From Amazon:

For three women with so much to hide, there’s no such thing as a little white lie…

All three women who live at 1054 Mockingbird Lane have secrets…and with a body at the bottom of their apartment building’s staircase, those secrets need to stay buried.

Sylvia Webb has a plan. And a potential Mr. Right. He’s sweet, simple, and dependably clueless about what she’s up to. The only thing unpredictable about him is his needy ex-girlfriend, who is this close to shattering Sylvia’s dreams. But Sylvia’s not going to let that happen.

Riki McFarlan has a good career and an amazing boyfriend who wants to settle down. If only she didn’t have feelings for her neighbor—who happens to be her close friend’s husband. With everything going so right, why is Riki flirting with something so wrong, so…dangerous?

Embry Taylor is as devoted to her children as she is to her husband, who’s a bartender by night, an aspiring actor by day. She is his biggest fan. But with his career not taking off and tensions high, even sweet Embry has something she’s desperate to keep hidden.

Lies, secrets, and revenge. For three neighbors with stakes so high, someone is headed for a downfall.

My Take:

First, let me say that though this book was marketed as a thriller, it wasn’t. There was nothing about this book that said thriller. It was full of unlikeable, hokey characters and honestly,  I couldn’t wait for the book to be over. The only semi-normal woman was Embry but even that got tired, like why don’t you just tell your freaking husband you’re pregnant already?!  Sylvia was annoying and Riki was downright childish, making starry eyes at every guy that was nice to her and pining away for her friend’s husband. Each of them lamenting over men, focusing all their energies on the men in their lives whether they be good or bad guys and it definitely got a bit tiresome as there didn’t seem to be anything else of substance in the book. It was kind of reminiscent of Melrose Place but much, much worse with less appealing characters.

Ok, I admit, it’s been awhile. I kind of forget I have this blog and definitely forget to post! But I’m reading more as of late due to this whole coronavirus thing so I might as well share.

From Amazon:

And Then There Were None meets The Last Time I Lied in this dark and twisty psychological thriller.

In 1995, six university students moved into the house at 215 Caldwell Street. Months later, one of them was found dead on the sofa the morning after their end-of-year party. His death was ruled an accident by the police. The remaining five all knew it wasn’t, and though they went on with their lives, the truth of what happened to their sixth housemate couldn’t stay buried forever.

Twenty years later, all five of them arrive—lured separately under various pretenses—at Wolfheather House, a crumbling, secluded mansion on the Scottish isle of Doon. Trapped inside with no way out and no signal to the outside world, the now forty-somethings fight each other—and the unknown mastermind behind their gathering—as they confront the role they played in their housemate’s death. They are given one choice: confess to their crimes or die.

They Did Bad Things is a deviously clever psychological thriller about the banality of evil and the human capacity for committing horror.

My Take:

I’ll start by saying the premise is good, it’s been done before but that’s ok because the author put their own spin on it.  I thought the writing and character development was also good because I hated every freaking one of them, which I assume is what the author was going for.  I did find them a little hard to believe, I mean, who acts like that?! At times their characterizations were so OTT that I rolled my eyes in disgust but overall, I was enthralled and couldn’t wait to find out whodunit so when talking about a mystery, I’d say that’s a home run!

** Full disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.