“[A] sharply written and taut psychological thriller…” —Seattle TimesA woman’s idyllic life becomes a deceptive hall of mirrors in a thriller of exquisitely constructed psychological suspense by A. J. Banner, bestselling author of The Good Neighbor.Elise Watters seems to have it all—a blissful marriage, a gorgeous Victorian home surrounded by lush gardens, and a dream job running her late … gardens, and a dream job running her late mother’s herbal boutique.
But on the eve of her first wedding anniversary, Elise makes a shocking discovery that turns her life upside down and casts doubt on everything she thought she knew—about her marriage, her friends, and even herself. As she treads into dangerous territory, Elise is forced to wonder: Is her whole future at stake? Or is paranoia getting the best of her?
If she is to believe what she sees, Elise has every reason to fear for her life…
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Fast-paced, chilling, binge-worthy, suspenseful, and a super quick, compulsive read. THE POISON GARDEN has all the great components of an intense thriller and everything I love about Banner’s stories.
THE POISON GARDEN by A. J. Banner is a gripping psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I loved her last book, AFTER NIGHTFALL and couldn’t wait to read her new book. Only days before celebrating their first anniversary, the main character, Elise, returns home from a work trip a day early to find her husband, Kieran in bed with another woman. From this point on, a tangled web of dark secrets and lies are revealed that have Elise questioning her own sanity as well as the intentions of everyone around her. Is there anyone she can trust? There are so many twists and turns in the story and I never guessed the shocking ending. The writing is excellent and the descriptions are so vivid, I felt like I was right there with the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced and suspenseful book and highly recommend it. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for chance to read and review an early copy.
Twisty, dark, and addictive, this is up-all-night reading from one of today’s best suspense authors. The ultimate page-turner!
A fast-paced ride that leaves you guessing until the last page. The Poison Garden is sure to please fans of Banner’s work. Engrossing and fun, I read it in one sitting.
The Poison Garden is a taut, absorbing, richly atmospheric thriller. I started it one morning and finished it late the same night. A. J. Banner is a master of smart psychological suspense.
After Elise Watters’ first marriage to a controlling husband, she thinks she has found the love of her life. She enjoys the quiet of an ‘island life’ where she runs her late mother’s herbal boutique, and enjoys the friendship of her neighbor – or so she thinks.
Due to Elise’s sleepwalking and paranoia she is not sure who she can trust. It is amazing the games her mind is playing on her – OR maybe it is reality. Just when she figures she has life figured out, it changes.
Hold on to your chair, as THE POISON GARDEN provides quite a ride!
5* Juliet Stars
When I saw the enticing cover and title of the book, then read it was a psychological thriller, I dived head first into the book and did not surface until I had read the last page. Needless to say I absolutely loved this book.
You will be hooked from the first page and taken on a very fast paced ride with lots of twists, turns and red herrings and guessing until the last page is read. If you are looking for a thrilling read with deception, lies, love and loyalty then I highly recommend this wonderfully written suspense.
A. J. Banner has crafted yet another wonderfully dark tale of love and loss with The Poison Garden, a fast-paced, twisted ride into the depths of obsession and deceit.
I have loved all of Banner’s other books and was super excited to dive into The Poison Garden. The book jumped right into the action and emotion. It had me completely on edge as the story pieced together little by little.
The plot and suspense continued to build throughout and I was dying to know how it would all fall into place.
The Poison Garden had me anxious and paranoid, angry and suspicious. Banner was terrific at driving my emotions into a whirlwind. I was also unsure of who to trust as things developed and there were so many blank and blurry memories that I needed to come clear. My pulse raced along with the page numbers as I tried to figure everything out. This book was intense to say the least! My head is still spinning.
I read an advanced copy of The Poison Garden and absolutely loved this new thriller by A J Banner!! This was the first novel I had read by her, so now I am purchasing other novels written by this exciting new (to me) author!!
I can easily give The Poison Garden a five star rating! To be published on October 22, 2019, this is a novel that should be on your reading list if you love psychological, page turner, thrillers!!
This kept me turning the pages. I couldn’t figure out who the real villain was until the end. Very twisty and surprising!
I held onto this book until the last page! Banner does a wonderful job on keeping her readers guessing what will happen next, just when you think the book can’t get any better…it does! Highly recommend this thriller.
I have read and been following the works of AJ Banner for many years and to sum it up, she gets better with every book-if that’s possible.
She is very good at providing suspense and making a book a paper turner you can’t put down.
interesting twists
Oh my wow! This book was incredible!
I am at a loss for words right now and am scrambling to put together a decent review. I really think that this is one book you need to read, like now. If you like mystery and suspense, this book has it.
From the first paragraph AJ Banner grabs you and pulls you in. When I wasn’t reading this book I was thinking about it. I just had to know what was going to happen next. There were so many twists throughout the story, but not too much that would cause you to lose track of what was happening. As the story developed it became hard to trust anyone that was in Elise’s life. I think AJ Banner did any amazing job with this story line and creating characters with so much dept.
