Cleverly Crafted; Twisted, dark, chilling psycho-thriller - "Domestic Noir" of Secrets!
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British scriptwriter Renee Knights cleverly crafted debut, DISCLAIMER is a twisted, dark and chilling psychological suspense which brings new meaning to red herring and domestic suburban noir. What an excellent cover depicting the true nature of the novel.

Let me start off by saying, this is one addictive book which grabs your attention! You will sit up and take notice. I listened to the audio version, with a number of distractions. (A lot of rewinding) Like what in the heck just happened? Did I miss something? The British narrators, Michael Pennington and Laura Paton delivers a suspenseful performance, setting the mysterious dark mood, perfectly.

Two families. Two sons. Stephen, Nancy & son, Jonathan. Robert, Katherine & son, Nick.

Let the sadistic evil games begin. Or should I say, cat and mouse? Truth or dare? Revenge. One life for another. How are these two families connected? Both families have dark secrets. Secrets from their spouses.

We meet Catherine, a documentary filmmaker. She finds herself at home, picking up a self-published book The Perfect Stranger in the evening. While reading she is shocked beyond belief, as she recognizes herself and this appears to be her story? A dark story she has buried for the last twenty years. No one could possibly know these things. Except the one person, who was there, and he is dead. A life-threatening secret, her husband knows nothing about. She is obsessed with finding out more.

Catherine is married to Robert, an attorney. Years ago they were on holiday and he had to leave, so she was left with her son. She sees a young man, a photographer. Over 20 years earlier in Spain, 19-year-old Jonathan drowns, while saving five year old, Nicholas.

Someone is out there; Tormenting her? These secrets have the power to unravel their lives.

Stephen is a creep. (An old crazy man), a former school teacher, a stalker, now widowed. Nancy and Stephen had a wacko marriage full of secrets. A plot. A predator. A plan.

Told in alternating chapters and voices, a slow burning tale which draws you into the web of deceit, when nothing is as it appears. From erotic to sadistic, predator to prey, Mind-blowing your head will spin! Where is the truth? What is the truth?

DISCLAIMER is unique, intriguing, entertaining and unnerving. Chilling, terrifying, disturbing, haunting.

disclaimer A statement that is meant to prevent an incorrect understanding of something (such as a book, a movie, or an advertisement).

While this may not be the best psychological thriller of the year; however, very worthy of 4 stars for capturing my attention for hours, a chilling debut. It is definitely one you want to read. If you enjoyed Gone Girl and Girl on a Train, fans will relate to the female protagonist who presents a picture of perfect suburban life, while carrying a dark destructive secret.

A deeply probing, intense psychological thriller. A book-within-a book. Cant wait for book two (another psycho-thriller) and the upcoming film!

The act of keeping the secret a secret has almost become bigger than the secret itself.   Rene Knight, Disclaimer
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'Abel's Revenge' is yet another expertly crafted psychological thriller by Ross Greenwood, exploring the influence of mans darkest sides on life and relationships. It sounds so ordinary: a couple with young children, marital problems (even if they are not married - the situation is the same), but slowly the author shows us multiple layers, a few more characters, each with their own tribulations. The book is carefully construed into short chapters, each written from the perspective of the chapter's protagonist. That fascinating topic, nature or nurture to instigate someone's conduct again is at the bottom of this insightful novel, this time mixed with societal and human behaviour. Why is it, that people tend to ignore others? Why are so few capable of extending a hand, even a smile towards a stranger? Are we as a society responsible for the anti-social attitudes we see on a daily basis?

In 'Abel's Revenge' we witness ordinary lives going downhill and also how even innocent actions can have a huge impact, let alone the violent ones. The fascinating aspect of this book is that the author paints a picture of people like you and me - with everyday emotions and jobs and then, somehow, adds a dark layer to it all combining the ordinary with a viciousness that makes your blood go cold and you just have to keep on reading to find out what will happen next. After I finished the book the emotions hurdled through my mind about the topic and complexity of the novel. Yet again, the author has delivered a dark and disturbing psychological thriller!
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Debra Webb's latest masterpiece, "No Darker Place", blows up the thermostat beginning with page one! This psychological thriller keeps you up all night sweating in the heat of the city of Montgomery, Alabama, where you find yourself drawn immediately into the action.

Detective Bobbie Gentry is still reeling from her previous encounter with a serial killer known as The Storyteller. Her nemesis sends a deadly message to the detective in a manner that no reader could anticipate, and so the evil game of chess is set in motion.

