From the author of the New York Times bestseller All the Missing Girls–the gripping story of a journalist who sets out to find her missing friend, a friend who may never have existed at all. “Think: Luckiest Girl Alive, The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl” (TheSkimm). When Leah Stevens’ career implodes, a chance meeting with her old friend Emmy Grey offers her the perfect opportunity to start over. … Emmy Grey offers her the perfect opportunity to start over. Emmy, just out of a bad relationship, convinces Leah to come live with her in rural Pennsylvania, where there are teaching positions available and no one knows Leah’s past.
Or Emmy’s.
When the town sees a spate of vicious crimes and Emmy Grey disappears, Leah begins to realize how very little she knows about her friend and roommate. Unable to find friends, family, a paper trail or a digital footprint, the police question whether Emmy Grey existed at all. And mark Leah as a prime suspect.
Fighting the doubts of the police and her own sanity, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey–and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.
Megan Miranda delivers a deep, dark and twisty novel just as thrilling as her New York Times bestseller All the Missing Girls.more
Couldn’t stop reading once I was passed the half way point! A quick, smart thriller that danced nicely with the unreliable-narrator device used in some recent popular reads.
I really tore through this psychological thriller! This is very much in the same family as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, but I agree with what others have said about it — the writing is better. The pacing is excellent, the plot is compelling and unpredictable, and Miranda writes interesting, fully realized female characters who take action. Also, there were some truly eerie parts that really grabbed me. Highly recommend!
The Perfect Stranger is the story of Leah, a disgraced journalist forced to leave Boston for Western Pennsylvania, to a house in the middle of nowhere with a girl she hasn’t seen in eight years. Leah initially met Emmy Grey right after graduating college and being rejected from a job she thought she was a shoo-in for. Emmy let her stay with her for a fraction of the rent, and Leah always thought Emmy had saved her during her time in need.
Fast forward eight years, Leah hasn’t heard a word from Emmy since she joined the Peace Corps a few months after Leah moved in, when she bumps into her in a bar in Boston. Coincidence? Both looking for escape, they move to PA, a quiet, nothing town where they can disappear. But when a girl shows up nearly dead by the river, and Emmy vanishes, Leah has to question everything.
The plot was engaging and fast paced enough to make you want to read, but literary enough to be approachable to non-thriller readers. Everything about this one was good, including the ending, the one thing most likely to make or break any thriller.
I loved All the Missing Girls and the unique way that Miranda told that story so when I saw this book at my library I had to pick it up. I don’t want to say too much or give anything away but I will say that Miranda does an amazing job with this book of turning what you think she’s trying to do (because you’ve read Missing Girls and know she’s done it before) entirely on its head. It’s the perfect curveball that she uses what you know of her writing against you so that you’re completely sure she’s playing a character one way and then she twists that around into something far more complex and thrilling. I enjoyed this story from start to finish including the side characters that were quirky and weird and just creepy enough to make me question each and every one of them at one point or another. This is another win from Miranda and I’ve already put another of her books on hold at the library to see what she’s come up with next.
I love Megan Miranda! After reading “All the Missing Girls”, I’ve been snapping up anything I can find of hers. This story did not disappoint!
A fantastic mystery with well-drawn characters and a twisty plot. The protagonist, Leah was sullen and secretive, but she was believable and the story intriguing. I really enjoyed the pacing balanced with Leah’s character development.
This was a suspenseful & thrilling read! I was really looking forward to this book because I really loved “All The Missing Girls” by Megan Miranda. I went into this book blind, solely based on my love for ATMG. I enjoyed this one but not nearly as much as the other.
Miranda has such a phenomenal ability to pull the reader into her stories within the first few pages. Her writing is engaging and suspenseful, keeping the reader turning the pages. The suspense in this book builds a bit more with each chapter, making it impossible to put the book down.
I didn’t love the main character, Leah who I think was created to be an unreliable narrator which I usually enjoy. Leah just got on my nerves a bit and I didn’t feel a strong connection to any of the other characters. But, despite that, I did find myself wrapped up in the suspense and wondering which version of reality was the truth. The ending wrapped up all the lose ends nicely however there weren’t enough clues sprinkled throughout the book for me to have guessed any of the twists.
Overall, it was an enjoyable book and I recommend it for those who enjoy suspense or thrillers.
My introduction to Megan Miranda is with her second book, and it’s a page turner. Beyond that, I love her writing style, the prose sharp and crisp, the pacing never falters as I put myself in the protagonist’s (Leah Stevens) shoes and stayed there, start to finish, as she searches for her missing friend/roommate. The police don’t believe her. Her students don’t believe her. Even she starts to doubt her own story. A clever plot, well told, with a fab ending. 5 stars.
This book has me ready to read anything by Megan Miranda! Great author! She puts you right in the story!
Since All the Missing Girls topped my list of must-read mysteries in 2016, I had to get my hands on The Perfect Stranger as quickly as possible.
