Gone Girl. The God of All Thrillers. If you’re one of the ten or so people on the planet who haven’t read it yet, or seen the excellent movie, you are in for a treat. Why do we love it so much? It’s intelligent, it’s riveting but the true genius of it lies in the strong […]
Thriller
Glass Houses by Louise Penny
Glass Houses was my first taste of the Chief Inspector Gamache, and Louise Penny. I am mildly impressed. Apparently this is Penny’s 13th in the Chief Inspector Gamache series and it’s easy to imagine the rest are much the same – a comforting, kindly inspector in a dirty, challenging and sometimes corrupt world, supported by his amiable […]
The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens
What a ripper. A kid goes up moutain on his eighteenth birthday. He decides not to take his backpack as he’s planning to jump off the mountain and doesn’t want it to go to waste. He lives to regret that decision when, instead of jumping, he reluctantly guides a family of three women into the […]
Defending Jacob by William Landay
This one is soooooo good. Part courtroom drama, part thriller, part classic Classic Moral Dilemma. It brings to mind a vision of book clubs everywhere, sitting around half empty wine glasses asking ‘But what would you do if it were your son?’ And indeed, what would you do if it were your son was suspected […]
The Confession by Jo Spain
A man walks into a banker’s mansion and beats him to death with a golf club in front of his wife. He then confesses, and the only question is why. He claims it was a random attack but the wife, Julie, and Detective Sergeant Alice Moody both believe otherwise, and start digging. Julie comes from a solidly loving family, all […]
The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn
This one is not all it’s cracked up to be, but still readable. Alcoholic agrophobic psychologist Anna Fox hasn’t been outside in many months and spends a unhealthy amount of time spying on her various neighbours, who seem to share an inexplicable disdain for curtains. When she thinks she sees a woman being murdered across the […]
The Wife by Alafair Burke
Love a good page turner that conceals multiple secrets in its bosom. This one is better than Burke’s previous thriller, The Ex. When Angela Powell’s husband is accused of inappropriate contact with an intern, and then rape by another woman, defence attorney Olivia Randall makes another appearance as a ballsy, willing-to-cast-aside-professional-ethics-entirely-for-the-sake-of-my-client defence attorney. Angela stands […]
The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana
Any book with a glowing review from Erin Kelly on the cover is going to compel me to buy it, and fast. Kelly wrote He Said/She Said (one of my Top Five Thrillers) and the glowing review is justified. Hard to believe this is Jenny Quintana’s first novel – the writing is so assured. Not […]