Quantcast

Suspense Book Recommendation Thread

What is your favorite suspense genre?

  • Horror

    Votes: 35 9.0%
  • Mystery

    Votes: 95 24.5%
  • Romance

    Votes: 29 7.5%
  • Thriller

    Votes: 146 37.7%
  • All of the above

    Votes: 82 21.2%

  • Total voters
    387

For The Culture

LSA's Lady Whistledown
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Messages
19,777
Reaction score
Reactions
262,041 4,102 1,980
296,759
Alleybux
25,500
So you do not think Jake is the janitor only when he is younger and we are reliving his memories?
Also one of the girls said that the smell was not from the renovation so I thought they may be rotting corpses. LOL

I can see your theory of this being figments of his imagination.
I didn't get that but I am not good at seeing beyond what the director/author wants us to see.
we were just along for the ride of a man who had delusions. But the book gave me a different response. I felt that there WAS a Jake and no one else. He went home to see his mother and father for the last time probably had delusions of grandeur and his parents knew he was crazy and went with the flow.

I have two different reactions. One is based on the book and the other is based on the movie.
 

For The Culture

LSA's Lady Whistledown
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Messages
19,777
Reaction score
Reactions
262,041 4,102 1,980
296,759
Alleybux
25,500
So I just finished Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

I'm on the fence regarding if I would recommend this book. A bit too long to get to the end that I kind of saw coming. Some parts felt unfinished or poorly developed regarding the mother's behavior... I originally gave it 3 stars but as I came to LSA to comment I feel it is really 2.5. Seems like a sequel would be in the works but I wouldn't even waste my time.

I wish the author had highlighted the poor relationship between mother and daughter. the "I remember when I was 2" shtick was a bit lame. Like who has memories of when they were two? Also, Hannah's reason for being mute was weird. Also, her behaviors were inconsistent. Like at some times she (Hannah) behaved like a teenage psychopath and then other times she was definitely a stupid 7-year-old. But the author never portrayed the actions as believable. Also, the Stage dropped the ball with the Marie Ann part of the book...

Lastly, the mother's behavior was erratic to say the least. The author seemed to forget, as the book went on, who she really was. Sometimes Suzette is extremely jealous of her daughter getting attention from her oblivious and dumb-ass husband. Then next she's a victim of abuse from her daughter. I would have better understood if the mother goaded the daughter into damn near burning her to death just to "win" but the mom went back and forth with "she's just a little girl who needs help." It was just inconsistent.

I will say I laughed hard AF when they basically told Hannah she had to stay at the medical center and the mom when right back to jumping dad's bones. Like she was happy AF that Hannah was gone. I would be as well.

Overall the buildup was not worth what I got out of it in the end.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
I didn't get that but I am not good at seeing beyond what the director/author wants us to see.
we were just along for the ride of a man who had delusions. But the book gave me a different response. I felt that there WAS a Jake and no one else. He went home to see his mother and father for the last time probably had delusions of grandeur and his parents knew he was crazy and went with the flow.

I have two different reactions. One is based on the book and the other is based on the movie.
Great points made. So for you the movie and the book had very few tie ins. I can definitely see that perspective.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
So I just finished Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

I'm on the fence regarding if I would recommend this book. A bit too long to get to the end that I kind of saw coming. Some parts felt unfinished or poorly developed regarding the mother's behavior... I originally gave it 3 stars but as I came to LSA to comment I feel it is really 2.5. Seems like a sequel would be in the works but I wouldn't even waste my time.

I wish the author had highlighted the poor relationship between mother and daughter. the "I remember when I was 2" shtick was a bit lame. Like who has memories of when they were two? Also, Hannah's reason for being mute was weird. Also, her behaviors were inconsistent. Like at some times she (Hannah) behaved like a teenage psychopath and then other times she was definitely a stupid 7-year-old. But the author never portrayed the actions as believable. Also, the Stage dropped the ball with the Marie Ann part of the book...

Lastly, the mother's behavior was erratic to say the least. The author seemed to forget, as the book went on, who she really was. Sometimes Suzette is extremely jealous of her daughter getting attention from her oblivious and dumb-ass husband. Then next she's a victim of abuse from her daughter. I would have better understood if the mother goaded the daughter into damn near burning her to death just to "win" but the mom went back and forth with "she's just a little girl who needs help." It was just inconsistent.

I will say I laughed hard AF when they basically told Hannah she had to stay at the medical center and the mom when right back to jumping dad's bones. Like she was happy AF that Hannah was gone. I would be as well.

Overall the buildup was not worth what I got out of it in the end.
Since I had no plans of reading this book. I read your spoiler. These types of psychological horror thrillers require you to suspend so much disbelief sometimes, so many people enjoy the twists and recommend based on that which I can understand. I myself don't love twists unless they are intricately plotted. Was the writing at least good?
 

