Tropical Girl Reads

A girl in a new country.

A dark secret left behind.

A dead body which might tell all.

Ever since she was adopted from an orphanage in Sri Lanka, Paloma has led a privileged Californian life: the best schools, a generous allowance and parents so perfect that Paloma fears she’ll never live up to them.

Now at thirty, Paloma has managed to disappoint her parents so thoroughly that their relationship will never recover. Unemployed and friendless, the only person still talking to her is Arun – the Indian man subletting her spare room. That is until Arun discovers Paloma’s darkest secret, one that could jeopardize her fragile place in this country, and the next day is found face down in a pool of blood.

On finding Arun’s body Paloma flees her apartment. But by the time the police arrive, there’s no body to be found or signs of struggle – and no evidence that Arun ever even existed in the first place.

The police may be quick to dismiss everything, but Paloma knows what she saw. Is this tangled up in her childhood in Sri Lanka and the desperate actions she took to leave so many years ago? And did Paloma’s secret die with Arun or is she now in greater danger than ever before?

No. of pages:- 384 pages

Date published:- will be published on 16th September 2021

Publisher:- Hodder and Stoughton

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 4.5/5

Que Sera, Sera…. whatever will be, will be? The future’s not ours to see…

When I found out that there is a psychological thriller written by a Sri Lankan author, I was so excited! I have never come across a thriller written by Sri Lankan author (there may be but maybe I am not too familiar) so this was my first thriller book written by a Sri Lankan author. And boy after reading this book, I was surprised at how good this book really was!

Paloma Evans was adopted from an orphanage in Sri Lanka by a Mr. and Mrs. Evans and moved to America to start a new life. Eighteen years later, living in San Francisco Bay Area, her parents have cut Paloma off from their trust fund and she had sublet her apartment to a person named Arun from India. But soon, Arun starts blackmailing her, saying that he knows about a dark secret of Paloma and soon, Paloma finds Arun lying in a pool of blood in her apartment. But when the police arrive at the crime scene, Arun’s body was no where to be found. Set between alternate time lines between Sri Lanka and San Francisco.

From start to finish, I was so engrossed into the book! I must say, the author’s writing was really good and witty and did a good job keeping the reader into the story. This was actually a fast-paced thriller, with chilling ghost folk tales shared among the children in the orphanage at night and towards the middle of the book, begins the twists and turns, so dark and unexpected! The main protagonist, Paloma seems to be witty and probably a bit unlikable character and I kind of had a love hate relationship with Paloma–at one moment, I liked her funny witty attitude and the other, I hated her for her personality. As a reader, I was curious what Paloma’s secret was but with the twisted and unexpected end, when the secret was revealed, I was so shocked that I had to take a breather!! Totally unexpected. The book was also realistic in many ways, particularly about Paloma’s life in San Francisco. Having lived in Ohio for five years, I got to experience some racism and the fact that people call Sri Lankan language Sinhalese as Sri Lankan and many Americans are a bit clueless about Sri Lanka is all realistic and the author has captured it beautifully, making it realistic as possible. Life in the orphanage and the corruption was all too realistic as well.. Overall, I completely enjoyed this book, staying up all night just to finish this book!

Overall, My Sweet Girl is a heck of a thrilling ride that will keep you up all night! Worth 4.5 stars!!

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

When she isn’t recovering from a self induced book hangover, Amanda runs corporate trainings on Communication Skills Development, and works tirelessly as the Chief Taste Tester at the cookie shop she co-owns. She grew up in Sri Lanka and has lived in the California bay area and British countryside, before relocating back to her sunny island, where she lives with her husband and two Tasmanian-devil-reincarnate huskies.

SOME TRUTHS CAN’T BE TOLD.

I had the perfect life – a nice house, a loving husband, a beautiful little boy.

But in one devastating night, they were all ripped from me.

It’s been fourteen years, and I’m finally ready to face the past.

I’m taking my son back.

He just can’t know who I am…or why we were torn apart.

A nail-biting thriller packed with twists and turns, perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Shalini Boland.

Date published:- will be published on August 27th 2021

Publisher:- HQ

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 3.5/5

What will happen when your child was left for adoption more than fourteen years ago and you want to reunite with him again? Well, that’s what happened to Phoebe who wants to reunite with her son, Charlie, known as Ben and adopted by a rich family.

The plot seemed to be interesting for me. The story is mainly told from Phoebe’s point of view, dividing between Present and the event that happened back in 2005 that caused her to separate from Charlie, and Ben who seemed to be struggling with his school work and have seemed to be having a strained relationship with his adopted parents. There were no unexpected twists and turns you would normally expect in a thriller but surprisingly, I was actually hooked into the story and couldn’t wait for the ending, wondering what the ending was going to be like that, though I personally liked the fact that Phoebe in the end had a happy ending. The characters were ok. The only thing was to me, this was more like a family drama than a thriller to me in my opinion.

Overall, I give this book 3.5 stars! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion.

I started writing psychological thrillers when I was 7. My teachers raised an eyebrow but it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the genre. After studying for a degree in Politics & International Relations, travelling the world for 6 years, and completing 5 ski seasons, I moved to London and became a copywriter, wife and mother. In 2018 I enrolled on the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course and finally learned the craft I loved. I joined HQ Digital in March 2020 and A Mother Never Lies is my debut novel.

Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Joshilyn Jackson, Sarah Warburton’s chilling thriller, inspired by the Moors Murders, explores the twisted side of suburbia.

Framed for embezzlement by her best friend Aimee, museum curator Kacy Tremain and her husband Michael move from New Jersey to a charming Texas suburb to escape their past. Kacy quickly makes new friends–preppy, inscrutable Elizabeth, chatty yet evasive Rahmia, and red-headed, unapologetic Lena. But good friends aren’t always what they seem.

As she navigates the unexpectedly cutthroat social scene of her new town, Kacy begins to receive taunting postcards–and worse, discovers cameras hidden in the wall of her home. Lena and her husband, Brady, reassure her that the cameras are just relics of the paranoid previous homeowner . Once the cameras are removed and Kacy’s fears are quelled, Kacy and Michael make the happy discovery that they are going to be new parents.

Months after the birth of their daughter, Michael accidentally makes a shocking discovery about Brady’s past. And when Lena suddenly goes missing, Kacy and Michael begin to uncover the truth about their neighbors–and it’s more terrible than anyone could have imagined.

Interlaced with transcripts of a chilling “true crime” podcast that follow the tangled threads of the drama, You Can Never Tell is a taut and complex psychological thriller that never lets up until its breathless conclusion.

No. of pages:- 280 pages

Date published:- will be published on 10th August 2021

Publisher:- Crooked Lane Bookes

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Kacy and Michael Tremaine move to a residential part of town in Texas from Jersey after Kacy was fired from her last job for a thing she didn’t apparently do and was framed by her friend. Kacy soon befriends three women in her neighborhood–Elizabeth, Rahimia and Lena and she and Michael seemed to be living a happy life with a child on the way.

So when their daughter, Grace was born, Michael discovers a secret in Brady, Lena’s husband’s past and Lena goes missing. A couple of serial murders have been taking place in the neighborhood. And Kacy starts getting weird postcards…

nitially, the book started a bit slow but gradually it started to become fast paced. The plot was intriguing and the book was engaging and the writer did a good job drawing the reader into the story. The story is told from Kacy’s perspectives and towards the end, it was all action packed and I couldn’t simply put the book as I want to know what is going to happen in the end! I actually enjoyed reading this thriller, quiet unputdownable with some twists and turns mingling on the way.

Overall, this book gave me a rollercoaster ride–worth four stars!

