Survivor Song

by Paul Tremblay 

This story is about a survivor's journey in a pandemic situation with a beautiful friendship, survival, hope, and challenging humanity.

The story leads us to a world where people infected by a mutated rabies virus move quickly among animals and people through saliva, with those being bitten rapidly within a short period, losing their minds acting like wild animals tend to bite/kill other living beings.



Without having an exact vaccine and enough medical attention, the state of Massachusetts is like a living hell.
Hospitals are swamped with people who need medical attention and the whole state is under quarantine and lockdown. The government dropping packets of rabies vaccine from the sky to try to control the infected animal population.


The story involves two main characters, Dr.Rams and Natalie.

Dr. Ramola Sherman is a pediatrician. She is about to be called in to help at an overflowing hospital. At the same time, she receives a frantic call from her best friend, Natalie. Natalie’s husband has been brutally killed by an infected man and she was bitten while trying to save him. Also, she is Eight months pregnant. Getting so close to giving birth, she must get to a hospital as soon as possible to get the medical help to save her and her unborn child.



This story takes place over a short timespan as these two women try desperately to get Natalie's help, Due to the very rapid rate of progression of the virus and the clock is ticking for Natalie. Along their journey, they have to face horrifying countless dangers, numerous other obstacles and protect their selves from infectives and humans.

For me, the most heart touching aspect of the story was the relationship between Rams and Nat’s. Even With the pandemic world, their true friendship and love stand huge and the true intention of Rams to lead her friend to a safe delivery was remarkable.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style and how he tried to build the pandemic world with humanity. In the story, he wants to show the reader that the infected were humans once and we all are surviving together.

I really enjoyed the story and recommend it to those who like to read great apocalyptic stories. 

My Ratings:

 

One by One

by Ruth Ware

Another great hit from ruth ware. This is one of the best impossible crime books I have read in 2020. If you are a fan of Agatha Christie‘s books you will love this.

The story begins when twelve employees, mixed of coworkers and shareholders from a company called “snoop” get together to enjoy some time off in an isolated stunning ski chalet in the beautiful snowy mountains located in France. They were welcomed by Danny and Erin who worked in the resort as a chef and a caretaker.



breathtaking vista, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, great food, a chance to ski, and others to keep you company. Overall it seems like a dream getaway from ordinary life.

Everything was perfectly fine until when an avalanche hits, trapping them all in a half-buried chalet cutting off all communication and electricity with the rest of the world. everyone thought this will be temporary and help is on the way. But soon the situation becomes more terrifying and horror when guests disappear or are found dead picked off one by one.



It starts as a corporate retreat like any other but ended up with tragic deaths with each one has something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.
Who will survive and who is the next target? What if there's nowhere to go and nowhere safe?



The story is in two POVs, Liz (a former employee of Snoop, and one of the team) and Erin (the resort caretaker). This alternating POV makes the story more mysterious. When the story unfolds page by page the more it gets more suspense and thrilled with multiple characters not knowing whom to believe or who is the actual killer.
I loved everything about the story. The premises, characters, writing, and the twist and turns of the plots. It starts slowly but once it gets going, you will enjoy the story.

Personally, I’m not a huge winter person, so I cannot imagine the horror of having stuck in a ski resort without having any communication or power with the outside and top of that getting killed by an anonymous person. This story provoked the absolute thriller I have.

Saying that I had some issues with the book. Firstly, there are twelve characters that I have to keep track of except Erin and Danny. I did find myself flipping back to the beginning to re-read who is who and what role they play in snoop.

Overall, One by One is a thrilling and highly entertaining story, and I will absolutely pick upcoming books from ruth ware.
If you are a thriller fan, this is a must-read and I highly recommend it!

My Ratings:

Hurry Home

Hurry Home

by Roz Nay

 “Sometimes words aren’t enough, or they just don’t matter. And even when sisterhood is a prison, like it has been for me, it’s always, always a vault”

I’m speechless. Ummhhh this is one of the best physiological thrillers I have read in the year 2020 and I’m so glad I have picked this book without a clue.

What a mind-boggling, holly molly thrill ride, and Roy Nay kicked my socks off. Also, Being an elder sister myself, I know that sister relationships can at times be complicated and can go either way depending on the trust, childhood, etc. and You will be the person who hates your dear darling sweet sister more than anything but part of your heart and soul loves her so much. You will be doubting yourself wanting to fix all the broken walls and this story will take you to another whole new level of sisterhood!

The story is about two sisters and their twisted relationship with the secret past.

