A Sliver Of Darkness by C.J.Tudor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of short stories that have a horror/mystery/dystopian themes. Each story is very different and C.J.Tudor does an introduction to each story and tells us what her inspiration was. I found it really interesting to learn what sparked the ideas for each story. I enjoyed some stories more than others. A few of my favourites were

End Of The Liner
The Block
The Completion
I’m Not Ted
The Copy Shop.

If you like previous books by this author then you will enjoy these stories. I also think that it is a good introduction to this author if you have never read any of her books before.

Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Adele is a former actress who left her last job under a cloud after having a breakdown. Out of the blue she is offered an acting job on a low budget movie called Final Draft. Adele sees this as a chance to redeem herself. When she gets to the remote location in Ireland she finds that things aren’t quite right. Reality soon starts to echo the script.

I really enjoyed this book. The story pulled me in immediately. I liked the two mysteries of what was happening to Adele on the set of Final Draft and what had happened in order for her to lose her previous job. The story kept my attention although I did sometimes question Adele’s actions. I guessed the ending before the reveal.

Time After Time by Louise Pentland ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Tabitha. She lives with her boyfriend David, visits her parents at the weekend and stays for the traditional roast. She works at a shops that sells vintage items. She refurbishes pre loved items and sells them on. Tabitha thinks that she is quite happy with her lot although has always longed for more. Then one day Tabitha goes for lunch at her parents house as normal but at that meal her dad reveals something nobody expected and throw in a magical ring that takes her back to the 1980’s things for Tabitha will never be the same again.

On the face of it this should have been a 5 star read for me. My favourite thing to read about is time travel, especially when it involves the 1980’s. The story really didn’t draw me in straight away. I also felt that there wasn’t quite as much time travel as I was expecting. The focus of this book was Tabitha’s relationships. The story could have been told without the time travel element. If you are a fan of Louise Pentland you will find that there are a lot of references to her life. They did start to irritate me after a while. This was an okay read but to be perfectly honest I just found it too sickly sweet. I really don’t think I could recover as quickly as Tabitha did with all the revelations she uncovered in such a short period of time.

The Last Party by Clare McKintosh. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

On New Years Day Rhys local man turned famous singer was found dead Rhys was not very well liked in the village and there are plenty of suspects for his murder. DC Ffion Morgan is tasked with investigating alongside D C Leo Brady.

This is a slow paced mystery. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and i sometimes got the characters mixed up. Being set in Wales there is a lot of description of scenery which I felt we didn’t need so much of. If you like a good old fashioned murder mystery with a few twists and plenty of suspects then this is the book for you.

The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.My true rating for this book would be 3.5 stars.

This book is about Casey who is a widowed actress who now has a problem with alcohol. Her mum who is also a famous actress gives Casey the choice of rehab or staying in the family’s lake house which is quite isolated. Casey finds her late husband’s binoculars and starts watching. What she sees is a body floating on the lake. When she goes to investigate she finds that she is able to save Katherine who is a former model. The two become friends. Because Casey has been watching Katherine’s house, when Katherine goes missing Casey is convinced that Tom Katherine’s husband is behind it. She decides to investigate.

This book felt like a combination of Rear Window, The Woman In The Window and Behind Her Eyes. I was really enjoying the story until one particular twist. I could then not take the story seriously and lost interest.

The Ex Husband by Samantha Hayes ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Leah. She has finally rid herself of her abusive husband Craig and is starting her new life with their two children. A new couple move in next door. She meets Gillian who speaks of her partner Rex. Gillian hosts a barbecue and Leah is interested to finally meeting Rex after everything Gillian has said about him. Leah is shocked to find that Rex is actually Leah’s ex husband Craig. He immediately starts playing mind games with her. Leah really doesn’t know what she is going to do. It seems that she cannot escape her ex husband.

I really wanted to love this book but although it was entertaining I don’t think that it is a book that I will even remember in a few months time. I really wanted to like Leah’s character but she really frustrated me a lot of the time. The story was a bit slow at first but once it got going I started to enjoy it a little bit more. There were a few twists, a few that weren’t believable but sometimes you just have to go with it.

The IT Girl by Ruth Ware. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Hannah. Hannah Jones who moves to Oxford University and find herself sharing her room with April who is rich, bright and popular. They become unlikely friends and quickly have a circle of friends. One day Hannah goes in search of April as she hadn’t come back from quickly getting changed. Hannah finds that her roommate has been murdered and eventually a creepy porter at the University was convicted of her murder. Years later April, now pregnant gets approached by a young journalist who believes that the porter who recently died in prison was innocent. The reporter plants seeds of doubt in her mind and Hannah decides to dig further into it.

This story is told in two timelines, present day and back when the murder happened. I really liked Hannah as a character but quite disliked April. April came across as spoilt and selfish which was probably how the author intended her to come across. I found it quite hard given her character to care that April was murdered and needed justice. Although the story did keep me interested not too much happens until the last quarter of the book. I had a fixed idea very early on about what had happened but I was incorrect The explanation of why April was murdered was not the most exciting explanation but I thought it was quite a good one which I haven’t read in a thriller that I can think of.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about Meg who goes by many aliases. She is a con artist who is out for revenge/justice depending on how you look at it. The problem is she doesn’t mind who gets hurt. Kat was someone who was used to get what Meg needed and now 10 years later she is ready to expose Meg.

This was well written but I am not sure I would even class it as a thriller. It is more a revenge & justice story. It moves along at quite a slow pace with not too much happening along the way. I found myself more interested in the subplot of Kat’s boyfriend who is a former gambling addict. I will look forward to this authors next book.

The Resort by Sue Watson. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story is about three different couples on holiday. All three couples are going through different marriage difficulties. When a member of staff is murdered nobody is allowed to leave and nobody knows who they can trust.

This story is told from three different points of view. The main problem I had is that the voices of these characters were not noticeably different and I was constantly confused as to who was who. This might be a good read for someone who is new to thrillers. This was an okay story but didn’t do anything new or different to stand out.

Make Me Disappear by Jessica Payne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Noelle is a nurse in a relationship with Daniel the handsome, charismatic man who has money. He knows the effect that he has on those around him, Noelle has Found that Daniel is not the kind charismatic man everyone thinks he is. He is a controlling man who installs cameras in her home and tracking devices on her phone. He threatens to harm her only relative, Karli who is pregnant if Noelle threatens to do anything he doesn’t approve of. When Noelle finds that one of Daniel’s previous girlfriends went missing Noelle takes drastic action by arranging to have herself kidnapped.

I enjoyed this story although it took a little while to get going. The story is told from both Noelle’s and Daniel’s point of view. I thought that some parts were totally unrealistic but I really didn’t mind that as I could see that some things were there to move the plot forward. It shows really well how highly intelligent women can get themselves in these controlling relationships. The ending for me was quite unexpected although I really should have been able to guess.