About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Blake Crouch
Positive Booklist Crouch’s latest mind-bending thriller is well-paced, and his characters are realistic and interesting. While there is a bit of science jargon, it fits in perfectly with the action and won’t bog down readers unfamiliar with DNA technology. This is an excellent follow-up to Crouch’s other dark-science novels and will appeal to readers interested in climate fiction or superhero origin stories, as well as those who enjoy smart thrillers.
Gytha Lodge
Positive Booklist The narrative moves back two years to chart the course of the relationship and to introduce the couple’s circle of friends, all of whom have some air of suspicion about them. Readers will enjoy the fast pace, red herrings, and intriguing characters in this British police procedural-slash-psychological thriller.
Katrine Engberg
Positive Booklist Engberg’s debut novel, a sleeper hit in her native Denmark, is sure to attract comparisons to other Scandinavian thrillers, but it lacks some of the bleakness and creepiness that readers may have come to expect from such Nordic noir stars as Jo Nesbø. Layered, character-driven suspense from authors including Erin Kelly and Ruth Ware may prove to be more apt read-alike suggestions.
Tanen Jones
Rave Booklist Jones’ debut novel is clever, absorbing, and full of red herrings. No one is trustworthy—Leslie is hiding her reasons for needing the money; Mary has ulterior motives and rarely tells the truth. A stunning twist ending will leave readers waiting to see what Jones will give them next.
Elizabeth Little
Mixed Booklist The plot is thin and there are too many side characters to keep track of, but readers who stick with figuring out Marissa’s personality may find her to be an interesting new kind of amateur sleuth.
Ibram X. Kendi
Positive Booklist ... heavily researched yet easily readable ... The narrative smoothly weaves throughout history, culminating in the declaration that as much as we’d like it to be, America today is nowhere near the \'postracial\' country that the media declared following the election of Barack Obama in 2008. The hope here is that by studying and remembering the lessons of history, we may be able to move forward to an equitable society.
Lisa Jewell
Rave Booklist The suspense mounts, moving from Libby to Lucy in the present as well as in mesmerizing flashbacks. No one is quite whom they seem to be, and everyone is willing to do whatever is needed in order to get what they want. Another dark winner from Jewell, who expertly teases out her tricky tale with stunning moments and richly drawn characters.
Lisa Unger
Positive Booklist Unger’s latest thriller relentlessly uncovers a multitude of secrets, leading readers down a delicious path of fear, lies, and long-awaited justice, with an ending that will leave jaws dropping.
Blake Crouch
Positive Booklist Crouch fills his follow-up to Dark Matter (2016) with mind-bending science, mounting suspense, and some romance. Readers may have to accept that they might not get the physics of what’s going on, but, in a peculiar way, that’s part of the fun.
Samantha Downing
Positive Booklist Downing’s debut thriller offers a chilling look into the marriage of two psychopaths ... Readers will be fascinated by the abject coldness of Millicent, the odd and unreliable narrator, and the almost unbelievable denouement.
Diane Setterfield
Positive Booklist A mesmerizing, moody tale of identity, family, secrets, and storytelling ... The story unfolds at an almost maddeningly slow pace until, at last, all the truths are revealed. Setterfield fills this richly layered plot with a fascinating cast of memorable characters who weave in and out of each other’s lives.
Karen Thompson Walker
Positive Booklist Readers will be drawn in by the telling as Walker manages to create spare prose that nonetheless conveys great detail, an approach that works well to add a bit of tension to this simultaneously languid and lush tale.
Karin Slaughter
Rave Booklist Online Slaughter moves in a new direction with this story of a woman whose past catches up with her. Mousy Laura Cooper lives a quiet life in Georgia with her twentysomething daughter, Andrea. One morning, the women are in a restaurant when a man bursts in and starts shooting. Laura leaps up and kills the man, leaving Andrea wondering where the hell Laura’s ninja-like skills came from ... Slaughter reveals the story bit by bit in chapters that leap from 1986 to the present, leading the reader from Oslo to San Francisco to Texas and back to Georgia ... Readers will find themselves totally immersed in the suspenseful, alternating story lines and won’t want either of them to end.
Cristina Alger
Rave Booklist Alternating chapters give readers each woman’s point of view as their stories run concurrently and eventually come together in a thrilling fashion. Alger perfectly nails her twisty plot, wrapping everything up in a completely satisfying ending. Readers will be eagerly turning the pages of this fast-paced financial thriller.
Aimee Molloy
Positive Booklist Readers who can’t get enough of suburban suspense along the lines of Liane Moriarty and B. A. Paris will want to give this a try.
Jennie Melamed
Rave Booklist …[a] quietly horrifying debut … Melamed’s gorgeous writing lets the details of this fundamentalist society drip out slowly. Readers will find dread washing over them as the story unfolds, and will be left catching their breath when the full backstory dawns on them. This one belongs on every dystopia reading list.”
Elizabeth Strout
Rave Booklist Strout once again shows her talent for adroitly uncovering what makes ordinary people tick ... Clearly, this is a must-read for fans of Lucy Barton, but it’s also an excellent introduction to Strout’s marvelously smart character studies.