Tag: Thriller

#BookReview Pendergast: The Beginning by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child @GrandCentralPub #PendergastTheBeginning #PendergastSeries #DouglasPreston #LincolnChild #GCPInsider

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Pendergast: The Beginning by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child @GrandCentralPub #PendergastTheBeginning #PendergastSeries #DouglasPreston #LincolnChild #GCPInsider Title: Pendergast: The Beginning

Series: Pendergast #23

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jan. 27, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

From the #1 New York Times bestselling duo Preston and Child comes the Agent Pendergast origin story—a golden opportunity for longtime fans and new readers to learn about Agent Pendergast’s strange and shocking first case.

It only took six months for the life of Special Agent Dwight Chambers to crumble around him. First, he lost his partner, and then, tragically, his wife. Returning to work at the New Orleans Field Office, Chambers is dismayed to find himself saddled with mentoring a brand new FBI agent—a certain A. X. L. Pendergast. As Chambers tries to pull himself together, his enigmatic and exasperating junior partner pulls an outrageous stunt that gets both of them suspended.

Pendergast welcomes the banishment, because it gives him the opportunity to investigate a peculiar murder in Mississippi that has captured his fancy. Chambers grudgingly goes along. What starts off as a whimsical quest swiftly turns into a terrifying pursuit, as Chambers and Pendergast uncover a string of grisly, ritualistic killings that defy any known serial killer profile.
 
Thanks in large part to Pendergast’s brilliance and unorthodox methods, they solve the case and find the killer… and that is when the true horror begins.

Review:

Suspenseful, addictive, and twisty!

In this twenty-third instalment in the Pendergast series, Pendergast: The Beginning, we head back in time to 1990s New Orleans, when Agent Pendergast’s career in the FBI first began with a complex case involving a serial killer with a chilling fixation on right arms.

The writing is taut and intense. The characters are meticulous, tormented, and persistent. And the plot is a suspenseful, engrossing whodunit full of twists, turns, lies, deception, revelations, obsession, depravity, violence, and murder, all interwoven with a dab of the supernatural.

Overall, Pendergast: The Beginning is an eerie, tortuous, fast-paced tale by Preston & Child that far exceeded my expectations and does an exceptional job of highlighting just how easily evil can live among us hidden behind masks of normality.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

             

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

#BookReview Very Slowly All at Once by Lauren Schott @harperbooks #VerySlowlyAllAtOnce #LaurenSchott #HarperBooks

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview Very Slowly All at Once by Lauren Schott @harperbooks #VerySlowlyAllAtOnce #LaurenSchott #HarperBooks Title: Very Slowly All at Once

Author: Lauren Schott

Published by: Harper on Jan. 20, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Harper Books

Book Rating: 8/10

A propulsive and wickedly entertaining debut thriller for fans of Laura Dave and Ashley Elston that explores the dark underside of the American dream, about a couple whose financial problems are seemingly answered when they begin receiving growing sums of money from an unknown source . . . a windfall that will carry an unthinkable price.

Mack and Hailey Evans have worked hard to achieve their upper-middle-class life: promising careers, two beautiful children, and a brand-new house in the exclusive lakefront village of Bratenahl, Ohio. Not that everything’s perfect—aging parents, problems at work, and even the upkeep on that gorgeous house have been causing these two increasing amounts of worry.

When a small check appears in the mailbox from a mysterious company named Sunshine Enterprises, Mack assumes it’s from his wealthy, estranged father, trying to buy his way back into their lives. Though he’d rather rip it up, Mack deposits the needed funds. To his surprise the checks keep coming—each for a larger amount larger than the last. When Hailey finds out what’s going on, she has her own suspicions about the provenance of the payments. Despite growing uncertainty over the identity of their benefactor Mack and Hailey keep taking the money. After all, there are bills to pay.

It is a choice with dark repercussions, as the couple soon learn the hard way that nothing in life is free. Suddenly, the Evans find themselves in a harrowing arrangement with someone who will stop at nothing to get a return on their investment.

Review:

Crafty, intricate, and suspenseful!

