PLBR Book Reviews 2018 - Elle's Book Blog

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL BY BRITNEY KING

10/4/2018

Once again, Britney King brings her readers an edge of your seat thriller that will leave you gasping! I love the way she writes these twisty reads and I highly recommend her novels to anyone who loves a psychological thriller and suspense novel

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: October 4, 2018
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 269 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

In the tradition of Gone Girl and Behind Closed Doors comes a gripping, twisted, furiously clever read that demands your attention, and keeps you guessing until the very end. For fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, Speak of the Devil delivers us the perfect dark and provocative villain. The only question--who is it?

In the upscale suburb where Vanessa Bolton lives, she's your average suburban housewife.

She does her grocery shopping on Tuesday, Thursday mornings are reserved for Pilates, Sundays for church. At home, she's an impeccable housekeeper and a mother with a mediocre track record.

But in discreet hotel rooms throughout the city, she can be

THE REPLACEMENT WIFE BY BRITNEY KING

9/26/2018

This is only the second book I have read from Britney King and I can say that I am totally addicted! If you are a fan of domestic thrillers and twisted endings, you need to grab this one!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: May 3, 2018
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 269 pages
Format: eBook. Purchased.

From the bestselling author of The Social Affair comes a new riveting, powerful psychological thriller which offers a savage look into a utopian cultish society where beauty and perfection are valued at all costs.

For readers of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, The Replacement Wife offers a peek into the lives of a married couple up against impossible odds and the notion that history has a way of repeating itself.

Statistically speaking, fifty percent of marriages end up in divorce. What are the odds formurder?

Widower Tom Anderson is a savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Problem is, one is a lonely number. Thankfully, he solved for X by finding the perfect woman. It wasn't easy. Tom is very specific. He has to be.

AN UNWANTED GUEST BY SHARI LAPENA

9/24/2018

Wow! This is an excellent murder mystery reminiscent of Agatha Christie novels. I devoured this one and couldn't stop thinking about long after I read it. I highly recommend it.

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: August 7, 2018
Genre: Murder Mystery
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 304 pages
Format: Hardcover. Purchased.

A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away

It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.

So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in for the long haul.

Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic.

THE CHEERLEADERS BY KARA THOMAS

8/1/2018

The Cheerleaders is an awesome young adult murder mystery and I recommend it so much! Every time Kara Thomas writes a new book they get better and better!!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 384 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all.

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT BY LIZ FENTON & LISA STEINKE

7/24/2018

A little bit slow and quite anticlimactic, but a good solid book if you're looking for something easy and interesting to read. I liked the book but there was something missing for me.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: July 24, 2018
Genre: Mystery. Thriller. Suspense.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 333 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

From the bestselling authors of The Good Widow comes a chilling novel of psychological suspense that will make you think twice about what your best friend may be hiding…

For estranged friends Ashley, Natalie, and Lauren, it’s time to heal the old wounds between them. Where better to repair those severed ties than on a girls’ getaway to the beautiful paradise of Tulum, Mexico? But even after they’re reunited, no one is being completely honest about the past or the secrets they’re hiding. When Ashley disappears on their girls’ night out, Natalie and Lauren have to try to piece together their hazy memories to figure out what could have happened to her, while also reconciling their feelings of guilt over their last moments together.

Was Ashley with the man she’d met only days before? Did she pack up and leave? Was she kidnapped? Or worse—could Natalie or Lauren have snapped under the weight of her own lies?

THE LAST TIME I LIED BY RILEY SAGER

7/3/2018

If you are looking for a fantastic and thrilling book to read by the pool this year, I highly recommend this one. I take you on a journey that will leave you riveted.

Rating:★★★★
Release Date: July 3, 2018
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 384 pages
Format: eBook. ARC.

In the latest thriller from the bestselling author of Final Girls, a young woman returns to her childhood summer camp to uncover the truth about a tragedy that happened there fifteen years ago.

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her

JAR OF HEARTS BY JENNIFER HILLIER

6/12/2018

Jar of Hearts is an intense and twisted thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end. If you are a fan of the authors previous novels, this is the book for you this summer.

Rating:★★★
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Page Number: 320 pages.
Genre: Thriller. Crime. Suspense.
Series: None. Standalone.
Format: eBook. ARC.

This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who's been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are

THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN BY DOT HUTCHISON

4/19/2018

The Butterfly Garden is a dark crime novel. While I found it to be dull despite the subject matter many readers truly enjoyed this one. I suppose it's up to you whether you read it or not. I personally didn't like it.

Rating: ★★
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Genre: Dark Crime Novel
Series: The Collector Trilogy #1
Pages: 288 pages
Format: eBook. Kindle Unlimited.

Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.

In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.

When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers. But the girl, known only as Maya, proves to be a puzzle herself.

THE WIFE BY ALAFAIR BURKE

3/18/2018

The Wife is a multilayered domestic thriller. I found myself both obsessively reading this one while I had it in my hands BUT not feeling the desire to pick it up at any chance I could get.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover. Purchased.

His Scandal
Her Secret
From New York Times bestselling author Alafair Burke, a stunning domestic thriller in the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Woman in Cabin 10—in which a woman must make the impossible choice between defending her husband and saving herself.

When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they

HEART-SHAPED BOX BY JOE HILL

3/5/2018

This is one of the most original horror novels I have ever read and it creeped me out completely. I very much recommend this book and anything by Joe Hill.

Rating:★★★★
Release Date: February 13, 2007
Genre: Horror
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 376
Format: Papaerback. Purchased.

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . .

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts—of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned,

BAD GIRLS WITH PERFECT FACES BY LYNN WEINGARTEN

2/19/2018

An interesting look at the ripple effects that one bad choice can make. I enjoyed this one. It wasn't perfect, but the ending was killer and the story flowed well.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: October 31, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Thriller and Suspense.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover. Purchased.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls comes a stylish thriller about the darkness that lurks inside all of us.

When I looked up, his smile was wide and real. “Ready?” he said.
I faked a smile back. I had gotten so good at faking things.
I thought: You brought this on yourself, Sasha. You will have to pretend forever now.
He squeezed my hand again. He couldn’t begin to imagine what this actually was. He had no idea what I’d done. What any of us had.

When Sasha’s best friend Xavier gets back together with his cheating ex, Ivy, Sasha knows she needs to protect him. So

MISTER TENDER'S GIRL BY CARTER WILSON

2/14/2018

An exceptional and gripping read that will keep you up until all hours of the night. I highly recommend Carter Wilson's latest suspense. You won't want to miss it.

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: February 13, 2018
Genre: Thriller and Suspense.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 400
Format: eBook. ARC.

How far are you willing to go for Mister Tender?

At fourteen, Alice Hill was viciously attacked by two of her classmates and left to die. The teens claim she was a sacrifice for a man called Mister Tender, but that could never be true: Mister Tender doesn't exist. His sinister character is pop-culture fiction, created by Alice's own father in a series of popular graphic novels.

Over a decade later, Alice has changed her name and is trying to heal. But someone is watching her. They know more about Alice than any stranger could: her scars, her fears, and the secrets she keeps locked away. She can try to escape her past, but Mister Tender is never far behind.

THE SOCIAL AFFAIR BY BRITNEY KING

2/6/2018

The Social Affair is a fantastically written and intense read. I devoured this novel and know many readers will do the same. I highly recommend it to fans of psychological and domestic thrillers.

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: January 18, 2018
Genre: Psychological Thriller. Domestic Thriller.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 251
Format: eBook. Purchased.

In the tradition of Gone Girl and Behind Closed Doors comes a gripping, twisted, furiously clever read that demands your attention, and keeps you guessing until the very end. For fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, The Social Affair delivers us the perfect dark and provocative villain. The only question--who is it?

A timeless, perfect couple waltzes into the small coffee shop where Izzy Lewis works. Instantly enamored, she does what she always does in situations like these: she searches them out on social media.

Just like that--with the tap of a screen-- she's given a front row seat to the Dunns' picturesque life. This time, she's

THE CHALK MAN BY CJ TUDOR

1/25/2018

Although this book didn't deliver on it's promises of an unsettling read, I did find myself drawn to it. Even more, I enjoyed it despite what I felt was missing.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: January 9, 2018
Genre: Thriller and Suspense.
Series: None. Standalone.
Pages: 288
Format: Purchased. Hardcover.

In 1986, Eddie and his friends are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code: little chalk stick figures they leave for one another as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing is ever the same.

In 2016, Eddie is fully grown, and thinks he's put his past behind him. But then he gets a letter in the mail, containing a single chalk stick figure. When it turns out that his friends got the same message, they think it could be a prank . . . until one of them turns up dead.

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