THE FAVORITE DAUGHTER :: Kaira Rouda

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

Jane is rising from the ashes following a year of medicated mourning for her brilliant daughter, Mary. Her husband has become distant and absent; her remaining daughter, Betsy, the "average" one, is combative and angry. Jane is determined to regain her image as a perfect O.C. wife.

As Jane narrates her "coming out" plan in the days before Betsy's graduation and a celebration of life in Mary's honor, it becomes apparent the details of Jane's "complicated grief" diagnosis have been meticulously researched, down to her fascination with death statistics ("Cows kill twenty people a year in the U.S., which seems like a low number considering what we do to those poor creatures.").

In The Favorite Daughter, Kaira Rouda (Best Day Ever) provides a front-row seat to the riveting unraveling of an unhinged narcissist who will do anything to regain a picture-perfect image. Through the conversational first-person narrative, Jane slowly reveals her true self and how far she will go to put her life right, including more than a little revenge and destruction.

Rouda's portrayal of Jane is fabulously compelling and darkly hilarious, detailing her self-obsession and conceit. (Jane re-watches news interviews from when Mary went missing, happy with how her makeup looked and proud "all of [her] acting experience shined through.") This amplifies the discomfort of witnessing Jane coming unwound, but it's impossible to look away from the wreckage. The resolution is satisfying, but the ride is so diabolically twisted and entertaining that readers will be sorry when it comes to a stop.

STREET SENSE: I went into this blind, and much of my pleasant surprise is based on the admission that I love a good narcissist story. Perhaps because I've had so many in my own life I find them fascinating. Rouda did a fantastic job with it and this work really had me rapt (and laughing--in a wonderfully uncomfortable way). There were some obvious arcs, but it really didn't matter. It was a fun, compelling read.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE:  Some coping methods are socially acceptable. Some are not. I smile, stroke the handle of the knife hidden so close to me. Sometimes it's the smallest things that can be the most deadly. Mosquitos kill two million people a year. Tragic deaths, if you think about it. Something so small, so easily killed by a human but yet, a menace. The African Cape Buffalo on the other hand will actively stalk and attack the hunter who wounded it. Because of this revenge motive, this drive to hurt those who hurt it, the buffalo kills more people in Africa than any other predator. I've always liked buffalo...I'm a buffalo in disguise. It's like method acting, sort of.

COVER NERD SAYS:  In some ways, this cover feels like just one in the crowd of covers with images of women's bodies which have become so ubiquitous. Because I'm a sucker for water images and the font used on the title has some sneaky water effects, I might have fallen for this one on a shelf. I like the palette as well. There's nothing particularly special about it, but nothing really wrong with it. And I also give it props for at least being somewhat relevant to the story. Thumb up more than thumb down.

UNSUB :: Meg Gardiner

Today is publication day for one of the summer's most anticipated thrillers, Meg Gardiner's Unsub. Raves have been flying in from all fronts, most noticeably from other thrill masters such as Don Winslow and Stephen King. If you love serial killer stories (which sounds horrible, but y'all know what I mean) or are an aficionado of the Zodiac killer case, this one's for you.

Detective Mack Hendrix hunted prolific serial killer The Prophet for five years. The Prophet didn't literally take Mack's life, but did cost him his job, his marriage, his sense of self and the childhood of his daughter, Caitlin. Then The Prophet disappeared.

Twenty years later, Caitlin Hendrix has followed in her father's footsteps, working narcotics with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department. Following an intense raid, Caitlin is called back out to a murder scene. Why? Because it appears either The Prophet is back or a copy cat is taking over where he left off. 

Despite Caitlin's lack of time on the job, her experience with The Prophet is only topped by that of her father, and it will take both of them to get to the bottom of the new spate of horrific crimes.

Full of intense action sequences and a motivational puzzle that has eluded authorities for decades, Unsub is an intense ride down a twisted road full of pathology. Not for the faint of heart, but at least you've still got a heart. Plus, kickass cover: 

BLOOD WEDDING :: Pierre Lemaitre

"I am afraid. The dead are surfacing. In the darkness. I can count them one by one. In the darkness, I see them sitting at a table, side by side. In the darkness."

Pierre Lemaitre has one of the most wonderfully twisted minds of crime fiction and the psychological thriller. On the heels of his award-winning Commandant Verhoeven trilogy (Alex, Irene and Camille, two of which won the prestigious CWA International Dagger Award), Lemaitre has written a tremendous standalone novel in Blood Wedding.

