Penguin Publishing Group | July 2017 | 352 pgs
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Final Girls has been receiving a lot of hype since its release and I think it is well worth it as it was such a chilling and thrilling read (Why, even Stephen King quoted this on its cover: "The first great thriller of 2017 is here.")
Quincy Carpenter, Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd are known in the press as the Final Girls; a film-geek speak for the last woman standing at the end of a horror movie. Lisa had lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout's knife; Sam walked away alive after a sicko dubbed as the Sack Man assaulted her during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and finally our protagonist, Quincy, who managed to escape from Him (the perpetrator she refuses to call by name after all these years) after she fled from Pine Cottage after he had massacred five of her college friends ten years ago. Now the three Final Girls are attempting to put each of their nightmares behind them. As much as they knew each other by name and those horrendous events they had gone through, in reality they have never met.
Quincy is doing well at present though; she has a caring boyfriend Jeff, a popular baking blog and a caring cop who checks on her occasionally ever since he saved her life all those years ago. What makes her life easier to get by is she has no recollection of what really happened that night at Pine Cottage. Like a few missing puzzles, she could only remember the before and after of that horrendous massacre; what happened in between was lost on her and she has no intention of remembering it. Then Lisa Milner was found dead with her wrists slit. Sam Boyd then appears on Quincy's doorstep claiming concern over her after those years laying low. Quincy quickly forged a friendship with Sam but as the days go she realises that Sam is relentless in bringing out that rage which had buried deep inside her since that fateful night. As dire consequences happen one after another after Sam moves into her house, Quincy begins to question everything including Lisa's death and what really happened to her and her five friends at Pine Cottage.
Final Girls was one great psychological suspense with a cast of intriguing characters. What made this such a compelling read is aside from the characters, the plot and the writing style keep the reader engrossed throughout the story. And personally I felt the two parts narrations really brought out the intensity as the reader will see two sides of the story - the present in Quincy's POV and the other in third person narration as flashbacks of what happened at Pine Cottage as the story moves towards the closure. This book had me on edge all the time and while I was curious over the friendship between Sam and Quincy, I was also eager to find out what really happened at Pine Cottage. I could easily picture this story makes its way onto the big screen because it has the combination of a slasher flick (think Scream and the like) and suspense. A fresh voice in the psychological thriller genre and I'll definitely be looking forward to more by this author.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Based on the American television series of the same title, this Korean drama remake will satisfy anyone who loves a good, exciting police procedural and crime thrillers featuring a group of elite agents from the National Criminal Investigation (NCI) to solve crime cases through their expertise of criminal profiling, criminal psychology, white hacking and the like. The cases they solve range from domestic and violence to complex psychological ones.
As the agents work through their expertise in solving each case, a few also portray a personal and vulnerable side of them as some cases involve their friends and family members, or even having been gone through some horrific situations themselves which still left an impact on them before joining NCI.
Although each agent is brilliant in his/her own role, I've to say Team Captain Kang Ki-Hyung (starring Son Hyun-Joo) left a deep impression on me not only of his brilliant acting but also of his role as the lead profiler who guide his team through his sharp insight on how a criminal's mind works as well as offering support as and when needed. Other supporting roles such as profilers Kim Hyun-Joon (starring Lee Joon-Gi), Ha Sun-Woo (starring Moon Chae-Won), Dr Lee Han (starring Go Yoon); and white hacker Nana Hwang (starring Yoo-Sun) as well as the media specialist Yoo Min-Young (starring Lee Sun-Bin) complement the group and no one is a minor role in my opinion as each plays an important part in solving a case.
After watching this I've a deeper understanding of how a profiler works and I truly have great respect and admiration for them given the challenging tasks they have to face everything they solve a case.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Touchstone | July 2015 | 304 pgs
Source: Library
Ninety-year-old Margaret Riley lives by herself in a secluded small town on a mountain in Tennessee. Although she feels lonely at times, she seeks comfort in her mystery books until she finds a woman moving into the long-empty house across the pond.
