February TBR

Mini Review: Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

Published: March 6, 2018

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis

Growing up, Kate Priddy was always a bit neurotic, experiencing momentary bouts of anxiety that exploded into full-blown panic attacks after an ex-boyfriend kidnapped her and nearly ended her life. When Corbin Dell, a distant cousin in Boston, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate, an art student in London, agrees, hoping that time away in a new place will help her overcome the recent wreckage of her life.

Soon after her arrival at Corbin’s grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered. When the police question her about Corbin, a shaken Kate has few answers, and many questions of her own—curiosity that intensifies when she meets Alan Cherney, a handsome, quiet tenant who lives across the courtyard, in the apartment facing Audrey’s. Alan saw Corbin surreptitiously come and go from Audrey’s place, yet he’s denied knowing her. Then, Kate runs into a tearful man claiming to be the dead woman’s old boyfriend, who insists Corbin did the deed the night that he left for London.

When she reaches out to her cousin, he proclaims his innocence and calms her nerves--until she comes across disturbing objects hidden in the apartment and accidentally learns that Corbin is not where he says he is. Could Corbin be a killer? What about Alan? Kate finds herself drawn to this appealing man who seems so sincere, yet she isn’t sure. Jet-lagged and emotionally unstable, her imagination full of dark images caused by the terror of her past, Kate can barely trust herself, so how could she take the chance on a stranger she’s just met?

My Thoughts

I was really excited about this read seeing how Peter Swanson has become one of my favorite authors but sadly this one just fell a little flat for me. In Her Every Fear we have Kate who is recovering from something tragic from her past and her parents decide maybe she needs a break and maybe she should exchange places with her cousin in the States for a while. Corbin her cousin has his own demons from his past he is trying to escape but the timing of the swap isn’t the best for him and soon he finds himself having to prove his innocence.

While I found this novel interesting there were some things I just couldn’t believe in. I found myself getting confused at times with the characters and other times I just wanted to know what was going to happen. I liked Corbin as a character and found his storyline very interesting but Kate wasn’t my favorite. I found her just repeating her mistakes and just wanted her to find her way. This novel will definitely draw you in but at times I found it dragging. I’m still a huge fan of the author but this one was an okay read for me in the end.

Mid Year Faves

Review: Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

Expected Publication: March 5, 2019

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 4.5/5    

Synopsis

Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace.

But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder—an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either.

Could her neighbor, Matthew, be a killer? Or is this the beginning of another psychotic episode like the one she suffered back in college when she became so consumed with proving a fellow student guilty that she ended up hurting a classmate?

The more Hen observes Matthew, the more she suspects he’s planning something truly terrifying. Yet no one will believe her. Then one night, when she comes face to face with Matthew in a dark parking lot, she realizes that he knows she’s been watching him, that she’s really on to him. And that this is the beginning of a horrifying nightmare she may not live to escape.

My Thoughts

I’ve become a huge Peter Swanson fan recently and I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on so when I heard he had a new book coming out I couldn't wait to read it. It seems like his books just get better and when I finished his latest read… WOW is all I could say… this one blew my mind!

In Before She Knew Him we met Hen and Lloyd who recently have moved out to the suburbs and decide one night to join the neighborhood block party to be nice and be neighborly but soon they become friends with the only other couple who don't have kids, Matthew and Mira and realize they are actually next door neighbors. They soon have dinner together and while having a tour of the house something in Matthews office soon catches Hen's eye a simple trophy that makes something click in her head. She soon becomes obsessed with this trophy and remembers it from the newspapers a few years back connected to a murder. She then becomes convinced that Matthew is a murderer and makes it her mission to prove it. She starts to follow and spies on him trying to get any evidence to prove that she is right and not having another manic episode like she has in the past.

Years ago Hen began having manic episodes and it got so bad she was asked to leave school after an altercation with a fellow student. She soon became consumed with all things murder related and when a few murders happen nearby she studied them as if it was her job. However, with the help of family and Lloyd she balanced her meds and got her issues under controlled but after meeting Matthew and connecting things about him she now thinks he is the one behind everything.

Matthew sees himself as a savior of sorts. He had a horrible childhood, to say the least, and we learn in time his past has a huge play in everything that has happened. He survived his upbringing and now is a loving husband to Mira but he has some dark secrets that he has kept to himself...that is until Hen came around. Ironically he isn't scared of Hen because he thinks they are kindred spirits of sorts, after seeing her dark and disturbing art and learning of her obsession with crime and murder. They soon strike up a sort of understanding of and he begins to tell her things he has never told anyone before. We learn why he does what he does, he tries to make excuses for his actions and no matter how he wants to validate these things they are criminal, disturbing and simply horrifying. To get into the mind of this man who can do such unbearable things and then lay in bed with his wife and teach kids the next day is so bizarre, how he can compartmentalize his actions is beyond words.