Alex is a child protection service worker who loves her job more than anything else. She lives a perfect life with her handsome boyfriend, 'chase' in a beautiful resort town in a charming designer loft and living their best life.

Alex's perfect life is overturned, one day when her sister Ruth shows up at her door unexpectedly.
In eyes of Alex, Ruth is always the bad seed and the troublemaker, and she has no desire to help her sister without setting any rules. While ruth is being pregnant, running from her drug dealer boyfriend, and nowhere to go, she seeks Alex's help to protect her and her unborn baby. But Alex has other intentions far more sinister than anyone can think of.

Is she will be able to keep her boundaries with ruth? Will their past full of secrets and lies will haunt their life forever? Whom you would believe and or Is it something more sinister?

The story is from Alex’s and Ruth’s POV in different timelines and when the story unfolds chapter by chapter and you will be head-scratching which side you will take.

This is such a great twisted psychological thriller that gripped me from start to finish and I love how the author builds the characters, her writing style, and all the plot’s twist and turns. Finding this book to read is me finding a hidden Jem lost in all other thriller books.

I would highly recommend it to those who love a good, unputdownable psychological thriller. This was my first book by Roz Nay and it certainly will not be my last!

My Ratings:

Careful What You Wish For

 

Careful What You Wish For

by Hallie Ephron

Emily Harlow is a professional organizer who became famous for her decluttering videos on social media and has her own decluttering business.

She is married to a criminal lawyer who can’t help collecting items and hoarding them and fills their basement and garage with findings he brings home from yard sales and auctions.



Having different interests and likings, it seems their marriage growing apart and the only stipulation has kept Emily’s marriage together was the set of rules, that working with couples, there are only allowed to declutter his or her stuff.
Bottom of her heart, she’d love nothing better than to toss out all her husband’s crap and live a simple declutter life.
But everything is about to change when she got two new clients, an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house.....

This book was an enjoyable domestic thriller/suspense/Mystery story with Unexpected plot twists, coupled with surprising reveals, and kept me rolling pages with full-on curiosity. The story was well written, well-developed characters, and easy reading without pulling my hair and I found the plot to be refreshing and original and I enjoyed the story a lot.

Initially, I was pulled into the story by the unique premise and the title and have not had any expectations going into this book. But after reading the first couple of chapters I was immediately drawn to the story and this is one good thriller story I always wanted to read.

The only issue I had is the predictable ending, but I did not see her husband's role come into until I reached the last chapters.

I will definitely be picking more books from this author and highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to enjoy a great domestic thriller /Mystery book.

My Ratings:

 

The Wicked Sister

by Karen Dionne 

Well, I'm speechless, thrilled, and angry at the same time….

The whole story is based on a family where mom, Jenny, and Dad Peter had two daughters Rachel and Daina. First, they lived in a suburban area where peter worked as a researcher and Jenny was a stay home mom taking care of her first daughter Diana. One day they found out, their neighbor's toddler had fallen and drowned in their swimming pool and Jenny witnessed her daughter, pushed and murder the baby. Knowing this will be a bad situation for the family, they left the city and moved to their grandparent's log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

After finding Daina’s mental instability and what a difficult child she was, Jenny hoped that living in the wilderness would help Diana get better. But little did they know that she is a callous-unemotional child and a psychopath, that cannot be fixed.

After Jenny giving birth to her second daughter “Rachel” hoping the newborn will fix the issues with her Diana and make her a better person, the situation got worse and worse day by day.

I was initially intrigued by the synopsis and hoped to read a psychological thriller novel, but this story is more like a creepy psychological fairy tale. The whole story is in Rachels and Jenny’s POV and two different timelines described the event that happened in the past and the present.

 This story has the same vibes of novels “Bad seed”,” Baby teeth” about the psychopath child hurting their loved ones. Also, I was able to see the twist coming from a mile away. 

Also, This story has the worst parenting style I have ever encountered, where each one of them tries to protect their psychopath kid without taking precautions and getting the right medical treatment and let her hurt the others. Instead of sending her to a mental institution, they facilitate her to do the taxidermy, giving knives? seriously? 

OH my lord, I cannot even believe that such parenting exists. The character Diana was just too much for me. I know this is a thriller and that she was meant to be the bad luck, but I just really did not like her, and reading her cruelty and neglect of human emotions crawls my skin.

Also, the story contains gruesome murders, animal cruelty, and disturbing child behaviors.

Overall, this is not an awful book, but it did make me very uncomfortable to read

My Ratings:

Home Before Dark

Home Before Dark

by Riley Sager

“Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share.