Jennifer Young is on the run from her old life and together with her four-year-old son Milo, they take refuge in a quiet town so she could get on with her new identity and a new beginning. She is reserved and mysterious to the residents and soon she catches Margaret's attention simply because she has occupied the house of a woman named Barbara, who was about Margaret's age and they used to talk sometimes. Acting like a sleuth herself, Margaret sets on befriending the younger woman by hiring her as her massage therapist, hoping that as the days go by Jennifer would open up and tell her her story. But Jennifer isn't keen to talk about herself or her family, thus in order to get Jennifer's attention so that she would keep coming to her house, Margaret decides to tell Jennifer her story when she was a nurse with the Army Nurse Corps during World War II as well as her friendship with a fellow nurse named Kay. Margaret has never told anyone about her story, because it consists of a secret she wouldn't even think of herself. As if that isn't enough, Margaret begins to seek out someone from Jennifer's past to learn of her history that would lead to some consequences both of them couldn't imagine.
The New Neighbor may sound like a mystery novel but basically it is a story surrounding two women and their secrets as well as their different views being on their own. For Margaret, years of loneliness and curiosity has drove her into finding a friendship in Jennifer but that persistence has led to an obsession. As for Jennifer, her needs for isolation became an impossible task as she soon realises that the basic needs to socialise with people and to hunt for a job are both essential if she is to survive in a new environment. In a nutshell, Margaret and Jennifer seek each other out for different reasons and this is where the story begins to unfold.
This story was beautifully written and was a little suspenseful in a way, but not in the form of a psychological thriller. In fact I'd say this is more of a literary fiction with a sense of melancholy. I can't say I loved the story but the author has a way with words and the story did make me feel for Margaret and Jennifer; thus overall it was a satisfying read.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Crown/Archetype | June 2017 | 304 pgs
Source: Library
The story opens with our protagonist, Audra Kinney, fleeing from her abusive husband as she takes their two children with her in a car. As they make their way across Arizona to their destination in California taking back roads to avoid attention, a local sheriff pulls her over with an accusation of committing a traffic offense. Audra, who is trying to keep a low profile, stops her car and before she could react the sheriff begins to ransack her trunk and pull out a bag of drugs which she has never seen before. Audra is then forced to be detained by the sheriff while he calls his colleague, a deputy officer, to take away her children to somewhere safe so they could interrogate her properly.
However this is not what the sheriff and the deputy officer have in mind. They plan to take away her children to seal a deal and they will frame Audra for false accusation and possession of illegal drugs. It is their words against hers and Audra, who used to have a history of alcoholism and depression two years ago, will find herself fighting her way for freedom and most of all, to get her children back. But no one believes her except a man named Danny Lee, whose wife had encountered the same experience five years ago but Danny wouldn't have the chance to see them again as his wife committed suicide and their girl couldn't be found.
Here and Gone was a compelling read; it is also a story which I could imagine would be every parent's nightmare. My heart went out to Audra as I felt her worries and her fear. I rooted for her throughout the book and I was glad she was a fighter. Danny was a more intriguing character given his ethnic Chinese identity and his gangster-like past which got him into troubles at times. The two of them makes an odd combination, but Aura and Danny have the same goal of finding whoever who took their children thus they find trust in each other eventually. This book was a refreshing break from the other books I read lately since it was about corrupt authorities (a rare feature from what I read but such a disheartening thing to think of!) Though it was a fast-paced and intense thriller, it was also an emotionally driven story surrounding a few innocent children and their mothers who are wrongly accused. I'd had a wild reading ride as I followed Audra from places to places as she raced against time to either escape from her past or to find her children. Sean, her eight-year-old son, was quite street smart and I loved how the way he protected his younger sister with the dangerous situations they were in. Definitely not an easy read with a topic of kidnapped children (fortunately they were not abused) but this will be one of those books which will make you want to keep your children safe and close.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Mira | January 2017 | 368 pgs
Source: Library
This is my third Kubica book and I've to say this book was a bit different from her other two books I read in terms of the pacing and the overall story structure.
Narrated by Quinn Collins and Alex Gallo alternatively, these two characters found themselves onto a different journey when unexpected circumstances are thrown into their path. Quinn is a twenty-ish young woman living with her roommate in downtown Chicago when one day she finds her disappears from their apartment without a trace. Esther Vaughan isn't one who wander about or one who loves living a wild life so Quinn question over Esther's disappearance and how well she really knew her roommate after she has discovered a few haunting letters addressed to "My Dearest" among her possessions. Is Esther hiding something from her?
On the other end, eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher at a coffeeshop in a solitude small-town Michigan. Living with his alcoholic father and occasionally running errands for a woman with agoraphobia, Alex has been living a mundane life until a young woman steps into the coffeeshop one day. Drawn by her mysterious and her quiet temperament, he soon becomes friends with her but the girl whom he named Pearl doesn't share much of her info with him. Who is she and what's on her agenda?
