Good Reads & Views

The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Fiction

What it’s about: The Only One Left is a thriller that unravels the mystery through various avenues and multiple perspectives. Our main character is Kit, a newly reinstated caregiver who is assigned to care for Lenora Hope, a notorious recluse believed to have killed her entire family in 1929 but who was never charged. Lenora is now wheelchair bound, paralyzed, and only able to communicate via typewriter. As Kit cares for Lenora, she begins to learn the history of the Hope family, who Lenora truly is, and with the help of Lenora’s typed letters, what actually happened the night her family was murdered. Sager continually distracts the reader, diverts attention, and brings together threads that are minuscule only for them to be significant and surprising.

Why you might like it: Great for those that enjoy gothic thrillers, cliffside mansion settings and old typewriters. This story offers multiple perspectives and timeline jumps between the present and the past. Tensions build up with well-paced storytelling and action hits as the story concludes with multiple twists and turns that keep you guessing.

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The Winners by Fredrik Backman    
Fiction

Series alert: This is the third book in the Beartown series.

Reviewers say: “Backman leaves no emotion unturned, sweeping up the reader in riveting family dramas that jump the boundaries of hockey-town rivalries. Another winner” (Library Journal).

You might also like: The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg or Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane.   

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You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Fiction

What’s it about: “Shay Miller wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is increasingly lonely. Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better”(Amazon).

Reviewers say: "Masterfully escalates the suspense...keep[s] the reader guessing until the end. A great follow-up" (Booklist - starred review).

About the Author: “GREER HENDRICKS is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Wife Between Us, An Anonymous Girl. Prior to becoming a novelist, she spent over two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. SARAH PEKKANEN is the internationally and USA Today bestselling author of several novels, including The Wife Between Us, The Perfect Neighbors and The Best of Us. A former investigative journalist and feature writer, her work has been published in The Washington Post, USA Today, and many others.” (Amazon)

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An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Fiction

What’s it about: “Looking to earn some easy cash, Jessica Farris agrees to be a test subject in a
psychological study about ethics and morality. But as the study moves from the exam room to
the real world, the line between what is real and what is one of Dr. Shields’s experiments blurs”
(Amazon).

Reviewers say: "Masterfully escalates the suspense" (Booklist - starred review)

You might also like: The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney or The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth
Ware.

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This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel
Fiction

What it’s about: This book follows a couple of shifting points of view. Natalie is a young professional who receives an email telling her that if she doesn’t tell her sister the truth, the unknown sender will. Her sister went away to a retreat where she’s been cut off from everyone and everything for six months and Natalie has no way to reach her without following the instructions sent by the person behind the email. In alternating POVs you begin to follow the life of an unnamed young woman with a controlling, abusive father, and a troublesome family dynamic. She’s forced to confront her fears and anything else her father wants her to do.

Is it for you? If you like books about intriguing cultish behavior, sibling dynamics and secrets, and questionable decision-making you should read this.

You might also like: Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker.

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The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson
Fiction

What it’s about: The Lucky Ones is the tragic story of a girl who was the only survivor of a school shooting while her brother was killed, and a boy whose life was altered forever once his mother, a defense attorney, took the shooter's case.

Why you might like it: It's a story of mental health and people trying to do the right thing amidst devastating circumstances. It is both a heart wrenching and uplifting read.

You might also like: Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

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The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
Fiction

What it's about:  Sophie Honeywell inherits the house of her ex-boyfriend’s Aunt Connie, located on the fictional Scribbly Gum Island. The island is famous for an unsolved mystery, the disappearance of Alice and Jack Munro, known as the Munro baby mystery. Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret.

Reviewers say: “A stunner…[Moriarty’s] prose turns from funny through poignant to frightening in an artful snap” (Publishers Weekly).

You might also like: Starting Now by Debbie Macomber or Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr

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Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Fiction

Book Buz: #1 New York Times Bestseller & Amazon Best Book of September 2021

Reviewers say: “Liane Moriarty devotees, rejoice!” (CNN).

You might also like: Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney or All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

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Suspicious Minds by David Mark
Fiction

What it’s about: Betsy has been diagnosed with BPD and has run away from her abusive boyfriend. When she crashes her car on a country road, a local farmer comes to her rescue and she ends up staying with him to recover. Farmer Jude writes poetry, is mysterious and attentive, but also rumored to have killed his wife. Betsy is very happy with Jude but isn’t quite sure what to think...

Reviewers say: “A chilling entry from a master of the dark psychological thriller--one that's uncharacteristically tempered by hope” (Kirkus Reviews); “Author Mark's way with words is the star here, describing clammy skin as ‘like a wild mushroom at dawn’ and a trophy wife with ‘costly breasts and teeth like sugar cubes.’ Questions abound until the end” (Booklist).

You might also like: Try the author’s The Mausoleum, A Rush of Blood, and Borrowed Time.

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After Anna by Lisa Scottoline
Fiction

Reviewers say: "A deliciously distracting thriller...Scottoline illuminat[es] the landing strip of revelations and truths in a deliciously slow and intense way" (The Washington Post).

What it’s about:  Maggie Ippolitti loses custody of her daughter Anna as an infant. After 17 years they are reunited, and Anna comes to live with her and her second husband Dr. Noah Alderman and her stepson. Life seems perfect until everything starts to go wrong and after Anna is murdered and her husband is accused, things still aren’t as they seem. 

You might also like:  The Secrets You Keep by Kate White or Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell.

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