Book Review:: The Ghostwriter | Julie Clark

Once upon a time, two children were murdered in their home. Siblings. Leaving one brother, not home at the time, alive. No one was ever convicted. This tragedy is the foundation Olivia’s life is built upon.

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark Book Cover

The surviving sibling is Olivia’s father, Vincent. He’s become a global sensation for his horror novels, but before that, he was sensational for being the lead suspect in his siblings’ murders. Olivia and her father had a falling out years ago, and she separated herself from him as much as she could. She even married a man she didn’t love in order to change her last name. Blood runs thick though, and she ended up in the same industry as her father, ghostwriting books for other famous authors. Now, on the edge of financial ruin after a big scandal, the only job available is from Vincent Taylor, and he said she’s the only one he’ll work with. It’s the first time returning home for Olivia, and she wants to get back out as soon as possible, but when she gets there, she realizes she might be able to finally learn the truth. Is her father a killer? Or was he always telling the truth about that night?

What a compelling psychological thriller! The backstory of this novel is so rich and murky at the same time. Enough details to create that dark misty tone for the past, but not enough to give away the store.

I always love the devices authors use to add doubt to the information the reader receives, so we don’t know what’s real and what may be a lie. In this case, Olivia’s father has a disease that affects his mind, and we all know human memory is fallible anyway. I love that feeling when reading a book like this that you never really know what the reality is, and what is fabricated. It leaves a lot of room in your mind to sort through evidence and form new theories up until the very end.

In this story there are quite a few scenarios that seem likely as Olivia learns more about her family history. It’s the story of one family’s darkest hour, and it has been shrouded in mystery and doubt all these years.

The characters are believable and well formed, the writing is clear and atmospheric, the plot is complex and interesting, and just look at that stunning cover!

I’m very happy to have received this book for early review via the publisher through netgalley, and I’m excited to have another author’s backlist to add to my TBR!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: The Ghostwriter
Author:: Julie Clark
Genre:: Mystery Suspense
Publisher:: SOURCEBOOKS Landmark
Length:: 368 pages
Audio Length:: TBA
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Published:: June 3rd, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars



If you liked this book, check out…

Famous Last Words | Gillian McAllister
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins

Book Review:: Nobody’s Fool | Harlan Coben

Nobody’s Fool is my first Harlan Coben novel, and wow – color me impressed! This is the second book in the series led by main character Sami Kierce, and I’m going back to read the origin story that left him off the police force as soon as possible, which is where he finds himself at the beginning of this novel.

Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben Book Cover

Speaking of origin stories, in a way, this novel is really the exploration of Sami’s. After college, he had a fling with a beautiful woman in Spain, and was ready to give up everything for her, until he woke up beside her bloody body, knife in his hand. He fled, and it was the series of events set off by this experience that led him to becoming a cop in the first place. Now, he sees a woman he knows is her, alive and well and here, and it changes everything.

Not only is this case from Sami’s past coming back to haunt him, but the murderer of his former fiance is being released early from prison, and he’s determined to get justice from that case, too. He has a new baby, and a wife he loves, and though he’s no longer officially a cop, he teaches a criminal justice class that fulfills him. In short, a lot to lose.

What a skillfully written novel! This one had me questioning everything, fully engaged and wondering where the heck it was going to lead next. There are so many moving pieces and so many corners for spooky things to jump out from behind, it was entertaining as hell. If this is the level of mystery and suspense I can expect from Harlan Coben, I’m adding his entire backlist to my TBR! What more can you ask for from a thriller? That feeling is what you search for in this genre, and Nobody’s Fool absolutely delivers!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Nobody’s Fool (Detective Sami Kierce #2)
Author:: Harlan Coben
Genre:: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Grand Central Publishing
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 17m
Audiobook Narrator:: Vikas Adam
Published:: March 25th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars



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The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

Book Review:: Saltwater | Katy Hays

Lifestyles of the ungodly rich might seem aspirational, but they’re also highly secretive. You’re either behind the curtain, or you’re not, and they want as few people behind it as possible. Sometimes they even leave their own children unenlightened…until their hand is forced.

Saltwater by Katy Hays Book Cover

The Lingate’s traditional summer holiday is to the Italian island of Capri. It’s beautiful, but the coastline is almost completely hard, jagged cliff-facing. Dangerous – which they know better than most, since one of their own tumbled to her death there in the 90s. 30 years later they haven’t stopped their annual pilgrimage, and neither have the questions about Sarah’s untimely death. Money can buy a lot, but can it get away with murder?

