before becoming a novelist, Megan worked as a reporter covering the Middle East and Asia for the Reuters news agency, the Associate Press and the ABC as well as other news outlets.

Title:- One For Sorrow

Author:- Helen Fields

No. of pages:- 370 pages

Date published:- will be published on March 3rd 2022

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

One for sorrow, two for joy
Edinburgh is gripped by the greatest terror it has ever known: a lone bomber is targeting victims across the city, and no one is safe.
 
Three for a girl, four for a boy
In their jobs, DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach deal with death every day. But when it becomes clear that every bomb is a trap designed to kill them too, the possibility of facing it themselves starts to feel all too real.
 
Five for silver, six for gold
With the body count rising daily and the bomber’s methods becoming ever more horrifying, Ava and Luc must race to find out who is behind the attacks – or pay the ultimate price…
 
Seven for a secret never to be told…

I have read Helen Field’s standalone novel The Shadow Man and I was very much impressed with her work that I have decided to read all her books. Well, One for Sorrow is actually a DI Callanach series and even though I haven’t read a single one of DI Callanch series, I actually didn’t mind and read this book more like a standalone novel. And boy, I enjoyed reading this book so much!

A series of bombins are taking place around Edinburgh targeting victims including ones who are working in law enforcements, both DI Callanach as well as DCI Ava must find the bomber before claiming more victims.

I was that into the book when I started reading this one. The story changes back and forth in the timelines–to the present day where bombings are claiming victims with the bomber’s tactics beginning to improve to the past about an innocent girl named Quinn who is being harrassed and stalked by her ex boyfriend Liam. Initially, through reading this book, you do find that there’s a connection between the past and the present. The writing was really good and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story, making the reader feel like they are in a cat and mouse chase finding the bomber! This was filled with twists and turns, and quiet unputdownable as I stayed up all night reading this book, waiting to find out what’s going to happen next though I had a pretty much idea on who the bomber is towards the end of the book. The ordeal that Quinn had gone through was heartbreaking and emotional. But nonetheless, while reading this book, I felt like I was watching an action packed movie on the TV!

Overall, if you like fast paced thriller then this book is one for you–worth five stars!

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

An international and Amazon #1 best-selling author, Helen is a former criminal and family law barrister. Every book in the Callanach series has claimed an Amazon #1 bestseller flag. The last book in the series, ‘Perfect Kill’ was longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger in 2020, and others have been longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize, Scottish crime novel of the year. Helen also writes as HS Chandler, and has released legal thriller ‘Degrees of Guilt’. Her audio book ‘Perfect Crime’ knocked Michelle Obama off the #1 spot. In 2020 Perfect Remains was shortlisted for the Bronze Bat, Dutch debut crime novel of the year. Now translated into 16 languages, and also selling in the USA, Canada & Australasia, Helen’s books have won global recognition. Her historical thriller ‘These Lost & Broken Things’ came out in May 2020. Her first standalone thriller – The Shadow Man – from HarperColllins will be published on February 4, 2021. She currently commutes between West Sussex, Scotland and California. She lives with her husband and three children. Helen can be found on Twitter @Helen_Fields for up to date news and information or at http://www.helenfields.co.uk.