Now enter serial killer hunter Nick Shade--will he be able to successfully help Detective Gentry capture her prey, or will his inclusion in the battle bring devastating consequences? This is a must read! Also, I will personally be watching for the release of the second book in the "Shades of Death" series, "A Deeper Grave"!
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Publication Date: November 7, 2017

Thank you to First to Read and the author for sharing this fantastic novel prior to publishing!

Abby Williams is an environmental lawyer who flees her hometown of Barrens, Indiana for Chicago, only to be pulled back in by Optimal Plastics and their insidious poison not only of the town's present, but of Abby's own dark past and those of her friends. The devastation is psychologically twisted in ways disturbingto imagine as Ritter draws the connectionbetween a painful mystery in her youth to a darkness that has remained over the town's residents, wreaking havoc and destroying lives.

Ritter is the kind of writer whose work you wish you could bottle, to binge on frequently and until you are lost to it, much as her character, Abby, does on alcohol. If you are a lover of the legal thriller/mystery/suspense genre you will not be disappointed in any measure. Ritter's writing is taunt and crisp, making it easy to imagine both the scene of the action and the relentless pasts of her characters. Here's to a new writer to be addicted to!
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Four friends - Frauke, Tamara, Kris and his brother Wolf - all have been having difficulty in creating the life they want.  One fateful night they come up with a plan - they create a company that will apologize for those who refuse to apologize for themselves.  It's a brilliant plan and they're very successful.  Then, one day, Wolf walks into an apartment and finds a dead woman, nailed to the wall through her hands and forehead.  The four find themselves involved in a situation they never expected - and may not survive ...

Brilliant and chilling, this book is very intense.  Written in a mixture of second and first-person narratives, mainly in present tense, it quickly hauls  you into the story and doesn't let you go until you've finished the last page, at which point you will find yourself breathless.  Anyone who enjoys a good thriller should love "Sorry."  Don't miss it!
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A magnificent debut by Lucie Whitehouse, The House at Midnight will keep you up long into the night turning the pages. A modern gothic splashed with romance and suspense, this novel will wrap its dark magic around you.

On a bitterly cold winters night, New Year's Eve, seven friends from college meet at Stoneborough, a grand manor in the English countryside. Lucas Heathfield recently inherited the manor after the shocking, tragic death of his Uncle Patrick. Hoping the manor will become their escape from London to relax, he invites all of his friends to make themselves at home there every weekend. Danny, Rachel, Martha and Michael, plus Rachel's new boyfriend Greg, feel nothing sinister about the place like Jo does.

Joanna is the narrator of the story, a junior reporter at the Putney Gazette. She's had a crush on Lucas for years throughout college, but knows they are only friends. Lucas finds himself making small passes at Joanna in the dark shadows of the manor. Much to her surprise, he reveals that he's loved her for years , and she is only too happy to respond.

Soon, Danny gets fired and Lucas gives up his job, and becomes obsessed by old films showing his mother, father and uncle enjoying Stoneborough Manor. Danny gets fired, and as Lucas's best friend, soon moves into the manor with Lucas. Jo feels her dreams are being destroyed by Danny's increased influence on Lucas, who is still struggling to absorb Patrick's death.

Joanna is distraught after Danny accuses her of only being after Lucas for his money, and becomes frustrated when Lucas seems oblivious to Danny's attacks. She retreats, not devious enough to outmatch Danny's malice. Jo's uneasiness sharpens when she accidentally sees Greg and Rachel together. When their mutual attraction results in a fiery embrace, it is the beginning of the end for the group.

An inseparable companion, Stoneborough emits the misery of its inhabitants as though absorbing their pain. Well-plotted, finely honed characters give way to a shattering conclusion of violence. Newcomer Lucie Whitehouse has written a tense and captivating story that will linger long after the final, shocking pages.

Armchair Interviews says: Excellent storytelling.
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Lei Zhang and Emma Nilsson survived a night of unspeakable horror. Twelve years later, it appears their nightmare is starting all over again. Only this time, the women are no longer unsuspecting sorority girls. Though they still fight the emotional scars that night left on them, they also do what they can to help find and bring closure to those not as lucky as they were that fateful night.

A chilling sociopath and nail-biting suspense make The Surviving Girls by Katee Robert an intense, psychological thriller that keeps its readers guessing to the very end. Few suspense books are able to fool me so expertly as this one did, making me doubt myself more than once over the course of my reading experience. And I absolutely loved it!

