Someone Is Watching

Someone Is Watching by Joy Fielding

"I hear the sound of twigs snapping behind me......I taste the gloved hand that covers my mouth....and feel the flurry of fists at my stomach and face, overpowering my resistance and bringing me to the brink of unconsciousness."

Private eye Bailey Carpenter knows the meaning of fear. Ever since her brutal attack, she finds herself unable to function. Instead, she hides behind closed doors knowing that the ghoulish nightmares will awaken her again just like they do every night. Still reeling from her parents' deaths, Bailey is a woman living on the edge. And she can't shake the feeling that someone is watching her every move.

Before her attack, Bailey's life was complicated but manageable. Now it's become overwhelming. Along with her playboy brother, Bailey is independently wealthy, the heirs to their father's fortune. But five half-brothers and sisters are not rich and they've vowed to get what rightfully belongs to them. Her sordid affair with a married man has lost its appeal. The one thing that takes her mind off of everything is the pair of binoculars her mother left to her. It's become a tawdry addiction to spy on the gentleman living in a high rise across the street. That is, until she gets the uneasy feeling he is watching her, too. Could he possibly be her attacker?

The story is now set in motion as Bailey must overcome her fragile state of mind to uncover the truth behind the jumbled pieces of her vicious assault before he strikes again. There are so many suspects. Is there anyone she can trust? Before she loses her sanity, she must find the answers.

Joy Fielding writes a raw heart-pounding thriller. It's a constant guessing game with red herrings galore that will keep the reader thoroughly glued to each and every page. Bailey Carpenter will return in another Fielding novel, and she's a character I look forward to meeting again.

The Life I Left Behind

The Life I Left Behind by Colette McBeth

On the heels of her first successful novel,  Precious Thing, author Colette McBeth, writes another thriller guaranteed to keep you on the edge.

Follow along.......

Melody Pieterson came so close to death six years ago. Her limp, discolored body was found discarded in a local park. In her hand, she was clutching a delicate caged bird on a gold chain. She has no recollection of the attack. Melody survived, but now lives a secluded life removed from society with her overly attentive fiance. Even though her neighbor, David Alden, was arrested for her attempted murder, she lives in fear, now that he has been released from prison. And she is beginning to have nagging doubts about that day as her memory returns in bits and pieces.

Eve Elliott  is a reporter from a cancelled investigative crime show. Her friend, Annie, is David's sister. Reluctantly, at Annie's request, Eve begins to look into David's story that he is innocent of  Melody's attack. Slowly, Eve begins to believe that he's telling the truth. Maybe he didn't have enough time to commit the crime, maybe he wasn't the jealous jilted neighbor like the police portrayed. Maybe someone else with a secret motive to kill Melody is still out there. Maybe David Alden is innocent.

Then Eve is murdered before she can present her suspicions to the police. The crime scene looks all too familiar. She is found clutching a delicate caged bird on a gold chain.

David Alden is arrested again, this time for Eve's murder. The news of Eve's death triggers apprehension in Melody. She comes precariously close to slipping over the edge. If David is not the predator, then who in her immediate circle is? Was Eve too close to uncovering the truth about someone who is purposefully misleading the police?

This novel is cleverly written, full of surprises and twists and turns. The chapters alternate between Melody's voice and the voice of the deceased Eve who has all the answers. She'll give you many clues from her grave but you, the reader, will have to figure it out all by yourself.

Crazy Love You

Crazy Love You by Lisa Unger

Haunting, spooky, addictive. Fans of author Lisa Unger unite for another bone-chilling macabre story written in her inimitable style. Much like In the Blood, (which I reviewed in January of 2014), this gripping novel is unpredictable and mesmerizing with different interpretations.

Ian Paine is a successful writer and illustrator of a graphic series of novels called Fatboy and Priss, based on his own pathetic life. It's been a long, grueling journey to reach this level of notoriety. Unfortunately for him, it's impossible to escape the past.....

Ian's life begins in The Hollows about 100 miles outside of New York City, a burg where everyone knows everybody else's business.....and more. He is a miserable child, overweight, acne-scarred, and longing for friendship in a town that shuns him. One night when his mentally ill mother "accidentally" smothers his baby sister, he flees into the woods behind his home, fearing he will be her next victim. There he meets Priss, a wild, untamed red-haired girl who soon becomes his closet friend. Her friendship, however is all-consuming, and soon turns ugly. Ian finds himself unable or unwilling to escape from the spell she casts upon him. And it's only just beginning....

Ian is now in Manhattan writing what he knows about best and joyfully in love with Megan. Priss, however, is always there, too, hiding in the shadows. Ian is never quite sure where she will appear. When his editor announces that it is time to bring the series to an end, Priss refuses to exit gracefully. What follows is a bizarre chain of events that will push Ian over the edge, making him question his own sanity.

Not everyone will like this book. It is a dark, brooding story that defies description. Yet it's a book you'll want to finish. Ask yourself this question at the end. Is Priss real or just the figment of a mentally disturbed young man? Does Ian possess surreal unearthly powers or is he simply crazy?

I'll let you decide.

A Circle of Wives

A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante

Let's dip into the archives for this suspenseful thriller published in March of 2014.....Written by the same author of  Turn of Mind, this twisted tale of murder and deceit is a good choice for a cold winter night by the fire.

Dr. John Taylor is dead, a victim of a lethal dose of potassium injected by an unknown killer. The list of suspects is long and complicated, considering the fact that John was a bigamist married to three women at the same time. Quite a juggling act for the renowned plastic surgeon who devoted his life to transforming the lives of hideously scarred children. He had the power to heal.