This novel isn’t as quickly paced as a typical thriller, but it is suspenseful, mysterious, twisted, and tangled. There is generational drama and several potential suspects. It turns into a curiosity about one crime and turns into an investigation into another. And what a spectacular, picturesque setting!

The characters in this book aren’t exactly likeable, but they do inspire curiosity. What motivates people as powerful as these? Where are their weaknesses? Why have they made the decisions they’ve done, and what might compel them to reveal the truth of what happened 30 years ago?

I found myself very engaged with this story. I wasn’t sure where it was going, but there was enough intrigue from the first pages to keep me studying all the information presented, ready for anything. There are several characters with motivations to find out more about Sarah’s death, and just as many prepared to guard their secrets about her. It was really skillfully executed, and I wasn’t expecting quite as many twists as were revealed by the end.

Saltwater would make a great vacation read, an engrossing sick-day or weekend read, or it might just add some intrigue into your regular reading lineup. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Saltwater
Author:: Katy Hays
Genre:: Contemporary Suspense Thriller
Publisher:: Ballantine Books
Length:: 336 pages
Audio Length:: 11h
Audiobook Narrator:: TBA
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: March 25th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars



If you liked this book, check out…

Splendid Little Schemes | Robin Strong
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline
Double Exposure | Elissa R. Sloan

Book Review:: Swept Away | Beth O’Leary

This book is so much more than I expected.

It is easy to assume from the premise that it might be a romantic comedy full of worst-case scenarios that conveniently have little or no consequences while two hot co-eds fall inexorably in love. Or by the cover that it might be a sweeping women’s fiction romance in which the protagonist goes on a journey of healing and gaining (or regaining) her power and self-confidence with a side of man candy thrown in. But what this book really does is turn a high-concept premise into an incredibly realistic portrayal of human survival and an exploration of the bonds we forge, whether or not we mean to, with those we trust.

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary Book Cover

Technically, yes, this is a love story. Zeke and Lexi, neither one a boatsman, get stranded at sea on a craft that has not been prepared for any type of voyage, let alone a multiple day excursion. Nothing is charged or refilled, there are no phone signals, and the only food they have are the few emotional provisions Lexi bought thinking she’d stay on the houseboat a few days until she found a new place to live. They don’t know where they are, and they cannot move their damn boat.

For days.

Then longer.

When they met, Zeke and Lexi were supposed to share one night together – a one-night stand with clearly set boundaries. But now each other is all they have out on the open water, and physical safety is only part of the battle. Both of their emotional and psychological states are not in the best of places when they began, and adding a boatload of stress to that isn’t exactly helpful.

This book is emotional, and tense, and beautiful. It’s tangled, and scary, and hopeful. It’s about compassion and resilience and doing what needs to be done, even when you’re not sure you have the capacity to do it. Swept Away is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and then staring into the abyss for awhile once you finish. It’s a story that sticks with you long after you’re done reading. I loved it, and I can’t wait to read it again.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Swept Away
Author:: Beth O’Leary
Genre:: Romance Thriller
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 53m
Audiobook Narrator:: Connor Swindells & Rebekah Hinds
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: April 1st, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars



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All the Missing Pieces | Catherine Cowles
Before We Were Us | Denise Hunter
Hello Stranger | Katherine Center
Butcher & Blackbird | Brynne Weaver

Book Review:: Ambush | Colleen Coble

Paradise Alden is ready to confront the demons of her past. She takes a job as the vet at a big animal rescue in the hometown her parents were murdered in, hoping to find out more about what exactly happened that horrible night.

Ambush by Colleen Coble Book Cover

The animal refuge is run by the family she was closest to after her parents died, but they’re also the reason she was bounced back into the foster system, when she was in a bad situation. Trouble is, sometimes bad can turn worse, and unfortunately that’s what happened to Paradise.

In this first book of a new series by Colleen Coble, Paradise is searching for answers, but does she want justice? Or will she be able to find forgiveness in her heart for past transgressions?

The action gets started as soon as Paradise steps into her new role, and it doesn’t let up. With large animals (especially the large predators) in their sanctuary, careful execution of strict procedures are paramount to safety, and when locks are left open, animals not where they’re meant to be, and traps set for the unwitting, accidents are inevitable.

