Helpful Score: 1
Paris Paralta is charged with murder after she finds her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub. Ruby Reyes was charged with murder twenty-five years ago. Reyes knows who Paris really is and she threatens to expose all of Paris' secrets. This is a heart-pounding and surprise-filled plot that started out slow but heated up and kept me turning pages until the very end. The timeline switches between the past and present. If you love action thrillers then you will enjoy this one. I would like to thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a copy for an honest review.
Add me to the list of readers who really enjoyed Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier. Note: This book begins with a long list of trigger warnings. Sensitive readers should heed this and proceed accordingly.
I wouldn't classify this as a thriller, and it wasn't suspenseful until the end. But I was fully immersed in this mystery that felt like a Serial-type podcast series thanks to the narration of Carla Vega and the deep dive into the main characters' lives. If a compelling mystery can be character-driven, this one definitely is.
All of the characters have lives very different from from my own: Jimmy Peralta, an aging successful comedian who's on the brink of a big comeback; Paris Peralta, a yoga instructor decades younger than Jimmy and his newest wife; Ruby Reyes, a convicted murderer who may be paroled soon; Joey, a young woman who survives an abusive childhood and a 'career' as a stripper only to perish in a tragic fire, and Drew Malcolm, a true crime podcaster and Joey's former roommate. Their lives twist and turn between various easy-to-track timelines to ultimately unravel (at least) three mysteries.
This is the first book I've read from the author and narrator, and I'll definitely be open to reading more from both. I'm grateful to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the review copies.
I wouldn't classify this as a thriller, and it wasn't suspenseful until the end. But I was fully immersed in this mystery that felt like a Serial-type podcast series thanks to the narration of Carla Vega and the deep dive into the main characters' lives. If a compelling mystery can be character-driven, this one definitely is.
All of the characters have lives very different from from my own: Jimmy Peralta, an aging successful comedian who's on the brink of a big comeback; Paris Peralta, a yoga instructor decades younger than Jimmy and his newest wife; Ruby Reyes, a convicted murderer who may be paroled soon; Joey, a young woman who survives an abusive childhood and a 'career' as a stripper only to perish in a tragic fire, and Drew Malcolm, a true crime podcaster and Joey's former roommate. Their lives twist and turn between various easy-to-track timelines to ultimately unravel (at least) three mysteries.
This is the first book I've read from the author and narrator, and I'll definitely be open to reading more from both. I'm grateful to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the review copies.
Very disappointed with this one
I made it through 'part 1' (not realizing it was written in 'parts')
When I started 'part 2' and realized it is going back in time to explain the childhood of Paris etc, I knew I didn't want to continue reading another 'before/after format story
I'll say this though, it isn't a thriller, there are no surprises as you'll have it figured out once you start part 2 and then it's just a backstory that just gets into nothing but boring
FYI
Okay, here's the thing with me---I read so many books that it takes an author to write a really good story to keep me interested and I'm very picky these days about the format of the story and if I can make it to 100 pages and still be interested, so for the people that can pick up a book and read anything no matter the storyline and give it a 5* rating then more power to you but I'm not that kind of reader so when I give a book a 5* rating then it has to be a very good book
I made it through 'part 1' (not realizing it was written in 'parts')
When I started 'part 2' and realized it is going back in time to explain the childhood of Paris etc, I knew I didn't want to continue reading another 'before/after format story
I'll say this though, it isn't a thriller, there are no surprises as you'll have it figured out once you start part 2 and then it's just a backstory that just gets into nothing but boring
FYI
Okay, here's the thing with me---I read so many books that it takes an author to write a really good story to keep me interested and I'm very picky these days about the format of the story and if I can make it to 100 pages and still be interested, so for the people that can pick up a book and read anything no matter the storyline and give it a 5* rating then more power to you but I'm not that kind of reader so when I give a book a 5* rating then it has to be a very good book