I’m so glad I did!
To compare the books would be an injustice. More than replicating the clever formula and format of her previous bestseller, author Megan Miranda has written a knockout stand-alone that is entirely its own being. The Perfect Stranger is told in a linear fashion rather in reverse like All the Missing Girls without recycling anything other than the author’s uncanny (and commendable) ability to seamlessly tie together past and present events in a manner that doesn’t give away too much at once.
Disgraced journalist Leah Stevens reconnects with Emmy, a girl with whom she lived after college, and finds that there’s a lot she doesn’t know about this friend she hasn’t seen in eight years. Things she never knew. Dangerous things that make her appear crazy to the police when, after starting over in Pennsylvania (both on the run from something), Leah becomes the object of a stalker’s attention and Emmy disappears. Can you know every intimate detail from the curve of someone’s body to how they breathe in their sleep and still know nothing about their identity?
An incredible story about the bonds we create during times of need, The Perfect Stranger will make you wish you had a friendship as close as Emmy and Leah’s while making you simultaneously grateful you don’t. A fast-paced, twisty mystery with impeccable characters, a well thought out plot, and unputdownable prose, The Perfect Stranger reinforces Megan Miranda as one of my absolute favorite authors.
Thank you to author Megan Miranda and Simon & Schuster for an early review copy of The Perfect Stranger.
I love Megan Miranda’s mysteries and really enjoyed this follow-up to the spectacular All the Missing Girls. There’s something inherently readable about Miranda’s books and I found myself staying up late to finish this one in one sitting. The plot is twisty and I love how the reader feels as though they are a detective as Miranda unfurls her clues one by one.
The characters in this one were enigmatic and I loved the suspense and tension that pervaded their interactions. I was truly left guessing throughout the novel, attempting to discern what had happened, who had done it, and why. There are so many elements to Miranda’s books and this one was compelling and thought-provoking.
Miranda also does a wonderful job with her settings and I felt as though I was also in an isolated cabin in the woods as I read this book. Atmospheric and enigmatic, I highly recommend this book for mystery and thriller fans.
Slowly unraveling psychological mystery
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
This is Megan Miranda’s second book, and although it is billed as #2 of All the Missing Girls, it is not part of a series and both are stand-alone books. I enjoyed All The Missing Girls, and The Perfect Stranger was also an enjoyable read.
Journalist/reporter Leah Stevens runs into an old friend at an opportune time. Leah’s life is in turmoil as she has been forced to resign her position at a newspaper, her reputation as a journalist has taken a big hit, and she has a restraining order against her. When Leah meets up with her old roommate, Emmy, who has just left a failed relationship with her fiancee, both leave Boston looking for a fresh start in Pennsylvania. Things start out well, but soon Emmy disappears without a trace. Or did she even exist?
This was a suspenseful read with quite a few subplots and twists. We follow Leah’s attempt to find out what happened to Emmy, all the while trying to keep her own past secret. The story will take off in a direction you didn’t see coming and keep you guessing, although it does bog down in some parts. The ending was a bit unsatisfying as it felt totally out of character for Leah (I can’t explain further without giving some things away!). But then I thought perhaps it was the central theme and questions of the plot that was most important, not the ending. How well do we really know anyone? How far do you go for a friend? How do you know who to trust? Can the truth have different perspectives? Overall, this was a good book with a lot going on, but it was all pulled together nicely.
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What a read … one minute you think you know what’s going on and “who is who” … the next minute you’re doubting yourself. A very entertaining read. And when you forget you’ve read it, it’s just as good the second time around.
The Perfect Stranger has been on my TBR list for years and I FINALLY got around to reading it. I thoroughly enjoyed Leah’s story and the constant guessing about what was really going on behind the scenes. Leah was an interesting narrator to follow, even if at times I felt like she had absolutely no survival instincts. I was hoping for a little more suspense throughout the story. If there had been more suspense, The Perfect Stranger would have definitely gotten 5-stars!
Leah Stevens moves with her old friend Emmy Grey to rural Pennsylvania to escape the threat of a lawsuit at her old journalist job. Seems like the plan to move and start over was a great idea until Emmy disappears and Leah finds herself in the middle of the investigation into her disappearance and a local death. Great suspenseful read!
I truly enjoyed this book. It was well written and very original. I’m much older than the character in the book, but I recognized some of her traits as ones I had at that age. I enjoyed her thought process. It was a good ending as well.
*3.5 Stars*
Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What in the hell did I just read? Honestly, this story had me intrigued fro the start, and it takes a really long while to place together all the pieces. And even then, I was still left with a tonne of questions at the end.
Leah and her friends, even though they’re mostly spoken about from her POV as memories in the past, were intriguing characters. Kyle the Detective seemed pretty cool. Lots of things going on this one, and it keeps you on edge wondering what actually happened.
To be honest I don’t remember it. I believe I liked it but obviously didn’t make a lasting impression.
I have read all of this author’s books