The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger

"After something rips your psyche apart, they try to stitch you back together. The physical wounds, they've healed...But whatever got broken inside, it's still not right."

When Rain, Hank and Tess were 12 years old, a monster took their lives from them. Although Rain and Hank survived the ordeal, the scars really never healed. Their memory of the trauma and the death of their friend, Tess, binds them as well as repels them. Rain becomes an investigative journalist and Hank gets a PhD in psychology to help damaged children. Rain marries and has a child but Hank can't get over the past or form relationships. Neither feels that justice was served even though their kidnapper was caught. They are hobbling along best they can when their monster, Eugene Kreskey, is released from the psychiatric center and is later found murdered. And then it seems that a vigilante is out there killing others who were acquitted of crimes and escaped punishment. NO SPOILERS.

This was such a great story with themes of punishment, justice, revenge and healing. The writing is excellent and the pace is such that I simply couldn't bear to put the book down as I was desperate to find out what would happen next, what revelations would be exposed, and what would become of the two main characters. I have no frame of reference to completely understand how a child would recover from this kind of experience and how they could possibly be OK -- sure tons of therapy, etc., but the damage inflicted was so severe and it elicits so many feelings and pain even as one would try to move past it. The subject was quite sensitively handled and my heart ached for Rain and Hank in their struggles. There was so much going on in the narrative as it switched between the points of view and I was hooked from the first few paragraphs. I can see why this has been hyped as one of the most anticipated thrillers for this fall. I don't want to say any more so as not to ruin anything for the reader. Just get it already. If you like a good thriller, this won't disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row Books for this e-book ARC to read and review. I'll definitely be seeking out and reading more books by this author.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre -- psychological theme but a thriller