THE RESTING PLACE by Camilla Sten

 

Most Anticipated by Bustle * Goodreads * Mystery Tribune * Crime Reads Best International Books of March

"Engrossing, character-rich, powerful. Sten is on a roll."—Publishers Weekly(starred review)

Crimson Peak meets The Sanatorium in The Resting Place, a heart-thumping, unforgettable novel of horror and suspense by international sensation Camilla Sten.

Deep rooted secrets.
A twisted family history.
And a house that will never let go.

Eleanor lives with prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize a familiar person's face. It causes stress. Acute anxiety.

It can make you question what you think you know.

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, the horror of having come so close to a murderer—and not knowing if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. The place her grandfather died, suddenly. A place that has housed a chilling past for over fifty years.

Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to uncovering the truth, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

MY THOUGHTS

My first book by this author. I will read more of her books in the future. 

This is a very creepy and edge of your seat thriller. I would not call it horror though by any means. It is a very good and very well written book. Set in Sweden and in two different POVs. 

Eleanor walks into her grandmother's home to find her murdered. The murderer walked right past her and she can't identify them at all. She suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness. She can't see faces. Only certain things that help her remember friends. 

Vivianne, the grandmother, was not a very nice woman most of the time. She was very cruel to Eleanor. Eleanor was seeing a therapist, Carina. Carina helped her deal with the craziness that went on with her grandmother and set boundaries with her. 

The story is told from Eleanor's POV in the present and tells about her going to Solhöga. That was a place that Vivianne had lived with her husband. It belonged to her husband but after his death went to Vivianne and then to her child and grandchild. You'll meet these people when reading this. Also a lawyer, Rickard. Also from Anushka's POV in 1966.

In the past, 1966, the story is from Anushka's experience in the house. There is a lot going on and all of it is not good. You read Anushka's story from her diary and find out what happened to her and a couple of other people. 

There are a lot of secrets in this book. A lot of actions you won't see coming. A murderer that will totally surprise you. The house appears to be possessed in a way. Like the walls have eyes or sounds. Maybe both. Or maybe none. Maybe someone is up to no good and you try to figure out what is going on. There are a couple of deaths in this story. A few not so nice people. I can't decide which era I liked best and maybe both equally. I actually did not like any of the characters though. Eleanor appears to be a very week person most of the time yet gets pretty strong when she has too. Her boyfriend, Sebastian is a total sissy in my opinion. He starts out a bit strong but then she has to do everything because he turned whiney and just stupid. At least to me he did. 

This book was a bit slow until about halfway through. Then it took off and I found it hard to put down. I wanted to know who the two eras would come together and who the killer was. I loved how the author brought the two together even though I have to wonder if it would have really worked. It was very good and I never saw that. I had a big guess but I was very wrong. I had no idea who the murderer was and was completely shocked. All I thought I had figured out was way wrong. That made the book even better for me.

Thank you #NetGalley, #CamillaSten, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

4/5 stars. Lost one because it was a bit slow for a while. I do recommend it though. It's very good. I think this author is good. I enjoyed her "Thank You' at the end.

LAST DANCE ON THE STARLIGHT PIER by Sarah Bird

 

Set during the Great Depression, Sarah Bird's Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a novel about one woman—and a nation—struggling to be reborn from the ashes.

July 3. 1932. Shivering and in shock, Evie Grace Devlin watches the Starlite Palace burn into the sea and wonders how she became a person who would cause a man to kill himself. She’d come to Galveston to escape a dark past in vaudeville and become a good person, a nurse. When that dream is cruelly thwarted, Evie is swept into the alien world of dance marathons. All that she has been denied—a family, a purpose, even love—waits for her there in the place she dreads most: the spotlight.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweeping novel that brings to spectacular life the enthralling worlds of both dance marathons and the family-run empire of vice that was Galveston in the Thirties. Unforgettable characters tell a story that is still deeply resonant today as America learns what Evie learns, that there truly isn’t anything this country can’t do when we do it together. That indomitable spirit powers a story that is a testament to the deep well of resilience in us all that allows us to not only survive the hardest of hard times, but to find joy, friends, and even family, in them.

MY THOUGHTS

Sarah Bird is a new to me author. I will look for more of her work. This book was very good and very well written. I throughly enjoyed it through all the ups and downs and many tears.

This is a story about a young lady, Evie Grace Devlin, who has only known heartache since her dad died. She was very young but knew a very strong love from him. Her mother on the other hand was awful. A full fledged tramp in my opinion. I honestly detested her so much I literally wanted to slap her in the face over and over. She was that horrible. I believe she was very jealous of her daughter. Possibly of her deceased husband also. 

