“The Wife Between Us” vs. “The Last Mrs. Parrish” (and other book reviews)

I am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll—- Passenger on a commuter train, overhears two teen girls interacting with two, fresh out of prison guys. She has a growing sense of discomfort and begins to worry for the girls. In the end, she decides not to get involved and later finds out that one of the girls has gone missing. Fast forward one year. The story, which takes place in England, is told from several different perspectives…the witness, the father, the friend, the P.I., and the Watcher. I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be able to predict the end of this one. I’m a sucker for Brit-Lit…I love the different phrases! For example…who knew that to “Bunk” means to leave suddenly, and that going “pear-shaped” means a situation gone way wrong. Love it. This was a quick read…finished it in just two days. I would recommend this one, and I’m looking forward to reading more from this, new-to-me author. 4 stars ——————————————————————————————–

Killman Creek by Rachel Caine—Be forewarned!!! You MUST read the first book in this series, Still House Lake before reading this one!! I loved, loved, loved Stillhouse Lake…It tied for 1st place on my list of 2017 books. I can’t say too much about this one without giving away too many spoilers from the first book. All in all the first book is better. I think I just didn’t care about the characters as much as I did in Stillhouse Lake. SO, here’s the thing, if you decide you want to read Stillhouse Lake you’d better be prepared to read Killman Creek as well. Stillhouse leaves you with a huge cliff hanger that you will want to see resolved in the second book. Don’t worry, Killman Creek is still a very good book…with a super strong female lead that you will root for all the way, I just think the first book was stronger overall. 3 1/2 stars —————————————————————————————-

Remember Me by Lynda Renham—This author was new to me. It seems she previously wrote Chic-Lit novels. Not sure how she came to write a psychological thriller…but this was a good one! Oh my gosh! I seriously read this in less than a day. Basic premise…New family (Tom and Shani) moves into neighborhood and quickly befriend their neighbors (Clare and Chris). While seemingly friendly, Shani starts a campaign to become just like Clare. Why is she doing this and what does the 2 year old have to do with it? HA! You have to read and find out! This one was suspenseful right up to the last page. 4 stars——————————————————————-

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen— The Wife Between Us was just straight up crazy! The twists and turns just keep coming with this one. There was a part I even had to go back and reread to make sense of it…I truly didn’t see it coming. I really can’t say too much about the storyline without spoilers. Nellie is a preschool teacher about to marry the man of her dreams….that’s really all can say! This is one of many books to try and make the claim of being the next “Gone Girl” or “Girl on the Train”. I’m not going make comparisons though. I’ve read both of those MUST READS!!!!! and to be totally honest, neither were my favorite. I just didn’t get the hype. So when a book is touted to be the NEXT Gone Girl…I usually cringe and seriously consider whether I should even bother reading it. I’m so glad I picked this one though. This is a good stand alone, no need to compare to any other book or author. Or maybe upcoming books will be saying “it’s the  next “Wife Between Us”!  🙂    Solid 5 stars                                                                                                                                  ————————————————————————–

 

  Dead On Arrival by Matt Richtel— I saw this while I was waiting in line at the library to pay my fines. (While Nick gives me a hard time about the fines…I just see it as supporting the library! 😉 #librariesareawesome. I had no idea what to expect but I thought the premise sounding promising….Late night flight lands at at small airport in Colorado only to find everyone dead! (or are they?) Ok….spoiler alert on this one..Kooky, evil gal wants to perform some sort of reset, you know like a Ctrl/alt/delete sort of thing, only with people instead of computers. Even after reading it I couldn’t really tell how this was to be accomplished. Plot line moved along at a glacial pace.  This book was horrible…DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!!! ZERO stars

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The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine–This one came HIGHLY recommended. I had no idea what it was about before reading it. That is typically how I like to go into books…blind. I mean, I have a general sense of atleast the genre, but I think the descriptions on the book jackets, sometimes go to far. I hate knowing important details when I’m just starting out. Ok, so the premise of The Last Mrs. Parrish is pretty basic. Con artist wages a campaign to steal a “friends” husband. The build up is slow but steady. Character development is solid. Twist (because you know there had to be one!) is fitting for the storyline. I flew through this book, it was an easy read. NOW…here’s the issue…I  read this not long after reading “The Wife Between Us”. Both are really great, BUT the storylines are a bit too similar. I felt like I could see what was coming in “The Last Mrs. Parrish” because of the plot line in “The Wife Between Us”. While I loved both books, I highly recommend only reading one. Either would be a solid pick but if you really want my recommendation I’d go with “The Wife Between Us” . I just think it kept me more on the edge of my seat. I’ll make the prediction that one of these two books will be made into a movie. ————————————————————-

Copy Cat by Alex Lake- Copy Cat had the potential for greatness but it fell flat, so flat that I pretty much skimmed the last 1/4. Woman finds that someone is pretending to be her…through Facebook, emails, phone calls…stalking but in a new way. I figured out who the stalker was by page 70, way too obvious! The second half which includes a disbelieving husband, as well as imprisonment and torture, sounds scary but, instead was yawning-ly (pretend that’s a word!) boring. This is maybe 1/2 star, don’t waste your time.

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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn-I ended the month with another book that is getting a fair amount of press lately. The Woman in the Window plays off of and is obviously inspired by, Hitchcock’s classic “Rear Window”. Of all the Hitchcock films, Rear Window is my favorite so picking up this book was a no brainer! The central character is Anna a former child psychologist, classic film lover, who suffers from Agoraphobia and hasn’t gone outside in almost a year. She spends her time trying to help other agoraphobics online and spying on the people in her neighborhood. It’s a S.L.O.W starter, the main “event” doesn’t even happen until roughly the half way point. I found myself hating Anna and for real wanted to punch her in the throat if I had to read one more time about all the wine she’s drinking…bottles and bottles and bottles of wine (mixed with a crazy amount of prescription pills). The “twists” were few and far between. I figured out the main one long before the reveal. And the overuse of old movies was ridiculous. I now, never have to watch all the old black and whites as the endings of each are discussed ad nauseam…spoilers all over the place! I really wanted to like this one, I thought the premise had real promise but it totally bombed…and such a predictable ending…Blah.  I will admit if not for the Rear Window connection I likely would have set this one aside. By the way, I’ve heard that this book has been optioned to become a movie…I can guarantee I WON’T be seeing it!! I give this one 2 stars and don’t recommend.

 

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