The dining room wallpaper might hide pencil marks charting the growth of children who lived there decades before. Under that sun-faded linoleum could be wood once trod by soldiers from the Revolutionary War.
Houses are always changing. Coats of paint. Rows of laminate. Rolls of carpet. They cover up a home’s stories and secrets, rendering them silent until someone comes along to reveal them.”

This book is perfectly splendid !!!

This is one of my favorite read from Riley sager and he hit the nail on the head.
I highly enjoyed this book! and everything was right up my alley. The full suspense/creepiness of the story, the 'what the f*** moments, supernatural vibes they all were just what I expected from Riley Sager. Especially from a thriller/mystery book and this book ticked everything with flying colors. I think this is my favorite book Riley sager and besides lock every door.

The story unravels when Maggie Holt inherited an abandoned family mansion ‘Baneberry Hall’ in a Victorian estate in the Vermont woods.25 years ago she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into this mansion to spent only three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night. Later Ewan wrote a nonfiction book called House of Horrors that happens to be the best-selling horror novel making the holts family rich and famous. His tale of supernatural events and encounters with malevolent spirits caught everyone's attention.

After Ewan passed away and Maggie inherited this old mansion, she wants to restore the house so she could renovate and sell it. Without believing a single word that her father wrote in his book, she approaches the house on the sole purpose to find the truth about what happened 25 years ago and ravels the truth behind her father’s book. But little did Maggie know her homecoming is far more sinister than she bargained for and she starts to believe that what Ewan wrote was more fact than fiction….

This story is a book within a book in two different timelines, from Maggie’s POV happens in past and Ewan’s POV which happens 25 years ago. The story sucked me in from the beginning with the author’s writing style, characters, and plot. I was on the edge all the time and There’s a lot of nail-biting twists and turns that will make you flick through the pages not wanting to put it down.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is into this genre and you will not be disappointed after reading this book.

Oh and Don’t be surprised if you want to stay up all night waiting to learn the truth.

My Ratings:

 

All the Beautiful Lies

by Peter Swanson 

4.5 Stars
Well, well, well…

Umm, what can I say I have become a huge fan of Peter Swanson’s book after reading the “eight perfect murders” and this book is no exception.
This story is about a man who recently graduated and finds out that his father “Bill” has been dead before his graduation day.
Having already lost his mother years prior, all he has left is Alice, his stepmother who is a beautiful, sexy, and mysterious realtor and way younger than his father. Initially, Bill’s death has been ruled out as a suicide but harry thinks otherwise. After returning to his father’s home in Maine, he takes the responsibility to help sort out the bookstore that he fathered owned and comfort his stepmother.
While working in the bookshop he meets a young woman named “Grace” seeking employment at Harry’s bookshop. Captivated between Alice’s sexual desires and grace’s charming, he finds himself falling deeper under their spell. But one thing he is sure, that both women are hiding dangerous—even deadly—secrets . . . and that neither one is telling the truth.

This story is full of thriller& mystery yet so weird and uncomfortable that almost all the characters in this book get involved in an incestuous relationship of some kind and all of these characters are driven by sex and lust. This book was packed full of twists, turns, lies, suspense, and very dark subjects that make the reader unpleasant.

The author has written the story in such a manner I could not stop listening and this is such a great psychological thriller that I highly recommend to everyone who is interested to read books in this genre.
Reader beware! this is not a book for everyone. There sexual predators, Child abuse, and pedophiliacs.

My Ratings:

A Crime of a Different Stripe

 

A Crime of a Different Stripe (Seaside Knitters Society #4)

by Sally Goldenbaum 

This is the fourth book of the Seaside Knitters Society Book series and the story is about a mysterious murder that happened in a small-town community, Sea Harbor, Massachusetts.

It starts with a well-known famous photographer, Harrison Grant who was invited to give a speech at the opening reception. But everything turns upside down when one of the locals “Izzy” found Grant’s lifeless body on the steps to the house’s shore next door to where the main event had been held. The property owner has become the prime suspect, but Izzy and her fellow knitters aren’t sure and determined to find out the truth and revealed the true murderer.

This is my first reading from this author. The overall experience of reading this book is fun and felt like you are living in that cozy, cheer, and friendly neighborhood surrounded by supportive people.

I like the author’s writing style and how she builds the characters and the relationship between them. Also, you can find a bonus knitting pattern for a baby hat, at the end of the book.

But oh Boy, this is a slow-burning pace. I felt there much saying than actions with lots of descriptions. Also, there is a large number of characters, so make sure you read the list of characters at the beginning of the book.

