The Last to Drown by Noelle W. Ihli

 Nail biting survivalist horror.

After her husband’s death, Kaia decides to escape from the suffocating weight of her grief by choosing to go on an 84-mile whitewater rafting trip down a brutal, isolated stretch of river with a group of women. But the wilderness offers no sanctuary.

Seven years prior, this exact river was the stage for a horrific mass murder committed by a rafting guide and is a tragedy the true crime community insists never really truly ended. As the roaring rapids cut the group off from the civilized world, tales from back then begin to repeat themselves. Missing gear, sabotaged rafts, and late night disturbances prove the past is alive. When the women take to the rafts in a desperate attempt to escape certain death at the hands of the murderer, Kaia must figure out how to survive and develop the will to save herself and the others. 

This was fast and furious with lots of white-knuckle suspense as the women face death in every moment. Definitely a claustrophobic nightmare of a book set in the deceptive beauty of the great outdoors. And also most assuredly, the type of adventure I would never sign on for! The killer is deliciously creepy. What made the novel stand out was how its pacing and plot sort of Mimi end the unpredictable current of a river — at times lulling into a false sense of survival before dropping. You into a terrifying free fall. 

An absolute must read for fans of survivalist horror and locked-room thrillers as there is no escape: can’t go anywhere but down the river. 

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend. The only off-putting note for me was the constant insertion of the dead husband’s “presence” through the events.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre and tags: whitewater rafting, wilderness, murderer, survival, horror, river, female camaraderie 

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

 Entertaining psychological thriller that brilliantly dissects the cutthroat subculture of Southern Beauty pageants as well as the toxicity of lifelong small town friendships.

In the small town of Anhalt, Texas, the glittering facade of the annual Lone Star Princes Pageant masks a legacy of rot. The narrative weaves between two distinct timelines: the year 2000, when teenager Isabelle Whitmore vanished without a trace, and the year 2025. It’s been 25 years since her disappearance and the pageant is once again underway, bringing together a group of women who were also teenagers when Isabelle vanished. Ingrid, her twin sister, has returned to town just as a construction crew begins excavating the local ranch for a new housing development in a move that threatens to unearth the town’s secrets. Ingrid was dating Ben Sherman, the son of the ranch owner and he’s considered the most likely person to have killed her. But he’s never talked. 

Told in alternating points of view between 4 main women: Cat, Sarah Lynn, Ingrid, and Melanie. Each woman has a unique perspective on the events leading up to the day of competition when a historic winter storm completely knocks out the power grid and most of the town is gathered in the event center. All of the past resentments, relentless ambitions, and shifting loyalties reach a point that will result in another tragedy. 

I definitely enjoyed this more than I expected because it really gets down into the underbelly of generational trauma and small town venom. The locked room aspect wasn’t giving the vibes as it’s such a trope, but I did like the complex network of messy relationships among the women and former pageant contestants as well as their daughters. The mother-daughter relationships were a bit fraught and the teen thing is why I was a bit leery about this at first, but once I waded through being able to identify all the characters and got into the fast pace, I ended up surprised by a late twist and liked it a lot.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The audio had a full cast recording that included narrators Andrew Eiden, Brittany Pressley,  Mia Wurgaft, Saskia Maaleveld and Stevi Incremona. Most of them did a great job and I always enjoy a large cast so much more than a single voice. My least favorite was the voice of Melanie. I definitely appreciate the immersive experience that comes with listening while reading. Definitely recommend.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre and tags: beauty pageants, missing girls, murder, small town, friendship, psychological thriller

26 Beauties (Women’s Murder Club #26) by James Patterson

 Fast paced and engaging thriller.

Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the disappearance of young women across San Francisco. The Women’s Murder Club must coordinate their police, forensic, and medical resources to tackle down a trafficking ring before more women vanish.