Very Slowly All at Once is a gritty, absorbing tale that draws you into the lives of the Evans family, who on the surface appear to have it all, until everything quickly begins to unravel, money grows tight, mysterious cheques arrive in the mail and are cashed, careers are recklessly jeopardized, their brand-new home starts to crumble around them, and it becomes chillingly clear that someone is targeting them.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are secretive, ruthless, and impulsive. And the plot is an intriguing web of twists, turns, lies, deception, power, corruption, revelations, ambition, and manipulation.
 

Overall, Very Slowly All at Once is a cunning, entertaining, sinister debut adult novel by Schott that is a highly satisfying read and an eerie reminder of just how far some people are willing to go to get what they want.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

Thank you to Harper for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lauren Schott

Lauren Schott was born in Akron, Ohio, and is a graduate of Duke University. She has spent twenty-five years working in publishing. Very Slowly All at Once is her first novel for adults.

Photo by Claire Walsh.

Instagram

#BookReview The Castaways by Lucy Clarke @atlanticcrime @PGCBooks #TheCastaways #LucyClarke #PGCBooks #AtlanticCrime

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Castaways by Lucy Clarke @atlanticcrime @PGCBooks #TheCastaways #LucyClarke #PGCBooks #AtlanticCrime Title: The Castaways

Author: Lucy Clarke

Published by: Atlantic Crime on Jan. 16, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Long Bright River meets Lost in this adrenaline-fueled thriller of a missing plane, a remote island, and two sisters torn apart when a vacation turns unthinkably deadly

Two years ago, a small plane disappeared over Fiji. For Erin, it’s been two years of obsessing over every detail, refusing to move forward even as life does. Her sister Lori was on that plane, and Erin was meant to be, too, but after a bitter argument, she failed to show. Everyone thinks Lori is dead, but Erin can’t let go.

Just when Erin is on the verge of losing hope, the pilot of the missing plane turns up still in Fiji, seemingly with no memory of the crash. In a final bid to find her sister, Erin travels there herself—but what she discovers is beyond anything she could have predicted.

A sharp-edged, darkly propulsive novel following two sisters whose lives are upended when their vacation of a lifetime goes disastrously awry, The Castaways is another scorcher from “queen of the destination thriller” (Claire Douglas) and million-copy bestselling author Lucy Clarke.

Review:

Simmering, gripping, and atmospheric!

The Castaways is an ominous, character-driven thriller that follows Erin Holme, a young woman determined to finally uncover the truth about what happened to her sister when the pilot of the aircraft her sister was on suddenly turns up alive two years after the plane went down somewhere in the South Pacific.

The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are determined, tormented, and impulsive. And the plot is a darkly menacing tale full of twists, turns, intrigue, drama, duplicity, manipulation, danger, deduction, secrets, lies, suspicion, survival, and murder.
 

Overall, The Castaways is a tortuous, addictive, unnerving tale by Clarke that is deliciously sinister, excessively deceptive, and absolutely bursting with misdirection and tension.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lucy Clarke

Lucy Clarke is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eight destination thrillers. Two of her thrillers, The Castaways and No Escape, have been adapted for screen and are now streaming on Paramount+. Her novels have been published in more than 25 territories worldwide.

Photo by James Bowden.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

#BookReview Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum @harperbooks #MurderYourDarlings #JennaBlum #HarperBooks

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Murder Your Darlings by Jenna Blum @harperbooks #MurderYourDarlings #JennaBlum #HarperBooks Title: Murder Your Darlings

Author: Jenna Blum

Published by: Harper on Jan. 13, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Harper Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

For every woman who’s ever fallen for a bad man comes a hilarious and eviscerating tale of love, loss, and deadlines from New York Times bestselling author Jenna Blum.

Known for such brilliant historical novels as Those Who Save Us and The Lost Family, A Mighty Blaze co-founder and New York Times bestselling author Jenna Blum now offers a contemporary, suspenseful novel about love, loss, and revenge in the world of books.

Simone “Sam” Vetiver is a mid-career novelist finishing a lukewarm publicity tour while facing a deadline for a new book on which she’s totally blocked. Recently divorced, Sam is worrying where her life is going when she receives glowing fan mail from stratospherically successful author William Corwyn, renowned for his female-centric novels. When William and Sam meet and his literary sympathy is as intense as their chemistry, both writers think they’ve found The One.

But as in their own novels, things between Sam and William are not what they seem. William has multiple stalkers, including a scarily persistent one named The Rabbit. He lives on a remote Maine island, where his writer life resembles The Shining. And when writers turn up dead, including from The Darlings support group William runs, Sam has to ask: Is it The Rabbit—William’s #1 Stalker? Another woman scorned? Can William be everything he seems?

Narrated by Sam, William, and The Rabbit, Murder Your Darlings is a wickedly witty look at today’s literary landscape and down-the-rabbit-hole tale of how far people will go for love.

Review:

Creepy, atmospheric, and ominous!

Murder Your Darlings is an unpredictable, fast-paced thriller that follows Sam, a young writer paralyzed by writer’s block, whose life is upended when she becomes entangled with the charming and highly successful author William Corwyn who, although seemingly generous and supportive, soon reveals a darker aura that includes an unsettling number of stalkers and an alarming trail of dead acquaintances.

The prose is sharp and relentless. The characters are devious, obsessive, unscrupulous, and vulnerable. And the plot, told through alternating perspectives, builds nicely to create tension and suspense as it exposes layers of manipulation, questionable motives, duplicitous personalities, and parasitic relationships.
 

Overall, Murder Your Darlings is a cleverly plotted, eerie, compelling page turner by Blum that chillingly illustrates just how easily people can be psychologically and emotionally exploited.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

Thank you to Harper for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jenna Blum

JENNA BLUM is the New York Times bestselling author of The Stormchasers. Jenna is of German and Jewish descent and spent four years working for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation, interviewing Holocaust survivors. She teaches fiction for Grub Street Writers.

Photo by Janna Giacoppo.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | X

#BookReview Nash Falls by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #NashFalls #WalterNashSeries #DavidBaldacci #GCPInsider

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Nash Falls by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @GrandCentralPub #NashFalls #WalterNashSeries #DavidBaldacci #GCPInsider Title: Nash Falls

Author: David Baldacci

Series: Walter Nash #1

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Nov. 11, 2025

Genres: Crime Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 448

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

When Walter Nash is recruited by the FBI to help bring down a global crime network his life is turned completely upside down in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci.

Walter Nash is a sensitive, intelligent and kindhearted man. He has a wife and a daughter and a very high-level position at Sybaritic Investments, where his innate skills and dogged tenacity have carried him to the top of the pyramid in his business career. Despite never going on grand adventures, and always working too many hours, he has a happy and upscale life with his family.

However, following his estranged Vietnam-veteran father’s funeral, Nash is unexpectedly approached by the FBI in the middle of the night. They have an important request: become their inside man to expose an enterprise that is laundering large sums of money through Sybaritic. At the top of this illegal operation is Victoria Steers, an international criminal mastermind that the FBI has been trying to bring down for years.

Nash has little choice but to accept the FBI’s demands and try to bring Steers and her partners to justice. But when Steers discovers that Nash is working with the FBI, she turns the tables on him in a way he never could have contemplated. And that forces Nash to take the ultimate step both to survive and to take his revenge: He must become the exact opposite of who he has always been.

And even that may not be enough.

Review:

Intense, sharp, and action-packed!

Nash Falls is a sinister, engrossing thriller that introduces Walter Nash, a highly successful acquisitions executive who, following the death of his estranged father, suddenly finds himself working with the FBI when it becomes apparent that something deeply illicit is happening at the investment firm where he works, and he’s quickly drawn into a dangerous web where powerful forces will stop at nothing to silence him, including kidnapping his daughter and destroying his reputation.

The writing is crisp and controlled. The characters are astute, driven, and multi-layered. And the intricate plot keeps you fully engrossed from start to finish, with all the twists, turns, deception, revelations, corruption, power plays, red herrings, violence, and murder.

In case you couldn’t tell, I absolutely loved this novel, and once again, Nash Falls proves that when it comes to crafting exceptionally complex, fast-paced, and expertly plotted crime fiction with unforgettable characters and nefarious storylines, Baldacci remains one of the very best.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

             

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

Photograph by Allen Jones.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Bookbub

#BookReview The Storm by Rachel Hawkins @LadyHawkins @StMartinsPress #TheStormNovel #RachelHawkins #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Storm by Rachel Hawkins @LadyHawkins @StMartinsPress #TheStormNovel #RachelHawkins #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Storm

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jan. 6, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

As the summer heats up and another monster storm begins twisting its way towards St. Medard’s Bay, Geneva learns that some people can be just as destructive—and as deadly—as any hurricane, and that the truth of what happened to Landon Fitzroy may not be the only secret Lo is keeping…

Review:

Dark, atmospheric, and suspenseful!