Evie worked hard to support her and her mother until the day she got into nursing school. She left that day with no intention of ever returning. She was going to go forward and make a life. Try to find a happiness. Her life did change. In some ways it got worse and in others it was better. I'll always wonder why some nuns are so mean and unhappy. Why they are so cruel and uncaring. I also wonder why pictures and statues of the Virgin Mary show her as a very sad person. I mean really. She was the mother of the Christ child. How can she be depicted as sad all the time. It must be a Catholic thing. Possibly.

Evie goes through some of the worse things you can imagine and still doesn't get her pin to be a full RN. She leaves and gets into dance marathons. There her life is a bit happy for a while. She helps the hurt dancers and even dances herself. She sees her grandmother during this time and makes so many new friends. She falls head over heels in love also. But her live takes another drastic change. It's a constant for Evie. 

This book teaches us a lot about what the dance marathoners go through and why. What is expected of them. Of the many hours they spend on the dance floor. It also talks about a person's sexual preference and what a person goes through who is considered different. About a so called "cure" for that abnormality. For being a deviant. A bad person. What one man went through in his life because he was "different." Not a lot has changed by the way. As far as people being cruel that is.

This book brought me to tears in so many places. It almost broke me when I read a letter from one person to the other. It was so sad and so honest. So raw and emotional. What was to become of these two? Will they ever know happiness? 

Then there was the fire.... Who survived? Who didn't?

Thank you #NetGalley #SarahBird #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book. 

5/5 stars. It's a long one but so worth reading. I learned a lot reading this one. 

Mailbox Monday

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists!!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at Mailbox Monday.

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Here’s a shout out to the administrators:
Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree 
Serena @ Savvy Verse And Wit
Martha @ Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf 

Velvet @ vvb32reads

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                THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive. 

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Received this week

1: THE GUEST HOUSE by Robin Morgan-Bentley

courtesy of  Poison Pen Press

2: A FAMILIAR STRANGER by A. R. Torre

courtesy of  Thomas & Mercer

THE YOUNGER WIFE by Sally Hepworth

 

New from the author of The Good Sister, the breakout New York Times bestseller and “stunningly clever thriller” (People), comes Sally Hepworth’s latest novel of domestic suspense about the tangled vines of family secrets.

"Smart, suspenseful, brimming with secrets. This is Sally Hepworth at her unputdownable best." -- Kate Morton, New York Times Bestselling Author

THE HUSBAND
A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS
Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE
With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the
truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses
in all of them?

MY THOUGHTS

First I'll say that this book was good. It kept me wondering what was really going on all the way. I read two endings and am still confused a bit. Did he or didn't he? Or she? I will except that and move on now. 

This is the story of a family with many secrets and a lot of mess going on. A lot of did he or didn't he. A lot of what the heck is happening or did it really even happen. I have my opinions as I'm sure each person who read it does. I liked the book but dislike abuse. I think maybe it should have a trigger warning for abuse and rape. Though the rape was honestly barely written about so not as bad as it could be. 

The sisters, Rachel and Tully, meet their soon to be stepmother, Heather, and from there it is all questions amongst them. Their dad is planning to divorce their mother who is suffering from dementia and living in an assisted living facility. What kind of man does that? That is my first question. This woman gave him her life. Gave him two children. Gave him a home. Supported him in many ways. Was he abusive or was it all accidents. What made these girls have the problems they had. Who is Fiona Authur? What is each character possibly hiding? 

Heather and Stephen are getting married. What can possibly go wrong? Your guess is as good as mine in this instance. I'm still a bit baffled but I also really liked this book. The messed up of each character. Though in reality I didn't really like any of them except Pam. Pam was just a run of the mill housewife who is losing her memory and dealing with life in a home. Her daughters come to see her all the time and so does her husband quite a bit. Him bringing his fiancé to visit her is a bit cruel in my mind. Even if she doesn't know who they are I feel like what if she has a very lucid day and they did that. How cruel can you get.

Sally Hepworth is an excellent author and her books are well loved. This one it seems is getting mixed reviews. While I liked it, I am still scratching my head a bit. I have my opinions about it and I'll just leave it right there. It's good. It's well written. It's about a mixed up dysfunctional family. What made them so dysfunctional? That is the question.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SallyHepworth, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

4/5 stars and I recommend you read it and decide what you think caused the problem at the wedding. 

THE OTHER FAMILY by Wendy Corsi Staub

 

One of PopSugar's Most Anticipated Books!

One of Bibliofile's Most Anticipated Mystery/Thriller Books!