Trademark short chapters and high tension make the book speed by so I read it in a single setting. I love the series and the ladies of the club so it’s always fun to have a new installment. The characters collaborate well and get along and are still going strong with their friendship and their partners.

The story focuses on human trafficking but on a local scale in San Francisco. Bodies are found and girls are reported missing and the area of interest is the Tenderloin part of the city. An Interpol agent visits to help Lindsay and he gets involved in the investigation. There’s not a lot of depth about motives and the network of criminals involved, nor explanation of what those found were actually doing in the meanwhile, but the team gets their man after all. 

Always enjoy listening to the audio book while following along in the e-book. The narrator, January LaVoy, does a fantastic job of voicing all the characters, including the accents. Listening definitely enhances my enjoyment of the story. 

This is the 26th in a long running series. You can read as a standalone but you would be missing out on the whole history between the women, so don’t do that!

Genre and tags: police procedural, missing women, mystery, trafficking

A Dangerous Diagnosis: A Thriller by Shantanu Rai

 Authentic and fast paced medical thriller that demonstrates the extent of moral injury to physicians and patients through institutional corruption and clinical malfeasance.  

Dr. Sanjay Patel is an elite concierge diagnostician operating an exclusive medical practice. His jet setting lifestyle and work are disrupted by the sudden, suspicious death of his former mentor, Dr. Tom Carpenter, who leaves a final message for Sanjay. The message indicates that Carpenter felt something was seriously wrong at Boston’s Mount Beacon Hospital. More or less willingly, Sanjay returns to the facility and reunites with Tom’s daughter, Emma Carpenter-Flores, who is a professor and researcher in her own right. What they find are logs that indicate potential data manipulation and irregularities  with a clinical trial of a specific medication designed to prevent heart attacks. Sanjay and Emma work to discover who is behind this obvious profits scheme at MBH before too many other patients die. 

This debut was a balanced combination of suspense along with a sharp critique of the current healthcare system. Since Rai is a physician, the medical aspect is real and accurate making the scenario plausible. It’s definitely an expose on the failures of the modern medical-industrial complex and its failure to take care of patients the way doctors know they should. It falls into a couple of the medical thriller tropes, but still manages to convey a sense of urgency that modern medicine is broken and changes need to be made for the good of both the providers and the people they try to help. 

I liked the writing style and eagerly look forward to another book by this author. It’s so hard to find good medical thrillers beyond those written by familiar superstar writers that I already read. 

I was able to listen to the audio book provided by the publisher while also following along in the hardcover book I worked really hard to borrow from the public library. The narrator, Shravan Amin, did a good job with some difficult pronunciations and managed to sound like the medical terminology was familiar despite a few slips. With so many characters, it would have been nice to have a full cast to include at least one female voice for balance. Audio books always enhance my enjoyment of a novel by creating a more immersive experience and this production was no exception. 

If you like medical thrillers, this is a new author to add to your watch list. Recommended. 

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre and tags: medical thriller, research, drug research study, patient care, corruption and greed

Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead

 Not just a female empowerment #MeToo revenge fantasy.

When her younger sister, Georgia, is murdered at a Hollywood house party, aspiring pop star Scout Sage reinvents herself in the years that follow. It's now 10 years later and suddenly rumor, speculation, and innuendo are implicating Scout and her unusual cohort of women in the murders of men and women connected to industry corruption, abuse, and coverups. The crime scenes feature lyrics from Scout's own songs so she becomes a prime suspect. 

The investigation into Scout and her "Ladies of the Dark" also known in the press as the Hot Girl Murder Club, is led by Detective Grey Holloway. These friends form a network to help wronged women. As coincidence will have it, the cop is hunting for information about her own missing sister, Alice, who was last seen at a notorious nightclub. 

Does the line between victim, predator, and vigilante blur when everyone tries for justice. 
"The fire of passion and the dark void of hate."

This was more complicated than the typical female rage story and it definitely has a gritty atmosphere that strips the glamour off the entertainment industry showing its institutional rot and trauma.

