Isabella's Reading Corner: Hairpin Bridge

 

Hairpin Bridge

Author: Taylor Adams

Publication Date: June 15, 2021

Publisher: William Morrow

Hairpin Bridge is the first book I’ve read by Taylor Adams and I’m so glad I picked it up. This was a manic, wild thrill ride with plot twists I never saw coming! The action never lets up and it was so much fun. Recommended if you like your suspense dark and crazy!

From the publisher:

Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge seventy miles outside of Missoula, Montana, and jumped two hundred feet to her death. At least, that is the official police version.

But Lena isn’t buying it.

Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body.

Corporal Raymond Raycevic has agreed to meet Lena at the scene. He is sympathetic, forthright, and professional. But his story still seems a bit off. For one thing, he stopped Cambry for speeding just an hour before she supposedly leaped to her death. Then there are the sixteen attempted 911 calls from her cell phone, made in what was unfortunately a dead zone.

But perhaps most troubling of all, the state trooper is referred to by name in Cambry’s final enigmatic text to her sister: Please Forgive Me. Lena will do anything to uncover the truth. But as her twin’s final hours come into focus, Lena’s search turns into a harrowing tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival—one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself...

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

Isabella's Reading Corner: The One

 

The One

Author: John Marrs

Publication Date: February 20, 2018

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

A remarkable gene is discovered that can pair you with your soulmate and all that is needed is a simple DNA test. 

I recently watched the new Netflix series based on The One by John Marrs and it was fantastic! I was so impressed that I decided to do something I rarely do, which is read the book after watching the adaptation. 

The novel and the series are extremely different - the premise is pretty much all that is the same, but I was absolutely riveted nonetheless! I’m now on a mission to read the author’s subsequent thrillers The Passengers and The Minders! 

Do you prefer to read a book after watching an adaptation of it or before? 

From the publisher:

How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.

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

Isabella's Reading Corner: Too Good to Be True

Too Good to Be True

Author: Carola Lovering

Publication Date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Skye Starling, a wealthy young woman with debilitating OCD, is about to marry her dream man, except what she doesn’t know is he’s already married! When the truth is revealed, her world falls apart, but even more startling revelations are to come in this rollercoaster ride of suspense by author Carola Lovering.

Too Good to Be True is told from the alternating viewpoints of Skye, her fiancé Burke and his wife Heather. I’m not generally fond of the multiple narrator technique, but in this case the individual voices are distinct and contribute greatly to the effectiveness of the storytelling.

Character-driven rather than action packed, Lovering creates an in-depth study of the characters, providing an ample amount of backstory to support their motivations. The book contains lots of twists and turns. It takes a lot to surprise me but this unique thriller did just that! The story is well-written and precise and I was anxiously turning the pages until it reached its more than satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.

From the publisher:

ONE LOVE STORY. TWO MARRIAGES. THREE VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH. 

Too Good to Be True is an obsessive, addictive love story for fans of Lisa Jewell and The Wife Upstairs, from Carola Lovering, the beloved author of Tell Me Lies.

Skye Starling is overjoyed when her boyfriend, Burke Michaels, proposes after a whirlwind courtship. Though Skye seems to have the world at her fingertips―she’s smart, beautiful, and from a well-off family―she’s also battled crippling OCD ever since her mother’s death when she was eleven, and her romantic relationships have suffered as a result.

But now Burke―handsome, older, and more emotionally mature than any man she’s met before―says he wants her. Forever. Except, Burke isn’t who he claims to be. And interspersed letters to his therapist reveal the truth: he’s happily married, and using Skye for his own, deceptive ends.

In a third perspective, set thirty years earlier, a scrappy seventeen-year-old named Heather is determined to end things with Burke, a local bad boy, and make a better life for herself in New York City. But can her adolescent love stay firmly in her past―or will he find his way into her future?

On a collision course she doesn’t see coming, Skye throws herself into wedding planning, as Burke’s scheme grows ever more twisted. But of course, even the best laid plans can go astray. And just when you think you know where this story is going, you’ll discover that there’s more than one way to spin the truth.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on Too Good to Be True here.

Isabella's Reading Corner: If I Disappear

If I Disappear

Author: Eliza Jane Brazier

Publication Date: January 26,2021

Publisher: Berkley

When Sera Fleece’s favourite true crime podcaster Rachel Bard disappears, she fears her idol has been kidnapped or worse. She becomes convinced Rachel has left behind a series of clues for her to save her. Sera sets out on a road trip to Rachel’s hometown determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, but what she finds there is nothing like what she expects in this fascinating and compulsive thriller. 

If I Disappear is a novel to immerse yourself in completely. There is a constant feeling of dread and despair as Sera continues on her quest to find Rachel. None of the characters are entirely trustworthy, including the narrator, but you can’t help but give yourself up to her somewhat confusing and unsettling thoughts. Sera leads you down a path you’re not entirely sure you want to go down, but once you start there’s no way to stop! Recommended.

From the publisher:

When her favorite true crime podcast host goes missing, an adrift young woman sets out to investigate and plunges headfirst into the wild backcountry of Northern California and her own dangerous obsession. 

Sera loves true crime podcasts. They give her a sense of control in a world where women just like her disappear daily. She's sure they are preparing her for something. So when Rachel, her favorite podcast host, goes missing, Sera knows it's time to act. Rachel has always taught her to trust her instincts. 

Sera follows the clues hidden in the episodes to an isolated ranch outside Rachel's small hometown to begin her search. She's convinced her investigation will make Rachel so proud. But the more Sera digs into this unfamiliar world, the more off things start to feel. Because Rachel is not the first woman to vanish from the ranch, and she won't be the last... 

Rachel did try to warn her.

You can read my original Isabella's Reading Corner post on If I Disappear here.

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.