For me, the pacing was a little unhinged. It is one hurdle after another after another with barely room to adjust before the next big event happens. More incidents doesn’t necessarily mean more danger, and I think this book could have done with some trimming of the excessive dangerous episodes.

I found the relationship between Paradise and the son of the Sanctuary owner, Blake, very well done. They were once teenaged sweethearts, but after fifteen years of hard lifetime apart, will they be able to forgive one another and develop a friendship anywhere near the level of trust they once did? There are a lot of complicated emotions there, and the dynamics of Paradise and his family is a beautiful thing.

One of the main themes of the book is forgiveness and finding faith. When Paradise confronts one of her greatest fears, she has a moment of transcendence, but for me her realizations felt too in-your-face and repetitive through the rest of the book. If they had been a little more inter-woven into the story and subtle in the language, I think it would have been more immersive.

Overall it was quite a unique setting for a story which was very interesting to read. The characters are good, and I’m curious to know where the series is headed next!

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Details

Title:: Ambush (Sanctuary #1)
Author:: Colleen Coble
Genre:: Thriller
Publisher:: Thomas Nelson
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 55m
Audiobook Narrator:: Karen Peakes
Published:: March 5th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars



If you liked this book, check out…

I Think I Was Murdered | Colleen Coble & Rick Acker
Before We Were Us | Denise Hunter
Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Book Review:: The Villa | Rachel Hawkins

Rachel Hawkins is my favorite kind of suspense writer. A modern Gothic master. Her stories are somber and interesting and layered. If you enjoy historical mysteries, The Villa is the one you’ll want to pick up.

The Villa Rachel Hawkins Book Cover

Emily (a suspense writer), and her best friend since grade school Chess (the world’s latest most popular self-help guru) decide to get away for the summer and rent a little Italian Villa with a dark and storied history. Emily is in the middle of a messy divorce, coming out of some unknown health issues, and has a stubborn case of writer’s block. She also doesn’t know how much she actually likes her best friend anymore. The place they’ve rented is where the world’s most popular horror novel, Lilith Rising, was penned, and one of the most popular albums of all time, Aestis (forgive me for any misspellings, I listened on audio, which I recommend!) was inspired by. Unfortunately that long lost summer, a man was also killed. Emily feels immediately inspired by their new setting and gets to work researching what happened at the Villa all those years ago. But life imitates art, and history tends to repeat itself. One thing is certain, this summer at the Villa will change everything.

I really loved the slow peeling back of historical layers, and how it merged with the modern timeline. Emily and Chess have a complicated friendship that has strayed into rival territory. They are both writers, and planned to write a book together one day. When Chess sees how invested Emily is in this new story, she wants to jump on board. But it was Emily’s idea, and she wants to keep it. The tone is fraught with tension, and the mystery of the past only elevates it.

While this is not my favorite Rachel Hawkins novel, it is certainly worth a read if you’re in the mood for gothic suspense!

Details

Title:: The Villa
Author:: Rachel Hawkins
Genre:: Suspense
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Press
Length:: 279 pages
Audio Length:: 7h 57m
Audiobook Narrator:: Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Shiromi Arserio
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: January 3rd, 2023
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins
The Wife Upstairs | Rachel Hawkins
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

Book Review:: The Wife Upstairs | Rachel Hawkins

One of my top books of all time is Jane Eyre, so do I think you should read this modern, exaggerated, twisted novel that heavily draws upon it for inspiration?

Hell yes.

The Wife Upstairs Rachel Hawkins Book Cover

Jane has run away from her old life in Arizona and has taken a job as a dog walker in the ultra-chic suburban neighborhood of Thornfield Heights (already getting good, amiright?). One day she runs into a new man, Eddie Rochester. When she finds out he’s a widower and at least intrigued by her, she decides to wiggle herself into his life, which she convinces herself she deserves. His wife, B(ertha), and her BFF Blanch Ingram, disappeared from a boat on a trip to the lake several months back (hello nod to Rebecca). The investigation is ongoing, but Jane doesn’t let that stop her. Eddie gets a new dog (Adele) and hires Jane to walk her. Before long, their affair is hot and heavy and the neighbors are talking. She’s moved out of her dingy apartment she shared with her foster brother John Rivers and has installed herself into Eddie’s house. But that’s not enough. The other women in the neighborhood won’t accept her as one of them until she has a ring on her finger…