Told in dual times with flashbacks to the party 10 years ago, and the present, the book suffers from point of view bloat with too many juggling perspectives. This slows down what could have been a relentless thriller pace. So the plot was messy and chaotic and that made it hard to connect deeply with the characters. It doesn't really follow any sort of typical police procedural either and the detective work doesn't feel real. Let's not even talk about the convenient FBI boyfriend. 

In the end, even the secret sisterhood angle felt more like over the top drama instead of the caring female bond it was probably meant to resemble. 

Despite its flaws, I liked the story well enough. 

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Brittany Pressley, did an admirable job trying to create unique voices for all the female characters but there were just simply way too many for one actor. This production would definitely have benefited from a full cast. I always enjoy listening while reading as it creates a more immersive, enjoyable experience. 

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Genre and tags: fiction, Hollywood, sexual assault, murder, corruption, female friends, revenge, social activism 

Every Lie I Told by Hilary Davidson

 Twisty thriller that didn’t pay off.

Public relations fixer Jackie Swift lies for a living, cleaning up scandals for wealthy clients, rehabilitating reputations, and also constantly rescuing her younger sister, Madi, from drug issues. Her personal and professional lives collide when Madi texts and frantically begs Jackie to bring her some naloxone. Madi purportedly is at the mansion of Jackie’s former boss and mentor, Erick Mortenson. When Jackie arrives at the residence, her boss is dead and Madi is missing. Now Jackie must use all of her devious skills to manipulate the police investigation and manufacture suspects while searching for her sister. 

Full of completely hideous characters throughout, I struggled through the convoluted narrative with so many of them lying and scheming. High body count, lack of depth in characters other than they all seemed nasty and self-serving, and the plot that I really still don’t get — what was the point of this whole story? All I know is that they wrap up and the inter-relationships between the characters was a twisty mess. I didn’t like any of them; the result of Jackie’s actions and her sister’s outright behavior, didn’t net them the consequences they really deserved. If you like reading about liars, manipulators, and schemers, you’ll enjoy this. It was fast paced. I kept waiting to see if I had predicted something about a particular character and I was right. I’m giving this 2.5 stars but now I’m even rethinking that rating. I really didn’t like this very much. 

I listened to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Brittany Pressley. I’ve listened to a lot of books she’s read and she does OK with the female voices though they all sound mostly the same. This would have definitely benefited with a larger cast since there were so many characters, and definitely this should have had a male voice. Usually the audio book makes me enjoy a book more, but this wasn’t enough to redeem this one.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Murder, lies, schemers, public relations, sexual predators, rape, sexual assault, drug use

The Lawyer’s Husband by Robin James

 Fun but predictable mystery thriller.

Mina Sobel Manning is an attorney who is handling a very high profile case involving several murdered women when she suddenly hears details about the killer that suggest the suspect might be her very own husband, Lock. Could the man she trusted and adored, whose rules she has followed since they met, be the person the witnesses are describing. 

Fast paced with a focus more on domestic dread rather than legal aspects, the narrative from dual perspectives kept me engaged. Mina seems to go from super competent to sort of unhinged rather quickly, however. Some of the interaction between Mina and the detective and her boss makes her appear to be a mess and don’t get me started on some of her actions and decisions. Also, what’s with the repeated use of the word “sinfully” to describe activities in the bedroom? Corrine is something else. I didn’t really care for any of the characters and as I said, I knew immediately how it was all going to end for the most part, but I enjoyed it.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The two female narrators, Elise Roth and Madeline Pell, did an adequate job with the two main women characters. Their voices barely changed when speaking male dialogue, though, and that really made the whole production less entertaining when there wasn’t that feeling of listening to a full cast. It was like being read to rather than performed. I usually count on audio to create an immersive experience and that didn’t happen. 

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.

Domestic suspense, psychological, marriage, murder, legal, detectives