Review: No One Knows by J.T. Ellison

Summary:

In an obsessive mystery as thrilling as The Girl on the Train andThe Husband’s Secret, New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison will make you question every twist in her page-turning novel—and wonder which of her vividly drawn characters you should trust.

The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage—they were happy, weren’t they?—screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?

In No One Knows, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. This masterful thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins will pull readers into a you’ll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops…no one knows.

Publication Date: March 16, 2016

I loved the twisty No One Knows! The author totally kept me guessing and I was definitely surprised by the big reveal. The suspense was spot on and I couldn’t wait to find out what had happened to Josh the night he disappeared.

This is certainly the kind of book that the reader can’t trust anyone. The book is full of unreliable narrators and until the end, it was hard to decide who was telling the truth when relaying the events that led up to the night Josh disappeared. None of the characters were particularly likable, but I felt from the author’s writing that I really was able to understand their mindsets and motivations.

The story jumps around a lot from different points of view and hops between the past and present. The author did a superior job of teasing out the mystery, just leaving enough breadcrumbs to make me eager to get to the end. This is unquestionably an all-night read!

No One Knows was a five-star book all the way through, but I did take away a half of star because I didn’t love the end. I wish the epilogue was left out altogether because it just didn’t work for me.

By the looks of it, the author has a ton of books out. Yay! Can’t wait to dig into the rest of her catalog and see what other dark and twisty thrillers she has available. This is a top recommendation for fans of mysteries and psychological suspense.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!

Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

Goodreads Summary:

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder?

Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces…

Publication Date: August 14, 2014

I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of Dangerous Boys! I loved the author’s book Dangerous Girls and couldn’t wait to read more of her work. Dangerous Boys was just as twisted and suspenseful as the original and I’m excited to read future books from Haas.

From the first chapter, I was drawn into the dark and tumultuous lives of Chloe, Ethan and Oliver. The reader knows from the start something awful is going to happen to these characters, but Haas keeps you guessing on how exactly the plot will unfold.

It’s hard to talk about the characters without posting spoilers. But I will say they were complex and the relationships between Chloe and the brothers kept evolving. I thought the book was mostly about a love triangle gone wrong, but it turned out to be so much more than that.

The only thing I wasn’t completely sold on was the character development. The book is short and I really would’ve liked more to understand how the characters got from Point A to Point. Honestly, the book was so good—I could’ve read a thousand more pages.

Dangerous Boys is a standalone and not connected to the first book, but I highly recommend Dangerous Girls. I actually think I liked Dangerous Girls a bit more than Dangerous Boys. But both books are awesome and can be enjoyed by both mature YA readers and those who like novels of psychological suspense.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review! 

Review: Capturing Angels by VC Andrews

Amazon.com Description:
V.C. Andrews, queen of Gothic fiction for twenty-five years, explores a new genre in her women’s fiction debut—available exclusively as an eBook. A young mother struggles to keep her marriage together in the wake of her daughter’s kidnapping…and to keep hope of her return alive. Grace is the doting mother of Mary, an angelic five-year-old who charms everyone around her. But in one tragic moment at a local shopping mall, Grace looks down to discover that Mary is no longer at her side…and can’t be found anywhere. She and her husband wait by the phone for a ransom demand that never comes. For months Grace believes that Mary is somewhere, alive and safe, waiting to come home to her—but as her family and friends give up hope, Grace’s marriage begins to crumble. Only one detective, Sam Abraham, shares her determination to find Mary…but could his motives be less than altruistic?
As Sam and Mary work together to track Mary’s disappearance, they discover clues that this was more than a random kidnapping—and that Mary may have been special to more than just her mother…

Publication Date: August 7, 2012

This book was a lot different than I was expecting, but definitely in a good way. When I think of VC Andrews books I think of incest, child abuse and sexual awakening. The only aspect that was typical of the author's previous works was religious fanaticism. This book was more of a contemporary adult mystery that dealt with the despair of a mother who lost her daughter.

The suspense starts immediately as we witness Grace's frantic search for her daughter at a local shopping mall. You can feel her terror and frustration as she attempts to locate her to no avail. I enjoyed Grace's POV and I thought the author did a good job of creating a sympathetic character who goes through a range of emotions as she deals with the abduction of her child.

It seemed fairly obvious from the get go that religion has played a part in Mary's abduction. Grace's husband is devout along with her neighbor and the whole town seems to think of Mary as an angel sent from God. The philosophical debates are an interesting addition to the story along with Grace's complex relationship with God in the event of her missing child.

Besides the strong characterization of Grace, I immensely enjoyed the description of the police detective Sam. He was a wonderful character and I loved the intensity of the scenes between him and Grace. They had great chemistry and I thought it was swoonworthy how he risked everything to help bring her daughter home.
 
The ending disappointed me and I think that's what made this a four star read instead of a five star. I felt some elements were predictable and I wanted to know more about what exactly happened during and after the abduction of Mary. (Spoiler Alert)*** Although Grace's husband experiences an epiphany towards the end, I still didn't feel it redeemed his character and I couldn't help but wish things had worked out with Sam.***

I would definitely recommend this book and if the ghostwriter for the late author continues in this direction, I would certainly read future novels.

Rating: Four out of Five Stars

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.