The Storm is a tense, absorbing tale that transports you to Alabama and into the lives of a handful of interconnected characters, including Lo Bailey, the acquitted suspect in a decades-old murder, and Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, as the past collides violently with the present and a looming hurricane threatens not only to devastate the community but also unearth long-buried truths.

The writing is ominous and controlled. The characters are flawed, guarded, and secretive. And the plot is an intense mix of life, loss, friendship, family, lies, guilt, deception, resentment, privilege, betrayal, fractured alliances, and questionable motives.
 

Overall, The Storm is a taut, gripping, twisty tale by Hawkins that is a compelling read for fans of smart, character-driven thrillers, where the setting is just as perilous as the people within it.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachel Hawkins

Rachel Hawkins is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, as well as multiple books for young readers, and her work has been translated in over a dozen countries. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama.

Photo by John Hawkins.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview You Watched in Silence by H. Lee Justine @BlackstoneAudio #YouWatchedInSilence #HLeeJustine #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview You Watched in Silence by H. Lee Justine @BlackstoneAudio #YouWatchedInSilence #HLeeJustine #BlackstonePublishing #BlackstoneInsiders Title: You Watched in Silence

Author: H. Lee Justine

Published by: Blackstone Publishing on Nov. 18, 2025

Genres: LGBTQIA, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 360

Format: Hardcover

Source: Blackstone Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

Caitlyn believes her world is falling apart when her best friend cuts her off—until she gets a message from the only person who can put it back together. Family vlogger Bella Greene—the celebrity influencer she and her ex-best friend were obsessed with—offers Caitlyn a job as nanny to her twins.

Like millions of others, Caitlyn knows that Bella’s life is in pieces, too. Canceled over perceived indifference to a tragic suicide by one of her fans, Bella fled with her family to a remote island off the coast of Washington. For Caitlyn, the opportunity to help Bella will also help her to heal; a way to honor the past while creating a new future.

Caitlyn can’t believe how easily she bonds with the twins. She also feels an instant connection with the family’s flirtatious chef, Hannah Zhou, who soon stirs romantic impulses that Caitlyn never imagined having again. It feels like magic … until she catches a glimpse of a mysterious girl that nobody else can see.

Before she knows it, Caitlyn descends into constant terror, unable to tell if she is losing her mind or being haunted by a past she’d rather forget. Worse, there is magic here, a dark force that manifests in mysterious pentagrams, animal sacrifices, and scrawled threats right in Bella’s backyard, and increasingly close to her home.

But who’s behind it? Is it a disgruntled employee? A scorned lover? Or someone out for unjust revenge? Because Bella didn’t do anything wrong … right?

Review:

Simmering, gripping, and claustrophobic!

You Watched in Silence is an ominous, character-driven thriller that introduces Caitlyn, a young woman who, after being hired as the nanny for a family vlogger she and her former best friend have idolized for years, quickly realizes that everything is not as perfect as it appears. Beneath the polished façade of affluence, relationships are strained, secrets abound, and danger seems to lurk around every corner.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are anxious, secretive, and vulnerable, while the plot unfolds as a darkly menacing tale packed with twists, revelations, insecurities, lies, manipulation, isolation, vengeance, familial dysfunction, and troubled pasts.

Overall, You Watched in Silence is a taut, atmospheric, unnerving thriller by Justine that’s relentlessly deceptive and full of eerie surprises.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or one of the following links.

             

 

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About H. Lee Justine

H. Lee Justine is the author of You Watched in Silence. She is a career ghostwriter who has been featured in NPR for her work with famous clients. Maybe you've even read one of her books already. But after years of writing other people's stories, she's excited to see her own name on bookshelves. Her affinity for creepy stories started at age nine and never stopped. When she's not writing, you can find her making content on TikTok.

Instagram