Tag: revenge

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

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“Nevertheless, this is a cruel game. It’s twisted, and sick, and dangerous. I don’t know if we’ll ever find out who is really behind the show, but whoever it is, brava, you did it.”
― Heather Gudenkauf, Everyone Is Watching

What would you do if you received an email out of the blue from a high-stakes game show saying that you had been chosen as one of five contestants to compete for a ten million dollar prize? Would you think it was spam and delete it? Or would you take a chance and reply to the email hoping it was real? This dilemma is expanded upon in Heather Gudenkauf’s 2024 novel, Everyone is Watching. 

Five contestants nicknamed the best friend, the confidante, the senator, the boyfriend, and the executive are competing for the chance to win ten million dollars on a newly announced game show called One Lucky Winner. No one knows what to expect, no one knows who is in charge, and the set is closed with a skeleton crew. Taking place on an estate in Northern California, the contestants have been told they cannot leave the property and cannot contact anyone in the outside world. If they leave, they will forfeit their chance to win the money. Their phones are locked in a box. Isolated and sleeping in a room altogether, they are at the whims of whomever is in charge, awoken at random times of day to compete in increasingly dangerous challenges that become more personal as time progresses. Each contestant is harboring secrets which are slowly being revealed. As the game marches on, they realize that this isn’t a normal game show and that someone is determined to destroy them. Who is the mastermind? What is their end goal? Will anyone be alive at the end of this game?

I devoured this book in two days. This thriller bounces between timelines and different points of view, which added levels of drama to the story and necessary background information to flush out the story. Heather Gudenkauf was born in South Dakota, but she currently lives in Iowa with her family. This fact is clear in her thrillers as Iowa features prominently. In Everyone is Watching, one of her characters is from a small town in Iowa. As a Midwest native, seeing a state I work in mentioned was fun! I can’t wait to read more books by this author.

This title is also available in large print and CD audiobook.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

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“And before you accuse me of telling my story in a labyrinthine manner, let me remind you this is a true story—and in real life, that’s how we communicate, isn’t it? We’re all over the place: we jump back and forth in time; slow down and expand on some moments; fast-forward through others; editing as we go, minimizing flaws and maximizing assets. We are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives.”
― Alex Michaelides, The Fury

Alex Michaelides’ latest novel, The Fury, relies heavily on unreliable narrators, which given the plots of his previous two books, The Silent Patient and The Maidens, shouldn’t come as a surprise. Unreliable narrators are narrators who can’t be relied upon to provide a trustworthy or completely accurate story. They may mislead readers, sometimes accidentally or deliberately. In my opinion, all first person narrators (those who are telling the story from their own point of view within the book) are unreliable narrators until you get to the end. The narrator in The Fury, Elliot Chase, tells the story from his perspective, whether or not it’s the 100% truth is up for you, the reader, to decide once he’s finished his story.

Have you ever read a story about a murder in the news and been curious about what led up to the crime? Well, Elliot Chase has a story for you. His best friend, an incredibly famous reclusive ex-movie star named Lana, has invited himself and her other closest friends to her private Greek island for a getaway over the Easter weekend. This isn’t anything new. Lana frequently invites her friends to the island as a way to escape the dreary English weather. What’s out of the ordinary this time? Murder. One of them will be dead before the weekend is over. This should be pretty easy to figure out. Everyone is trapped on an island cut off from others due to whipping winds and weather – this is a finite pool of people to figure out who the murderer and victim is. The murder, what led up to it, and its consequences were splattered all over the tabloids, but Elliot is able to give readers an insight into the story that no one else has. After all, he was privy to the gossip, revenge, and pettiness within their friend group. Elliot has been silent long enough. He has his own story to tell.

The Fury is also available in large print, as a CD audiobook, and as a Playaway audiobook.