This book had me from the very beginning. We get to two souls who seem so different but in time we see how they connect in a way we never saw coming. I found it dark, creepy and at some points horrifying but all in a great way. The story was fascinating and with its twist and turns especially the plot twist towards the end there are some amazing jaw-dropping moments. I would call this my favorite Peter Swanson by far and I highly recommend this sinister of a novel.

Review: All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

All The Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

Published: April 3, 2018

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: via Edelweiss

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Harry Ackerson has always considered his stepmother Alice to be sexy and beautiful, in an "otherworldly" way. She has always been kind and attentive if a little aloof in the last few years.

Days before his college graduation, Alice calls with shocking news. His father is dead and the police think it’s suicide. Devastated, Harry returns to his father’s home in Maine. There, he and Alice will help each other pick up of the pieces of their lives and uncover what happened to his father.

Shortly after he arrives, Harry meets a mysterious young woman named Grace McGowan. Though she claims to be new to the area, Harry begins to suspect that Grace may not be a complete stranger to his family. But she isn’t the only attractive woman taking an interest in Harry. The sensual Alice is also growing closer, coming on to him in an enticing, clearly sexual way.

Mesmerized by these two women, Harry finds himself falling deeper under their spell. Yet the closer he gets to them, the more isolated he feels, disoriented by a growing fear that both women are hiding dangerous—even deadly—secrets . . . and that neither one is telling the truth.

My Thoughts

Since I've discovered Peter Swanson’s book I have devoured them slowly but surely so when I read he had a new book coming out I knew I had to get my hands on a copy! In All the Beautiful Lies we met Alice who married to a much older man and is stepmother to Harry. We find out that Harry’s father is dead and Harry comes back to town to deal with it. He has always found Alice attractive and semi close in age but he tries to not think of her in that way. Soon he finds himself taken by both Alice and a mysterious lady, Grace who claims to have had a relationship of sorts with his father. Harry soon realizes that maybe his father's death wasn’t just an accident but maybe something more sinister.

We soon find out more about Alice and her upbringing and that to me is the meat of this story. We see her growing up and see some of the things she dealt with, like an alcoholic mother and a stepfather who wasn’t all that he lead us to believe. Alice’s past and her relationships showcase what lead her to become the person she is today. She definitely has some issues that she needs to come to terms with and those are some of the things that make this novel so riveting.

Peter Swanson gives us a tale that is twisted and dark, about obsession and lies and that’s what I love about his writing. There are some twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and Alice’s background story was amazing! He gives us another winner in this novel and I can't stress enough about how great his books are so please if you haven’t read them what are you waiting for??

Review: The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

Published: February 3, 2015

Publisher: William Morrow

Format: audiobook

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage that’s going stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the artistic free spirit—a contrast that once inflamed their passion, but has now become a cliché.

But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse. . . .

Back in Boston, Ted and Lily’s twisted bond grows stronger as they begin to plot Miranda's demise. But there are a few things about Lily’s past that she hasn’t shared with Ted, namely her experience in the art and craft of murder, a journey that began in her very precocious youth.

Suddenly these co-conspirators are embroiled in a chilling game of cat-and-mouse, one they both cannot survive . . . with a shrewd and very determined detective on their tail.

My Thoughts

The Kind Worth Killing is an amazing and captivating tale of Ted and Lily two strangers who meet on a flight from London to Boston. On the long plane ride seated next to one another, they start talking and with the help of a few drinks begin to tell each other things one might not tell anyone otherwise. Ted begins to tell Lily that he thinks his wife is cheating on him and Lily simply tells him she will help him kill his wife. WTF?! Yes, she did tell him that. So they make a plan to meet again and if they both show up the plan is set in motion.

We get the backstory to why Ted thinks his wife is cheating and we also get Lily’s whole backstory to when she was a kid and her life growing up. We get glimpses to why she is the way she is. She is twisted and we are shown she has been this way from the very start. This read had me on my toes from the very start. There are twists and turns and we see why Lily would help a stranger she just met. We see how this web is intertwined and when it was revealed I was shocked! The characters are intriguing and the way everyone comes together is so smart and flawless. The character of Lily is sick and twisted yet I felt sorry for her at times but then she does something and it’s like are you serious? She is one of the best characters I’ve read in a long time and she definitely stayed with me way after I finished the book.

I’ve become obsessed with Peter Swanson’s reads. Each one better than the next, the way he writes thrillers is simply wonderful. Just when you think you have figured it out he throws a curveball and totally takes everything to left field. Like I've said I have enjoyed all of his books that I have read, I only need to read one more, but this one is my fave it’s a masterpiece in my opinion. If you are looking for something that keeps you engaged and will blow your mind look no further than this read.