That been said, if you are a mature thriller/Mystery book lover who seeks an actioned packed, nail-biting, edge of the seat story, this is not the right book for you.

I recommend this book to 'Newbie' readers of the thriller/mystery genre and to those who want a light read.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

My Ratings:

Never Came Home

 

Never Came Home

(D.I. Siv Drummond #2)

by Gretta Mulrooney

This is the second book of the DI Siv Drummond series. This story is based on a cold case mystery about a woman who has disappeared, six years ago and founded in an abandoned building about to be demolished. Her body was partially mummified and tie up to the back of an old fridge freezer. The body turned out to be a mother called 'Lyn' who has two children, with a troublesome marriage, reported as a missing person back at the time ruled out as a possible suicide.

upon finding the body, Detective Siv Drummond and the team immediately have been called and assigned to the case to solve the case. Six years ago the case turns into a potential suicide case, which is what the police thought could be the case given her dysfunctional family full of lies and secrets. Or could it be murder? Can they finally solve the case and get justice for Lyn? can Siv discover the story behind the mummified body?

This is my first reading from this author, and it was very interesting reading. The whole story is based on typical criminal investigation and police procedural. I love how the author builds the characters and turn and twist the plot. I could not see the ending and the story will keep you guessing through to the end. When I came to the last plot twist, it was a surprise and was pretty good though. 

On the other hand, the pace was slow-moving for me and there were a lot of characters. I found myself turning pages back and forth to remember who was and how they were connected. Also, I felt the side stories of Siv’s colleagues were unnecessary and make the main story complex and gone on sideways.

Overall, this is 3. 5 Star reading for me and I really enjoy the story and the characters Detective Siv and Ali. I'm recommending this book to anyone interested in reading a good detective/Crime solve/Mystery book and looking forward to reading more books from this author.

Thank you to Joffe Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

My Ratings:

 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

(Scary Stories #1)

by Alvin Schwartz, Stephen Gammell

Wow. This was fun quick reading!

This is a collection of American urban legends written in a very easy manner (Especially for children).

The first half of the book contains folktales, scary spooky stories. The second half has spooky yet fun tails. The illustrations were the really scary part of these books. Kudos to Stephen Gammell for his incredible yet creepy artwork!

     

               If you are a die-hard fan of super creepy horror books this is not the book you want to read. Remember that these stories are written for children!

Overall, “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” is a great short horror story collection that you can tell in the dark while scaring people during storytelling time! I would strongly recommend this book for children ages eight and up.

My Ratings:

 

Eight Perfect Murders

(Malcolm Kershaw #1)

by Peter Swanson 

Malcolm Kershaw(also called as Mal) is a book store owner of the Old Devils Bookshop in Boston, also famous for publishing a blog post titles called “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History.

Being a widower and a bookstore owner he had a quiet peaceful life, until one day an FBI agent comes knocking on his door looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look strangely similar to the killings on Mal’s old list.
Being curious and to protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects and try to pinpoint the possible killer in everyone around him.
This story is full of books. I mean your reading a book within a book within another book. I have discovered many books that were on the "list" that I want to read! The Writing style is right up my alley and I love how the author defines the characters and builds a connection between them. The plot is amazing and I did not see the major plot twist happen at the end.


That been said there are some concerns that took one star from overall ratings. My one big concern is that this novel is fitting for the readers who have read all books mentioned in the story. Otherwise, reading this book first might spoil the pleasure of reading. Also, I felt the ending was pretty lackluster.

I certainly didn't hate this book and will probably read one of this author's other works at some time.
If you are still interested in reading a good thriller/Mystery, I recommend giving a chance!

My Ratings:

 

The Last House Guest

by Megan Miranda 

Avery Greer is a Littleport resident who lost her parents and living with her grandma. Sadie Loman was a visitor who was the daughter of a rich family who owns many beach houses and properties in Littleport.
Typically, friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl, but Avery and Sadie were inseparable until Sadie is found dead. Initially, death ruled as a suicide but Sadie thinks otherwise.

The whole story is POV Sadie’s and jumps back and forth between two summers.
I like Megan's writing style and the plot‘s twist and turns happen throughout the story and I could not foresee the big plot twist that happened at the end of the story. Definitely, the story has a mystery element but not so much thriller.
Initially, I was drawn to the description and cover and thought I this would be a great thriller story with flying colors.


But unfortunately, this story is just ok. At one point I found myself a bit bored and skimmed a lot of phases. Most of the action happens in the last quarter of the book and the rest of the story was meh.

Overall, I still think this is a good mystery book but it did not hit the mark for 5 stars.

My Ratings: