Providence - Caroline Kepnes

Title: Providence
Author: Caroline Kepnes
Pages: 384
Published: 2018
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description:
Growing up as best friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who truly understand each other, though they can never find the words to tell one another the depth of their feelings. When Jon is finally ready to confess his feelings, he's suddenly kidnapped by his substitute teacher who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save humanity.

Mourning the disappearance of Jon and facing the reality he may never return, Chloe tries to navigate the rites of entering young adulthood and "fit in" with the popular crowd, but thoughts of Jon are never far away.

When Jon finally escapes, he discovers he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he has intense feelings for. He runs away to protect Chloe and find the answers to his new identity--but he's soon being tracked by a detective who is fascinated by a series of vigilante killings that appear connected.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I had high hopes for this book.  Had heard from a podcast that this was one to read this summer and I honestly I wasn't really impressed.  Honestly I felt very confused with the plot of the book and even by the end of the book, I couldn't really figure out what the big mystery was or even what the book was about.  It could have been that I left the book for a couple of weeks before I finished it, but still I could never seem to figure it out what Jon's power was.

Bottom Line: Didn't really understand the plot of the book.  Maybe it was that the main characters were at least 15 years younger than me or maybe it was the genre.  I really don't know.  If you like urban fantasy/thrillers, you might enjoy it.

Rating: 2.75/5

The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware

Title: The Woman in Cabin 10
Author: Ruth Ware
Pages: 352
Published: 2017
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong… (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I thought it was a good read.  It wasn't Girl on the Train or Gone Girl by any means, but it was still tense enough to keep me reading at a fairly fast pace.  There wasn't exactly anything literary about the book, but it had a good pace to the book and things seemed to move nicely along.

Bottom line: A decent book and something that could be read quickly for most readers.  Recommended.

Rating: 3/5

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train
Author: Paula Hawkins
Pages: 316
Published: 2015
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description:   Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and evening, rattling over the same junctions, flashing past the same townhouses.The train stops at the same signal every day, and she sees the same couple, breakfasting on their roof terrace. Jason and Jess, as she calls them, seem so happy. Then one day Rachel sees someone new in their garden. Soon after, Rachel sees the woman she calls Jess on the news. Jess has disappeared. 

Through the ensuing police investigation, Rachel is drawn deeper into the lives of the couple she learns are really Megan and Scott Hipwell. As she befriends Scott, Rachel pieces together what really happened the day Megan disappeared. But when Megan's body is found, Rachel finds herself the chief suspect in the case. Plunged into a world of betrayals, secrets and deceptions, Rachel must confront the facts about her own past and her own failed marriage.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: Like the previous book, I read this book due to the hype.  And for the most part I enjoyed the book.  While there were things that I liked about this book, like the twists and turns that the book to its final conclusion, there were things that were disturbing.  The main one being the behaviour of Rachel.  Thinking back on it, her behaviour was too creepy and don't know if I would want a person like that lurking around my neighbourhood.  I also felt that her overall behaviour was woe-is-me and she didn't really do anything to change that sort of behaviour over the course of the book, even though that maybe she did slightly change towards the end of the book.

Bottom line: The book was kinda meh.  While I don't know what I would have done differently about how the book ended, I felt that the ending was sort of anti-climax, even though the bulk of the book really kept me on the edge of the seat.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5

Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix; Michael Rogalski

Title: Horrorstör
Author: Grady Hendrix; illustrated by Michael Rogalski
Pages: 248
Published: 2014
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör comes packaged in the form of a glossy mail order catalog, complete with product illustrations, a home delivery order form, and a map of Orsk’s labyrinthine showroom. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I had heard quite a bit about this book during the final months of 2014 and really wanted to read it.

I think my expectations got the best of me with this book and while the book started out strongly, it seemed to run out of energy and I felt that the book limped its way towards the end.  It probably was a little too weird for my liking, but I did like the fact that there were interesting illustrations that reminded me of those that one can find in an Ikea catalogue.

Bottom line: If you enjoy odd, unique stories, you probably will enjoy this book.  Recommended, with some reservations.

Rating: 2.75/5

Summer House with Swimming Pool - Herman Koch

Title: Summer House with Swimming Pool
Author: Herman Koch
Pages: 387
Published: 2014 (first published 2011)
Challenges: Blogger Summer Reading, I Love Libraries
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Thriller
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: When a medical mistake goes horribly wrong and Ralph Meier, a famous actor, winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser is forced to conceal the error from his patients and family. After all, reputation is everything in this business. But the weight of carrying such a secret lies heavily on his mind, and he can't keep hiding from the truth…or the Board of Medical Examiners.

The problem is that the real truth is a bit worse than a simple slipup. Marc played a role in Ralph's death, and he's not exactly upset that the man is gone. Still haunted by his eldest daughter's rape during their stay at Ralph's extravagant Mediterranean summerhouse-one they shared with Ralph and his enticing wife, Judith, film director Stanley Forbes and his far younger girlfriend, Emmanuelle, and Judith's mother-Marc has had it on his mind that the perpetrator of the rape could be either Ralph or Stanley. Stanley's guilt seems obvious, bearing in mind his uncomfortable fixation on the prospect of Marc's daughter's fashion career, but Marc's reasons for wanting Ralph dead become increasingly compelling as events unravel. There is damning evidence against Marc, but he isn't alone in his loathing of the star-studded director. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: After reading The Dinner last summer, I was hesitant to read this book, but strangely enough, I was able to enjoy this book for the most part.  I liked how the author built up to the main event of the book and how the characters were well fleshed out, even though Marc seemed to be a little too narcissistic at times for my liking.

I think what I liked is that the book seemed to be a little more linear than The Dinner and the author wrote in a way that one could easily get into the story without much effort.

Bottom line: If you enjoyed The Dinner, you will probably enjoy this one.  Also if you are a fan of other suspense/thriller novels, you may also enjoy this one as well.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.75/5

Pages for 2014: 14, 077 

The Bear - Claire Cameron

Title: The Bear
Author: Claire Cameron
Pages: 221
Published: 2014
Challenges: I Love Libraries, Blogger Summer Reading
Genre: Fiction, Canadian Fiction, Contemporary, Literary, Suspense/Thriller
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library

Description: While camping with her family on a remote island, five-year-old Anna awakes in the night to the sound of her mother screaming. A rogue black bear, three hundred pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite -- and pouncing on her parents as prey.

At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe runs aground on the edge of the woods, the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a wilderness alive with danger. Lost and completely alone, they find that their only hope resides in Anna's heartbreaking love for her family, and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: Prior to reading this book, I had seen a review or two, which piqued my interest in the book.  And when I was able to sit down with the book and read it, I basically ripped through the book and could really feel the intensity of the kids trying to get help.  It took me a couple times to read the beginning to understand what exactly happened.  But once I had gotten through the first pages of the book (basically got myself launched into the book), I was able to get swept into the rhythm of the book and felt like I was right there with the two kids.

Bottom line: If you were a fan of Room by Emma Donoghue, you will probably enjoy this read, as it had that same sort of frenetic pace that Room had.  Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4.25/5

Pages for 2014: 9661

How to be a Good Wife - Emma Chapman

Title: How to be a Good Wife

Author: Emma Chapman

Pages: 288

Published: 2013

Challenges: I Love Libraries

Genre: Fiction, Suspense

Edition: Hardcover

Source: Library

Description: Marta and Hector have been married for a long time. Through the good and bad; through raising a son and sending him off to life after university. So long, in fact, that Marta finds it difficult to remember her life before Hector. He has always taken care of her, and she has always done everything she can to be a good wife—as advised by a dog-eared manual given to her by Hector’s aloof mother on their wedding day.

But now, something is changing. Small things seem off. A flash of movement in the corner of her eye, elapsed moments that she can’t recall. Visions of a blonde girl in the darkness that only Marta can see. Perhaps she is starting to remember—or perhaps her mind is playing tricks on her. As Marta’s visions persist and her reality grows more disjointed, it’s unclear if the danger lies in the world around her, or in Marta herself. The girl is growing more real every day, and she wants something. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  Compared to the other book I was reading at the time, this was a fairly quick read and I was able to get this completed in a few days.

The premise was interesting, especially since the title of the book throws off the reader.  And while the title does have quite a bit to do with the storyline, in a sense it really doesn't and is sort of a play on the title.  

I found the book to be a little convuluted at times, as one wasn't really sure as to what was really going on, but in the same respect about 2/3 of the way through, the book actually got somewhat interesting and made me start to think about Marta's actual history.  What was the truth?  Was it the visions that Marta is having or is the life that she has been told for most of her adult life?  And how much can we as the reader really believe is the truth?

Honestly, if the story hadn't made this sort of switch, I probably would have put the book down and not completed it, as I was not completely enamoured with the story and felt that some of the things that Marta goes through were being repeated, but in someway it was the perfect length, as it didn't take too long to get the the premise of the story and the storyline kept at a pretty good pace throughout the book to keep my interest.

Bottom line: If you are looking for a happy book, I would probably not go near it, but if you are a fan of Gillian Flynn's book Gone Girl, I would recommend this and hope that you read it.  Overall, it was a pretty good book and something that can be read when one has a few spare moments to read, as the chapters aren't long (at most they are about 15 and probably average about 10 pages per chapter) and the storyline can be easily picked up when reading it.   That being said, I realize that it won't be everybody's cup of tea and probably would recommend it to those that are fans of thriller and suspense fiction and that enjoyed Gone Girl.

Rating: 3.25/5

Pages for 2014: 1598

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
File Size (Pages): 2113 KB (467)
Published: 2012
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Fiction
Challenges: Support Your Library
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet? (via Goodreads.com)

Thoughts:  Wow; what an amazing book!  It took me awhile to get going with this book, but once I was able to get into the storyline the other day,  I was really hooked with the story.  I can't really say a lot about the story without giving too much away, but I can say that once you get your way through the first part of the book, you will be hooked and I can see why a lot of readers like this one.  It not only has the literary aspect that I really like, it also has an excellent mystery attached to it.  I will say this: one of the characters in the book must have been inspired by Nancy Grace and the other shows that have spawned off of hers. 

What I also liked about the book is that the book really did play with my emotions and threw me for an enjoyable loop. I don't know that if this book will turn me into a fan of the mystery/suspense/thriller novel, but it certainly has make me open to the book.

Bottom line: I think most readers would enjoy this book, as the author gives each of the main characters enough sympathy that you root for them...to a point.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pages for 2012:  18881