Mystery Monday it is, my Most Marvelous Book Dragons! I do hope the start of this week hasn’t been too tough on you, but if it has and you are looking for a bit of escape..this evening’s Gem may prove to be just what the doctor ordered. Tonight’s Gem is Ruby Red. It’s facets shining against the deep leaf green of the velvet upon which it sits. See the faint black lines that run through it like a poison among the perfect cuts and details? Ahh..look but do not touch..it could be deadly..and I do so like having you here.
Our Gem Maker is A.J.Banner. Mystery Authoress extraordinaire! This is no ordinary mystery, this is full of dangerous twists, tight turns and fast curves. This will throw you off the scent and bring you back on again until your head is swimming like you’ve just sipped a cyanide Manhattan. What is this book? “The Poison Garden”, a masterpiece of psychological tricks, one big natural medicine bag of suspenseful joy. If all her tales are like this one, Banner may well go down as this generation’s Du Maurier. But let me explain…
Suppose you came home, a day early to surprise your spouse for your anniversary and instead of finding him at work, you instead found him in bed with a lover? Suppose in your mounting shock, you then overheard them talking about what sounds like a plot to murder you? Suppose, even after all this, you then find, not a day later, that your spouse is also in over his head in debt, and I mean WAY OVER, as in the zeroes at the end of the balance just keep coming? And you are only worth a few paltry million? And Spousey just talked you into making sure all your assets go to You Know Who should you kick off, join The Choir Invisible, suddenly find the gophers are bringing you your mail? Yes, my dear ones.. they get it all if you die! All your millions, your house, your investments.. even..why even your little tea and herb shop out back, that you inherited from your mum.. that little shop where you can use plants to make all sorts of goodies to do all sorts of things to peo..uh..I mean.. where you can heal all sorts of ailments! What would you do? I can tell you what A.J. Banner’s characters do.. but I won’t because I don’t do spoilers. What I can tell you is this…
I loved this tale. Elise, the main character, is strong, smart and not given to collapsing over little things. She is the most human character I have ever seen written for a situation like this. Her next door neighbor Chantal, is supportive, intelligent and not averse to bending the law to help out a pal. Elise’s husband, Dr. Kieran Lund is very realistic in Banner’s portrayal of him as smart, cunning and wily. Then there is Brandon, her caring, successful ex-husband is just the right sort of guy for this whole mess. This reminded me very much of a Du Maurier novel. I could see the entire story in my head. The perfect characters, the perfect story line, the twists, turns, the plot..the reasonable policeman. I love old movies and I made a cast list in my head of who would have been perfect in these parts, but I won’t share it because it might give something away. Perhaps I will share it someday.
I forgot to breath a few times. I read until my eyes hurt and then I moistened them, rested them, and read some more. I went through an entire pot of tea and two cups of coffee. The only thing in this entire book that disappointed me was the ending.. I didn’t want it to. (Greedy ol’ Dragon, aren’t I?) You really must get this book. Put it on your wish list, sit on Santa’s lap (no, I don’t care if you are 50 and don’t want to) and tell him you want this book. You can find it on Amazon in 5 different forms, it’s even free on Kindle Unlimited right now .
Until tomorrow I remain, your humble Book Dragon, Drakon T. Longwitten
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Goodreads and AJ Banner for the This book that I won on Goodreads, it sounded just like a book I would read when I entered for it.
My first time reading this Author and certainly won’t be my last! I loved the many twists and turns in this book and I do love it even more when I can’t figure out the ending, I was stumped and surprised.
A roller coaster ride of a read a real definition of a domestic thriller!
Another one of my favorite books by A.J!!! Fast paced read and had me questioning to the end. This book will definitely have to on the edge of your seat!
A suspenseful read that kept me up and kept me guessing. Even when I thought I might have it figured out, there would be a twist to create some self-doubt. What I loved about the book was that it remained focused on the main characters and didn’t continually introduce meaningless characters. That is so annoying, and detracts from the intimate experience with a book. Another thing I loved is that everyone in the story was suspicious. There’s the wealthy wife who sleepwalks. She’s inherited her mother’s garden in which there’s a poisonous plant. There’s the ex-husband who seems to be hanging around when, shouldn’t he be moving on? There’s the neighbor, who makes it known early on that there’s something about her past. Then, there’s the new husband, a doctor, who appears sinister from the very beginning. This was a great book, with the convenient Read and Listen feature, and a good narrator.
The poison garden is such a Fantastic book
I had such a hard time putting it down.
Elisa is newly married and one day before her 1 year anniversary, she finds her new husband in bed with Diana, shes totally blown away. Tells her new husband get out with knife in hand…
Asked her ex husband to change the locks so the husband can no longer get in….Elisa has bigger problems coming…
This book is Fabulous. A Must Read .
So Excited That I Got To Read Early..
Thank you .Netgally for this early read it was amazing..