“Great psychological suspense with a wallop of a twist.” —Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub makes her trade paperback debut with a fast-paced thriller in the vein of Lisa Jewell’s The Family Upstairs and Megan Collins’ The Winter Sister. Here, a family making a fresh start moves into a house which was the site of an unsolved triple homicide—and are watched by an unknown person...

The watcher sees who you are...and knows what you did. 

It’s the perfect home for the perfect family: pretty Nora Howell, her handsome husband, their two teenage daughters, and lovable dog. As California transplants making a fresh start in Brooklyn, they expected to live in a shoebox, but the brownstone has a huge kitchen, lots of light, and a backyard. The catch: its previous residents were victims of a grisly triple homicide that remains unsolved.  

Soon, peculiar things begin happening. The pug is nosing around like a bloodhound. Nora unearths a long-hidden rusty box in the flowerbed. Oldest daughter Stacey, obsessed with the family murdered in their house, pokes into the bloody past and becomes convinced that a stranger is watching the house. Watching them.

She’s right. But one of the Howells will recognize his face. Because one of them has a secret that will blindside the others with a truth that lies shockingly close to home—and to this one’s terrifying history.

MY THOUGHTS

I was very much disappointed in this book. It starts out strong and tends to pull you right in. Then it gets into things that are just not necessary. A lot of pages that to me are just boring. 

A family move from California to New York into a house where twenty five years earlier an entire family had been murdered. A local man sneaking around spying on them. He sounds very creepy... The mother has secrets. This family seems fairly typical. Mom, dad and two daughters. The younger daughter of course is beautiful just like her parents and the older looks nothing like them. They meet new friends and the secrets of the house come out. Someone in the family knows something but says nothing. Things are found. 

This one just didn't do it for me. I sure was hoping it would. Nowhere near enough surprises or twists. It just didn't do it for me. I did finish it and it was ok. A few things held my interest or I would not have finished it. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #WilliamMorrowandCustomHousepublishing for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

3/5 stars. Read it for yourself and decide what you think. You may love it. It just wasn't that great for me.

Mailbox Monday!

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists!!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at Mailbox Monday.

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Here’s a shout out to the administrators:
Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree 
Serena @ Savvy Verse And Wit
Martha @ Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf 

Velvet @ vvb32reads

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                THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive. 

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Received this week

1: THE VANISHING TRIANGLE by Caire McGowan

courtesy of Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley

2: HESTER by Laurie Lico Albanese

courtesy of  St Martin's Press via NetGalley

214 PALMER STREET by Karen McQuestion

 

214 Palmer Street: A completely gripping psychological thriller packed with suspense by Karen McQuestion

 

A house with a secret. A woman with nothing to lose.

When Maggie sees the beautiful Venetian blinds moving in the Caldwells’ front window, she freezes. Her favorite neighbours Cady and Josh are away, so who is in their house?

The pretty young woman who answers the door tells a convincing story. She’s Sarah. The house-sitter. Just here for a month. An old friend of Cady’s who needed a place to stay. She’s pleasant and warm, and Maggie wanders back to her house thinking she might have made a new friend. Yet she can’t help but wonder why Cady never mentioned Sarah.

What Maggie doesn’t know is that on the other side of the door, Sarah is starting to panic. No one was meant to see her at 214 Palmer Street…

An unputdownable psychological thriller from number one bestseller Karen McQuestion, which will make you question what secrets your own neighbors are hiding… For fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl.

 

Buy link

 

https://geni.us/B09MFNDMT2social

About the author

 

Karen McQuestion is an Amazon Charts bestselling author who's written more than twenty novels and has sold over two million books worldwide. She's also the co-host, (along with USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson), of the popular podcast, BEHIND THE BOOK.

Her publishing story has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR and she has appeared on ABC's World News Now and America This Morning. McQuestion’s books share common themes of connection and kindness. She lives in Hartland, Wisconsin.

From Karen: To be notified of giveaways and book news, please sign up for my email newsletter at www.karenmcquestion.com

MY THOUGHTS 

Karen McQuestion never disappoints me. I've read and enjoyed quite a few of her books. This is the best one yet. So edge of your seat and guessing who was going to be left standing.

This book takes you on a trip that you won't see coming. Not completely anyway. Friends since childhood with huge secrets. Each trying to live a good life but always seeming to intersect with each other. Two men and a woman. Friends or enemies. Both men are married yet they can't seem to stay away from this female. What kind of power does she have over them. Or is it just they are weak men. 

Sarah and Kirk are happily married. She's been attacked and Kirk is right there to help. He does everything for her. But when she has questions about his past he just blows them off and doesn't want to talk about it. What can he be hiding. How will it affect them moving forward. Or will it. 

