The Lost Village by Camilla Sten

About the Book:

Publication: March 23, 2021

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Source: Publisher

 

Synopsis:

 

The Blair Witch Project meets Midsommar in this brilliantly disturbing thriller from Camilla Sten, an electrifying new voice in suspense.

Documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt has been obsessed with the vanishing residents of the old mining town, dubbed “The Lost Village,” since she was a little girl. In 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared in this mysterious tragedy, and ever since, the unanswered questions surrounding the only two people who were left—a woman stoned to death in the town center and an abandoned newborn—have plagued her. She’s gathered a small crew of friends in the remote village to make a film about what really happened.

But there will be no turning back.

Not long after they’ve set up camp, mysterious things begin to happen. Equipment is destroyed. People go missing. As doubt breeds fear and their very minds begin to crack, one thing becomes startlingly clear to Alice:

They are not alone.

They’re looking for the truth…
But what if it finds them first?

 

******

 

The Lost Village definitely had a creepy vibe going on. The story alternated between the Then and the Now, which I really enjoyed. The Now /present story with Alice and her crew making a film about the village was enjoyable. As things progressed for them though, their story wasn’t as suspenseful as I had hoped it would be. And some of the things that happened, like certain choices and actions did not make any sense to me. I started to enjoy reading the Then flashbacks more than I did the Now. I was very interested in learning what evil befell a whole village. As I started inching closer to the ending of the book, I felt dread for what was happening to the characters in the past and anticipation for the whole reveal. I was hooked on the Then story.

I would categorize this book as more of a suspenseful thriller than an actual horror story. I will say that unfortunately the ending was a bit lackluster for me. Despite that, it did continually keep my interest and I enjoyed reading it.  

 

 

RATING: 3 OUT OF 5.

 

 

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The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

 

Publication: January 5, 2021

Publisher: St. Martin's Press / Macmillan Audio

Source: Publisher

Time: 8 hrs. and 40 mins.

Narrators: Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, and Lauren Fortgang

 

Synopsis:

A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, Rachel Hawkins' The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B. A. Paris and Megan Miranda.

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates - a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie - not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful Southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past - or his - catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending? 

******

"So is it hard, having a new girlfriend when you have a wife upstairs?"

Jane, Eddie, and Bea were very interesting characters to get to know. From pretty much the beginning, I was interested in Jane’s background and what she could possibly be running from. Then once Eddie and Bea came into the picture, I wanted to know more about their past…specifically Bea’s. The story seamlessly shifts between both present and past. Uncovering more of Bea and Eddie’s life as well as Jane’s past in the process. none of these characters were very likeable to me, but I think that is the point. However likeable or unlikeable, they all added something to the story and made it all the more intriguing. 

 

I’m one of those weird people that like to occasionally switch between listening to an audiobook and reading the book. Oftentimes I will read the book during lunch and then listen to it when I get home or vice versa. The writing and pace of the story was done well. It never felt like anything lagged or became boring. The narration was good too. All three of the narrators did a good job of bringing the characters to life and making the book even more enjoyable. Listening to their voices tell the story, it was easy to get lost in the book for several hours.  

 

The Wife Upstairs was a quick and easy suspenseful story to get sucked into. The more I read, the more my curiosity grew, and I had to find out how it all ended. This was the perfect book to read while I was on vacation. I look forward to seeing what Rachel Hawkins comes up with next. 

 

 

RATING: 3½ -4 OUT OF 5.

 

 

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All The Best Lies (Ellery Hathaway #3) by Joanna Schaffhausen

Publication: February 11, 2020

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis: 

FBI agent Reed Markham is haunted by one painful unsolved mystery: who murdered his mother? Camilla was brutally stabbed to death more than forty years ago while baby Reed lay in his crib mere steps away. The trail went so cold that the Las Vegas Police Department has given up hope of solving the case. But then a shattering family secret changes everything Reed knows about his origins, his murdered mother, and his powerful adoptive father, state senator Angus Markham. Now Reed has to wonder if his mother's killer is uncomfortably close to home.

Unable to trust his family with the details of his personal investigation, Reed enlists his friend, suspended cop Ellery Hathaway, to join his quest in Vegas. Ellery has experience with both troubled families and diabolical murderers, having narrowly escaped from each of them. She's eager to skip town, too, because her own father, who abandoned her years ago, is suddenly desperate to get back in contact. He also has a secret that could change her life forever, if Ellery will let him close enough to hear it.

Far from home and relying only on each other, Reed and Ellery discover young Camilla had snared the attention of dangerous men, any of whom might have wanted to shut her up for good. They start tracing his twisted family history, knowing the path leads back to a vicious killer—one who has been hiding in plain sight for forty years and isn't about to give up now.

******

In All The Best Lies, Reed decides now is as good a time as any to find out what really happen to his birth mother. He enlists the help of Ellery, who finds herself suspended from the police department and waiting to find out if she can go back to work or not. I loved that Reed wants Ellery to help him with a case that is so personal to him. But this murder happened 40 years ago and Reed is unsure if he'll be able to find the answers that he’s looking for. He's been lied to about his past and he needs to find out the truth once and for all.

Ellery and Reed have a very interesting dynamic. They're sort of drawn to each other. Though other people might think they are a dangerous combination, I think they happen to work very well together. Yes, Ellery is sometimes reckless and dangerous and feels like she doesn't deserve to live, but she's a survivor and if anybody will have Reed's back it's Ellery.

The story moved at a good pace and I was hooked from the very first chapter. Every other character in this story seem suspicious. I was second guessing every person and everything. It felt like everyone had secrets to hide. I loved that. This was a very well written mystery that was full of suspense, distrustful characters, and lots of secrets. The ending was really good; I was surprised by it. I cannot wait for hopefully the fourth book in the series to find out what’s next for Reed and Ellery.

RATING: 4½ OUT OF 5.

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No Mercy (Ellery Hathaway #2) by Joanna Schaffhausen

Publication: January 15, 2019

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

Police officer Ellery Hathaway and FBI profiler Reed Markham take on two difficult new cases in this stunning follow-up to The Vanishing Season.

No Mercy is award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen’s heart-pounding second novel.

Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologize for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than “getting in touch with her feelings.”

For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the Spider-Man-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.

Ellery seeks advice from her friend, FBI profiler Reed Markham, who liberated her from a killer’s closet when she was a child. Reed remains drawn to this unpredictable woman, the one he rescued but couldn’t quite save. The trouble is, Reed is up for a potential big promotion, and his boss has just one condition for the new job—stay away from Ellery. Ellery ignores all the warnings. Instead, she starts digging around in everyone’s past but her own—a move that, at best, could put her out of work permanently, and at worst, could put her in the city morgue.

******

I enjoyed reading The Vanishing Season and was looking forward to reading No Mercy when I saw book two in this series was coming out. I was not disappointed. No Mercy leaves off months after the events from The Vanishing Season. Ellery finds herself in some hot water over killing a man…a man who was a dangerous killer, but still. No matter the reason, she is required to do group therapy if she wants to get her job back.

If talking about her past won’t change the outcome, is there even a reason for her to go? Maybe there is more to this mandated therapy then she first assumes. Especially when during one of Ellery’s meetings, she becomes intrigued by the stories of a couple of the attendees. It’s not long before she becomes entangled in not one, but two mysteries surrounding two of those people.

I liked the pace of the story. Nothing felt rushed or drawn out. Once again, I enjoyed getting to uncover additional layers of Ellery’s character. Though she frustrated me more than once when she continued to take matters into her own hands and act like she was unstoppable. I can understand the need to help someone especially when you feel like no one else is listening to the victim and justice needs to be served, but Ellery continually put her well-being at risk when she should have just let the cops handle it. Of course, if she had done that, there wouldn’t have been much of a story for Ellery to involve herself in. I also liked the possibility of a slow burning romance between Ellery and Reid that lingered just beneath the surface of this story. Like the previous book, the mystery was not an easily guessed one and I had fun attempting to figure out who the bad person was.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

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The Vanishing Season (Ellery Hathaway #1) by Joanna Schaffhausen

 Publication: December 5, 2017

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She's an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived.

When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday—the day she was kidnapped so long ago—Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer’s closet all those years ago.

Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he's washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them...with a killer who can't let go.

******

Ellery knows someone else is going to disappear again. Time is running out and she needs to do something. The Police Chief doesn’t believe there is anything to worry about. He doesn’t see the connection that Ellery does, so she contacts someone she hopes will believe her. Ellery calls on Reed Markham, the FBI Agent that rescued her from the clutches of a serial killer all those years ago.

Reed is surprised to hear from Ellery. He’s always wondered what she made of her life. When he gets her plea for help, he knows it may not be the best move career wise, but he hops on a plane regardless.  Despite making a big mistake on his last case; he is committed to his job and he will always try and help/save someone if at all possible. When he visits Ellery in her town of Woodbury, things don’t completely add up though. Is there a serial killer loose in Woodbury or is she obsessing over nothing?

I liked Ellery, she is tough and smart, but she also has a few inner demons she sometimes battles with. Who wouldn’t if they were held captive by a serial killer? She doesn’t tell people that she is the one victim of Frances Coben who survived. She likes to keep her private life private. No one but Reed seems to understand the urgency to find this possible serial killer before he or she strikes again. Reed and Ellery hadn’t seen each other since that day he saved her, so they are a little unfamiliar with each other at first. However, the more time Reed helps her with this investigation, the more they appear to work well together.

The writing and pace of the story was well done. There was just enough that kept happening to keep me turning pages and hold my interest. I liked the complexity of Ellery and Reed and the interesting course the author decided to take with her characters. The mystery was one I did not guess so easily, which I appreciated. All in all, I would say The Vanishing Season is a great start in a new crime fiction series.

RATING: 4 out of 5.

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An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Publication: January 8, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. 

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

******

When Jessica enters a study in order to make some extra cash, she begins to question what the truth is and what is a lie.  An Anonymous Girl is a story that I feel is best to go into without knowing too much. I loved that feeling of going into it blindly. It makes the story more enjoyable and you are more open to the twists and turns. The deeper I got into the story, the crazier I thought Dr. Shields was and then I began to wonder if Jessica is just as crazy for blindly going along with her. Or is Dr. Shields just that good at manipulating people and getting her way?

When Jessica begins to second guess every action, every encounter, I wonder if she is being perhaps too paranoid. Then again, what if she is right?

I loved the suspense in this story. Each interaction between Dr. Shields and Jessica caused me to be concerned and wonder what the heck is really going on here. I loved that. During the course of the book however, it felt like there was so much buildup, that when the ending came, it was a little lackluster. The ending definitely could have been better in my opinion. Overall, I did enjoy reading the book. The writing and suspense kept me turning page after page, wanting to know what was going to happen next. I will definitely be checking out more work from these two authors in the future.

RATING: 3½-4 out of 5.

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