I forgot just how many Jane Eyre references there are in this book until I recently reread it. Each one is like a little Easter Egg, but the kind that’s just thrown on the lawn for the youngsters to find instead of actually hidden. This book is loud and proud about what it is. If you have any familiarity at all with the classic gothic romance, you’ll catch on pretty quickly. And we all know the twist from that book…

The Jane in The Wife Upstairs is the exact opposite of Our Lady Jane. She is a kleptomaniac and obsessed with how others perceive her. She manipulates and gaslights and convinces herself when all is said and done, she will be happy. And she gets what she wants…somehow, things come a little too easily to her.

Rachel Hawkins is so good at mastering a tone of something-just-isn’t-right-here. The investigation of the two women’s disappearances put off Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca vibes both in the suspicions and manor of…what happened. If you haven’t read Rebecca – come on. That is gothic lit Required Reading (But be forewarned, you won’t get that first read back, so savor it the first time!). Being in a relationship with B’s husband, she begins to wonder what actually happened to her out there. Was it Blanche’s husband? Was it her own?

I am a big fan of Rachel Hawkins, and it all started with this gem of a book right here. The balance of suspense and intrigue and mystery and f***ed up s***…it’s delicious. Feast yourself.

Details

Title:: The Wife Upstairs
Author:: Rachel Hawkins
Genre:: Mystery/Suspense
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Press
Length:: 290 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 57m
Audiobook Narrator:: Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, Lauren Fortgang
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: January 5th, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check these out…

The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

Book Review:: The Vanishing Year | Kate Moretti

Tis the season for suspenseful, twisty books, and The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti will certainly scratch that itch for you.

The Vanishing Year Kate Moretti Book Cover

Zoey has a pretty great life – a life she never expected. After fleeing a dark, haunting past, she didn’t know what she might make of herself, but now years later she’s the wife of a wealthy New York businessman. Since her marriage, she’s drifted away from the friendships she’d made in her new life, and her old goals – for one, discovering the identity of her birth mother. With the help of a reporter who covered a story for her charity (pasting a picture of her in the newspaper), she pulls on that thread. In the meantime, someone from her past is hungry for revenge.

If you are a sensitive thriller reader, you might want to skip this one. This one was pretty gruesome and dark. Psychopathy, human tr*fficking, drugs…it’s a lot. But there are also a lot of very compelling factors: her own hidden identity, the mystery around her birth mother, her husband’s odd behavior, the new friendship with the reporter…I think it was just balanced enough that I didn’t have to put it down. If you like dark stories…I found one!

The tension starts pretty low at the beginning, but once it starts ratcheting up, it doesn’t stop until the brutal end. It held my attention all the way through. It’s the kind of story that leaves you questioning why any and everything is being included. Is it important? Is it going to tie back in? What is happening!

Details

Title:: The Vanishing Year
Author:: Kate Moretti
Genre:: Suspense/Thriller
Publisher:: Atria Books
Length:: 304 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Mandeleine Maby
Audiobook Publisher:: Simon & Schuster Audio
Published:: September 27th, 2016
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check these out…

Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

Book Review:: The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins

Rachel Hawkins is a master of subtle psychological thrillers. Her books have a flair for being compelling contemporary reads with a dark twist. I’ve read them all, and they’re all worth your time. While The Wife Upstairs is my favorite (I mean, it’s an echo of my favorite book of all time, Jane Eyre – hard to beat that), The Heiress comes in a close second.

The Heiress Rachel Hawkins Book Cover

Everyone has secrets. Cam and Jules are an ordinary couple working meager jobs to afford their Colorado rental. The secret is that they don’t have to. Cameron is the heir of Ruby McTavish, an Appalachian princess married and widowed four times before her death ten years before. He’s a multi-millionaire, but he doesn’t want anything to do with the money, or Ashby House, the mansion he inherited, and the few remaining family members who remain inside it. But after a couple of cryptic emails, he knows he can no longer put off the inevitable. He has to go back. The past has a way with catching up to you.

Cam’s family is deplorable. They resented his mother, and they resent him even more for the decisions she made. He was always an outsider, and they weren’t afraid to let him know it. It was an unhappy childhood he ran from as soon as he got the chance, but even putting an entire country between himself and his past isn’t enough to save him from it.

