A BUSTLE PERFECT VACATION READ USA Today BestsellerFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes a new novel of nerve-jangling suspense as a woman haunted by guilt realizes that nothing can be trusted—not even her own memory . . . There are people in Edgewater, Oregon, who think that twenty years ago, Rachel Gaston got away with murder. Rachel still has no idea how a foolish … who think that twenty years ago, Rachel Gaston got away with murder.
Rachel still has no idea how a foolish teenaged game turned deadly—or who replaced her soft pellet air gun with a real weapon. When a figure leapt out at her from the darkness, she fired without thinking. Too late, she recognized her half-brother, Luke, and saw blood blooming around his chest.
Despite counseling, Rachel’s horrifying dreams about that night continue. Her anxiety contributed to her divorce from Detective Cade Ryder, though he blames himself too. But as Rachel’s high school reunion nears, she feels her imagination playing tricks, convincing her that objects in her house have moved. That there’s a hint of unfamiliar cologne in the air. That someone is tailing her car. Watching her home.
She’s right to be scared. And as connections surface between a new string of murders and Luke’s death, Rachel realizes there’s no escaping the past, and the truth may be darker than her worst fears . . .
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When I first started reading thrillers, Lisa Jackson was one of the first authors I was drawn to, and while I haven’t read much from her recently due to the ridiculous length of my TBR list, it’s nice to see that she’s just as good as ever.
Rachel, you poor, nervous thing….are you truly paranoid, or is someone actually out to get you? There are people in Edgewater, Oregon (an incestuous little town if ever there was one), who think that twenty years ago, Rachel Gaston got away with the murder of her own brother. But did she? Figuring this out is half the fun, so you won’t find any spoilers here. There’s alot going on in this story, and the author thoughtfully provides a ton of characters on which to cast your suspicions, keeping the reader off balance.
I do have a bone to pick: Rachel’s kids. THEY ARE SUCH LITTLE ASSHOLES. They are the worst teenage cliches on two legs. I can’t even tell you how many times I thought to myself “OMG I’d have slapped you by now.” At one point, I thought that maybe Harper (the eldest and most bitchy child) would start to understand her mom’s paranoia, and mellow the hell out…..not so. I also feel like the author spends far too much time on Dylan’s little “side business” before actually telling us what it is.
The reveals definitely got me! I hadn’t been able to guess up to that point, and that’s a good thing. It also seems as though it may have been left open for a sequel? Not necessary, in my opinion, as it stands on its own.
Thank you to the folks at SheSpeaks.com for the advanced copy!
Lisa Jackson does it again. That is, she wrote a fantastic who dun-it and kept me up late at night!! The characters in this book are easy to ‘relate’ to and some you want to pinch their head off i.e. the kids!!
Is someone really following Rachel, and is it connected to the 20 years ago killing of her half brother? Do her classmates who are planning the 20 year reunion of graduation in on the ‘game’ that someone is playing with Rachel’s family? And what is it with the kids? One too whiney, self absorbed, and ‘in love’ while the other one is hacking school computers and selling what? All these questions do get answered, but meanwhile, there are new murders to contend with along with a broken marriage or two and ‘friends’ who are not friends that making it all difficult to find the truth.
I’ve enjoyed Ms. Jackson’s writings before and this was no exception. However, that being said, I only gave it 4 out of 5* because of the editing. There were phrases that were repeated so often, they became distractions. (ie ‘she said aloud’,) I could think of ways to say that without using the word ‘aloud’ which I tend to do when I read books. Rewrite in my head 🙂
This is will not deter me from reading more from Ms. Jackson as her books are always a good choice when I’m in the mood for a good mystery. And I can see maybe a sequel to this one coming.
Very interesting characters and my guesses of “who dun it” continued to change up to the last page. I just couldn’t put this book down.
The authors did a good job of deals
I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one lol. I was pleasantly surprised. The writing is good, the story engaging and the characters well rounded. I was pulled in from beginning to end and while I had my theories, and I did guess the murderer, the rest was a surprise.
I love when that happens and definitely recommend this one if you’re in search of a good psychological thriller.
Great ending, keeps you guessing throughout the story!
Could not put it down until the very end!!
This was a good story line but the main character didn’t cut it. She was, at times, much too needy and flakey to be believable. It was frustrating to read. I kept wanting her to be strong and do the right things instead of being so clueless.
While I’m not much for horror, I love suspense thrillers. With Halloween right around the corner and the cluster that has been 2020, I wanted to celebrate with something to get my blood pressure and heart rate up, so I recommended this book for my book club’s group read.
It did not disappoint!
From the chilling beginning and interspersing bits in the hypnotherapist’s office, my attention and imagination were artfully held captive.
The history of a bunch of teenagers sneaking out and doing something irresponsible that ended in the tragic death (there was debate as to whether it was accidental or deliberate) was compelling and made for a traumatized, overly cautious heroine suffering from PTSD and with good reason.
That one moment has influenced every part of her life. While she’s smart and tries to be strong, fear and regret undermine her. Despite everything, she’s managed to raise smart, creative, if a little rebellious and manipulative kids. While she may have been divorced, my inner romantic hoped for a reunion and a happily ever after, because while she and her husband were far from perfect, overall they were good people trying to do their best.
As bodies piled up I found myself holding my breath wondering who was next, who was responsible, and exactly what tied all the deaths together. (Not gonna lie, there were some characters whose deaths I was rooting for…. Read the book, you’ll see what I mean and that they deserved the ill will.)
In the end, this book had all kinds of twists and turns and gave my blood pressure the high it was looking for, and just when you thought you understood everything, it messed with you again.
Soooo worth all the sleep I lost.
Good read. Always like Lisa Jackson. Great story teller
Slow to start but eventually I got hooked I to the story! Liked the who!e concept of the story
I had a little bit of a hard time sticking with the book, it just tried really hard to be gripping, without giving anything to the main characters to work with. I really only stuck with it because it kept teasing that the ending was really messed up (which it kinda was), but I didn’t like that the pieces of information weren’t there for the reader to figure out or wonder on their own. It was more being led by the nose until she wanted to reveal her secrets.
I liked the writing style more than some of the characters. It annoys me when the main female character is weak, confused, etc. The 2 kids were heathens. The ending reveal of the killer wasn’t at all surprising. There were a few other twists that I didn’t predict though. All in all a decent mystery/thriller book.
You might think you know who the bad guy is, but I read a lot of mysteries and I am pretty certain you will not! Lisa Jackson does an outstanding job of blending past and present in an easy read with plenty going on.
I loved this book! It caught your attention and kept it, especially as your trying to figure out everything that Lisa Jackson presents to you – what’s going on with Rachel’s son Dylan and her daughter Harper, is Rachel really losing it or is someone purposefully messing with her, what’s going to happen with her and Cade? So many questions it will keep you guessing until the very end!
So many twists and turns and this even though this is fiction, it’s very realistic and you’re sucked in from the moment that you open this book.
This is one of the most riveting, nerve-racking books I’ve ever read. I was on edge the entire time I read this one, and it was nearly impossible to put down. Lisa Jackson did a great job with suspense. I thought up theories until the very last page, and almost every one of them was proven wrong with a shocking twist.
The characters were extremely well-written. They had depth, and the character development was amazing. Throughout the course of the book, you could tell that even if the changes were subtle, the characters were still growing into better versions of themselves.
The short chapters with therapy conversations were unique, which I loved. These chapters also kept the suspense going and kept you questioning what you thought you knew. With each new therapy session, my idea of who the true murderer and “ghost” were changed.
As for the grief aspect of the book, I think it was well-thought-out and well-written. Though I can’t relate to the severity of the grief and PTSD Rachel felt, it still felt realistic. Nothing about it felt farfetched or exaggerated.
The ending of this book was phenomenal. The revelation of the true events of the night of Luke’s murder was completely shocking, and despite my attempts to theorize on it, I was completely wrong. In addition to this, Rachel also got a happy ending. I wholeheartedly believe that she deserved the happy ending she got.
Overall, I believe that this is one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read. It genuinely freaked me out from time to time, which is quite rare. It was nice to find a book that would actually scare me, and at the same time, I’ve found a promising thriller author. I’ll definitely check more of her works out.
Enjoy all her books.
Didn’t have a clue who the culprit was until the very end, so many twists and turns it was entertaining to the last paragraph.
Lisa Jackson is always good.
I was disappointed in this book. Maybe I expected too much from Lisa Jackson. The plot moved slowly. I didn’t care about any of the characters. The only reason I finished it is because I’ve read other books by the author that I enjoyed. Not this one.