This book was tightly-woven and expertly plotted, giving rise to strong female characters who though a little bit broken aren't sitting idly by while life moves on without them. Lei and Emma have formed an unbreakable bond, and it made this book all the more special for it.

A brilliant suspense read and an incredible addition to the Hidden Sins series. If you haven't yet read these books, I highly recommend this one. The Surviving Girls is Katee Robert at her chilling and suspenseful best!
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I picked up Gone Girl based on an odd coincidence - two unrelated people on my Twitter feed both raving about it within hours of each other - and it's a coincidence that I'm deeply glad for, because otherwise I might have missed out on this twisted, surprisingly, gleefully dark thriller. Gone Girl starts off simply enough: it's Nick Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary, but his wife Amy has disappeared. There are signs of a struggle in his living room, but otherwise - nothing. In alternating chapters, we see Nick struggling to find out the truth and Amy's diary detailing the idyllic early days of their relationship...but cracks start to show, and soon. And as the media starts to turn on Nick, we start to question whether Nick is as good as we think he is...but it's not long before Flynn starts to pull the rug out from under the reader again and again, until we're forced to question just about every single aspect of the book we've read so far. This is my first exposure to Gillian Flynn, but it won't be the last; even if we were only talking about the plot, I'd have to rank Gone Girl as one of the most involving and gripping thrillers I've read in years - I absolutely could not put it down, and found myself reading it every time I sat even for a moment. But more than that, there's Flynn's great writing, which allows her to create both Nick and Amy as complex characters based on nothing more than their own narration and discussion - characters that can still surprise you greatly in ways that I wouldn't dream of revealing. Gone Girl plays out brilliantly, all the way to an ending that seems to have really upset some people, and that baffles me; to me, the ending is a brilliantly dark punchline to the novel, a pitch-black immersion into the darkness that's prevalent in every page of the book anyway. (In fact, for my money, the ending elevates it from a good thriller to a brilliant one.) I've come across one person already comparing Flynn to the legendary Patricia Highsmith, and it's a great comparison; both seem to have a knack for understanding how people work, both have created absolutely legendary sociopathic villains (and, oh, is there ever a stunning villain lurking somewhere in Gone Girl), and both were willing to follow their characters to the absolute heart of darkness if it felt right. Consider me a fan already - I plan on reading Flynn's two earlier books as soon as I possibly can, but even if they don't live up to Gone Girl, I've still gotten one absolutely astonishing thriller out of this experience.
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Claire, a struggling actress, is finding it difficult to get stable work in the U.S. without her green card. She illegally relocated, after an affair with a married co-worker ended badly. To make extra money, Claire does undercover work for a law firm that specializes in exposing unfaithful husbands to their wives. Claire just has to play her role and trap them in the act, something she is exceptionally good at. When a woman is violently murdered, the police suspect the clients husband Patrick, a charming and handsome academic. They enlist Claire's help to gain his trust and stop him before he can kill again...but this starring role might just be Claire's final act.

All the stars for this novel! J.P. Delaney delivers another exceptional read with the release of his second novel. Believe Me, is a psychological thriller in which a serial killer is utilizing Charles Baudelaire's dark and erotic poetry to act out his darkest desires. Claire agrees to play a role as victim in hopes of trapping a killer. This book had me hooked from the very first chapter and I did not want to put it down. This is an intricately woven tale in which everyone has secrets and may not be who you think they are. Be aware there is some material that may not appeal to every reader including violent murder, and some sexual material including sadomasochism and bondage. I felt the author did a great job incorporating the material in an appropriate way that was relevant to the context of the storyline. I absolutely loved this novel and highly recommend it for fans of dark psychological thrillers.
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What a twisted journey! I absolutely loved KA Tucker's mystery/thriller debut! Using her talent for suspense which Ms. Tucker has expertly weaved into a number of her romance titles, Ms. Tucker takes it one step further and takes us on a wild, spine-tingling adventure hunt for a killer. But be forewarned romance enthusiasts, this is not a romantic suspense title, so only choose to undertake reading this novel if you have an open-mind to experiencing a story that lacks some of the typical romance conventions. However, for those romance readers that do, as well as the conventional mystery/thriller lovers, He Will Be My Ruin is one fascinating and complex story that is sure to keep you guessing until the last minute!

Due to the suspense nature of this read, I suggest that you read as little as possible about the actual specifics of this story before enjoying it yourself. In that regard, I will keep the background portion of my review short, and as close as possible to the limited basics that you can identify from the blurb, to avoid spoiling any of the magic of this story for you!

