Nominated for the 2019 Edgar Award, Hammett Prize, and Macavity AwardPopSugar’s Best Mysteries & Thrillers to Read in Fall 2018 CrimeReads Best Book of 2018Booklist’s Best New BookOne of the Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2018 from CrimeReadsOne of Fall 2018’s Most Exciting New Mysteries & Thrillers by BookishBookbub’s One of the Biggest, Most Anticipated Thrillers of the Season, Fall … Biggest, Most Anticipated Thrillers of the Season, Fall 2018 Best Mystery Book Pick, and Editors’ Pick
Library Journal 2018 Killer Thriller
From New York Times bestselling author and master of suspense Lisa Unger comes an addictive psychological thriller about a woman on the hunt for her husband’s killer.
What if the nightmares are actually memories?
It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan’s Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn’t recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack?
The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts—there are periods of time she can’t remember, and she’s unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she’s imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband’s death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?
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Just when I thought I had it figured out, another twist! Very good read.
This book hooked me in the first few pages right up to the end.
nothing good to say about this one
After her husband is murdered, a woman loses it, then disappears for days and can’t remember a thing! Months later, the murder still unresolved, she is haunted by nightmares. She begins to wonder if her husband was having an affair after she remembers finding him looking at an unfamiliar woman on the internet, which he shrugs off. The story and the protagonist were a little too off the deep end to suit me, and then had a predictable ending.
Under My Skin by Lisa Unger
October 2018
Fiction, psychological suspense
I received this digital ARC book from NetGalley and Park Row in exchange for an unbiased review.
Poppy Lang is desperate to solve the murder of her husband Jack who died while out on a run one morning. Unfortunately, she is an unreliable narrator due to her insomnia and paranoia which is exacerbated by her drinking and pill popping.
I must admit that this book has my mind reeling with this plot. I almost felt a bit like Poppy while reading this novel where the murder mystery with so many moving parts and flashbacks that one can only hope is resolved in the end. The tangled dream versus reality theme seemed to end up tying itself into knots. It seems like Poppy is getting help from her therapist, Dr Nash, but then that relationship seems to disappear. It seems Poppy is left to figure out her “hypnagogia” on her own.
Although I found the writing strong and the characters well developed, I found the story line became unnecessarily convoluted which was probably intentional to build suspense. Unfortunately, it felt anticlimactic for me when the story did finally bring all the chaotic tangled pieces together.
This was a psychological thriller which alternated between dream state / nightmares, hallucinations / hypnagogic states, and reality. It was interesting how the author wove these various sequences together so that the reader was always on edge wondering what was real and what wasn’t.
The story made me suspect many of the characters, giving you plenty of reasons why to suspect one or the other, but never enough to convince you. When the conclusion came, I was surprised as to who was the suspect and why.
I also liked how Unger brought Jones Cooper into the novel, although very briefly.
#UnderMySkin #LisaUnger
Lisa Unger favorite author. This book got everything you want from a story. One thing in the book they use alot is HYPNAGOGIA sleep disorder part of the story too I won’t give no spoiler either I hope this is going to be the best seller list any other I think you love this story.
I didn’t get very far in this book it was way too hard to follow
Great story! The story picks up with Poppy, trying to recover from the death of her husband Jack. She is still grieving and picking up the pieces from a breakdown after Jack died. She lost time and is working to figure out what happened and if this lost time has any clues as to why her husband died. A page-turner mystery for sure! I really enjoyed the resolution and didn’t see it coming.
Lisa Unger never fails to produce a page turner.
Very interesting book, good story but quite descriptive. It seemed to drag in places. All and all a good story
Another exciting and addictive book by Lisa Unger. This book takes us through the story about a woman suffering the ramifications of PTSD after the brutal murder of her husband. The reader experiences the blackouts, hallucinations, and flashbacks she faces all while the mystery of finding her husband’s killer unfolds.
Poppy and Jack were successful photojournalists, running their own business. They were madly in love and seemed to have it all, but when Jack gets brutally murdered on his morning run, Poppy’s world ceases to exist. A year later, Jack’s murder remains unsolved. Poppy continues to wade through her grief, barely partaking in her own life. Her friends and family tip-toe around her, afraid she may disappear again to suffer another break down as she did shortly after Jack’s funeral. Fueled by pills, alcohol, and grief, Poppy can no longer differentiate between reality and hallucinations. While her best friend, Layla, convinces her to start dating, thinking it may help in her recovery, Poppy begins having more frequent and intense nightmares, along with prolonged periods of blackouts. Her need to find out what happened to Jack continues to intensify as she begins to remember pieces of her past. When Poppy voices concern about someone following her, will those closest to her believe her? And when Jack’s case begins to unravel, will Poppy be able to face the truth about his death?
While I enjoyed Under My Skin, it wasn’t a 5 star read for me. It was filled with ups and downs and lots of suspense, but after a while all the spacing out and flashbacks started to bother me.
I enjoy books by Lisa Unger and was excited to read this one, but it dragged during the multitude of flashbacks and soon I found myself skimming those parts.
I will continue to read Lisa Unger’s work, I just wouldn’t recommend this one as highly as I usually do her work.
Loved it!