For The Culture

LSA's Lady Whistledown
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Messages
19,777
Reaction score
Reactions
262,041 4,102 1,980
296,759
Alleybux
25,500
Since I had no plans of reading this book. I read your spoiler. These types of psychological horror thrillers require you to suspend so much disbelief sometimes, so many people enjoy the twists and recommend based on that which I can understand. I myself don't love twists unless they are intricately plotted. Was the writing at least good?
So what killed me is that the mother had flashbacks where she treated this child awfully. I mean based on the daughter's memory she spaces talks to herself and then lashed out. I was waiting for it to be revealed that the mom has some type of mental health disorder. But no, the mother was just jealous of the relationship her daughter, who has real problems, and her husband had. The daughter has psychopathic tendencies and had tried to kill the mom SEVERAL times, to which the mother decided NOT TO involve the police (keep in mind the daughter is 7). The mother was (weakly might I add) concerned with how the public would view her as an unfit mother. And the dad was just useless. maybe if the author drove it home that the mom or dad were extreme perfectionists or his job required a certain "family look" then maybe... but no

The premise was flimsy. There was one part where the mother found what she thought her daughter had a voodoo doll and that she performed voodoo on her school principal and then went on to tell her husband since her daughter thought she was a witch it only made sense that she performed voodoo...

It was like, did the author want us to think the mother was playing a long con to get the daughter out of the house to have the husband all to herself or was she just this stupid.

Answer: both.

The writing wasn't terrible. This book didn't contain many "twists" to be honest. But it just was a bit long and nonsensical.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
So what killed me is that the mother had flashbacks where she treated this child awfully. I mean based on the daughter's memory she spaces talks to herself and then lashed out. I was waiting for it to be revealed that the mom has some type of mental health disorder. But no, the mother was just jealous of the relationship her daughter, who has real problems, and her husband had. The daughter has psychopathic tendencies and had tried to kill the mom SEVERAL times, to which the mother decided NOT TO involve the police (keep in mind the daughter is 7). The mother was (weakly might I add) concerned with how the public would view her as an unfit mother. And the dad was just useless. maybe if the author drove it home that the mom or dad were extreme perfectionists or his job required a certain "family look" then maybe... but no

The premise was flimsy. There was one part where the mother found what she thought her daughter had a voodoo doll and that she performed voodoo on her school principal and then went on to tell her husband since her daughter thought she was a witch it only made sense that she performed voodoo...

It was like, did the author want us to think the mother was playing a long con to get the daughter out of the house to have the husband all to herself or was she just this stupid.

Answer: both.

The writing wasn't terrible. This book didn't contain many "twists" to be honest. But it just was a bit long and nonsensical.
Great analysis, thanks for your clarification and correction of my assumptions.
Enjoy your next read!!!
 

Alisea

Hyrule Warrior
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
1,862
Reaction score
Reactions
10,131 158 28
10,116
Alleybux
500
Is anyone reading Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia?

I'm still reading Dead Dead Girls. The mystery is interesting and I like the lead though the chapters are a little choppy. It reads very serialized. I know the author said she was inspired by Frankie Drake mysteries. It's very easy to read though so it would be great for a beginner in the world of historical mystery.

I finished it today. Rated it 3 stars on Goodreads. The story and the setting are actually very interesting and exciting (that was my first book set in Harlem in the 1920s), but unfortunately not very well executed at times. I wish the novel had a better editor, because Afia definitely has talent and potential.

One of my biggest criticisms is the way Afia uses cliffhangers / foreshadowing. She loves that and a good half of the chapters ends with that. However, the author does it so sloppy that they are simply massive spoilers. It absolutely destroys the tension that has been built up and unfortunately there are no big plot twists to save that again.

Furthermore, I found the leaps in time and action between the chapters sometimes very abrupt. Louise jumps from one place to another and often the right transition is simply missing. This increases more and more, especially in the last third. A better editor could certainly have improved a lot.

As I said above, the story itself is definitely full of potential. What Afia has sadly neglected is to give the characters (especially the victims) a little depth. The murders happen and as a reader you have absolutely no relationship with the victims. If I am to empathize with a crime story like this, then I need a little more information than just a name and cause of death. The same problem with how the case is solved. A lot of details are simply missing here.
The motive of the murderer is not explained, same for small details like the religious cards in the hands of the victims or why Celia had to die? And what about Celia's mysterious fiancé?

I really liked the characters tho. I like Louise and her friends. Hopefully the relationship with Rosa Maria will come more into focus in the second volume, because that was one of the highlights in the novel and I would have liked more scenes with the two of them together. The second volume is due to appear in the spring of 2022 and I actually want to read it. Afia definitely has potential and I think she can develop into a really good writer over time. And hopefully she gets a better editor to help her improve.
 

booknlooks

Team Owner
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
30,304
Reaction score
Reactions
178,055 5,722 2,288
193,766
Alleybux
278,799
I finished it today. Rated it 3 stars on Goodreads. The story and the setting are actually very interesting and exciting (that was my first book set in Harlem in the 1920s), but unfortunately not very well executed at times. I wish the novel had a better editor, because Afia definitely has talent and potential.

One of my biggest criticisms is the way Afia uses cliffhangers / foreshadowing. She loves that and a good half of the chapters ends with that. However, the author does it so sloppy that they are simply massive spoilers. It absolutely destroys the tension that has been built up and unfortunately there are no big plot twists to save that again.

Furthermore, I found the leaps in time and action between the chapters sometimes very abrupt. Louise jumps from one place to another and often the right transition is simply missing. This increases more and more, especially in the last third. A better editor could certainly have improved a lot.

As I said above, the story itself is definitely full of potential. What Afia has sadly neglected is to give the characters (especially the victims) a little depth. The murders happen and as a reader you have absolutely no relationship with the victims. If I am to empathize with a crime story like this, then I need a little more information than just a name and cause of death. The same problem with how the case is solved. A lot of details are simply missing here.
The motive of the murderer is not explained, same for small details like the religious cards in the hands of the victims or why Celia had to die? And what about Celia's mysterious fiancé?

I really liked the characters tho. I like Louise and her friends. Hopefully the relationship with Rosa Maria will come more into focus in the second volume, because that was one of the highlights in the novel and I would have liked more scenes with the two of them together. The second volume is due to appear in the spring of 2022 and I actually want to read it. Afia definitely has potential and I think she can develop into a really good writer over time. And hopefully she gets a better editor to help her improve.
I too felt it need a good editor. And I find the editing lacking across the board at her publisher Berkley. I can never give any of their books a 5 star because there's never a clear sense of direction and what their books want to be. And a lot of people spoke about the editing style in their reviews which isn't a good thing.
 

O.o

Black Women Disproportionately @ Risk For Homicide
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Messages
59,470
Reaction score
Reactions
401,375 11,864 9,185
442,629
Alleybux
11,900
THE RISING STARS OF CRIME FICTION IN THE 2010S
Rising-Authors-960x430.jpg


This past decade, we’ve been pleased to see publishers, readers, editors, and reviewers alike have come to the same conclusion—crime fiction is a big tent, and we need our bookshelves to reflect the vast diversity of stories and experiences that inform our beloved genre. We also need to nurture young and growing talents in a crowded field where the big names can dominate at the expense of the up-and-comers, and take the time to celebrate when an author breaks through from rising voice to master of the genre.

A few trends are immediately obvious: first, great crime writers begin their careers at any age. To be a rising voice in the genre does not imply youth, beauty, or an MFA—it implies grit, experience, maturity, and intensity. Second, the world of crime fiction is far more diverse than it would have seemed a decade ago, in every sense of the world. Women, authors of color, and queer writers are reinventing traditional forms in ways that honor the complexity and messiness of experience; psychological thrillers brought murder into the home and the workplace, and noir and procedurals grappled with police brutality and the long shadows of prejudice and xenophobia. Social justice moved from a common factor in crime fiction to a given. And readers everywhere are looking for fiction that can be both a window and a mirror.

Lest we pat ourselves on the back too much, it’s important to remember that authors need sustained support over decades to establish a career; it’s not enough to just celebrate new voices—we need to actually go out and buy books, patronize libraries, or otherwise find ways to provide authors with financial and community support. (Otherwise, it’s our own fault if we notice a certain sameness to the landscape of crime writing.) There’s plenty of work left to do in shaking up our crime community.

A note on methodology: while some of the authors selected below got started in the decade previous, all authors picked for this list have built their careers up over the past 10 years and experienced breakthroughs of one kind or another. All authors selected for this list are at least two books into their writing careers, and each has demonstrated both creativity and virtuosity within traditional forms. Many have also distinguished themselves in multiple forms, crafting standalones and series, whodunnits and whydunnits, and mashups of subgenres galore. This was a difficult list to settle on, and at the end of the post, you’ll find a list of notable authors who we’d also like to highlight. We’ve loved watching these folks build their names in the crime world, and we can’t wait to see what they’re planning to do next.

And so, without further ado, behold, crime fiction’s best new voices!

ATA100119house_img02-248x300.jpg

Steph Cha
Cha first made her mark early in the decade introducing readers to Juniper Song, a young Angeleno training to be a private detective, a woman who had raised herself on the great works of the noir canon. More recently, Cha has changed gears away from PI fiction toward “social novels,” with her recently released and highly acclaimed, Your House Will Pay, a story about families in the aftermath of a killing, and a string of riots, in 1990s Los Angeles. Cha’s ambition is growing with each novel, no matter the form, and she looks set to push crime fiction in new, exciting directions for years to come. Steeped in noir traditions but not beholden to them, Cha has a solid claim to be one of the most exciting, innovative voices in west coast crime.