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

I’m the oldest of four sisters, raised in Virginia, an avid reader and knitter. After earning a B. A. in Latin from the College of William and Mary, an M.A. in Classics from the University of Georgia and another from Brown University, I studied creative writing at the University of New Mexico with Sharon Oard Warner and Julie Shigekuni, at the Taos Writer’s Workshop with Pam Houston, and in Houston with Justin Cronin. I’ve worked at independent bookstores, and spent ten years as a writer (and eventually lead editor) for UpClose Magazine. My short story, “Margaret’s Magnolia,” appeared in the Southern Arts Journal, I won first place in a WOW! Women on Writing Flash Fiction Contest, and my Pushcart prize nominated story “Survival English” appeared in Oyster River Pages. I live with my family-husband, son, daughter, and hound dog, in the mountains of Southwestern Virginia. I’ve been told that for a “basically happy person” I write very bleak prose.

YOU DON’T SEE HER. BUT SHE SEES YOU.

MIDNIGHT. In the bad part of town, where cats prowl and foxes shriek, a girl is watching…

When Saffyre Maddox was ten, something terrible happened, and she’s carried the pain of it ever since. The man who she thought was going to heal her didn’t, and now she hides and watches him, learning his secrets, invisible in the shadows.

Owen Pick is invisible too. He’s never had a girlfriend; he’s never even had a friend.
Nobody sees him. Nobody cares.

But when Saffyre goes missing from opposite his house on Valentine’s Day, suddenly the whole world is looking at Owen.

Accusing him. Holding him responsible for Saffyre’s disappearance…

No. of pages:- 407 pages

Date published:- Published on August 6th 2020

Publisher:- Cornerstone Digital

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 3.5/5 stars

Lisa Jewell has become one of my favorite psychological thriller authors and after reading The Family Upstairs, I decided to try out her new novel, The Invisible Girl (I haven’t read her latest book yet). The blurb on the book sounds great–there is a girl name Saffyre Maddox and she goes missing one night and the main suspect was the eerie and weird man named Owen Pick, who was recently suspended from the school he was working in.

And being Lisa Jewell’s fan, I decided to try out this book. But unfortunately, it wasn’t as great as the Family Upstairs but at least, it was ok.

The story consists of these following characters

1. Saffyre Maddox a seventeen year old girl who was sexually harassed when she was ten years old and who seek help for three years by a therapist named Roan Fours. Saffyre starts stalking Roan, finding out he is having an illicit affair with a colleague named Alicia behind her back. And while stalking him, she goes missing.
2. Owen Pick–is a thirty something year old man, living with his aunt Tessie across from the street where the Fours family lived. He was weird, eerie and was recently accused of a certain harassment in school he denied doing it. He becomes the main suspect in Saffyre’s case.
3. Cathy Fours–the wife of Roan Fours and the mother of Georgia and Josh Fours, who suspect Owen is behind Saffyre’s disappearance

The story started slow that the first few chapters were boring, though things started get interesting when Saffyre did go missing. Did Owen really involve in Saffyre’s disappearance? Couple with the disappearance is the series of sexual assaults–which Cathy think Owen was involved? Was he really? Not much of twists and turns you would normally expect in a fast paced psychological thriller and was quiet a slow burn. However, the ending was great with a small twist. Saffyre to me was a likable character and Owen’s character creeped me out a bit but the rest of the characters were meh to me.

Overall, this was an OK thriller to me. Worth three and a half stars!

Thank you for visiting my Amazon author page!

My first book, Ralph’s Party, came out in 1999 and was the best selling debut novel for that year.

Since then I have written and published another sixteen books, from the ‘curry and flatmates’ novels of the nineties and noughties like Thirtynothing, One Hit Wonder, A Friend of the Family and Vince & Joy, to more family-themed novels like After The Party, The Making of Us and The House We Grew Up In and more recently, psychological thrillers such as I Found You, Then She Was Gone, Watching You and The Family Upstairs, which charted in the summer of 2019 at number one in the hardback charts.

I live in London with my husband, two daughters, two hairy cats, two nervous guinea pigs and a lovely auburn dog. I write every day, a minimum of one thousand words, in a cafe, with no access to the internet, in two to three hour sessions.