Last, Current, Next Read

What books have you been reading lately? What are you planning on picking up next?

Thanks to any publishers for the free copies (I have them noted with the titles)

Last, Current, Next Read:

Last – THE PERFECT FAMILY – Robyn Harding (Released August 10th, 2021 – Giveaway win)

Synopsis:

The bestselling author of the The Swap explores what happens when a seemingly perfect family is pushed to the edge… and beyond in this “propulsive, constantly surprising” (Laurie Elizabeth Flynn, author of The Girls Are All So Nice Here) thriller.

Thomas and Viv Adler are the envy of their neighbors: attractive, successful, with well-mannered children and a beautifully restored home.

Until one morning, when they wake up to find their porch has been pelted with eggs. It’s a prank, Thomas insists; the work of a few out-of-control kids. But when a smoke bomb is tossed on their front lawn, and their car’s tires are punctured, the family begins to worry. Surveillance cameras show nothing but grainy images of shadowy figures in hoodies. And the police dismiss the attacks, insisting they’re just the work of bored teenagers. Unable to identify the perpetrators, the Adlers are helpless as the assaults escalate into violence, and worse. And each new violation brings with it a growing fear. Because everyone in the Adler family is keeping a secret—not just from the outside world, but from each other. And secrets can be very dangerous….

This twisty, addictively page-turning suspense novel about a perfect family’s perfect façade will keep you turning pages until its explosive ending.

My Thoughts: 4/5 stars

Another great and entertaining read from Robyn Harding! While this wasn’t my favorite (and coming in at 4 stars goes to show how incredible her other books are) I still think this was a solid thriller from start to finish. There were a couple parts where I felt a lull and that kind of took me out of it but it didn’t last long. You get exactly what we’ve come to expect from a Harding novel – flawed characters, a quick pace, plenty of secrets, lies, a complex and weaving plot, and chapters that go by so fast that you’re halfway through before you know it. Highly recommend this and all of her other books (you really can’t go wrong!)

Current – THE SEVEN VISITATIONS OF SYDNEY BURGESS – Andy Marino (Releasing September 28th, 2021 – Thanks to Redhook Books for the free copy)

Synopsis:

From a thrilling new voice in horror, Andy Marino, comes a haunting tale of a woman whose life begins to unravel after a home invasion. She’s told she killed the intruder. But she can’t remember, and no one believes her…

Sydney’s spent years burying her past and building a better life for herself and her eleven-year old son. A respectable marketing job, a house with reclaimed and sustainable furniture, and a boyfriend who loves her son and accepts her, flaws and all. But when she opens her front door, and a masked intruder knocks her briefly unconscious, everything begins to unravel. 

She wakes in the hospital and tells a harrowing story of escape. Of dashing out a broken window. Of running into her neighbors’ yard and calling the police. What the cops tell her is that she can no longer trust her memories. Because they say that not only is the intruder lying dead in her guest room, but he’s been murdered in a way that seems intimately personal. 

When she returns home, Sydney can’t shake the deep darkness that hides in every corner. There’s an unnatural whisper in her ear, urging her back to old addictions. And as her memories slowly return, she begins to fear that her new life was never built on solid ground-and that the secrets buried beneath will change everything.

Next – THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED – Lisa Jewell (Released September 7th, 2021 – Thanks to Atria Books for the free copy)

Synopsis:

2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.

Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah’s friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

‘DIG HERE’ . . .

A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s remarkable new novel.