Before his untimely death, Dr. Taylor also has the power to manipulate the women he loves. There's Deborah, his first wife of twenty-five years and mother of his three children. Poised and elegant, she loves her sprawling home and high society friends....and she's well aware of  the other "wives". MJ is the exact opposite of Deborah; an earthy free-spirit who craves the exhilarating passion that John instills in her. Helen is a driven, ambitious oncologist, perhaps the one who has the most in common with her discreet lover. Unbeknownst to him, Helen is carrying John's child, and she knows what his reaction would have been; children are not part of the equation.

It's up to Detective Samantha Adams to sift through the facts and alibis to expose the killer. To complicate matters, there's a hauntingly beautiful colleague of Dr. Taylor's who claims she was in line to become wife number four while he secretly planned to discard the other three. And what about the prominent physicians who shared his practice? They vehemently disliked John's all-consuming humanitarian efforts in a clinic where they could make vast amounts of money on vain patients' cosmetic procedures.

Author Alice LaPlante does a superb job with detail. She chronicles the lives of each suspect so the reader begins to understand the web of lies-but not until the final chapter are the startling answers revealed.

A Spool of Blue Thread

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

The passage of time. "How slow it is when you're little  and how it speeds up faster once you're grown."

Once again, distinguished author Anne Tyler spins a tale of family conflict and endearing love. The book opens in 1994 with Red and Abby Whitshank lamenting a phone call from 19-year-old son Denny, the child who continues to mystify them with his wanderlust ways. Flitting from city to city, job to job, Abby agonizes over her misfit son. He's so different from their other children; domineering Amanda, Jeannie with her low self-esteem, and steady Stem, the secret pride of his father, much to Denny's chagrin.

Set in Baltimore, the story of the Whitshank family enfolds. Red is the patriarch of a successful construction company, painstakingly and lovingly built by his father, Junior. When Red suffers a heart attack and Abby has increasing episodes of "mind slips", the family must rally to the rescue of their aging parents.

A sudden death now allows the author to go back in time, tracing the origins of the Whitshank family. The story of  Red's parents, Junior and Linnie, is particularly engaging, as is the warm love affair that started as friendship between Red and Abby.

As Abby says, "We're young for such a small fraction of our lives, and yet our youth seems to stretch on forever. Then we're old for years and years, but time flies by fastest then. So it all comes out equal in the end...."  

How true. Anne Tyler writes a story of an ordinary family with extraordinary strength. Although the chapters are disjointed at times, I encourage you to continue reading if you are looking for a tender tale of four generations, written with style.

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train  by Paula Hawkins

Rachel Watson likes to pretend; pretend that she's not a raging alcoholic, that she wasn't fired from a dead-end job, that her husband still loves her when in reality he's now blissfully married and content with someone new. It's easy to pretend, especially when alcohol obliterates the pain.

Rachel continues her daily commute to a non-existent job, determined to hide the truth of her circumstances from her roommate. As the train rumbles towards London each day, she is observant of her mundane surroundings, basking in the simple pleasure of imagining what goes on behind closed doors. There's one couple in particular that catches her eye every day in the neighborhood where she used to live. She calls them "Jess and Jason". They seem to be so blatantly happy, living the life that once was hers. They must be ideal, perfect partners.

Then Rachel witnesses what she believes is an act of infidelity on the part of one of the two strangers she's been watching religiously. The news that follows this incident is troubling. "Jess" (who is actually Megan Hipwell) is missing. Rachel thinks she has valuable information for the authorities about her disappearance, which is now casting suspicion on Megan's husband, Scott. If only she could be sure of what she saw. Her memory is clouded from another drunken stupor.  Reality and fantasy collide, resulting in a series of twisted and complex events that are no longer pretend. Rachel is living a lie, so who will believe her?

Hawkins artfully meshes the past and present lives of truly distinctive characters.  You'll hear from three narrators who tell a shocking, compelling story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The references to Alfred Hitchcock's suspenseful  movie  Rear Window and Gillian Flynn's disturbing Gone Girl certainly are with merit. It's no surprise that this novel has already been optioned to become a film. Books clubs may want to add this one to their growing list for 2015.

This is an outstanding psychological thriller with a dramatic conclusion.

The Dress Shop of Dreams

The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna van Praag



It's Cora Carraway's birthday. Just an ordinary day in her regimented, unexciting life.She likes it that way. Ever since her parents died in a mysterious fire over twenty years ago, Cora chooses to live simply and uncluttered, following the same pattern day in and day out. She has followed in her illustrious parents' footsteps, working as a scientist in a sterile university lab with Dr. Baxter, a mentor she has admired for years. Today she will visit her beloved grandmother, Etta, at her tiny dress shop, a somewhat magical store filled with alluring clothes made of luxurious fabrics adorned with lace and sparkling sequins. There's something special about this place; every customer who walks through the little blue door feels empowered when they leave. It's as if they suddenly feel beautiful and self-assured. And there's something special about Etta, too......

Etta is determined that Cora finds contentment and happiness with childhood friend, Walt. She knows all too well the heartache of losing that one, true, irreplaceable love. Cora can't go down that same path. "Some people don't see the things under their noses. They mistake the everyday for what's ordinary and unimportant. They need shaking up". These are the words that Etta lives by. So with her trusty needle and thread, Etta slowly puts in motion a plan to bring these two lost souls together. However, along the way, she encounters unexpected obstacles that threaten to shatter the dream she carries in her heart for her only granddaughter.

Many memorable supporting characters intertwine with the main plot with stories of their own to add a touch of mystery and intrigue to this novel. It is a lovely, enchanting story of hope and second chances. Falling into the genre of magical realism,  this book explores the beauty in all of us. We just must open our hearts to attaining what might seem like the impossible.

Even without Etta's magic........