The sheriff, Gavin, has a lot to lose if he gets caught having an affair. Not only his wife but possibly his whole career. He's good at his job and he loves his wife. But he too has many secrets. Gavin, Kirk and Clarice. Childhood friends. Adult... What?? Are they friends, enemies, casual partners. Just what are they up too. Sarah is bound to find out after learning a few things from her mother in law. 

When Sarah goes missing Kirk is beside himself with worry. He calls his friend, the sheriff, and insists he put out a missing person report. What happens to these people is a breath stopping scene. One you can picture happening as it plays out. It's both sad and closure. It will bring tears to your eyes and have you holding your breathe. It made me cringe several times. I wanted to know what happened all those years ago and certainly found out. 

This book leaves not loose ends. Everything is answered. All your questions. Most of the characters are so likable but of course there are a few that just grate on your nerves. Makes you want to slap them. As much as I loved Kirk he really got on my nerves many times. Sarah I loved though found her to be a bit nosy. Good thing maybe. Clarice I despised and I straight up hated Sheriff Gavin. The secondary characters, some I liked and one I was on the fence about. 

This was a fun one. One I didn't figure out. It had quite a few twists going one and a lot of action. Flowed smoothly and kept you guessing. This book was great. I enjoyed it so much. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #KarenMcQuestion, #Bookouture for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5/5 stars and it was fantastic. A must read for McQuestion fans.

Mailbox Monday

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists!!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at Mailbox Monday.

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Here’s a shout out to the administrators:
Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree 
Serena @ Savvy Verse And Wit
Martha @ Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf 

Velvet @ vvb32reads

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                THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive. 

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THIS WEEK

1: THE MURDER RULE by Dervla McTiernan

courtesy of William Morrow via NetGalley

2: THE TRAPPED ONES(Nikki Hunt book 5) by Stacy Green

courtesy of Bookouture via NetGalley

THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW by Jessica Strawser

 

A musician facing the untimely end of his career. An end-of-life doula with everything, and nothing, to lose. A Star Is Born meets Me Before You in this powerful novel by the author of A Million Reasons Why.

"Unflinching and unforgettable, this one will crack your heart open and slowly stitch it back together.” —Christina McDonald, bestselling author of The Night Olivia Fell


As an end-of-life doula, Nova Huston’s job—her calling, her purpose, her life—is to help terminally ill people make peace with their impending death. Unlike her business partner, who swears by her system of checklists, free-spirited Nova doesn’t shy away from difficult clients: the ones who are heartbreakingly young, or prickly, or desperate for a caregiver or companion.

When Mason Shaylor shows up at her door, Nova doesn’t recognize him as the indie-favorite singer-songwriter who recently vanished from the public eye. She knows only what he’s told her: That life as he knows it is over. His deteriorating condition makes playing his guitar physically impossible—as far as Mason is concerned, he might as well be dead already.

Except he doesn’t know how to say goodbye.

Helping him is Nova’s biggest challenge yet. She knows she should keep clients at arm’s length. But she and Mason have more in common than anyone could guess… and meeting him might turn out to be the hardest, best thing that’s ever happened to them both.

Jessica Strawser's The Next Thing You Know is an emotional, resonant story about the power of human connection, love when you least expect it, hope against the odds, and what it really takes to live life with no regrets.

MY THOUGHTS

This book left me in great gulping sobs. Actually it pretty much had me weeping all the way through. About end of life wishes and two women who help. They don't help you die but help you prepare for death. Help you and the ones you love. End of life doulas is what they are called. I had never heard this term before. What they do is really wonderful for the most part. I personally could not do it but that is because I would get way too attached. Way too involved. I'd be way to emotional and totally useless to the clients.

Nova Huston takes on Mason Shaylor as a client. Mason is a thirty six year old guitar player who comes to these women for information. From there the story takes off and you follow each through a journey that is so emotional. So realistic. Just so beautifully sad that you will not soon forget it. The chemistry between Nova and Mason is terrific. Very endearing. 

This is truly a very emotional story so be warned that you will shed lots of tears. It alternates between several of the characters but mainly between Nova and Kelly. The two women who won the company. Also from Mason, Kelly's daughter Willow and a few others. The main two are my favorites though; Nova and Mason. What happens. Where the story takes you. The feelings that are so real and so deep. You feel it all right along with them. 

Jessica Strawser did such a great job with this story. Made it so realistic. So emotional. The research she did was fantastic. I'm so glad I read this even if it did tear my heart out. It's so good. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #JessicaStrawser, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5/5 huge stars and a very high recommendation. A big tissue worthy, tearjerker story.