Don't You Cry is not a fast paced book filled with intensity like other psychological suspense; this is more of a character-driven story and allows the reader to take time to know the characters as the story slowly unfolds. Truth be told, I wasn't sure where the story direction is initially because Quinn and Alex don't seem to have any connections with each other. Their search in finding the truth surrounding the two young women in their life seems to be their common ground and that's it. However, the story did take a turn and surprised me in the end as it wasn't something I'd expected. Overall it was a suspenseful read and if you don't mind the slower pace then this book is for you.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
HarperCollins | September 2017 | 352 pgs
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Unfolding over the course of 24 hours, Best Day Ever is a domestic thriller that tells a pair of couple's marital woes and their psychological tug of war which led to a twisty conclusion.
Paul and Mia Strom seem to be a perfect couple in everyone's eyes. Paul works in an advertising firm holding a managerial position and Mia is a beautiful, stay-at-home housewife. They have two perfectly healthy young boys and a big house in a wealthy suburb. Mia used to work as a copywriter but quit her job after marrying Paul. Paul ensures that the family is well fed and that Mia could concentrate on her role as a housewife. Being a perfect husband he is, he plans a weekend getaway at their lake house just the two of them; and it would be the best day ever for them.
However, tension arises before they get to their lake house. To complicate matters, Paul doesn't see eye to eye with their lake house's neighbour, Buck. He even wonders if Buck and Mia are having a secret affair. But that's not all, Paul seems to have anger issue and is unfaithful to Mia on several occasions. Mia finally decides that enough is enough and that she should take matters into her own hands and take back the freedom she's always craves; after all Paul is nothing as compared to her parents' financial status. On top of that, Mia's father despises Paul and didn't approve of their marriage in the first place.
Best Day Ever is a page-turner and will question the reader how well you really know the person whom you are closest to. To begin with, Paul is a narcissist, a womaniser and a male chauvinist who loves control over everything else. A few chapters in, he sent off a bad vibe to the reader through his dark ugly thoughts and bad behaviours. Paul may be an unlikeable narrator, but being the focal point his role is what set the pace of this story and like watching a train wreck the reader knew something bad would happen yet it's hard not to see the other way and read what's going to happen next. Mia, on the other hand, is a character whom the reader could not underestimate. She may be meek in the beginning, but one could never tell if she has a hidden agenda.
As this is told over a course of 24 hours, there is a strong sense of urgency and intensity when deceptions and doubts begin to set in both Paul's and Mia's mind. While there was closure towards the end I couldn't help feeling a bit raw over everything happened in the book. This is another domestic suspense novel you have to read if you are a fan of this genre.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Kensington | April 2017 | 320 pgs
Source: Library
I read Charlie Donlea's Summit Lake a while back and thought it was a good read but his latest, The Girl Who Was Taken, was even better.
In August 2016, Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald disappeared from a beach party in their small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. Both are high school seniors and though they aren't the best of friends, each is popular with her own cliques of friends and while Megan is a good student with big dreams, Nicole is wild and an attention seeker who would do anything for the sake of fun and rebellion. Two weeks later, Megan miraculously escapes from a secluded bunker which kept her hidden from the world but not Nicole who remains missing.
A year later Megan shot to fame through her book about her harrowing escape and how her survival becomes an inspiring story to many. Nicole's older sister, Livia, still feels regret for not answering Nicole's call on that fateful night and as a fellow in forensic pathology now, she is hoping that one day soon Nicole's body and answers will be found through evidence of forensic science and a closure for good. What Livia didn't expect is a young man's body lying on her exam table and he is the first clue to Nicole's disappearance since Nicole was acquainted with him before tragedy strikes. Casey's death isn't a suicide as speculated by the police and the more Livia finds out through her job she finally came to a conclusion that Casey was murdered but what happened to Nicole? Driven by this new discovery and that urge of finding the truth surrounding Nicole's disappearance, Livia approaches Megan and hoping that she would help her out in giving her a more specific account of what really happened that night and if their cases are connected to a few other missing girls as well.
The Girl Who Was Taken wowed me in many ways. For starters, it was a fast-paced and a very suspenseful read. I was sucked into the story quickly and while I was intrigued by Nicole as a person as well as her disappearance, I was also drawn to Livia as a fellow in forensic pathology and the challenges she has to face on job as well as her wish in finding her younger sister. The author has done a great job in detailing Livia's profession and while I was fascinated by all the works and challenges, I was also aware that it isn't a job for everyone as it requires both courage and meticulousness (and not to mention a strong stomach) as well. Overall it was a compelling psychological thriller mixed with a dose of forensic science and I can't wait to find out what is in store in Charlie Donlea's next book.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Mira | September 2016 | 288 pgs
Source: Library
Once again, I've the pleasure of having Lark as my reading buddy and this time around she had chosen Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra, who is an Australian author. This is a story about two different young women; one disappeared while the other is an impostor.
In 2003, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared on her way home from work. On the surface, Rebecca seemed like any other ordinary girl who enjoyed life; she'd been having a good summer break with her best friend, Lizzie, and crushing on an older boy at work. Then before her disappearance, she has a feeling of being watched and that she could feel a presence in her room at night. No one knew what happened although Lizzie claimed Bec was not being herself before her disappearance. The case remains unsolved.
Eleven years later, a young woman took over Rebecca Winter's identity after she was caught shoplifting and in desperation claimed to be the missing Bec. The impostor bore some resemblance to the missing Bec so no one suspected anything and soon she is living the real Bec's life. The impostor has nothing to lose as she has an unhappy life and didn't feel loved by her family. However, her new life is short-lived as soon she notices that her welcoming family and friends aren't quite as they seem and most of all, whoever took Rebecca Winter is still at large. What really happened to the real Bec and what would the impostor do under this circumstances?
Only Daughter is one of those suspense novels that leave you entirely clueless and curious from the beginning and you couldn't help but to keep reading until that final page. This story is told from two POVs alternatively - 16-year-old Rebecca Winter before her disappearance in third person narrative and the impostor in present time in first person narrative. Both characters are intriguing in her own way and while I felt sorry for the impostor's life and that she has to resort to impersonation to have a new life, it is the real Rebecca who I was really interested in from the beginning. She is a bit mysterious and most of all I felt something is off with her parents but yet I couldn't put my finger on what really bothered me. While I felt some parts seemed a bit far-fetched, still it has that foreboding feel and will keep the reader riveted until that very last page. Overall it was a suspenseful read though I felt some parts need more developments.
And finally, here are my answers to Lark's questions related to the book:
1. What did you think of the ending, and did you see it coming? (Because I didn't!)
I certainly didn't see that ending coming! It was a good twist, but I've some questions on the motive and didn't fully understand why but that said, it was a very suspenseful thriller. My curiosity towards the two Rebeccas was what drove me flipping the pages quickly!
2. Between the real Bec and her impostor, which character did you end up liking better?
Hmm. That was a good question and one which is difficult to answer without giving much thought. Honestly, I sympathised with both of them; each girl faced some difficulties in her life but most of all, it seemed the impostor suffered the most because of what she's been through with her family whom she felt unloved by them. As for the real Bec, she may seemed to have everything in life but she lacked emotional happiness. I think both girls have their strength and flaws and it is difficult for me to pick a favourite character.
Now go visit Lark's blog to read her thoughts and my questions to her relating this book!
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Penguin Publishing Group | September 2017 | 352 pgs
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
I read Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You in 2015 and enjoyed her writing style and most of all the sensitivity and the insightfulness when portraying her characters and crafting her story. This second book is no exception and once again I found myself immersed in Celeste's storytelling and her interesting cast of characters set in Shaker Heights, Cleveland.
The Richardsons is an upper class family consists of six members. William Richardson works as a lawyer and his wife, Eleanor, is a journalist with one of the local papers. Shaker Heights has its own history and for all Eleanor knows her family roots are there. One can say Shaker Heights is a well-planned suburb and the Richardsons are quite happy with the community there until Mia Warren and her teenaged daughter, Pearl, enter into their lives.
Mia, a single mother, is an artist and together with her daughter they travel from places to places until Shaker Heights becomes their latest resting place. They rent a house from the Richardsons and soon the four Richardson children are drawn to this enigmatic mother-daughter pair. Pearl soon quickly adapts to their new environment and has found friendship in Moody, the third child of the Richardsons family. Mia remains quiet and reserved until a coworker at a part-time place where she works confides in her about her baby daughter, May Ling Chow, whom she left at a fire station out of desperation due to her poverty condition, decides to have her baby back but an old friend of the Richardsons, the McCullough couple (the wife had had a few pregnancies but couldn't keep her babies) has decided to adopt the homeless baby and soon Eleanor and Mia find themselves on opposing sides as the custody battle divides the once peaceful community. As if that is not enough, Eleanor is determined to unravel Mia's past but that obsession will soon come with a price.