Sophie Duguet is losing her mind. She's forgetting things (where she parked her car, the date she and her husband have theater tickets, items she put in her purse while shopping), becoming uncharacteristically unreliable, and spiraling into depression and paranoia. Worse, the visions she has of hurting people start playing out in real life.

When the bodies connected to Sophie start adding up, she goes on the run, changing her name and location repeatedly to stay ahead of the authorities. Safety is hard to come by when she doesn't understand what she's running from, but as Sophie looks back she begins to figure out she’s up against more than her own mind. Unsettling and smart, Blood Wedding is intricately plotted along parallel timelines, and the screws tighten skillfully as Lemaitre winds through Sophie’s nightmare and toward the ultimate reveal.

Lemaitre's work is inspired and disturbing and can't be trusted. With precise yet elegant prose, he manipulates and unnerves. Like Sophie, the only thing the reader can be sure of is that things aren’t what they seem. Although Lemaitre’s work is not normally for the faint of heart, Blood Wedding is more about psychology than violence and thus relatively safe for the squeamish.

STREET SENSE: If you are a fan of the psychological thriller, of being held in suspense along with your protagonist and not knowing what's happening under the surface, grab this one. If you like a bit of twisted with your thriller, grab this one. Lemaitre is a master. If you're into crime fiction, read the trilogy. Read any Lemaitre, an author this good should be more well-known here in the U.S.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE:  Sophie never measures the years since she first went mad. It goes back too far. Perhaps because of the anguish involved, she feels the years count double. It began as a gradual descent, but as the months passed she be an to feel she was on a toboggan, hurtling downhill. Sophie was married then. It was a time before...all this...A therapist suggested a spell in the hospital. She refused, until death arrived, uninvited, to join her madness.

COVER NERD SAYS:  Lemaitre's covers are usually quite simple, a single image against a dark background. I'm not a huge fan of the single flower covers, which seem to have flooded the cover market as of late. However, I do like the fact that this dark red rose is tinged with black, and I love what they've done with Lemaitre's name. Overall I think the cover is ominously effective, I just wish the image was something other than a flower.

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is reprinted here with permission.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS :: B.A. Paris

Grace would rather not spend her life alone, but she's been having trouble finding the right man to share her life. Her devotion to her sister Millie, who has Down syndrome, always seems to be a deal-breaker. Then Grace meets Jack Angel. Jack, who has movie star good looks and charisma to burn, is a star attorney who represents battered women and has never lost a case.

Grace can't believe her luck. Not only is Jack crazy about her, but he loves Millie as well, and doesn't blink an eye at Grace's plan for Millie to move in with them once she turns 18 and is done at boarding school. After a whirlwind courtship, Jack and Grace marry and move into the dream house Jack built for their family, including a special bedroom just for Millie.

The Angels settle into their perfect lives and from the outside all appears well. But what if it wasn't luck that brought Jack into Grace and Millie's lives? And isn't their 'perfect' relationship just a little too 'perfect' to be believed?

Behind Closed Doors is a steam train of a psychological thriller. I can't remember the last time I wanted to stay up way past my bedtime to finish a book. If I hadn't started this one so late in the morning, I would have made it. Paris does a great job of making the pieces of this thriller fit together.

All too often, a psychological or "domestic thriller" will leave me rolling my eyes at one partner's choices or actions. While some pushing of the envelope is often necessary to keep the story moving, Paris does a good job of at least providing rationale, however warped, for her characters' actions, even when they fall in the "What the hell?" column.

STREET SENSE: Along alternating timelines, Grace and Jack's past and present unfold, winding together and building anticipation for a final confrontation. Behind Closed Doors is a riveting thriller that may keep you up into the wee hours.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE: I almost didn't pick one, as it was difficult to be non-spoilery, and this book isn't after unique or dreamy turns of phrase. Paris simply motors through in a manner that keeps you turning the pages. But I thought this one added a little something without giving much away:

I'm beginning to despair of anyone ever questioning the absolute perfectness of our lives and, whenever we are with friends, I marvel at their stupidity in believing that Jack and I never argue, that we agree about absolutely everything, that I, an intelligent thirty-two-year-old woman with no children, could be content to sit at home all day and play house.

COVER NERD SAYS: It's not just that I'm a wood nerd that makes me a fan of this cover. I love a clean image that is somewhat mysterious, and this one is that. It's simple, and yet the image along with the title can leave no doubt what this book will bring, and it brings it with gas. I also love the tag line, which is just big enough to add to the cover without being distracting. If I had to pick nits, I'm not sure why the light from the keyhole is necessary (if that's even what that flare is supposed to be). I think a dark keyhole would have been even more effective. Overall, though, this is a winner.