Ope, didn’t see that coming. A fun mystery about rich people behaving…. Like addicts trying to get well. Multi POV going to a remote extremely high end recovery center for the ultra wealthy. A member of the royal family, a rock star addict, and the daughter of popular musicians. Trigger warning for anorexia but in my opinion done very respectfully.
I really enjoyed this, I read it in one sitting because I simply had to know what happened next. Each character has secrets, has their own need for privacy, and has hangups regarding their less than loving upbringing. Each character has issues that led to their stunted maturity and need for recovery in their lives.
Throughout the story there are some twists I don’t see coming and a satisfying conclusion.
Thanks to NetGalley and atria for the arc. Book to be published 1/20/26
Babe, wake up, Heather Gudenkauf has a new book and its set in a state other than Iowa. Another winning suspense thriller! Madeline and Wes are the second richest family in town, this is a huge acreage and horse farm worth many millions. Madeline is about to have her first child and they have invited the town’s elite, 200 people are at their ranch for an obnoxious rich people gender reveal party. Like many people, I find gender reveal parties to be a bit self-indulgent and old fashioned. The guests are wearing “western cocktail attire” whatever that is. (I googled it. Results inconclusive.)
But when they release the gun that will show the pink or blue powder, there is a second explosion in their barn that kills someone instantly, injuring many others. All the ambulances in the area arrive, and Madeline, who is 7 months pregnant, is thrown high above the ground in the attach. There is an ATF officer assigned, Jamie, who happened to grow up in town. His sister Juneau was killed and Jamie was attacked when in high school, a cold case that has never been solved.
Yellowstone and Succession Vibes
There are four POV in this book; Madeline, it was her gender reveal party Mellie, a 21 year old waitress who worked the party Lucy, Madeline’s estranged step-sister Jamie, the ATF agent investigating the case
I really love this author, and I really enjoyed the Wyoming setting. It is much more nuanced than “rich people behaving badly” as well as multiple mysteries going on that I was so engrossed in. The ending tied up most of the loose ends, and I was surprised and energized by the ending, although the ending itself seemed a bit rushed.
You will really enjoy the POV characters, trying to interpret their actions to determine what secrets they are hiding. I love it when we figure it out just a few paragraphs before the on page characters do.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the ARC. Book to be published November 4, 2025.
It has been years since I heard this authors name, but I remember well her YA book series from many years ago, she writes teenagers well, good and realistic dialogue. A group of teenagers on a discord server gossip about their small town, the sports and athletes, and the new girl in town, Lucy Vale. It so happens that the Vale family is moving into the Farraday home, where a young girl, Nina Farraday went missing many years ago.
Told in alternating timelines, this book has 2 mysteries of missing girls. The cast of characters is what you would expect in a small town. I felt it dragged in the middle as it had longer exposition, a lot of unnecessary details. My favorite parts were definitely the teens chatting. This book had a very strong start, I was very engaged then it fizzled out for me. I kept re-listening to the chapter as I was zoning out, then I just wanted to get through it. I was a bit disappointed in the ending, but I can see how some would really appreciate a more ambiguous and spooky resolution.
The audiobook had good performances and this may work really well as a tandem read, whispersync audio and eyeball reading.
Thanks to NetGalley and Brilliance Audio for the ALC. Book to be published September 1, 2025.
Such a Clever Girl by Darby Kane has a really strong start- the introduction of several characters, former secrets, and the death of the head of a wealthy family. The reading of a will and questionable parentage and someone returning to town that was presumed to be dead.
I loved several of Darby Kane’s last thrillers, but this one lacked something for me. There are a lot of character POV to keep straight. Hopefully the audiobook will have multiple narrators which will make it easier to keep straight. I found the twists and red herrings to be dizzying at times- and there wasn’t enough time spent in character building so that I liked any of the people.
That said, some of the scenes were great and really creepy. I was definitely surprised at the ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published January 19, 2026.
A tensely twisty mystery of disastrous proportions! Geneva owns a small inn on the gulf coast. The small town is known for getting epic hurricanes, and a hurricane is on the way. There is a famous cold case of Landon Fitzroy, a politician who died during hurricane Marie in 1984. His 19 year old mistress, Lo Bailey, was arrested for his murder because there was no fluid in his lungs, so he has to have died prior to the hurricane claiming his life. Lo’s trial resulted in a hung jury.
Now, 50 years later, a journalist is coming to Geneva’s inn to investigate the crime and also Lo Bailey had returned with him to clear her name. Naturally everyone has secrets, and the book paces itself exactly like a hurricane. 🌀
You get the warnings and you prepare, boarding up your windows and filling tubs with water. In this way the book then slowly gave us the background and prepared us for the big reveals and explosive conclusion. This is a well paced mystery. I found the characters to be compelling and the dialogue to be believable. I was “blown away” (lol) by the conclusion.