What made someone a mother? Was it biology alone, or was it love? ~ Pg 280
Once again, Celeste Ng has delivered a taut and an insightful piece of work centering around secrets, identity and the ferocity pull of maternal love. The story begins with a slow start, basically the introduction of the Richardsons and Shaker Heights but towards the middle the reader will embrace the change of direction and momentum as lots of things happened quickly. The characterisation is the huge draw of the story and I found myself invested in Mia's story and why Eleanor Richardson is relentless in pursuing Mia's mysterious past despite of consequences there might be. Celeste Ng has portrayed a multiple aspects of the role of a mother which is both moving and thought-provoking and although I liked her previous novel, I've to say I liked this one better.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Park Row Books | May 2017 | 352 pgs
Source: Library
The story opens with our protagonist, Amelia Winn, surviving a hit-and-run accident after she had seen one of the patients off to the hospital car park. Stacey was sexually assaulted and had gone for the necessary medical checks and examinations and Amelia, being a nurse, felt Stacey needed some emotional support and that the least she could do is to see her off to the car park. Unfortunately Stacey died and Amelia became deaf after her inner ear nerves were affected.
Two years later Amelia moved on but the death of Gwen Locke shattered her inner peace all over again. Like her, Gwen was a nurse and they were even friends at one time. Amelia found her body in a dense bush by the river which was deep in the woods near her cabin. From Gwen's wounds it was clear that she was murdered but no one knew why. Gwen was well liked by her friends and coworkers so it was hard to even speculate for a reason. As Amelia tried to do some detective work on her own, she realised that there was a motive behind Gwen's death and that she would be the next target of whoever murdered Gwen as she has stumbled upon some secrets she was not supposed to know.
Not a Sound stood out in my opinion not only it was a fast paced whodunit psychological thriller but more of the protagonist who was hearing impaired and her service dog, Stitch. The author has done a great job in detailing Amelia's hearing condition and the challenges she faced in life. Not being able to hear is a sad thing and my heart went out to Amelia while reading all the difficulties she had to go through in her life. It was a good thing that she could lip read and has Stitch by her side, but there are still some things she couldn't be able to tell completely even with the help of technology, such as a person's tone without seeing his expression. I understand from the author's note that Heather was born with a profound unilateral hearing loss so I can imagine her situation while reading about Amelia. The whodunit wasn't hard to guess if you follow through the plot but as mentioned before, what made this book a readable one is Amelia and Stitch. I often marvel at the capabilities and the duties of a service dog so reading about Stitch warmed my heart to an extent. I would highly recommend this book if you want a good suspense with unforgettable characters.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Penguin Publishing Group | June 2017 | 384 pgs
Source: Library
An old house demolition in London which led to a discovery of a tiny skeleton which is believed to have been buried for years. Journalist Kate Waters first came across the headline "Baby's Body Found" at the bottom of the News section in Evening Standard when she was checking for the bylines of friends. She almost missed that section since the coverage was minimal and the papers was focused more on the London Olympics instead. Intrigued with the news and determined to write something more than a few vague paragraphs, Kate began searching and unravelling the mystery of the baby's death and her tasks led her to three women and how she got sucked into a family drama involving secrets and the lies someone has to cover up over a span of forty years.
To be honest, I think the plot was brilliant and that twisty ending totally surprised me. However, what made me plod through this book slowly is the multiple narratives involving four women. I've to admit it took me a while to get used to the style and although it was an emotional read involving a baby, I didn't really feel connected to the characters (well perhaps with the exception of Kate). Kate was an interesting character who shows a great devotion and persistence in her work and that was my impression of her. I understand she was first featured in this author's first book, The Widow, though these two books aren't connected. I'd have to check that out since there are several good reviews of it on Goodreads. I suppose another thing that slowed down my reading is the pace of the story and at times I felt it dragging. Then again, this might be a personal view and that it's more of a character-driven kind of story so this may work well with readers who are into that style. That said, I thought the ending was a good one as I didn't see it coming.
© 2017 Melody's Reading Corner (https://mel-reading-corner.blogspot.sg/), All Rights Reserved. If you are reading this post from other site(s), please take note that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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