[Note: Even though Alex Michaelides’ books aren’t in a series, they are interconnected. Characters from certain books are mentioned in others. Parts of some books are also mentioned in others. (This is all incredibly vague, but I can’t talk specifics without spoiling some parts). While they all may not seem like plot spoilers at the time of reading, some are, so I would recommend that you read his books in the order of publication: The Silent Patient (2019), The Maidens (2021), and The Fury (2024). ]

Bluebird by Sharon Cameron

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“Reality is the condition we create for ourselves.”
― Sharon Cameron, Bluebird

Bluebird by Sharon Cameron is an Iowa High School Book Award nominee for 2023-2024. Having already read a couple of the other nominees and enjoyed them, I wanted to dive into more!

Bluebird is a historical novel set in post World War II. There are flashbacks, as well as back and forth, but once you get used to it, the book flies by! While this book is artfully detailed and lengthy, it doesn’t have any long drawn-out descriptions. Although this is fiction, there is a section of notes at the very end that discusses how the author researched her book, plus the relevant real history.  If you’re like me and tend to skip the notes, read these ones! They gave me a jumping off point to some more research. (I also listened to the audiobook which added to the experience.) Now let’s talk Bluebird.

Eva grew up in Germany, but in 1946, she leaves the rubble and destruction of Berlin behind to head to New York City. Traveling with her friend, Eva has no idea what they are headed into, only that she hopes it will lead to justice for her, her friend, and her family. As soon as they settle, Eva realizes that New York may be full of more danger than Germany. Believing in something doesn’t mean anything when you’re up against men with power, but Eva knows what she’s fighting for is more important. As she searches for the truth, she realizes that those she once trusted may be lying to her.

Eva is more valuable than others realize though. She holds the key to Project Bluebird, a horrific experiment project that could tip the balance of world power if its truth is exposed. More than just the Germans want to know about Project Bluebird. The Americans and Soviets are desperate to have that power, although if either is successful, lives would drastically change.

Eva doesn’t care about Project Bluebird. She doesn’t care about what other countries want. She came to America for one thing: justice. She wants the Nazi who escaped from her. She wants to finally hold him accountable for what he did to her and to others.

This title is also available as a Libby eBook, Libby eAudiobook, and Playaway Audiobook.

Cozy Mystery Reads: Pies Before Guys Mystery series by Misha Popp

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“Like there are these things that matter on a large grand scale, the kind of things Melly cares about, like stopping fascism and curing climate change, and that’s obviously super important, but then there are the little individual things, like a woman who’s getting hit at home or a girl whose rapist gets a free pass for being popular. Do you go for the big sweeping save-the-world changes that will help the most people, or do you chip away at the little problems, fixing one and another and another until you have this huge snowball of good deeds built up?”
― Misha Popp, Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies is the first book in the Pies Before Guys Mystery series. The description drew me in and I knew I needed to read it: a woman seeks vengeance on men who have wronged women by baking pies laced with deadly magic. Best part: there are recipes listed at the end of the book!

Daisy Ellery comes from a long line of magic women. Each woman’s magic manifests in different ways though: her grandmother sewed her magic into beautiful dresses, her mother opened a beauty salon where she used her magic to help cut women’s hair, and Daisy bakes her magic into pies. For years Daisy has believed that the family’s magic twisted and changed for the worse when it came to her. After all, her mother and grandmother used their magic for good, while Daisy’s magic mostly manifests for revenge.

Daisy’s first murder by pie was an accident. She has been on the move ever since, but has still found ways to deliver magic through baking. Daisy travels with her dog Zoe around the country in her refurbished RV baking vengeance into her pastries. Daisy delivers them to men who have done wrong to women in the towns wherever she chooses to stop.

Daisy currently parks her Pies Before Guys van outside a local diner, where she bakes pies for Frank, the diner owner. One day, Frank tells Daisy that someone has been prowling around her van. Daisy later discovers a letter stuck to her door. Her prowler knows about her secret murder pie business and is threatening to out her unless Daisy bakes pies for his own list of targets.

Daisy feels violated. Who dares blackmail her? This person obviously has no idea who or what they are dealing with, but without identifying who has it out for her, Daisy is left floundering. She decides to take whatever action she can: using her databases to research past abusive men, investing in security equipment, and staying aware of her surroundings.