This is the kind of mystery thriller that fans of Rachel Hawkins have come to expect- and it doesn’t disappoint!
Thanks to NetGalley and St martins Press for the ARC. Book to be published January 6, 2026.
An absolutely CLAUSTROPHOBIC cave cat-and-mouse thriller.
New fear unlocked! CAVES. Leave it to Taylor Adams for creating a new primal fear, a highly descriptive thriller that alternates between police interview- as homocide detective Washington talks to Tess, who has just escaped evil killer Jacob from NINE stories underground in the pitch black. Tess was “caving” and exploring the earth beneath with her best friend, influencer Allie. They ran into a stranger who claimed to be working with the park to do signage.
Alternating timeline and viewpoint, we slowly learn more and more about Tess, Jacob, Allie, and Allie’s boyfriend Ethan. Although it may seem hard to determine motive and a deep storyline within a tight space cave, this book absolutely pulls it off. Taylor Adams is a master of creating suspense while revealing secrets and identity at exquisitely paste intervals.
This was one of the best thrillers that I have read in a while, I found it to be quite the page turner. It is equal parts mystery and thriller. The suspense builds tremendously and the setting is second to none. I was so engaged, I felt like I was in that cave with Tess and Allie.
Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published February 16, 2026.
Woof- I have complicated feelings about this book.
First- Jesse Q Sutanto is one of my absolute favorite authors- see my 5 star review of the Vera Wong books, 5 star review of [book:Next Time Will Be Our Turn|227912363] and the Mulan re-telling [book:Worth Fighting For|217064246].
Second- this book literally says “Goodreads is full of trolls,” yikes, as a “top goodreads reviewer” I am hurt. But I won’t take it personally. It is hard to be an ARC reviewer- part of you wants to give every book 5 stars because you know as an early reviewer your review (even if it is softly critical) has the potential to really swing a title. On the other hand if you are too positive your reviews become meaningless so you need to maintain an objective viewpoint. I’ve been challenged for being both “too mean” and “too nice” so this kind of goes along with the territory.
Third- This is a classic “cat fight” girl vs girl “mean girl” story and I find those to be unfortunate and somewhat misogynistic. I personally don’t love this trope because I think it perpetuates stereotypes. Stories like this make me want to not be close to another woman, ever.
Lastly- I think this will be very successful, just because I am a sensitive baby does not mean others won’t love it. I could not put it down although I was reading while covering my eyes. It’s a great – BUT DARK – story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mindy’s Books Studio for the ARC. Book to be published 2/3/26
You know what this book needs? One of those opening pages with a family tree with all the characters names. There are a lot of characters. Lovers. Kids. Sisters. Best friends. Easy to mix them up or say “wait who was this again”?
That said, this was a fun popcorn thriller. I enjoyed it. Short chapters and not a lot of character development. It was surprising and multiple “mysteries” being solved at a time. It starts with Susan sending a bitchy text to her entire subdivisions group chat instead of just her sisters. Yikes. This happens right at the beginning. It’s the kind of thing that you can easily see yourself doing.
Ooh, cringe.
But! It sets of a series of events that led to multiple dead bodies!
Fans of Caitlin Weaver and Shari LaPena, this one is for you!
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin/ Pamela Dorman books for the ARC. Book to be published January 16, 2026.
I went into this with very high expectations, as I absolutely loved and tore through The Last Thing He Told Me. This one fell off just a bit, as Hannah was not the strong female lead I found her to be in the original. This story had much more back story about Owen, Nicholas and Frank, and what led to the doomed partnership and friendship that led to the downward spiral. Hannah somewhat takes a back seat to their stories.
First- do I need to read the first or does this work as a standalone? You need to read the first. You probably need to re-read it, unless you have recently watched the Apple TV series. It starts off exactly where the epilogue ends.
Some of the ambigious open questions are answered, and this is in NO way a slow burn, it is action packed from page one through the end. It was less surprising- less mystery more thriller. It was interesting to see the growth in Owen and Hannah the past 5 years. This is one of those books that I always wanted a sequel and here we are.
Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC. Book to be published January 6, 2026.
While this isn’t my favorite Gillian McAllister, there is a lot to like about this kidnapping and cat-and-mouse run from the law caper. A mother will do anything for her kidnapped 18 year old daughter, she makes a lot of mistakes, the chapters are short and it is definitely a page turner. The ending is a satisfying twist although slightly far fetched.
In general, it is not terrible but certainly skippable if you have a giant TBR pile. I think the way Simone had trouble with boundaries and made terrible decisions trying to save her daughter Lucy, was a bit uncomfortable.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Book to be published February 24, 2025.
