The BookFetish Blog

I’ve been on a mystery thriller kick lately. Two of my friends were reading this one at the same time I was, so I’m including their thoughts as well as mine in this review.

The Woman In The Window is very Hitchcock, and I think that is part of the appeal for me. From the summary:

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother, their teenaged son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

There will be inevitable comparisons to The Girl on the Train , but I like this one better.  In fact, one thing that Kenneth, Deanne, and I all liked is the chapter structure- the chapters are short, and by day. That keeps you interested and the plot moving.

We also all loved that A. J. Finn keeps us guessing about the reliability of the protagonist. After all, she drinks a lot of merlot and mixes it with a lot of pills, so the “whodunit” isn’t obvious.  Deanne and Kenneth had suspicions about a few things that happened in the story, but none of us saw the ending coming. And that makes it great fun to read.

I’m going to go ahead and say put this one on your t0-read list.  Fox has already bought the film rights, and hopefully they won’t muck it up too much.  If you like thrillers, you’ll like this one.

Right after I finished Liar, I listened to The Mistake.

From the publisher’s summary:

You think you know the truth about the people you love.

But one discovery can change everything…

Eight-year-old Billy goes missing one day, out flying his kite with his sister Rose. Two days later, he is found dead.

Sixteen years on, Rose still blames herself for Billy’s death. How could she have failed to protect her little brother?

Rose has never fully recovered from the trauma, and one of the few people she trusts is her neighbour Ronnie, who she has known all her life. But one day Ronnie falls ill, and Rose goes next door to help him… and what she finds in his attic room turns her world upside down.

Rose thought she knew the truth about what happened to Billy. She thought she knew her neighbour. Now the only thing she knows is that she is in danger…

I didn’t enjoy The Mistake quite as much as  I liked Liar, but I still enjoyed it.  What it did well was make me absolutely detest one of the characters. But there was a tragicness to this book and a number of characters in it  that made me sad. It certainly shows how one event can change peoples’ lives forever. I think the only reason I didn’t enjoy this one as much is that I felt sorry for the ultimate villain, and I’m not sure that was intended.

Still, I’ve downloaded other of Slater’s books because I like the way she reveals the characters’ motivations and develops the plot.  Thrillers are hard to talk about  for fear of giving anything away- so  I apologize for the brevity of the reviews. But if you like thrillers, put Slater on your list.  This was another that I listened to, and again, I think Lucy Price-Lewis does an excellent job with narration.

I recently listened to the audiobook of Liar by K. L. Slater.

This is another thriller (I said I have been on a kick), and I loved this one.

From the publisher’s summary:

Single dad Ben is doing his best to raise his children, with the help of his devoted mother Judi. And then Ben meets Amber. Everyone thinks this is a perfect match for Ben but Judi isn’t so sure…

There’s just something about Amber that doesn’t add up. Ben can’t see why his mother dislikes his new girlfriend. And Amber doesn’t want Judi anywhere near her new family. Amber just wants Ben and the children.

The further Judi delves into Amber’s personal life, the closer she gets to shocking secrets that could change everything. And Judi must make a decision that could lead to the most disastrous consequences.

This was a book where I found myself finding ways to have more time to listen to the book.   Amber and Judi are both interesting characters.  You’re not supposed to really like Amber, and that’s deliberate in how the story unfolds.  And Judi nearly drove me crazy a few times.

But there’s a twist to this one that was absolutely delicious to uncover.  It left me saying “WHAT?!” and it made me a  K.L. Slater fan.  Both this and the other Slater book I have listened to are set in England and narrated by  Lucy Price-Lewis, who was easy to listen to. She provides nuanced narration and it is easy to follow character changes in her diction.

This one is a highly recommend from me.

I formed a new book club this year, and Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere was our first selection. The book topped a number of 2017’s “Best of” lists –People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, Goodreads, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch- and there was hype all over about it. The book sounded good, and it was a natural choice for our first read.

“In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town–and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides.  Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. “

Overall, we all enjoyed the book, but we were a little surprised that it led as many best of lists as it did.  It’s a good story, though parts of it are completely unbelievable.   I thought the adoption controversy would  make up a larger part of the story, but it felt like it came to a plot point pretty late in the story, as almost an afterthought for how it is referenced in the summary and reviews.

What makes a mother is a crux of the story, and that is a worthy part of the discussion. Yes, there is the story of the birth and adoptive mothers, but there’s also Elena Richardson and Mia Warren.  Ng contrasts these women and their approach to motherhood.  Most starkly, she presents Elena as “Mrs. Richardson” and Mia as Mia. That is clearly a deliberate choice and helps set the tone of these two characters and their personalities.  I get the sense Mrs. Richardson chose the safe, perfect, Stepford life and resents parts of the life she didn’t choose.  So I felt a little sorry for her on occasion, but she is motivated by a mean streak that keeps me from really liking her.

All in all, I say this one is worth the read and can spark some conversation.  I’m just not putting it on my “Best of” shelf.

I like a good mystery. When I was making Book of the Month selections, The Wife Between Us caught my eye. One thing that intrigued me is seeing there are two authors. That’s fairly common in non-fiction reads, but not one you see a lot of in fiction reads.

The cover enticed me, then I read this synopsis, and I was hooked:

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.

You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.

You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement, a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.

You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.

Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage – and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.

Y’all, I read this one FAST.  In less than a day.  It’s that kind of thriller.  There’s a twist I didn’t see coming, which I like.  And I don’t want to say too much about it and be an accidental spoiler.

But I’ll tell you this- you only think you know what is going on. You don’t.  You may think you know all about a character, then you find out you’re wrong.

So, if you’re a fan of thrillers, put this one on your list. I don’t think you’ll regret it at all.