When Daisy learns of a statewide pie contest that has the ability to help her promote Pies Before Guys everywhere, she decides to take the leap and enter. This contest, and the prize money, could change her life for the better as long as her blackmailer doesn’t get to her first.

Pies Before Guys Mystery series

  1. Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies (2022)
  2. A Good Day to Pie (2023)

‘One of Us is Dead’ by Jeneva Rose

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“She was a forgive-and-forget kind of person. I, on the other hand, always believed there was another option on the table. Forgive, forget, or fucking never let it go.”
― Jeneva Rose, One of Us Is Dead

The above quote perfectly summarizes Jeneva Rose’s novel, One of Us is Dead. This is a twisty piece of psychological fiction that tells the story of female friends and the manipulative behavior that runs rampant in their town. I enjoy reading novels that have multiple narrators, especially when some of them prove to be unreliable. This book gave me strong Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty vibes – rich women, close-knit neighborhood, and secrets galore.

Shannon used to be the queen bee of Buckhead. Her husband Bryce is a politician with big goals – eventually he would love to be president. Everything is perfect until Bryce hit a midlife crisis, dumped Shannon, and replaced her with a much younger woman named Crystal. Even though Crystal and Bryce are now married, Shannon is convinced that Bryce will come back to her and if not, she wants revenge.

Crystal is a young innocent woman from Texas who had no idea that Bryce was married when the two of them got together. She has no idea what she’s in for as she tries to make in-roads with the women of Buckhead. Don’t count her out though – Crystal’s past is not as innocent as everyone thinks.

Olivia believes she should be the one in charge in Buckhead. When she came to Buckhead five years ago, Shannon said something to her that Olivia took offence, setting the two women on a collision course of competition ever since. Olivia wants to take everything from Shannon. With Bryce effectively neutralizing Shannon’s power by divorcing her, Olivia isn’t afraid to pull out every nasty manipulative, backstabbing, and underhanded trick at her disposal, no matter the cost.

Jenny may not be one of the rich women of Buckhead, but the fact that she owns Glow, the most exclusive salon in town, means that Jenny knows all of her clients’ secrets and desires. She sees it all, remembers it all, and carries the ammunition she needs to take down whomever she chooses in the group, especially if they threaten her livelihood.

Romance Reads: Witches of Thistle Grove series by Lana Harper

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‘That was the thing about growing up with magic. Until you left it behind for good, you had no idea how incredible it felt just to be around it.’ – Lana Harper, Payback’s a Witch

Over the last year, I have noticed an increase in paranormal witchy romances, so naturally I decided to read some! My latest adventure into this genre was the first in the Witches of Thistle Grove series by Lana Harper titled Payback’s a Witch. I found this title to be uniquely engaging and full of world-building, yet not overwhelming with the amount of information given.

Emmy Harlow is back in Thistle Grove. After leaving this magical town right after high school, she never though she’d be back. Harlow may be a witch, but she’s not a very powerful one. The time she has spent away from Thistle Grove, plus the physical distance separating her from the town, has depleted her magic. Her exile from her family has been self-imposed due to a complicated relationship with her family, her family history, and relationships with her peers. Emmy has always wanted to forge her own destiny that had nothing to do with being a Harlow witch in Thistle Grove. Add in a nasty breakup with Gareth Blackmoor when she was in high school and Emmy was drawn to leave quicker than she had planned. After all, Gareth is the heir to the most powerful magical family in town. He oh so casually shattered her dreams and broke her heart without a second thought. She had to leave.

Flash forward: Emmy is back in Thistle Grove to perform her family’s role as arbiter in a spellcasting tournament held every fifty years. A massive guilt trip from her family and the lure of tradition was enough to bring her back. Emmy’s plan is to do her duty as arbiter, spend time with her best friend Linden Thorn, and then immediately leave to head back to her life in Chicago. The universe has other plans.