Lyndsay Faye
lyndsay-10-300x300.jpg

Lindsay Faye’s novels fit comfortably in the genre “badass nineteenth-century” (a genre that she helped make, by the way). Her first novel, the clever pastiche, Dust and Shadow: an Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson, as the title might suggest, allows Sherlock Holmes to take on the real Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper. Her subsequent, transatlantic novels have included a trilogy of historical mysteries reimagining the origins of the New York City Police Department, a riotous redo of Jane Eyre which recasts Jane as a justice-wielding serial killer, and a historical novel about the rise of the KKK in 1921 Oregon. In just a few short years, Faye has been nominated for multiple Edgar (and other) awards, and has become the point person for bringing Sherlockiana to younger generations, and creating spaces for women to be included in Sherlock Fandom, including with the Baker Street Babes group and podcast series she co-runs. Her influence on the crime literature community can’t be overstated, and her enthusiasm for the cornerstones of the genre, as well as her own literary creativity, ensure the safe passage of crime lit to the next generation.

Kellye Garrett
for-website1.jpg

Every once in a while, a book comes along that charms just about everyone in the crime world, from the hardboiled devotees to the cozy club, and Kellye Garrett’s Hollywood Homicide was just that book. Garrett swept the awards circuit for her debut, and followed it up with the equally acclaimed Hollywood Ending. Never has there been a crime citizen more deserving of praise—in addition to her writing, Kellye is also involved in the writing mentorship program Pitch Wars, and co-founded the group Crime Writers of Color, as well as being on the board of the national organization Sisters in Crime. We can’t wait to see what Garrett brings to the crime world next!

howzellhall-259x300.jpg
Rachel Howzell Hall

Rachel Howzell Hall began writing crime fiction after a battle with cancer convinced her to focus on creative pursuits; she survived cancer and is now four books into a crime writing career. Her first four take us into the world of L.A. cop Eloise “Lou” Norton, who must use her position of authority to fight both prejudice within the force and crime outside of it (all while dealing with a convincingly imploding marriage). Her latest book is also her first standalone—They All Fall Down brilliantly retells Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, and heralds a new direction in Hall’s career. Here’s to plenty more procedurals and standalones!

4534486-264x300.jpg


Jennifer Hillier

Across a decade of novels, starting with Creep and Freak and now ratcheting up the ambition and the intensity with her most recent and most acclaimed novel, Jar of Hearts, Hillier has been doing impressive work bringing together strands of serial killer literature and the psychological thriller into works of emotional complexity and terrifying suspense. She has a solid claim to be the Thomas Harris of a new generation, with work that’s searching and provocative, challenging readers but also providing them with consistent thrills. Hillier keeps getting better with every book, and we expect to be reading her disturbing, moving fiction for years to come.

joe-ide-box-300x253.jpg
Joe Ide

Joe Ide’s first novel dropped in 2016 and immediately established him as one of the most energetic voices in mystery. IQ, the first novel in the series and the moniker of its protagonist, depicts a Sherlock Holmes-type investigator working the streets of South Central Los Angeles, solving crimes for the community. Ide’s world has been steadily expanding through Righteous and Wrecked, with more expected in early 2020, but in the meantime Ide has also been drilling down to make more intimate, personally powerful stories. There’s a dash of Conan Doyle, a dash of Elmore Leonard, and a whole lot of Los Angeles Noir ambience mixed in with this series, which is earning fans by the droves and has Ide set up for what we hope will be a long career in crime.

8326636-238x300.jpg
Ausma Zehanat Khan

Ausma Zehanat Khan’s series featuring Inspectors Esa Khattack and Rachel Getty of the Community Policing Unit is the most Canadian thing ever—by which we mean that it explores the central dichotomies of a nation that would like to believe itself to be nicer than it actually is. Khattack and Getty are partners in a unit that’s dedicated to liaising between community interests and police investigations, and while sometimes their superiors behave in honorable ways, for the most part, Khan’s protagonists spend the majority of each book trapped between a rock and a hard place. While the first in the series draws from Khan’s experiences as a human rights lawyer in the Balkans, two of the later works explore Islamophobia in Canada, interspersed with stories grounded in the Syrian Refugee Crisis and the Iranian Green Revolution. Khan’s work represents the best that crime fiction can be (morally speaking). Her works use the procedural structure as entrance to a wide range of social and political concerns, and help us process our complex reality through the lens of fiction.

2018-08-04_ent_42917180_I1-243x300.jpeg
Shari Lapena

There’s a strong case to be made for the past ten years as “The Decade of the Psychological Thriller,” and Shari LaPena has been at the forefront of this new era of domestic suspense and twisty thrillers. Her 2016 novel The Couple Next Door established her trademark blend of empathy and voyeurism, and her 2018 release An Unwanted Guest showed her ability and willingness to play with traditional mystery tropes and reinvent them for new audiences. We can’t wait to see what Lapena brings us in the decade to come!

Attica_Locke-264x300.jpg
Attica Locke

Attica Locke has spent the whole of the decade producing powerful crime fictions set in deeply traumatized Southern communities, the kind of places where neighbors are both torn apart and tied together by history and blood. After three acclaimed novels, starting with Black Water Rising and running through Pleasantville, she broke through to crime fiction superstar status with 2017’s Blackbird, Blackbird, the first in the Darren Matthews series, which centers on a Texas Ranger working the southeastern corridors of the state and untangling generational crimes. Locke’s work is political in the most impactful, necessary sense, as she tells stories of crimes both personal and systemic, all while showing a complete mastery of suspense, plotting, and style. If you’re looking for a crime novelist to stick with across her career, and across media (she’s taking up the helm on TV series now), Locke is the writer for you.

Rader-Day_Lori-lo-274x300.jpg
Lori Rader-Day

Lori Rader-Day, like Ruth Ware, writes traditional mysteries with a noir sensibility, although for Rader-Day, the noir is strictly in the language itself, and serves to emphasize the high stakes of ordinary moments in women’s lives. Rader-Day is also the queen of the Midwestern crime scene, helping to put on the “Murder and Mayhem” festival, and currently serves as the president of Sisters in Crime. Her small, yet startling, tales have gripped us from the get-go, and we’re looking forward to many more.

alex-segura-box-300x300.jpg
Alex Segura

Segura’s Pete Fernandez mysteries spanned the decade and gave readers one of the most emotionally rewarding journeys in recent PI fiction memory. Fernandez, a Miami-bred private eye, the son of a detective, is marked not only by the cases he solves and doesn’t solve, but above all with his daily struggles—with life, memory, and recovery. Segura took one of the oldest tropes of crime fiction—the hard-drinking PI—and brought a fresh perspective to it. He also earns his stripes as a rising noir star thanks to his experimenting with new forms. Whether podcasts, comic books, or whatever comes next, you can be sure Segura will bring a thoughtful noir sensibility with him to tell powerfully human stories.

ruth-ware-5-286x300.jpg
Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware, it is an acknowledged fact, is one of the best new crime writers around, but what exactly appeals in her carefully crafted worlds? Ware is at the center of the traditional mystery revival, her twisty plots and new takes on classic mystery setups helping to revitalize Golden Age tropes for millennial readers, and it’s this peculiar blend of past and present that draws me in. Ware’s first novel takes us into the dark, dark woods for a gothic twist on the bachelorette party (or perhaps a hen do twist on the classic gothic mystery); her second took us on the cruise from hell for her version of the locked room mystery, while her third blends gothic suspense and boarding school intrigue, her fourth is a psychological spin on the trip to a manor house for the reading of a will, and her fifth brings Henry James’ Turn of the Screw up to date for the nanny generation. If Ware keeps up the good work, perhaps we’ll be able to put the distinction between psychological thrillers and traditional mysteries by the wayside, and instead, just call them all “Ware-esque.”

Notables:

Leye Adenle · Lucy Atkins · Flynn Berry · Darcey Bell · William Boyle · Oyinkan Braithwaite · Alexandra Burt · Joe Clifford · Angel Luis Colon · John Copenhaver · S. A. Cosby · Julia Dahl · Aya de Leon · J.P. Delaney · Rene Denfield · Eva Dolan · Allen Eskens · Caz Frear · Alison Gaylin · Amy Gentry · Juliet Grames · Araminta Hall · Robyn Harding · Rob Hart · Mette Ivie Harrison · Cheryl Head · Wendy Heard · Patrick Hoffman · Christopher Huang · Margot Hunt · Gabino Iglesias · Shannon Kirk · Lisa Jewell · David Joy · Sheena Kamal · Jessica Knoll · Renee Knight · Kristin Lepionka · Ed Lin · Steven Mack Jones · Matthew McBride · Adrian McKinty · Laura McHugh · Mindy Mejia · Liane Moriarty · Abir Mukherjee · Liz Nugent · Kwei Quartey · B.A. Paris · Ivy Pochoda · Steph Post · Marcie Rendon · Nina Revoyr · Nathan Ripley · Riley Sager · Lisa Sandlin · Peter Swanson · Taylor Stevens · Victoria Helen Stone · Amy Stewart · C.J. Tudor · Lynne Truss · Wendy Walker · Gina Wohlsdorf · Erica Wright

This is a good compilation. I hope I'm not repeating myself but in the past 2 months, I've read Shari LaPena, Kate White and others after starting with BA Paris.

I love this genre....
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
This is a good compilation. I hope I'm not repeating myself but in the past 2 months, I've read Shari LaPena, Kate White and others after starting with BA Paris.

I love this genre....
I've not read Shari LaPena or Kate White. Do you have any recommendations for each author?
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
I finished it today. Rated it 3 stars on Goodreads. The story and the setting are actually very interesting and exciting (that was my first book set in Harlem in the 1920s), but unfortunately not very well executed at times. I wish the novel had a better editor, because Afia definitely has talent and potential.

One of my biggest criticisms is the way Afia uses cliffhangers / foreshadowing. She loves that and a good half of the chapters ends with that. However, the author does it so sloppy that they are simply massive spoilers. It absolutely destroys the tension that has been built up and unfortunately there are no big plot twists to save that again.

Furthermore, I found the leaps in time and action between the chapters sometimes very abrupt. Louise jumps from one place to another and often the right transition is simply missing. This increases more and more, especially in the last third. A better editor could certainly have improved a lot.

As I said above, the story itself is definitely full of potential. What Afia has sadly neglected is to give the characters (especially the victims) a little depth. The murders happen and as a reader you have absolutely no relationship with the victims. If I am to empathize with a crime story like this, then I need a little more information than just a name and cause of death. The same problem with how the case is solved. A lot of details are simply missing here.
The motive of the murderer is not explained, same for small details like the religious cards in the hands of the victims or why Celia had to die? And what about Celia's mysterious fiancé?

I really liked the characters tho. I like Louise and her friends. Hopefully the relationship with Rosa Maria will come more into focus in the second volume, because that was one of the highlights in the novel and I would have liked more scenes with the two of them together. The second volume is due to appear in the spring of 2022 and I actually want to read it. Afia definitely has potential and I think she can develop into a really good writer over time. And hopefully she gets a better editor to help her improve.
Hey @Alisea
Happy to see your font in this thread. Fantastic and nuanced review please keep them coming.
Any suspense books next on your TBR.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
I started with
images


and

images


They were both good enough for me to want to read more.
Thank you added to my TBR
Please keep posting recommendations, we all have different tastes so a variety helps to keep the thread fresh.
 

Victoria Baker Harber

I'm not seasonal. I'm a fµck!ng timeless classic.
Joined
Mar 17, 2018
Messages
6,800
Reaction score
Reactions
70,603 2,255 110
76,882
Alleybux
376,507
I was just about to recommend "The Husband's Secret" I loved that one! You are right she gets all in their business but it's light. Not too deep or heavy which is why I read her books every time I finished a Karin Slaughter book. To clean my palate. I have nothing new to recommend regarding horror.

Today I am starting
View attachment 2942973

Judging a book by it's cover... I'm already... uninterested lol but I am going to give it a try.

Enter the players. There were seven of us then, seven bright young things with wide precious futures ahead of us. Until that year, we saw no further than the books in front of our faces.

On the day Oliver Marks is released from jail, the man who put him there is waiting at the door. Detective Colborne wants to know the truth, and after ten years, Oliver is finally ready to tell it.

Ten years ago: Oliver is one of seven young Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, a place of keen ambition and fierce competition. In this secluded world of firelight and leather-bound books, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extra. But in their fourth and final year, the balance of power begins to shift, good-natured rivalries turn ugly, and on opening night real violence invades the students’ world of make believe. In the morning, the fourth-years find themselves facing their very own tragedy, and their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, each other, and themselves that they are innocent.

Part coming-of-age story, part confession, If We Were Villains explores the magical and dangerous boundary between art and life. In this tale of loyalty and betrayal, madness and ecstasy, the players must choose what roles to play before the curtain falls. (less)
I read this book and did not care for it at all. It was compared to 'The Secret History' another book I absolutely did not care for. Just pretentious to me.
 

For The Culture

LSA's Lady Whistledown
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Messages
19,777
Reaction score
Reactions
262,041 4,102 1,980
296,759
Alleybux
25,500
Have you found something else to read or is it your book club pick next??
The book club is reading Mexican Gothic and since I already read it I'm looking for something new. I'm thinking of either

1634484232309.png

The light spilling in from the corridor would have to do. Though weak, it was sufficient to show Aldís a boy sitting in the gloom at the furthest table. He had his back to her, so she couldn't see who it was, but could tell that he was one of the youngest. A chill ran down her spine when he spoke again, without turning, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. 'Go away. Leave me alone.'

'Come on. You shouldn't be here.' Aldís spoke gently, fairly sure now that the boy must be delirious. Confused, rather than dangerous.

He turned, slowly and deliberately, and she glimpsed black eyes in a pale face. 'I wasn't talking to you.'

Aldis is working in a juvenile detention centre in rural Iceland. She witnesses something deeply disturbing in the middle of the night; soon afterwards, two of the boys at the centre are dead.

Decades later, single father Odinn is looking into alleged abuse at the centre following the unexplained death of the colleague who was previously running the investigation. The more he finds out, though, the more it seems the odd events of the 1970s are linked to the accident that killed his ex-wife. Was her death something more sinister?
You already know what I think about Nordic Noir lol

or
1634484326049.png


Clare remembers the cold. She remembers abandoned cars and children’s toys littered across the road. She remembers dark shapes in the snow and a terror she can’t explain. And then…nothing.

When she wakes, aching and afraid in a stranger’s gothic home, he tells her she was in an accident. He claims he saved her. Clare wants to leave, but a vicious snowstorm has blanketed the world in white, trapping them together, and there’s nothing she can do but wait.

At least the stranger seems kind…but Clare doesn’t know if she can trust him. He promised they were alone here, but she sees and hears things that convince her something else is creeping about the surrounding woods, watching. Waiting. Between the claustrophobic storm and the inescapable sense of being hunted, Clare is on edge…and increasingly certain of one thing:

Her car crash wasn't an accident. Something is waiting for her to step outside the fragile safety of the house... something monstrous, something unfeeling.

Something desperately hungry.
I think this is part of a series which is a win
 

sseashell1243

Team Owner
Joined
Nov 2, 2009
Messages
20,769
Reaction score
Reactions
32,575 557 161
33,507
Alleybux
4,000
Yeah, I know many who are just like you. It feels like so many are disappointed in horror books. I have been trying to keep some sort of a list of any I come across that have that vibe. Have you read Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare. It is a YA slasher book published last year. Also have you tried Jonathan Maberry's Ghost Road Blues series? I have been wanting to do a buddy read with someone for it.
I haven’t heard of any of those books, but I will look them up. Thanks!
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
The book club is reading Mexican Gothic and since I already read it I'm looking for something new. I'm thinking of either

View attachment 2998096
The light spilling in from the corridor would have to do. Though weak, it was sufficient to show Aldís a boy sitting in the gloom at the furthest table. He had his back to her, so she couldn't see who it was, but could tell that he was one of the youngest. A chill ran down her spine when he spoke again, without turning, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. 'Go away. Leave me alone.'

'Come on. You shouldn't be here.' Aldís spoke gently, fairly sure now that the boy must be delirious. Confused, rather than dangerous.

He turned, slowly and deliberately, and she glimpsed black eyes in a pale face. 'I wasn't talking to you.'

Aldis is working in a juvenile detention centre in rural Iceland. She witnesses something deeply disturbing in the middle of the night; soon afterwards, two of the boys at the centre are dead.

Decades later, single father Odinn is looking into alleged abuse at the centre following the unexplained death of the colleague who was previously running the investigation. The more he finds out, though, the more it seems the odd events of the 1970s are linked to the accident that killed his ex-wife. Was her death something more sinister?
You already know what I think about Nordic Noir lol

or
View attachment 2998103

Clare remembers the cold. She remembers abandoned cars and children’s toys littered across the road. She remembers dark shapes in the snow and a terror she can’t explain. And then…nothing.

When she wakes, aching and afraid in a stranger’s gothic home, he tells her she was in an accident. He claims he saved her. Clare wants to leave, but a vicious snowstorm has blanketed the world in white, trapping them together, and there’s nothing she can do but wait.

At least the stranger seems kind…but Clare doesn’t know if she can trust him. He promised they were alone here, but she sees and hears things that convince her something else is creeping about the surrounding woods, watching. Waiting. Between the claustrophobic storm and the inescapable sense of being hunted, Clare is on edge…and increasingly certain of one thing:

Her car crash wasn't an accident. Something is waiting for her to step outside the fragile safety of the house... something monstrous, something unfeeling.

Something desperately hungry.
I think this is part of a series which is a win
Excellent, both authors have been on my TBR so I am excited to read your thoughts on both their storytelling and writing skills.
 

Victoria Baker Harber

I'm not seasonal. I'm a fµck!ng timeless classic.
Joined
Mar 17, 2018
Messages
6,800
Reaction score
Reactions
70,603 2,255 110
76,882
Alleybux
376,507
Aw that sucks! But I will steer clear of "the secret history"

I really adore Liane Moriarty's writing style though.
Oh no, you don't need to steer clear of Liane Moriarty! The novel I am talking about is the one by Donna Tartt. It is all dark academia, and I felt it was pretentious.
 

dertoh21

Starter
Joined
Mar 23, 2017
Messages
413
Reaction score
Reactions
1,857 10 1
2,128
Alleybux
12,650
Goodnight Beautiful: A Novel: Molloy, Aimee: 9780063000148: Amazon.com:  Books


4/5 stars. I read this fast! It's a little confusing at some points, but it kept me interested enough and the ending was satisfying to me...
 

Alisea

Hyrule Warrior
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
1,862
Reaction score
Reactions
10,131 158 28
10,116
Alleybux
500
Hey @Alisea
Happy to see your font in this thread. Fantastic and nuanced review please keep them coming.
Any suspense books next on your TBR.
Thank you!

