Dear readers, this book has delivered more than I expected. The first-ever book in the thriller genre that I read was by Dan Brown. Since then, thriller novels have often left me disappointed. After reading Inferno, I read a couple of more books written by Dan Brown and fell in love with his way of weaving the stories. To be honest, I haven’t explored this genre much and this year, I wanted to change that. The last A to Z challenge from Blogchatter has helped me find the recommendation for an author who is quite popular among youth. The perks of joining the right community keep adding on, isn’t it?
I saved the name of the author and finally decided to pick the first book of this genre for this year. Blake Pierce’s first book got me hooked from the first page itself. The author has written quite a handful of books and I would love to explore a few more soon. Fun fact, if you read through a few of the reviews on the Internet for the books written by the author, you would find many have “perceived” the author to be a male. Well, She isn’t a male 🙂
Is it one of the best books I have read this year so far, well, let’s find out?
PLOT
The author has written 21 books so far, about Jessie Hunt. The first book of this psychological suspense thriller starts with a predictable plot, a woman and man with trouble in their paradise. The story begins with a couple who have moved downtown Los Angeles to a lavish neighborhood near Westport Beach. The wife, Jessie Hunt, finds it odd that her husband seems to be in sync with the neighbors quite easily while she is struggling with the move every day, Kyle, her husband, has changed quite a bit since they have moved and she feels he is getting secretive. The protagonist of the story is also pursuing her masters in forensic psychology, this part of the story keeps us hooked till the last page and makes the story all the more interesting. As per her practicum, she gets to interact with a highly dangerous psychopathic serial killer, in a high-security prison. Jessie has her own demons and nightmares to fight from her past and yet a new one appears behind the toughened glasses of the ward in an asylum for psychological criminals.
She is skeptical of the neighborhood they moved to and also, the change of behavior in her partner. Is it all just a facade? or something is really brewing?
What I love about this book
The story has all elements and emotions to make it a bestseller. From love to helplessness and from suspense to betrayal. The author has a right grip on her readers and keeps them hooked with the twists in the story at the right time. It doesn’t get boring at any stage, the hooks in the story begin from page one. It isn’t a long read which makes it a perfect read for me, a mother of two.
What I did not love about this book
I was expecting more from this book as the hype around it was everywhere I looked on the internet. The story felt hollow even though it is a thriller and the plots are quite predictable. The author tried to make Jessica Hunt, the protagonist, look clever and smart however, failed miserably.
I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z
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An interesting review! Blake Pierce is known for her psychological thrillers.