A BEST BOOK OF 2019 — People, Boston Globe, Kirkus, BookBub, PopSugar, CrimeReads, SheReads and more.“Crime fiction like you’ve never seen before…brilliant.” –New York TimesEven good people are drawn to do evil things … Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, … house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice–and killed him in cold blood.
Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, having put aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?
Introducing one of the most compelling and original killers in crime fiction today, Lisa Unger takes readers deep inside the minds of both perpetrator and victim, blurring the lines between right and wrong, crime and justice, and showing that sometimes people deserve what comes to them.
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Abuse is a much noted event in today’s world. This story pulls the curtain back on those who live with the scars of abuse. Rich characters, relationships and feelings made this book very interesting and thought provoking. You will question crime, punishment, and horrors that rob youth of innocence.
A terrific read that wraps up nicely in the end.
An excellent book. I highly recommend.
/ 5
I finally read my first Lisa Unger book!! The Stranger Inside was hard to put down, super suspenseful, and some moments were positively pulse-pounding, especially the flashbacks.
The Stranger Inside was a thriller that had so many layers, and I constantly wondered where the book was going. I figured out right away who the male voice was so there isn’t really a secret there, but a few of the other things that you find out later I didn’t see coming at all. I really enjoyed Unger’s writing style and it was all very fluid and well thought out. My only complaint is that I think it got a little repetitive at times though, and I could have done without some of the repeated thoughts and feelings.
The Stranger Inside is very dark, very disturbing, and very gritty. However, it wasn’t really gory or too descriptive which might make it easier for some people to read. It also ended in a way I totally was not expecting!!
Final Thought: At first I thought it was starting out like Dexter but that wasn’t really the case in my opinion, although there is a faint nod to it. I think The Stranger Inside is going to make a perfect read for thriller fans and people who like to ponder the idea of revenge and bad people getting ‘what they deserve’. I was hooked from the very first chapter, and I can’t wait to read more books by Unger!
What a thriller! I picked up Lisa Unger’s book and was hoping for something that would pull me in, keep me up at night having to read, and leave me wanting more. The Stranger Inside is all that and more.
The characters are so wonderful. They have gone through a hell that no one should have to and are now living with what happened to them. Rain has tried to find a normal life, a life that fulfills her, with her wonderful husband and her beautiful daughter but is unable to entirely put her childhood behind her. Hank is also struggling. They both have careers that fulfill them but something is missing. The closure of what happened to them is not there.
I had a clue as to who the vigilante was but I never saw the rest of the story coming. I was so in awe of what else was going on. The clues were there, the story was being told perfectly, and I was so into the story that I never saw how it would all come together.
Lisa Unger wrote an amazing story that pulled me in, kept me turning pages, and left me wanting so much more.
Amazing story!
The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger is a compelling contemporary psychological murder suspense. It will keep the reader on their toes as they read with heart racing.
Lisa Unger has created a marvellous well thought out plotline that both entertains and horrifies. She presents a world that is not a clear cut black and white but comprised of various shades of grey.
Life is a lottery, a series of choices. If we had chosen differently, the outcome would have been vastly altered.
Monsters lurk around in various guises, some we recognise, others surprise us.
Traumatic events haunt lives. We seem like we can never break free. PTSD does not just happen to service men and women, it can happen to anyone at any time.
The novel deals with the question of nature or nurture. Are monsters made or are they a product of their genes? Do we continue to commit the sins of the fathers?
A name change signifies a change in character. The past is behind, the future ahead.
We cannot forget our friends from childhood. Friends may be torn from us cruelly but friendship bonds are harder to break.
The Stranger Within was a fabulous read. It was creepy, sinister and marvellously put together. The characters were realistically drawn and believable. The Stranger Within was a compulsive read… not to be read alone or at night. It was my first read by Lisa Unger but I shall be seeking out more, more, more.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
This book was written so wonderfully, as Ms. Unger’s usual. The storyline, characters both realistic. This is a book that when you finish takes a minute to leave that world and re-enter reality. And then? Ugh. Can’t find another book written that well, started six and none satisfied. So, had to go back and read all her other books. And now? Ugh again. You absolutely will not regret buying or reading this book. Hopefully you won’t regret finishing it as much as I do,
Oh. My. Gosh. Such a good writer. Such a good book.
Lisa Unger imbues her characters with such deep psychological insight that we become greatly involved with them and their story.
When Rain Winter was twelve-years-old she narrowly escaped an abduction. Her friends, Tess and Hank, were not so lucky.
While Rain hid a hollow log, she watched them being beaten and dragged away.
Tess never came home. Hank was never the same.
Some years later, Eugene Kreskey, the evil man who committed the horrific crime and who had a troubled childhood of his own, is released back into society. Before long he is murdered in the same same manner in which he killed.
The case eventually goes cold.
Rain goes on to become an investigative journalist and producer for NNR, National News Radio.
Hanks becomes a psychiatrist. He helps youths overcome trauma. He also becomes…something else.
Still more years later, Rain is a stay-at-home mom to her adorable daughter, Lily.
She still misses being a reporter. She lived for the “story”, especially the “why”.
When another man unjustly acquitted for the murder of his wife is killed in the same way he killed, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case.
There are similarities to the murder of Eugene Kreskey, forcing Rain to face a past she desperately wants to leave behind.
As she gets deeper involved in the case, the twists and shocking reveals pick up the pace until they reach a fever-pitch of suspense-filled goodness!
This story takes us into the mind of one of the most interesting and original killers I’ve ever read in fiction.
It is outstanding. You’ll never see what’s coming.
Lina Unger always delivers. Once I was in the last third of the book I was gripping the pages so tight that my knuckles hurt, my pulse was racing, and I was short of breath. I couldn’t put it down!
You might want paramedics standing by.
The man was sent to prison but years later he was released. A year after that, someone delivered real justice and killed him in cold blood.
Another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead.
When Rain was 12 years old, she was targeted by a criminal. She escaped, but he managed to take the two friends she was with him. One came back .. the other did not.
Because these murders are suspiciously similar to what happened to her, she is forced to remember the horrors of that one night.
This is a trip through not only the killer’s mind … but the victims, as well. Book Blurb: The lines between right and wrong, crime and justice are blurred. Sometimes people deserve what comes to them … don’t they?
This is an extremely well written psychological thriller. The mystery in The Stranger Inside, involves the murder of criminals that have somehow “escaped justice”, just like the abductor that took her friends. Rain, being the former journalist she is, starts an investigation of her own to find out if these cases are truly related.
Many thanks to the author / Park Row Books / Netgalley. I received a digital copy of this crime fiction at no charge and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
A darkly thrilling tale of survival and obsession. Lisa Unger never disappoints.