I have three more on my tbr that I will hopefully read in the near future.

57035651.jpg


This one sounds super exciting! I love historical novels and every thing that is set in the victorian era.

The Matchmaker's Lonely Heart

Second:
56213354._SY475_.jpg


And third:
49244342._SY475_.jpg


Not sure if this one really fits here, but I found the summary to be very intriguing.

The Orphan Collector
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
Thank you!

I have three more on my tbr that I will hopefully read in the near future.

57035651.jpg


This one sounds super exciting! I love historical novels and every thing that is set in the victorian era.

The Matchmaker's Lonely Heart

Second:
56213354._SY475_.jpg


And third:
49244342._SY475_.jpg


Not sure if this one really fits here, but I found the summary to be very intriguing.

The Orphan Collector
Excellent, enjoy.
It is okay, I love when folks post other genre books, sometimes reading something else cleanses my palette and then I enjoy suspense more and I am sure others feel the same.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
So this book is described as part mystery, part thriller, romance that is LGBTQ friendly. AC is an old school romance writer, nice to see her branching out.
Anyway the book publishes in November and will be available to read for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
20211019_172759.jpg


Three women form an unbreakable bond in a sexy, suspenseful, and adventurous novel about empowerment and sisterhood through thick and thin.

Venus McGee, Draya Carter, and Jackie Benson are coworkers with a lot in common. They’re smart, independent, driven, and deserving of recognition—certainly more than they’ve been handed by a demoralizing boss. He’s the topic of conversation at their impromptu get-together after the company holiday party, where the threesome fantasizes about a life without him. There has to be an alternative to taking a deep breath and sucking it up. There is. It’s just not the one they expected.

When morning comes, Venus, Draya, and Jackie are blindsided by murder—a twist of fate that brings a startling new challenge to the table and forces them to navigate a hair-raising detour they never saw coming. For better and (unless they can help it) for worse, it’s going to turn their world upside down. What starts as a necessary bond of mutual trust soon morphs into an empowering and galvanizing friendship that Venus, Draya, and Jackie need now more than ever.

Happy Reading!!!!
 
Last edited:

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
Has anyone read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. I knoe sseashells read it and did not care for it, particularly for it's misuse of Black life if I recall correctly. Everyone seems to love it, I was sort of curious about it. I would like to form an opinion on it and critique it for myself. For those wondering what book I am asking about.
20211019_191555.jpg

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.

Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
Currently listening to All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris. So far I really like it, it is slow but for some reason it feels like quite a bit is happening. Odd I know. Not quite sure if this book is Southern Gothic or Southern Noir. What I love about Southern Crime Writers is that they always give you those subtle WTF moments,



like What did I just read or hear. LOL. This book has one early on which totally sneaks up on you and you want to know more.
Anyway I am still reading Like a Sister, but one cannot read and drive. LOL
Happy Reading!!
 

Alisea

Hyrule Warrior
Joined
Jul 8, 2021
Messages
1,862
Reaction score
Reactions
10,131 158 28
10,116
Alleybux
500
Has anyone read The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires. I knoe sseashells read it and did not care for it, particularly for it's misuse of Black life if I recall correctly. Everyone seems to love it, I was sort of curious about it. I would like to form an opinion on it and critique it for myself. For those wondering what book I am asking about.
View attachment 3005812
Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in.

Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
I started reading this one today, but I am only 3 chapters in. Can't say much about the story or the characters yet, but so far it is entertaining.
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
I started reading this one today, but I am only 3 chapters in. Can't say much about the story or the characters yet, but so far it is entertaining.
Yesss
I read the first chapter last night and I found it to be quite funny. So far like you I don't know much yet either. So many people have recommended, granted mostly white ones who may not be aware of authors using people of color to move the storyline, as sseashells noted previously, which is quite typical in horror. But I am excited to critique it and discuss, especially since it is recent past. I will play catch up!
 

NSP30

Charmingly Bland
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
18,307
Reaction score
Reactions
157,233 1,469 1,101
170,194
Alleybux
267,194
I really hope this translation is a good one. This synopsis sounds so interesting.
20211022_063117.jpg


In the summer of 2002, when Korea is abuzz over hosting the FIFA World Cup, eighteen-year-old Kim Hae-on is killed in what becomes known as the High School Beauty Murder. Two suspects quickly emerge: rich kid Shin Jeongjun, whose car Hae-on was last seen in, and delivery boy Han Manu, who witnessed her there just a few hours before her death. But when Jeongjun’s alibi checks out, and no evidence can be pinned on Manu, the case goes cold.

Seventeen years pass without any resolution for those close to Hae-on, and the grief and uncertainty take a cruel toll on her younger sister, Da-on, in particular. Unable to move on with her life, Da-on tries in her own twisted way to recover some of what she’s...
 

Similar Threads

News Alley

The Lounge

General Alley

Top Bottom