Tropical Girl Reads

‘On May 26, 2004, Jessie Germaine went to school as normal and cheered at the end of year rally. That evening, she rode her bike into the forest and disappeared…into thin air.’

Margo hasn’t been back to Lake Moss since her school friend went missing. But as she returns, running from a failed marriage, the news breaks. Her hometown’s swimming hole has been Jessie’s grave for fifteen years.

Digging out her old diary, and steeling herself to face unfriendly ghosts of the past, Margo sets out to help a documentary crew as they investigate the infamous case the police bungled.

In a town where everyone knows everyone – but they all have secrets – the killer is certain to be close to home…

After reading The Family Tree, written by the very same authors, I got an invitation from the publisher to review their latest book, When She Disappeared, about a high school student named Jessie who went missing years ago.

The story starts with a couple of teenagers who go cliff jumping and finds the skeletal remains of a girl stored in a cooler. The girl is Jessie Germaine who disappeared years ago. Margo after dealing with Jessie’s disappearance and her mother’s death returns back to Lake Moss after being away for years and her failed marriage. She along with Austin sets out to question a few of Jessie’s friends for their podcast. But Margot receives threatening messages from someone, who does not want them to dig into the past.

Initially, the story started out a little boring. But soon, it gained momentum towards the middle, became fast paced. However, there were not much twists and turns you would expect in a thriller but nonetheless, the authors managed to draw the reader into the story. The ending…now that’s what I want to talk about. The ending was totally unexpected and for a moment I couldn’t even believe that the book ended in that way.

Overall, this is a good thriller book, quiet unputdownable that will keep you up all night–worth five stars

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

AN ORDINARY LIFE…

Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, and is managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter.

HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST…

But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure … a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence.

BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP…

On a Sunday night at her daughter’s school play, she gets a call from one of the firm’s partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn’t have much choice if she wants to keep her job. They’re scheduled to go to trial in one week. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.  

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

Suddenly she has a lot more to lose than this case. The only person who can help is her younger, estranged sister Callie—the last person Leigh would ever want to drag into this after all they’ve been through. But with the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice…

Content Warning:- Rape, Sexual Assault of minors, Murder, Mutilation, Drugs and substances

I have been a fan of Karin Slaughter’s books and this is her fifth book and her second standalone novel I have read, having read Will Trent books. So I ordered this book and was glad I got hold of this book. The story starts with two sisters–Harleigh and Callie who gets involved in a murder of a pedophile named Buddy Waleski. Buddy had been raping and beating Callie and at the same time was recording the incident. The two sisters killed Buddy, in such a way and destroyed all the evidence and thought they were able to get away.

But they were wrong. Many years later now, Leigh is working as a lawyer and Andrew Tennant asked Leigh to be his lawyer over a violent rape case committed by him. Leigh knew Andrew–he was Buddy’s son whom Leigh and Callie had been babysitting. But Andrew, who they thought were sleeping when they committed the murder seemed to be the witness that fateful night.

I will start with the good things–the story was sent during the COVID pandemic, the regulations set in courts due to pandemic is realistic. Slaughter’s writing is engaging and at times, there were emotional and heartbreaking parts as well. I do like the strained sisterly relationship between Leigh and Callie, their estranged relationship with their mother, most of Slaughter’s books are based on estranged and dangerous relationships. Callie’s drug addiction is seemed to realistic and disturbing to read as well.

The bad thing is, again, the descriptions of the murder case is at times too disturbing to read–which is I supposed Slaughter’s work. And the book was a bit too long that I got bored at some parts.

Overall, it was a fast paced thriller–worth five stars!

You’re on your honeymoon at an exclusive couples-only resort.

You receive a note warning you to ‘Beware of the couple at the table nearest to yours’. At dinner that night, five other couples are present, and none of their tables is any nearer or further away than any of the others. It’s as if someone has set the scene in order to make the warning note meaningless – but why would anyone do that?

You have no idea.

You also don’t know that you’re about to be murdered, or that once you’re dead, all the evidence will suggest that no one there that night could possibly have committed the crime.

So who might be trying to warn you? And who might be about to commit the perfect impossible murder?

I really like the plot and the story and I have to say I was looking forward to reading this book. I was also excited when the publisher granted the ARC and I was looking forward to reading this one.

But I am having mixed feelings about this book and it’s in my opinion an OK thriller so let’s start with the good ones.

The plot of the story was really good and unique. There are six couples at a table in a vacation house and each of them gets a note “Beware of the Couple Next to you,” then one woman, Jane Brinkwood, who is the wife of William Gleave who happened to be the ex-husband of Lucy, the main protagonist gets stabbed and murdered. Which of the couple is responsible for Jane’s murder? So as I said, the plot was interesting and unique.

But as I read the story, it got a bit boring. Too much dialogue and at times it was a bit confusing. It wasn’t fast paced, not much of twists and turns you would expect in a thriller and overall, the ending was nothing new. The writing was OK but nonetheless, I didn’t enjoy this book as I thought I should.

Overall, I give this book as three stars!

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

Think you know the person you married? Think again…

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts–paper, cotton, pottery, tin–and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.

I was high anticipating to read this book and I saw some raving reviews on this book. I haven’t read her His and Hers yet, which will apparently soon turn to a TV series.

Well, it was good. But not as good as I thought it would be.

Meet Adam and Amelia, who are facing some marital problems. In order to solve their issues, Amelia, wins a holiday getaway to Scotland as she hopes this would work out their marital problems. They stay in at a local chapel but soon, their problems were far from over when they spend the night at the chapel.

The story is told mainly from Adam’s , Amelia’s and a woman named Robin’s perspectives. You will find who Robin is by the end of the book so I would say, Robin is somewhat an important character. The first few chapters were boring but soon, towards the middle, it got more and more interesting and twists and turns started developing. The ending–all right, I really liked the ending. I actually did not expect that type of ending, at all….I mean, I was thinking that the story might end this way but boy, the ending left me flabbergasted. Because of the dramatic ending only, I decided that this book actually worth four stars.

I am yet to read the first book but in my opinion, this was a good thriller–not really fast paced but definitely there were twists and turns towards the end and a dramatic ending you didn’t actually expect. Worth four stars!