Maggie Sparkes grew up with Celine Gonzalez, the daughter of her former nanny. Since they were roughly the same age, and did nearly everything together, they soon became best of friends. However, over the years, they had grown apart somewhat as Maggie was off in Ethiopia on a charitable venture, while Celine was in New York working and fine-tuning her antique appraising skills. In fact, Celine had recently been accepted to her dream school, the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where another good friend of Celine's worked. So all of Celine's goals where finally coming to fruition.

So when Maggie receives the dreaded phone call that Celine has taken her own life, she is completely perplexed. It just doesn't add up. Why would Celine do this? Convinced that the police investigation must have gotten the facts wrong, Celine travels to New York and begins to unravel a multitude of hidden clues. Many of the clues revolve around a mysterious man, a person who Celine refers to as having been her salvation until he became her ruin, and a plethora of facts about her private life that Celine withheld from Maggie and her family.

Will Maggie be able to uncover the full truth? Even if she does, how can she convince the police that her suspicions are right when the already seem to have moved on? Moreover, with a killer still on the loose, will Maggie be able to do both these things before she becomes the next victim?

Be prepared to have your sleuthing skills tested! This is not a mystery I was able to solve easily. Moreover, even when I thought I had it all figured out, this story managed to take a number of extra twists and turns leaving me even more impressed with Ms. Tucker's imaginative writing skills!

I can't wait to read more of Ms. Tucker's writing. Whether it be in the romance or thriller genre, anything she writes is sure to go right to the top of my must-reads!

Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
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Ross Elder is among my very favorite indie authors for good reason: The man can craft a story. But here, he's escalated the stakes and refined his style beyond the scope of his previous work. In "Patriot Deception," Elder, with carefully crafted prose, realistic dialogue, and vivid imagery, captures the unsettling sensation of waking up from a bad dream without any memories, then being forced to stumble through a haze of flashbacks and hallucinations to discover who you are, who tried to kill you, and who your friends are. The protagonist, Mason, offers up a unique character that, while right at home in the thriller genre, surpasses the usual tropes in his complexity and depth.

Beyond the fact that this is a rollicking good story, "Patriot Deception" explores the dark and very real issue of the proliferation of Russian information operations in the American patriot movement. A definite must-read.
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When I picked up "Every Secret Thing," by Laura Lippman, I expected nothing more than a formulaic novel about child abductions.  Much to my surprise, this book turned out to be a deeply psychological page-turner with marvelously descriptive writing, dry humor, and intricate plotting.  Now that I have finished the book, the highest compliment that I can pay to Ms. Lippman is that she reminds me of the great British novelist, Ruth Rendell.  Why?  Rendell has never been satisfied with the standard whodunit formula.  She likes to examine the unexplored dark corners of the human psyche and the mystery is not always the centerpiece of her books.  The people are.
"Every Secret Thing" begins with a tragedy.  A little girl named Olivia Barnes is kidnapped and, several days later, she is murdered.  Two eleven-year-old girls named Ronnie Fuller and Alice Manning are charged with the crime, and they spend seven years in juvenile detention facilities.  When they are released, Ronnie and Alice are young women of eighteen.  Before long, when another little girl named Brittany goes missing, Ronnie and Alice are once again under suspicion.
There are so many things to praise about this book that it is difficult to pick one, but above all else, the character development is uniformly outstanding.  We get to know each major and several minor characters intimately, as if they were our own neighbors.  Lippman gives us a glimpse into the minds of Ronnie and Alice, two unhappy and lonely misfits with a tenuous grip on reality.  We become well acquainted with Helen Manning, Alice's narcissistic and foolish mother, Nancy Porter, the cop who found Olivia's body and has been haunted by the case ever since, and Cynthia Barnes, Olivia's bitter and grieving mother whose life is devoted to seeing Alice and Ronnie destroyed.  That the two girls responsible for killing Olivia should be set free to walk the earth is simply not an option for Cynthia, who has powerful political connections and is used to getting what she wants.
As the story unfolds, a tale of psychological horror emerges that is truly chilling.  When I turned the last page, I knew that I would be thinking about this book for some time to come, marveling at how Lippman mines so many themes so effectively, and how she makes us care deeply about the outcome of her story.  Don't miss this unforgettable thriller.
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This was my first experience reading Galt Niederhoffer's work, but it won't be my last. Poison is a highly unusual & unique psychological thriller that kept me guessing right up to the end. The narrator is highly unreliable -- or is she? Therein lies the mystery. Cass Connor is an educated woman, an acclaimed journalist who has agreed to relocate from the East Coast to Seattle and become a journalism professor. Her architect husband, Ryan, seems like a perfect stepfather to her two oldest children and father to their two-year-old son. Until it begins apparent that something is horribly wrong and the Connor family is highly dysfunctional. But what is the source of the problem? Is it a case of Cass being emotionally unstable as demonstrated by fits of jealousy, suspicion, and even, perhaps, paranoid delusions? Or does she have good reason to be suspicious? Is she really in danger? And, if so, can her experience and skill as an investigative journalist lead her to the answers she seeks in time to save her life and her children's? Poison is indeed a chilling mystery about trust and betrayal. It is also a timely work in light of recent headlines & the renewed focus on female empowerment in America. For fans of psychological thrillers, this is a must-read.
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Risa Tuvik owns and operates The Kitchen, a bar and restaurant she inherited from her father. Eleven years ago her husband Sean disappeared the same week her best friend Carol was brutally murdered.

When Sean did not return, she later declared him dead and married Alan Bensen, a friend of hers and Sean's. Alan took an active role in raising Risa and Sean's son Kevin, later strongly supporting and encouraging Kevin's skill as a high school linebacker.

When Sean suddenly appears in their hometown of Braden, PA, he brings with him increasing memories of a painful time as he begins to grab hold of the swirling dark secrets rising up from the past. While he tries to sort out the mess that is in his head, he finds his life in danger. Someone wants to stop Sean from remembering the truth about the night he left town.

The multi-talented Doug Magee has written a taut suspense thriller. From the beginning, Magee never allows the pace to slow enough to take away the powerful intensity of the tale.

The growing nightmare facing more than one character is played out in the midst of flashbacks, latent memories, and a growing horror that maybe the town got it all wrong in the first place.

In-depth characterization brings the players to life and the intensity of key scenes adds impact to the chilling thriller. This is one fast-paced read lovers of suspense will enjoy.

<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Darkness-All-Around/dp/B007BWB5OK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Darkness All Around</a>
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A taut mystery/suspense novel by an author adept with characterization and plotting- and throwing out the red herrings along the twisting turning road he leads you along. I got off to a bit of a slow start with this novel, but once I got into it, I found myself staying up late last night to finish the page-turner ending! No spoilers, but it was not the person I suspected it was going to be, and unusual for one stand out reason I can't mention here because it would ruin the reading experience for those who haven't read it...but I liked what the author did here!
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In ye olde Domestic Noir genre you get a mish mash of reads, some good, some bad, some really excellent and not many done by male authors. Although a few. If A Line of Blood is anything to go by then perhaps more should be entering the fray.

What I loved about it was it was so much more about the dysfunctional family than it was about the possible crime. The next door neighbour kills himself (probably, or did he?) his body is discovered by Alex and son Max and then off we go - into a tale of 3 people, Husband, Wife, Child, all of whom are entirely disturbing and completely frustrating. In a good reading way. I wanted to slap the lot of them frankly but I could NOT look away from the drama unfolding.

Told by Alex, the story goes on a beautifully constructed twisty path of domestic insanity where everyone is hiding something and nobody is entirely trustworthy. Quite aside from the "who did what to who" where no possibility seems too unreasonable, you have some very insightful and thought provoking character studies, an addictively absorbing style of writing (yes Millicent your name by the end was tattooed on my soul) and quite honestly no idea where it was all going to end.

Those are the best stories right? Right.

Clever writing, clever plotting, divisive and undeniably unlikeable characters who will get stuck in your head, when it comes to this particular popular sub genre this is the way to do it.

Highly Recommended.

**Purchased Paperback via Amazon UK**
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This is a dark, entangling, deeply unsettling sort of book. The type that digs gritty fingernails deep into your skin, your very bones, and doesnt let go, not even after you're finished reading.

The main thrust of the plot follows Kate whose mother is dying of cancer. Her stepfather is concurrently sleeping with Gillian, who happens to be a doppelg&auml;nger of Kate and further, there is a serial killer called the Doll Collector on the loose killing girls who have similar appearance to her as well. Gillians stepbrother Jonah increasingly matches the description of the killer, but it couldn't really be him, could it?

Kate begins delving into her past and her mothers past, bringing things to the surface that she would have preferred to keep hidden. Abuse, mental illness, loss, and pain begin narrating the pages and her emotions, especially negative ones like anger and rage, start boiling over in a way she can no longer control and the lines in her own mind begin to blur.

Perhaps the answers to now lie in the past, no matter how difficult it is to face them. Chilling and compelling, this is beautifully written debut novel.