Ashby house is the perfect gothic setting. A mansion full of old portraits and antiques in every room, a sprawling property in a dangerous wooded area, all fallen into grotesque disrepair-Bronte couldn’t have written it better herself.

A big chunk of this novel was comprised of letters written by the heiress, Ruby, in what turned out to be her last weeks. Her life was plagued by rumor, and she decides to finally set the record straight, if only in private correspondence. Though she is long dead in the narrative, the letters bring her to life in such a vibrant way, and the contents of the letters are…captivating.

The theme seems to ask an age-old question: are people who do bad things, bad people? Is it our surroundings who make us who we are, or is our nature buried someplace deep inside us, impregnable to corruption? It certainly doesn’t answer the question, but it begs the question with every carefully crafted character, and a plot that often swerves in unexpected directions.

I was gripped by this story early on, and ate up every twist and turn. Fans of Colleen Hoover’s Verity, or the author Lucy Foley (The Midnight Feast, The Paris Apartment) will enjoy the suspense and intrigue of this book. While there is some darkness in these pages, it wasn’t scary, so I feel like it’s a good choice for people who enjoy thrillers, but are a little wimpy, like me!

Details

Title:: The Heiress
Author:: Rachel Hawkins
Genre:: Gothic Mystery
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Press
Length:: 294 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 20m
Audiobook Narrator:: Dan Bittner, Eliza Foss, John Pirhalla, & Patti Murin
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: January 9th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

Book Review:: If We Were Villains | M.L. Rio

What is more important, that Cesear is assassinated or that he is assassinated by his intimate friends? … ‘That,’ Frederick said, ‘is where the tragedy is.’

If We Were Villains M. L. Rio Book Cover

After years in prison, inmate Oliver Marks is released on parole. Detective Colborne, the man in charge of the crime that put Oliver behind bars, is no longer in active duty. Lingering questions over the case has him approaching Oliver for the truth of what happened all those years ago. Being the Shakespearean thespian he and his friends are, he recounts the tale in all its detail and subtlety.

At Dellecher, an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends are in their fourth year of theater studies, where they perform endless Shakespearean plays. The friend group is very close-knit, and each of them play their respective roles dutifully on stage, and off. But things are changing, and after a strangely intense performance, one of them ends up dead.

The students in this theater program are dedicated to their craft, most certainly to a fault. They read deep into the verse, and quote it, frankly, constantly. I’ve never wanted to do a deep-dive into Shakespeare’s cannon more than I did while reading this book, and perhaps those with more background on the plays in question would have understood the deeper levels of meaning I’m convinced were there for a more astute reader. As it was, Oliver as the narrator did a good job of explaining enough that even a novice reader like me was able to follow the subtext of the scenes presented well enough. But these kids sure have a way with language, and as the author, M.L. Rio impressed me with such an expansive, luxurious writing style. It made me feel smarter and vastly ignorant all at once (ha).

One thing I’m sure Colborne will never understand is that I need language to live, like food-lexemes and morphemes and morsels of meaning nourish me with the knowledge that, yes, there is a word for this. Someone else has felt it before.

Oliver is a great supporting actor, and his place in the friend group mirrors that role. It is a great POV from which to experience the story. He sees the others for who they are without his own ego getting in the way, and is profoundly loyal to them, and is entirely too trusting of them, as it turns out. His character did not have a front row seat to the tragedy, and has to piece together what happened himself as the cracks in the story begin to show.

Did you love Donna Tartt’s The Secret History? Did you like it but wished it had less Latin & philosophy and more Shakespearean verse? Then this was written for you. The gist of the story was very similar, with mirrored themes and pacing in both plot and language. To me, this is essentially a re-telling of The Secret History, although having read it doesn’t give anything away of this one. But if you loved it, you’ll love this, and vice versa.

This Gothic mystery is not for the casual reader. The prose is dense and poetic and requires concentration and patience to get through (listening to it as an audiobook might help if you’re finding it too tedious). But if you’re a seasonal reader and like to lean into the vibes of autumn, this is a perfect companion to the chilly, snow-crusted, dim evenings of October.

Details

Title:: If We Were Villains
Author:: M.L. Rio
Genre:: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Flatiron Books
Length:: 354 pages
Audio Length:: 12h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Robert Petkoff
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: April 11th, 2017
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen