Thriller

Review: The Anniversary by Alex Finlay

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The AnniversaryThe Anniversary by Alex Finlay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

The Anniversary follows two main characters, Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley. When they were both 17-years old, back in 1992, one fateful night changed the trajectory of both of their lives, and intertwined their stories forever.

This sounds dramatic, but it’s true. Finlay expertly-weaves together the stories of Jules and Quinn, keeping me at the edge of my seat the whole way through.

On the fateful night in question, Jules survives an attack of the elusive May Day Killer, a serial predator who attacks unsuspecting young women every May 1st in small Midwestern towns. Though she survived the attack, certain psychological scars may never heal.

And poor Quinn, trying to break-up a fight, severly injures one of the participants, and he’s arrested and ultimately ends up in juvenile detention because of it. While he’s there, his mother is murdered, and the crime goes unsolved.

A year later, Jules is plagued with survivor’s guilt, and Quinn, recently released from juvie, struggles to put the pieces of his life back together.

We follow both of their perspectives through that process, with the book ultimately spanning over many years.

Jules and Quinn never give up their search for answers, and over time, more and more clues are revealed, bringing their paths back together once again. The bottom line is the May Day Killer is still out there, Quinn’s mother’s murderer is still out there, and they’re determined to find the truth before any other innocent lives are lost.

I feel like I’m not giving this detailed plot justice, but you get the gist. I really enjoyed the back and forth and how we followed the two MCs over such a long period of time. As the puzzle pieces started to fall into place, my attention was fully captured.

The audiobook was fantastic. It’s dual narrated by Brittany Pressley and Ari Fliakos, and having the individual narrators for both perspectives, really lent believability to the plot. It also kept my attention more than had I just been reading a hard copy, I think.

Jules and Quinn were both great characters. They had been through so much, but they never let the negativity of those events completely overwhelm them. Sure, they struggled through some complicated emotions, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but they never lost their determination and will to fight for closure.

They were also both very smart and resourceful. A highlight for me was their interactions together. I felt like they supported each other nicely.

Overall, I had a blast with this. It’s really, really good. The story is gripping, with tons of twists and turns that’ll keep you flipping pages well into the night.

Finlay’s last release, Parents Weekend, fell a little flat for a lot of people, I enjoyed it, but certainly not as much as some of his earlier works. With The Anniversary, I feel like he’s hit his stride again. I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to the pubisher, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I look forward to whatever Finlay has in store for us next!

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Review: No One Aboard by Emy McGuire

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No One AboardNo One Aboard by Emy McGuire
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I love this cover. It’s what immediately attracted me to this book. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the story inside as much as the gorgeous cover art.

In the 1st-quarter, I thought to myself, I wonder why the overall rating is so low? I was sort of into it. It didn’t seem like it was deserved of under a 3.5-overall. However, as the story went on, I started to understand why.

The story follows a wealthy family, Francis and Lila Cameron, and their two children, as they embark on a family vacation on their luxury sailboat.

The kids, whose names escape me now, I believe have just graduated high school, so this is a transitional moment for them, and that is explored as well.

Three weeks later, the boat is found with no occupants off the coast of Florida. What happened to the Camerons?

I found a lot of the build-up rather forgettable, and then there was a twist, a coincidence let’s say, about 65% of the way through that was sort of like, really? IDK, it just all seemed a little ridiculous to me.

Like the ocean itself, I’m a little salty about this overall though, so take my opinion for what you will. I’m sure there is an audience for this. Sadly, I’m just not in it.

Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me a copy to read and review.

While this had promise, it just ended up a big ole’ flop for me. I would try more from this author though, nevertheless. I never give up on an author after only one go. Some of them might wish I did, but I don’t.

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Review: The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards

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The Wasp TrapThe Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

The Wasp Trap is a Psychological Thriller novel set at an intimate dinner party in a Notting Hill townhouse.

The dinner guests are six University friends reunited after the death of their past employer, a Professor, who brought them all together in 1999 to build a dating website based on psychological testing.

What starts as a bittersweet, somewhat awkward reunion, quickly spirals into a vicious game, as the guests are given an ultimatum. Either they reveal their darkest secrets, or they’re forced to pick each other off one-by-one.

It’s clear what’s happening is connected to their past, but they’re all gonna need to open up and be honest if they want to have any chance of figuring it out.

Alternating between past-and-present, the Reader is filled in on that period of time in 1999, as well as the lasting repercussions it may have had.

This was good. I enjoyed the set-up most of all, and did find it entertaining in the moment. For me, some of the back-and-forth was confusing, particularly since certain characters felt samsie.

I didn’t have the easiest time keeping all of the characters straight. Not necessarily in the scenes as they’re happening, but more transferring what happened to who in the past, and connecting that to their present day character.

Will, who is an author, was the most obviously distinct to me, but the others…

The end gets really wild, and I do enjoy OTT-Thrillers, but for me, I was almost mentally checked out by that point. I did like this author’s ideas and the way he incorporated the twists, and even though this didn’t blow me away, I would still be interested in picking up more from him.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would recommend this to Locked Room Mystery fans.

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Review: It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell

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It Could Have Been HerIt Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jane Trevally is walking her dogs in the heathlands of her country estate when a West Highland Terrier suddenly appears. It’s clear the dog has been lost for a bit, and she’s sure someone must be missing him terribly.

She’s able to leash him up and walk him back to her house along with the rest of her pack. She quickly takes him to her local vet, and the dog is recognized. His name is Hugo. It seems he may have been staying with a teenage girl, who had recently rented a nearby cottage.

When the young lady is reported as missing by her landlord, Jane offers to return Hugo to his registered owner, found via microchip, hours away in London.

Arriving at the address, Jane can hardly believe it. She knows this house. She has a dark connection with it. One terrifying night from years ago that she’s never, ever forgotten.

But the man who opens the door isn’t the man she remembers. Nevertheless, the home’s current occupant seems sketch AF. He claims to know nothing about the missing girl, but Jane’s instincts are on high alert.

There’s definitely more to this story, and like the proverbial dog with a bone, Jane is not letting it go.

Jane knows that this unsettling house has secrets to spill, and she’s gonna get to the bottom of all of them. Perhaps it will help her get some closure for herself as well. Thus, an amateur sleuth is born.

Y’all, I had such a great time reading this. It Could Have Been Her is a bit slower to start than some of Jewell’s previous works, but with her signature style, she’s able to amp up the intensity with time and pull out all the stops bringing this dark Domestic Drama to its necessary conclusion.

This is the type of story where you need to be comfortable not fully understanding everything in the beginning. There’s multiple perspectives and timelines and it’s not necessarily clear straight away how they all fit together.

However, this is purposeful and for the Readers with the patience, Jewell expertly drops the reveals that will eventually piece it all together for you. I just went with the flow, and though I was uncomfortable in my uncertainty at times, once it clicked, I was hooked.

With all this being said, IMO, this will play better for the 40+ crowd, like myself, but nevertheless it’s a dark and intriguing tale.

I loved the MC, Jane, and am really hoping we might get another book with her. She was such an interesting character, and I’d love to follow her more on this new chapter of her life.

I would recommend this to any Domestic Suspense Reader, or Readers who like layered mysteries. There’s a lot going on here, but as mentioned above, as it all comes together, the payoff is worth it.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review.

Lisa Jewell is one of the best in the business and I look forward to all of her new releases. This did not disappoint!

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Review: Nine Lives by Catherine Steadman

~ megs14malloy

Nine LivesNine Lives by Catherine Steadman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars rounded up**

After a messy divorce, Frankie moves herself and her lovable cat, Blue, into their own place in a posh London neighborhood.

It’s her first time living on her own for many years, so of course there’s a bit of anxiety surrounding that. The neighborhood seems lovely though, and Frankie is ready to settle in. Lord knows, she needs a fresh start.

Being alone in the house, particularly at night, does leave Frankie unsettled. She assumes this is something that will just take getting used to. Everything is fine, right?

But then after Blue arrives home after an evening carousing the neighborhood, Frankie makes a startling discovery. Someone has etched the words HELP ME into his collar.

Frankie is shocked. She doesn’t know what to believe. Is this some sort of a prank, perhaps? Local teens looking to get a rise out of somebody?

Frankie’s not willing to just let it go, regardless. Someone could really need help. Assuming that Blue couldn’t have gone too far, and the person in distress must be nearby, Frankie digs out an old cat cam to attach to his collar to try to figure out where the person may be located.

As Frankie starts secretly watching the footage that Blue is capturing each day, she starts to learn a lot inadvertently about the households around her.

Eventually, Frankie finds the footage she’s been waiting for. Now her casual curiosity has become an obsession. She needs to find the truth, and she’ll stop at nothing to get it.

I had an absolute blast reading Nine Lives. Catherine Steadman definitely delivered all the fun things I look for in a Suspenseful Neighborhood Drama. She got my pulse racing so many times and I was fully invested.

I also loved the use of the cat cam. I felt like it was such a clever way to progress the plot. The voyeuristic nature of this, it’s deliciously-compelling. Who doesn’t want to know what’s going on inside their neighbors homes?

Steadman wastes no time getting us to the action of this story either. Within the first 10%, I was hooked. There were some disturbing things happening, even within Frankie’s home, that were getting under my skin. I had to know what was going on.

Frankie was a great MC for me. She sort of fits my tastes as far as her reliability as a narrator went. She is unmoored by her recent divorce and her new home. There were moments when I questioned whether I could believe everything she was telling me.

With this in mind, I’m sure this won’t work as well for everyone, because of that, but for me, it was a real success.

In addition to Frankie, she had some other neighbors that I also really enjoyed. I liked seeing her relationships with those neighbors develop throughout.

Frankie really need someone in her corner after all she’d been through with her ex, and I felt like a couple of people she met on her street would be able to fill that role for her. It made me feel hopeful in a way, even with all the craziness that was going on as well.

As this story approaches the conclusion, the pace really picks up. Steadman has now slotted into place for the Reader exactly what is going on, and if you’re invested still by that point, you will be on the edge of your seat.

One would assume they know how a story like this is going to conclude, but Steadman still managed to bring major intensity and cause of concern. I was gagged, racing through, I just needed to see how it was gonna wrap up.

I would highly recommend this to Psychological Thriller Readers, particularly those who love messy neighborhood drama. Steadman delivers that here in spades.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Bantam, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I have a feeling this will be making my Favorite Books of 2026 list!

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Review: The Season of Sinking by Daphne Woolsoncroft

~ megs14malloy

The Season of SinkingThe Season of Sinking by Daphne Woolsoncroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Season of Sinking is the latest release from Daphne Woolsoncroft, author of the gripping 2025-Thriller, Night Watcher. This novel features one of my favorite tropes, where an MC returns to their hometown after a long time away and ends up investigating some sort of mystery.

In this story, we’re actually following twin sisters, Imogen and Amelia. The women return to their small hometown of Blair, Washington, after their mother suddenly passes.

They return to pack up her house and settle the estate, but Imogen is bothered by the circumstances of her death, and believes foul play could be possible.

The details of the night her mother died, they just don’t make sense to Imogen, and she can’t quite let it rest. Additionally, strange things start happening around the house, and that along with her Mom’s mysterious death, having Imogen’s spidey senses pinging off like crazy.

With the help of the cute boy next door, Rory, Imogen begins digging deeper into what happened to her Mom. There are also some other black spots in Imogen’s memory regarding her past, and she starts digging around there too.

We do get Amelia’s perspective as well, but Imogen is definitely the driving force behind this narrative. She’s unsettled by everything going on, and definitely takes a very active role trying to clear up her questions.

As many of us know, sometimes it’s best to leave the past in the past, but also, sometimes it comes to get you whether you’re ready or not. Imogen may get her answers, but at what costs?

After really enjoying Woolsoncroft’s last novel, Night Watcher, I was excited to get to this one, and though it wasn’t quite as successful for me as her 1st-novel was, I still feel it was quite entertaining and well-written.

Night Watcher played into some of my own personal fears, and I did love the podcast element of that one. This one though was still intriguing. I like how Woolsoncroft builds up the tension in her stories, and the way she reveals different layers to her mysteries.

I also loved the Pacific Northwest setting. This one is set on a lake, and the landscape and place felt like such a pivotal part to the story. It was easy to envision and I felt like the mood of the place was a good match for the story being told.

Overall, though this wasn’t the strongest fit for me as far as the content went, I still think it’s a great read. The characters are fantastic, particularly Imogen, and the writing is fluid and engaging.

I would definitely recommend this to Mystery Thriller fans, particularly if you like atmospheric stories with characters digging into their own pasts. I think this is a great pick for Summer reading as well; easily consumable in a weekend, or while you’re on vacation.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m excited to see what Woolsoncroft writes next!

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Review: Too Close to Home by Seraphina Nova Glass

~ megs14malloy

Too Close to HomeToo Close to Home by Seraphina Nova Glass
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Too Close to Home is set in the affluent lakefront community of Clover Lakes. And like many communities of this type, people seem to care a lot about everyone else’s business, and trust when I say, I do too. I’m here for it.

I love a juicy and twisted neighborhood drama, so I was all aboard in the beginning. We follow multiple-POVs and the drama kicks off at the annual Labor Day party, when a car explodes and someone is killed.

We follow three women directly tied to the individual who is killed, and through them we learn how the community, in general, is responding in the aftermath of the incident. It seems so out of the ordinary for Clover Lakes. This isn’t the kind of place where stuff like that happens.

But other strange things are happening in the community too, bomb threats at the school, and people who are supposed to be dead being spotted in a crowd, to name a couple of examples.

When a Clover Lakes resident goes missing shortly thereafter, the community is motivated and they pull together to search. Secrets are bound to be uncovered and it leaves some residents quaking in their heels.

I’m a huge Seraphina Nova Glass fan and love picking up her latest works. While this wasn’t my favorite from her, it’s still fast-paced, twisty and interesting.

I rated this one in comparison to her other novels that I’ve read. This is the 7th I’ve read from her, and I actually think content-wise, it’s my least favorite. It’s still good, don’t get me wrong, I just enjoyed her other stories more.

This did feel a little different in tone for me, very action-based, versus more psychological. I respect her continuing to bring different ideas to the table though, and this is a good story, just not a perfect fit for my taste.

There’s a lot of drama in this one for all three women, but it ultimately ended up going in a direction I wasn’t crazy about. I wanted neighborhood drama, not all the other stuff we ended up getting.

There was also a character, I won’t say who, that just made a series of ridiculous choices. I’m all for making mistakes and doing stupid stuff in fiction, it’s a great way to progress a story, but in this case, it didn’t make sense at all.

She ended up getting deeper than was ever necessary into the weeds and she just kept doing it over and over and over. It bordered on the ridiculous, that’s for sure. I think her entire perspective could have been done differently and still kept intensity and mystery.

At the end of the day though, this is strictly personal taste and I’m no expert, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Even though this wasn’t my favorite of her works, I still love Seraphina Nova Glass, and will continue to pick up every book she releases.

I would highly recommend the audiobook if you’re planning to pick this one up. It is voiced by three of my favorite narrators, Karissa Vacker, Brittany Pressley and Rebecca Lowman, so you can’t go wrong with that. They definitely succeeded in bringing the story to life.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Park Row and Harlequin Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. This was entertaining and I can’t wait to see what SNG is going to come up with next!

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Review: This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum

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This Story Might Save Your LifeThis Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Best friends Benny and Joy like to say they’ve been saving each other’s lives since the moment they met. Until the day Joy disappears and Benny is suspected of murder . . .

The above-line from the Publisher’s Synopsis is all you need to know about this book going in. That and the fact that the audiobook is an incredible way to take in this story.

If you need more however, here are other details. The story follows BFFS, Benny & Joy. You get a past perspective going through how they met and their relationship development through flashback chapters from Joy.

The present we get through Benny. Also, they have a hugely popular podcast, so we get fun excerpts from that as well. The podcast, This Story Might Save Your Life, started out as a quirky idea, but blew up into something much, much more.

Her chapters, think more Romance, his chapters, think Thriller. The overriding narrative spans a decade in time, and becomes an all-encompassing study of this relationship. It feels like a perfect blend of these two popular genres.

I did end up really enjoying this overall genre-blend. Joy’s disappearance, the mystery surrounding that was intense and well-written. You could feel the desperation of her loved ones trying to find her, and the additional complications added by their public popularity.

As mentioned above, the audiobook is great. I would highly recommend that format. The dual narrators, mixed media elements, and the way they handled the podcast sections truly brought life to this story.

I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz for this one, and I definitely think it’s worthy of that, particularly if you’re looking for a fun audiobook experience. It’s worth the credit, trust me.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This has certainly put Tiffany Crum on my radar!

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Review: When I Kill You by B.A. Paris

~ megs14malloy

When I Kill YouWhen I Kill You by B.A. Paris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

A fun and fast-paced Popcorn Thriller from one of my go-to Thriller authors, B.A. Paris. Paris never fails to pull me in and keep me guessing throughout her stories.

In this novel, the Reader follows Nell Masters, but it seems that the Reader isn’t the only person following dear Nell. Nell has a stalker. She knows it. She can feel them watching her. Work, home and everywhere in between. There’s nowhere she feels safe.

Nell thinks the stalker may be tied to her dramatic past. Fourteen years ago, Nell was actually Elle Nugent. She witnessed a young coed getting into a car, and shortly thereafter the young woman’s dead body was found.

Elle became obsessed with finding the girl’s killer. She was right there, she saw her just before she was murdered. She saw the car she got into. Elle’s digging leads her to suspect a man named Brett Parker and her suspicions push her down a very dangerous path.

Unfortunately, Elle’s obsession ended in disaster, and now she feels those past actions are coming back to haunt her. Has someone from that dark past figured out her new identity and tracked her down? Is someone out for revenge?

I didn’t even read the synopsis for this prior to picking it up. I see B.A. Paris’s name on the cover and I’m going to read it. There’s no question about it.

The story is told via Nell/Elle’s perspective, both past and present, and weaves together how her past choices have shaped her into the individual she is today. The audiobook, narrated by Georgia Maguire, was very convincing. It felt like I was truly listening to Nell tell her story.

There were also snippets from what appears to be some sort of journal. These added a nice mixed media feel to the overall narrative. These snippets are mysterious, perhaps written by the stalker?

I liked following along as the truth of this story unfolded. Because of her past, Nell had a hard time trusting other people, but at the point we meet her, she has created a small circle of friends and even has a promising love interest.

As the story progresses, Nell becomes more and more paranoid that someone is onto her and that someone wants her to pay for her past. I enjoyed how the intensity continued to build throughout and I thought the conclusion was satisfying.

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with copies to read and review. This was so entertaining and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys an OTT-fast and fun Thriller.

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Review: The Day I Lost You by Ruth Mancini

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The Day I Lost YouThe Day I Lost You by Ruth Mancini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Day I Lost You is the 2025-release from Ruth Mancini, author of the popular 2024-Thriller, The Woman on the Ledge, which I adored. Ever since reading TWOTL, I’ve been looking forward to more from this author.

I’m happy to report I found this book to be equally twisty and fast-paced. Even though the content didn’t wow me quite as much as TWOTL, I still found this to be so enjoyable and I read it in an afternoon without stopping.

This story spans two countries, Spain and the UK, and involves a reportedly missing child. The child’s name is Sam, and he’s actually just a little baby when he’s thrust into the middle of a lot of adult drama.

Lauren and Hope are our two female leads, and it’s interesting following along as the truths of their connection is revealed. I actually really appreciated how Mancini rolled this all out. There’s a lot of moving pieces. You go in, of course knowing nothing, and as the narrative progresses, more and more pieces slot into place.

As the larger picture reveals itself, some details become predictable, IMO, but for me, not in a way that negatively effected my experience. I still enjoyed the journey to the conclusion, even if I knew exactly where we were headed.

I was lucky enough to have access to the audiobook and I thought it was so well done. I loved the full cast narration and the inclusion of some mixed media passages truly brought the drama to life.

Additionally, the fast-paced narrative worked so well in audio form. It was truly gripping. I enjoyed the time shifts, as well, as all the puzzle pieces came together. I respect Mancini’s concepts and writing style so much. I’m looking forward to more from her in the future.

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Perennial and Harper Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I had a lot of fun with this!

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