On her first night back in town, Emmy runs into Talia Avramov at a local bar. Talia is another heir to a different magical family who practices darker magic. She is also fresh off a bad breakup of sorts with Gareth Blackmoor. It turns out that Gareth was also dating Emmy’s best friend Linden, at the same time he was messing around with Talia – with both women not realizing the either was in a relationship with him! Scandal! Linden and Talia want revenge on Gareth and believe that with Emmy they can finally get back at him for what he has done to all three. Emmy has to decide if she wants in and if so, what the plan should be. Add in friend drama and romantic drama between the three and Emmy’s short trip home becomes even more complicated than she originally hoped.

This book is also available in the following format:

Witches of Thistle Grove series

  1. Payback’s a Witch (2021)
  2. From Bad to Cursed (2022)
  3. Back in a Spell (2023)

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

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“None of these monsters are evil. It’s the evil of others that makes them powerful. Beaten down by the world, shunned, robbed of what they love, they don’t curl up and die. They don’t apologize. They fight back. They get bigger, stronger, more terrifying. You are a monster. We all are. Be grateful for THAT.”
― Alison Gaylin, The Collective

Alison Gaylin’s latest mystery novel, The Collective, tells the story of mothers who are angry. Camille Gardener is obsessed. Her daughter died five years ago at the hands of a young man. Fed up with the empty platitudes from the people who surround her and her marriage’s dissolution, Camille is still obsessed with the young man she believes is responsible for her daughter’s death. She has been following him and his family all these years, wanting to keep up with what they have been doing.

Camille’s actions finally cross a line and she ends up in the spotlight of a secretive group of women called the collective. It starts out innocent enough with a Facebook group, but then ends with Camille being drawn into the dark web. She finds a group of mothers sharing their devastating stories of loss and their intense desires for justice. They all feel wronged by the world – how dare no one hold the perpetrators responsible?! They demand justice and retribution for the unimaginable loss they have been put through.

Rage motivates them. Soon Camille discovers that the group is responsible for many seemingly random killings that are actually incredibly precise, plotted, and planned by group members who are instructed to follow different tasks without knowing what the others are doing. All of their individual tasks culminate into the completion of a plan: the murder of someone who had done them wrong.

When Camille first joins the group, she debates whether or not the collective is a game or reality. The more she becomes involved, the more her feelings shift. Are these women monsters or righteous avengers? There are truths that lie beneath the surface that have the power to destroy the small amount of comfort Camille found within the collective. It all depends on what she believes.

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

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‘She felt quite light-headed. Low blood sugar, maybe, or perhaps it was the dizzying effect of watching her horizons, narrowed for so long, expanding once again.’

Paula Hawkins’ latest thriller A Slow Fire Burning is a book that messes with your mind, but in a good way. Hawkins has written a book that talks about how far someone is willing to go to find peace (or revenge).

Someone has been killed. A young man was found gruesomely murdered in his London houseboat. When the authorities start investigating, questions begin to mount surrounding three women who knew him and the others living in his periphery.

Laura is a troubled young woman who was the last person seen both with the victim and in his home. Their one-night stand was fraught with violence, something that Laura admits to the police when questioned. Laura was in a devastating car accident when she was young that left her hot-tempered, rash, and dangerous. Others judge her, something that has left Laura living as a loner.

Miriam knows all too well about how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. As the person who lives in the houseboat next to the dead man, Miriam has a unique insight into his life, plus she’s nosy. She also knows that just because she saw Laura leaving the houseboat covered in blood, that doesn’t mean she killed him. Miriam has been taken advantage of one too many times, so she will do whatever it takes to clear Laura of any wrongdoing.

Carla’s nephew was just brutally murdered. Her sister died in an accident eight weeks earlier. So much tragedy in such a short amount of time has left her completely stricken and at a loss. Carla no longer trusts anyone and views those around her as damaged creatures. All she wants is peace. Or does she?

