Killer Choice by Tom Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for providing an advanced copy of this book to review. Below is my honest opinion.

Gary and Beth Foster are a happy couple. They've been married for several years and are now expecting their first baby. Gary has recently opened a retail store with his brother, and life is good. That is until Beth unexpectedly collapses one day. After numerous tests it's discovered that Beth has a life threatening brain tumor. An experimental drug trial is available to them but will cost $200,000 - money they don't have. Gary is contacted by a dubious stranger who offers him the money they desperately need but with a condition. Gary must kill a man.

This debut thriller by Tom Hunt will have you flipping pages into the late hours of the night. The edge of your seat will become worn as you're following Gary in his quest to save his wife's life. There are twists and turns and things I didn't see coming in this book that kept it all exciting. I gasped out loud a couple of times, and my heart was pounding as I read through these pages..

One of my favorite parts about this book is that it asks the uncomfortable question - what would you be willing to do (or not willing to do) in order to have a chance of saving someone you love? Gary is a reasonable, moral guy and he's suddenly forced into a desperate situation. I'm glad this is fiction because I don't know that I could handle the pressure!

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Lies She Told by Cate Holahan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. The following is my honest opinion.

Liza is a best selling author, or at least she used to be. Her first book was a hit and the ones that followed haven't been well received. Now she's been given 30 days by her publisher to write another great book. She's got a lot of pressure to write the book, but she's got problems at home. She's also struggling to have a baby with her husband who has been less than attentive. That may be understandable, however, since her husband's best friend has gone missing.

Meanwhile Beth, the protagonist of Liza's latest book, is facing struggles of her own. She's got a newborn baby and has recently discovered her husband has a girlfriend. Liza and Beth's stories are told in alternating chapters.

This book is great for writers (or aspiring writers) to read. Liza's writing process is a big part of this book. Readers will see hints of how Liza's real life influences the story she's trying to complete before her deadline is up. The book was hard to put down and easy to devour in a couple of days. Even though I thought the book was very engaging I found it to be predictable at times. So I was really surprised to find a pretty big twist in the last few chapters. This story kept moving and was a great suspense read to wrap up the summer with.

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Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's the mid 1970's and Gwendy is going to start middle school soon. She's running up the suicide stairs in hopes of losing a little weight before going back to school. At the top of the stairs is a mysterious stranger, a man who has been watching Gwendy. She winds up talking with him and he gives her a box adorned with buttons. But this isn't just an average box.

This novella was really easy to continue reading. The chapters are short, the story moves quickly, and I just needed to see what happened in this book. This is one readers can finish in one sitting. The box that Gwendy receives causes some great things to happen in her life, but it may also cause some terrible things to happen. Is it really the box or is it all coincidence?

I was hooked bythis story through the whole book. The ending wasn't quite what I expected or hoped for, but it wasn't bad. I would have enjoyed reading this as a longer book, but I think it made for a pretty good short story as well. I just wasn't ready for it to end!

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Final Girls by Riley Sager
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A Final Girl is rare. A Final Girl is someone who fascinates the public and causes a media frenzy. A Final Girl is not something you want to be. A Final Girl is the lone survivor of a massacre.

There are only three Final Girls - Lisa, Sam, and Quincy. When Lisa turns up dead, Sam turns up on Quincy's doorstep. Quincy had never met the other Final Girls, choosing instead to ignore her past, eat a regular dose of Xanax, and live her life as normally as possible out of the spotlight. Sam wants to help Quincy remember the past, but Sam is destructive. What's the truth and what's a lie? This book will really keep you guessing.

This is fast paced, and really hard to put down. All of the hype you've heard about this new summer thriller is well earned. There are a few things in there that seem a bit unbelievable but overall it was fun to read. I thought I could guess the ending here, but I was completely wrong!

What's your favorite summer thriller? Comment below!

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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to Brilliance Publishing for sending over a copy of this book for me to read.

If you've read and enjoyed Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand then you're going to love Beneath a Scarlet Sky. Both are stories of men who went through some incredible things during World War II. These books are both hard to put down!

Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the story of Pino Lella. He's a young, Italian teenager toward the end of World War II when his home in Milan is destroyed. Soon after Pino begins helping Jews escape to the safety of Switzerland by leading them through the difficult terrain of the Alps. And just as he turns 18 he is forced to enlist in the German military, becoming one of the Nazis he despises. When Pino receives an opportunity to become the personal driver for General Layers (Hitler's left hand in Italy) Pino suddenly becomes a spy for the Allies.

There is so much in this story - bravery, suspense, love, espionage, loss - and a really likable hero at the center of it all. So much of this story was unbelievable, though as a reader who has never experienced war, I think much of the hell that war brings about is unbelievable. I had trouble tearing myself from these pages because I just needed to know more.

Pino's story is epic, not always happy, and one that should be read widely. The book is written simply so those of us who aren't history buffs can still easily follow along. Highly recommended!

What's your favorite WWII book? Comment below!

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Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Into The Water is another book by Paula Hawkins. You've all heard of The Girl on the Train, right? Same author.

This book dives into the mystery surrounding the recent deaths of two women, a single mother and a teen girl, who are both found in a small town's river within a month's time. They're not the first women to meet their demise in this river, and it seems that everyone in this small town has some opinion about the deaths of the various women in this river.

There are a lot of characters to get to know, and it was difficult to warm up to any of them. Regardless, if you can keep the characters straight, each of them adds something different to this story. There's not a lot of happy, uplifting moments, but the short chapters kept the story moving rapidly.

There are several twist in this book. I thought I had the story figured out many times before I reached the end and found out what actually happened. (And I do mean the very end!) As a little bonus: I really liked the dedication in this book. It fit well with the story.

What's your favorite thriller? Comment below!

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