I heard so many great things about this book and it started off well enough. Unfortunately, it started going downhill quickly and snowballed from there. I’m usually a fan of an unreliable narrator, but this one pushed that way past the limit. The story bounces from past to present, but not everything “seen” or “remembered” is reality. It’s done by way of dreams, memories, and/or hallucinations that are all seen through a drug and alcohol induced haze. It’s done in such a way that it’s almost impossible to tell which is which, leading to some flipping back through the pages. I suppose that was intentional, but it mostly just caused confusion and irritation, especially when it became repetitive. Between that and the slow pace, I finally admitted defeat at about the fifty percent mark and started skimming. We finally do get the answers about Jack’s murder, and even with skimming and a red herring or two thrown in, I was still able to figure out who did it. I didn’t have the why of it all but in all honesty, by the time I finally got there, I didn’t care enough about any of the characters for it to make much difference. The only character that I did like was Grayson, who also seemed to be the only sensible person in this rather convoluted tale. As I said, I heard good things about this one prior to reading it, and maybe it’s just me, but it’s safe to say that I was underwhelmed.
This book is shining proof of why Unger is at the top of her game!
The plot of this story was engaging, chilling and full of goose-bump-producing tension and suspense. Poppy was written in such a way, that I felt very invested in everything she was thinking and feeling. I can’t imagine not knowing whether something is real or just imagined and wondering if I have truly lost my mind. My heart couldn’t help but to go out to poor, confused Poppy. Not only is she dealing with the validity of her own sanity, but she is also trying to piece together the ‘missing’ events of her life. As if this is not enough, she is sure that someone is watching her every move. And, that alone, added a delicious creep factor to the story for me.
This was one of those novels that caused me to stay up WAY too late, all-the-while promising myself, “Just ONE more chapter. Okay, REALLY, just ONE more chapter!” But, in light of Unger’s unique and titillating brand of suspense, ‘just one more chapter’ is NEVER enough!
#UnderMySkin #NetGalley
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley & HARLEQUIN – Hanover Square Press (U.S. & Canada) in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
Poppy Lang is having a difficult time healing both physically and emotionally after her husband, Jack, was murdered. There is guilt that she was ill that morning when Jack left for his run. He let her sleep in…she should have been with him. He was found beaten to death in Manhattan’s Riverside Park and his case is still unsolved. Who would have wanted to kill Jack? Everyone loved Jack…at least she thought so, but obviously Jack was involved in something that she was unaware of. With no resolution to Jack’s murder, Poppy is having nightmares and blackouts. Even though Poppy is under the care of a therapist she is beginning to abuse sleeping pills and alcohol trying to make it through the night. Are the nightmares just nightmares or memories that she doesn’t yet remember? I was a little lost at first as Poppy thought she was seeing and communicating with her dead husband. As I read further it was apparent that this was how she was dealing with her grief. A psychological thriller that made me concentrate more on the plot line and characters, but well worth the read especially as Ms. Unger brings the book to such a satisfying conclusion. I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to give an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
Ok, I am going to start off by saying upfront I am a Lisa Unger fan, I love her writing style, I love her characters, love her books. Under My Skin by Lisa Unger tells the story of Poppy who has just lost her husband while he was jogging to an apparent random robbery, Poppy is not handling it well, popping pills her friend is giving her, drinking, having blackouts…..all the while she needs to know what really happened to Jack, her husband. Ride along with Poppy to see if she ever gets the truth and will she be able to straighten herself out before she truly loses herself. Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for allowing me to read this ARC book and give my honest opinion.
3.5 ‘s. Haunting suspense with a touch of paranormal! Poppy narrates the story, alternating between past, present, dreams and memories—sometimes unexpectedly. At times I wasn’t sure which of these I was reading, and felt as confused as Poppy! I would have given it a higher rating if some of the transitions were easier to follow. However, when I wasn’t confused, I was totally enthralled by Lisa’s storytelling.
Poppy tells us about her husband’s unsolved murder and the guilt she feels. She keeps reliving that day—thinking about all the “what ifs”. She can’t let go of Jack. She sees him in her dreams and when she’s awake.
She’s still running the business they started together, but she’s never bothered unpacking his belongings after moving into the new apartment. The boxes, with his name on them, are just another reminder of everything she’s lost.
Her best friend—Layla—helped her setup a profile on a dating site and she’s starting to date again…well she wouldn’t exactly call it dating…more like sleeping around.
Her life is a mess…the blackouts and time she can’t account for. There are so many missing pieces—lost days after her breakdown. The vivid dreams that feel like memories—she wakes up confused, in the bathroom of a club, wearing a red dress. Is it real or imagined? She’s not sure what’s happening to her—daydreams, flashbacks or hallucinations—but she keeps seeing Jack, a mystery woman and a hooded stranger following her.
Her nightmares are getting worse. She’s self-medicating with more than just her prescribed sleeping pills…mixing it all with alcohol. She knows it’s getting out of hand, but she longs for dreamless sleep and escape. She’s a wreck and no longer recognizes the woman staring back at her in the mirror.
Thank you NetGalley and Park Row for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
#UnderMySkin #NetGalley
Lisa Unger’s style in this book seems to be to confuse the reader as much as the protagonist, and I must say she won me over with that one. Poppy’s husband was murdered while he was out jogging, and Poppy had a breakdown afterwards, followed by a lot of pill popping and alcohol. When she emerges from her self-imposed haze of guilt and grief, she begins to try to figure out who murdered Jack. This is where the book got really interesting as well as confusing. At this point, Poppy moves between her nightmares, the real and the imaginary and the reader is brought along on the journey, trying to figure out what is actually reality. When the plot comes to a climax, I was relieved that I didn’t have to exercise my brain so much but I must also congratulate the author on a job well done. What a brilliantly written book with so many nuances and red herrings that I am totally convinced that not one reader will be able to figure out the twists until they happen. Readers of Lisa Unger will be amazed at her ability to move between reality and imagination and I am sure that she will gain new fans with this originally and intelligently written psychological thriller.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”