Isabella's Reading Corner: Shiver

Shiver

Author: Allie Reynolds

Publication Date: January 19, 2021

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Five former friends reunite for the first time in ten years for snowboarding and reconnecting at a secluded ski resort in the French Alps. All is not as it seems though, and as old secrets emerge, so does some sinister activity and an approaching snowstorm...

Shiver, the superb debut novel by Allie Reynolds is chillingly suspenseful! The isolated wintry setting is menacing with a sense of unease added for good measure. The characters are elusive and somewhat slippery, fitting perfectly into the ominous mystery. Reynolds writes with flair as she seamlessly alternates between the past and present. I’ve been anticipating reading this book for some time now and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this tense thriller! Highly recommended.

From the publisher:

In this propulsive locked-room thriller debut, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm. 

When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition. 

Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars that delivered them to the mountaintop have stopped working. Their cell phones--missing. And inside the hotel, detailed instructions await them: an icebreaker game, designed to draw out their secrets. A game meant to remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead. 

Stranded in the resort, Milla's not sure what's worse: the increasingly sinister things happening around her or the looming snowstorm that's making escape even more impossible. All she knows is that there's no one on the mountain she can trust. Because someone has gathered them there to find out the truth about Saskia...someone who will stop at nothing to get answers. And if Milla's not careful, she could be the next to disappear...

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on Shiver here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: In the Garden of Spite

In the Garden of Spite

Author: Camilla Bruce

Publication Date: January 19, 2021

Publisher: Berkley

In the Garden of Spite is historical crime fiction based on the shocking real life murderer Belle Gunness. Enter if you dare! 

Told from the perspectives of serial killer Bella and her sister Nellie, the story is a descent into the mind of a terrifying psychopath. Bella thinks only of herself and displays a callous disregard for human life. She’s completely devoid of any compassion and yet I couldn’t stop reading to see what she could possibly do next. The book started a little slow, but before long so much was happening my head was spinning and I couldn’t put it down. 

Highly recommended.

From the publisher:

An audacious novel of feminine rage about one of the most prolific female serial killers in American history--and the men who drove her to it.

They whisper about her in Chicago. Men come to her with their hopes, their dreams--their fortunes. But no one sees them leave. No one sees them at all after they come to call on the Widow of La Porte.

The good people of Indiana may have their suspicions, but if those fools knew what she'd given up, what was taken from her, how she'd suffered, surely they'd understand. Belle Gunness learned a long time ago that a woman has to make her own way in this world. That's all it is. A bloody means to an end. A glorious enterprise meant to raise her from the bleak, colorless drudgery of her childhood to the life she deserves. After all, vermin always survive.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on In the Garden of Spite here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: The Woman Outside My Door

 

The Woman Outside My Door

Author: Rachel Ryan

Publication Date: November 24, 2020

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Georgina’s life unravels when her beloved mom is diagnosed with cancer and passes away. She becomes reasonably unsettled when her young son Cody insists he’s been interacting with an elderly woman who he claims wants to be his ‘New Granny’. However, there are no witnesses to these conversations or proof this woman even exists. 

One night Georgina becomes convinced someone is watching her and her husband Bren through their window. When she comes home to find her outdoor plants destroyed and the pots smashed, she begins to wonder if there may be some truth to her son’s sinister declaration that ‘New Granny’ is angry at her.

The Woman Outside My Door is a fast-paced suspense thriller and quick read with plenty of intrigue and nefarious activities! Alongside the mystery of Cody’s ‘friend’, who may or may not be imaginary, author Rachel Ryan manages to seamlessly add a potentially suspicious neighbour, infidelity and a secret from the past into the mix. Recommended.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for the copy provided for review.

From the publisher:

An unforgettable new voice in suspense fiction, Rachel Ryan weaves a thrilling page-turner about a young mother who can’t shake the feeling that her son’s “imaginary” friend is putting him in danger and who will stop at nothing to keep him safe—perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Mary Kubica.

How far would you go to protect your family?

All children have imaginary friends, Georgina tells herself. It’s perfectly normal, and they all grow out of it in the end. But when seven-year-old Cody tells his mother about “New Granny,” the new friend he’s met in the park, Georgina is instantly suspicious. Something—call it maternal instinct—tells her he isn’t making it up.

But maybe Georgina is losing her mind. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. And with her own mother’s recent death leaving her bereft and trying to cope with life as a busy working mom, it’s no wonder she’s feeling paranoid that Cody has invented a “New Granny” to replace his beloved grandmother.

Her husband, Bren, becomes the voice of reason, assuring Georgina that it’s just a game, the product of their son’s overactive imagination. But what if Cody’s imaginary friend is not so imaginary after all?

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on The Woman Outside My Door here.