Others circulate behind the scenes: Carla’s husband Theo and the women who lives next door to the deceased man’s mother. Everyone in this story is filled with resentment. While their reasons may be varied, they all desire to right the wrongs perpetrated against them. Their journeys to revenge will lead them to peace or destruction, risks they are all willing to take.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough

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Once a cheat, always a cheat.

Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough is a twisty psychological thriller that tells the story of a crafty second wife who will do anything to come out on top.

Marcie is determined. Determined to keep her husband interested in her so he won’t leave her. Determined to keep the life of luxury that she currently has forever. Determined to never end up back the way she started. Marcie has secrets and those secrets could destroy the life she’s created. Lucky for her, Marcie has had years of practice keeping those secrets and the stakes are even higher for her now.

Marcie worked hard for her marriage with Jason. Never mind the fact that Marcie and Jason’s relationship began as an illicit affair and that she is much younger than him. When she moved to Savannah, Georgia to start her new life with Jason, she had to deal with backlash from his ex-wife, their joint friends, and the people that Jason works with. Her new life filled with country clubs, yachts, and giant houses is getting harder and harder for her to maintain no matter how hard she tries. Her relationship with Jason is becoming strained as well.

Their relationship becomes even more strained when Jason’s boss comes home from his trip to London with a brand new wife in tow. The new Mrs. William Radford IV has some big shoes to fill and she is definitely not what everyone expected. Keisha is gorgeous, young, attractive, sexy, reckless, and black – and most importantly she quickly takes over Marcie’s place as the beautiful and best looking second wife.

Marcie begins to feel uneasy when she notices the spark between Jason and Keisha. The two have an instant magnetic connection that puts Marcie immediately on edge. She starts working harder to keep Jason’s interest, but nothing she does seems to be working. Keisha and Jason begin to get closer and closer while Marcie tries to destroy the bond the two have cultivated from the inside. Marcie decides the only way to survive is to get revenge on the two. Insecure in her relationships, Marcie knows that if she loses Jason, she will find herself struggling to maintain even a fracture of her current lifestyle. She may have married into Jason’s world, but she will never truly be a part of it. How dare Keisha try to steal her life from her! Keisha has no idea who she’s messing with.

This book is also available in the following format:

Sadie by Courtney Summers

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I spend a lot of time in the car either driving to work or driving to explore. This means that I have so many hours to fill that the music on the radio starts to repeat itself. I have learned to spend this time listening to podcasts and audiobooks instead. Looking at award-winning book lists, I found Sadie by Courtney Summers: a book that is presented like a true crime podcast. This sounded perfect to me.

Sadie by Courtney Summers highlights the story of Sadie and her sister Mattie. When thirteen-year-old Mattie goes missing from her small Colorado town and is eventually found murdered, her nineteen-year-old sister Sadie is devastated. Sadie has been raising Mattie by herself for years ever since their mother left. While she had some help from her surrogate grandma, Sadie took on the bulk of the responsibilities associated with her and Mattie’s welfare. When Sadie all of a sudden disappears about a year after Mattie is found, her surrogate grandma reaches out for help.

West McCray is a radio personality who has been slowly making his way across the country to work on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America. While stopped in one such town, he overhears a local talking about Sadie’s disappearance. Shortly after, West is contacted by Sadie’s surrogate grandma and finds himself drawn into the case. West decides to turn his examination into the disappearance of Sadie and the murder of Mattie into a true crime podcast called ‘The Girls’.

When Sadie runs away, rumors abound about why she left and where she’s going. Told in the alternating perspectives of both Sadie as she runs away and West’s podcast about her disappearance, readers are able to follow this story from both points of view. While Sadie has run away in order to track down her younger sister Mattie’s killer, West and the rest of her family don’t have access to that information and struggle to find out why she’s gone, where she is, and what has happened to her.

I enjoyed this book as it combines three of my favorite things: true crime, podcasts, and audiobooks. After looking at different reviews, flipping through the print book, and listening to the audiobook, I agree with others when they say that, if given the option, you should listen to the audiobook. By doing so, you are privy to the little audio clues present in the podcast sections that you would miss out on if you only read the book. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

This book is also available in the following format: