A social media influencer with a secret past buys a murder house to renovate, but finds more than she bargained for behind the peeling wallpaper in this gothic psychological debut.
Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide—she’s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage.
But as Sarah paints over the house’s horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can’t conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents—and Sarah knows there’s only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic.
When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her—her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.
With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she’s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder . . . was it all worth it? Or will this house be her final unraveling?
THE STRANGER UPSTAIRS
Lisa M Matlin
Welcome to Black Wood House!
Black Wood House is a murder house and social media influencer and blogger Sarah Slade has just bought it for way too much money. She has unknowingly bought a nightmare and renovating it will cost much more than she has and much more than she bargained for.
Sarah is a therapist with a few issues of her own. Her marriage might be over. And she might have just landed herself in the middle of a decades-old murder mystery.
What else can she take? Read the book to see.
I liked this one enough. It was right in the middle of the road for me. I appreciated the concept but felt it had been done before and done better.
The storyline followed a well-known path and there weren’t a lot of surprises. If you’re new to the thriller genre or the concept of a murder house then I do recommend this one. Otherwise, I could safely say this one is skippable.
Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Audio, and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, and Bantam for the advanced copies!
THE STRANGER UPSTAIRS…⭐️⭐️⭐️
Do you know what happened already?Did you know her?Did you see it on the internet?Did you listen to a podcast?Did the hosts make jokes?Did you see the pictures of the body?Did you look for them?
It’s been nearly a decade since the horrifying murder of sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson rocked Crow-on-Sea, and the events of that terrible night are now being published for the first time.
That story is Penance, a dizzying feat of masterful storytelling, where Eliza Clark manoeuvres us through accounts from the inhabitants of this small seaside town. Placing us in the capable hands of journalist Alec Z. Carelli, Clark allows him to construct what he claims is the ‘definitive account’ of the murder – and what led up to it. Built on hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research, and most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves, the result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil.
The only question is: how much of it is true?
PENANCE
Eliza Clark
I am as surprised by my rating for PENANCE as you are. Trust me, I thought I was going to love it, but ended up with tepid feelings and a middle-of-the-road rating.
In PENANCE, Clark explores the dark side and sensationalism of true crime and the exploitation of victims in the process.
PENANCE is a stunner for sure. The writing is explicit, the happenings are devastating. I was initially moved by the message. But got bogged down in the details. The conversation was worth having, however at times I felt we were having different conversations and talking about things I was overall disinterested in.
PENANCE serves as a microscope and at times you’re not sure if you are the ant under it or looking through it. Either way, if you read PENANCE, you’ll never listen to true crime podcasts the same or ever again. The next true crime documentary you watch will be tainted with perspective.
I am appreciative of that.
PENANCE is dark and unemotional. To be dark and disturbing, however, is not enough alone. And I felt all the extraneous details washed out the story and moved the target.
I gave PENANCE three stars and thought it was worth reading but wish it could have been more. Maybe next time.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper for the advanced copy!
PENANCE…⭐️⭐️⭐️
When a father goes missing, his family’s desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another–both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.
“We didn’t call the police right away.” Those are the first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean-American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing.
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything–which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, race, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another.
HAPPINESS FALLS
Angie Kim
I really enjoyed listening to HAPPINESS FALLS this month and highly recommend it!
In HAPPINESS FALLS we are following Mia. Well, we are following Mia’s family but we’re seeing through the eye of our narrator, Mia. Mia’s dad is missing. The last person to see him and the only person who knows where he is cannot bear witness. And truly, that is just the beginning of what we’re talking about in HAPPINESS FALLS. It’s about much more.
As the search begins and time goes on, with Mia’s dad still missing you as the reader, go through level after level of understanding. At first, you know little, and by the end, you know more, but not quite as much as you want.
My first thoughts were…wow- this is easy to read and listen to. The narrator’s performance in HAPPINESS FALLS is flawless. Mia’s character is narrated by Shannon Tyo, who has narrated a plethora of audiobooks. The narrator’s performances were a big part of my enjoyment of the book. I highly recommend the audiobook format if you decide to pick it up.
The suspense for most of the time reading was high. I couldn’t stop listening and several times lost track of time and other responsibilities because I had to keep reading. The concepts in HAPPINESS FALLS were very interesting. I felt like reading this book was lighting up more pathways in my brain than usual.
I was rapidly taking notes, proposing theories to myself, and collecting clues and data to confirm my theories. It was such a fun escape.
Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the advanced listening copy!
HAPPINESS FALLS…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
