The Perfect Stranger: A Novel

Message To Reviewer: I tried to post this review a couple hours ago and I received an email that it violated the rules. I couldn't imagine why and then I realized what happened. I copied and pasted MY review from Goodreads, and added another sentence or two. But I forgot to delete all of the additional stuff that was copied when I copied my review, all of the reviews that came after, etc. I have been taking part in Goodreads reading challenge, and reviewing all the books I read on that site, and then I realized that I wasn't posting reviews on Amazon anymore. So I copied and pasted the reviews of book I've been reading from my goodreads reviews and put them here. I don't think that should be a problem. I know how much reviews help me when it comes to deciding whether or not to read a book, so I hope you'll post this. If you don't, I won't try again. Here it is:...................................................................................................An absolutely fantastic suspense novel! Keeps you guessing! Leah Stevens is a reporter for a Boston newspaper. She writes a story that opens her up to a potential libel charge. The details are revealed slowly throughout the novel. She has to leave the paper and realizes it might be best if she also leaves Boston altogether. She runs into an old friend, Emmy, who's also looking to start over. Emmy has plans to go to western Pennsylvania, a rural area completely different than what Leah is used to. Leah decides to go with her. Leah gets a job as a teacher at a local school and they rent a cabin on the edge of the woods. Leah doesn't see much of her roommate, because Emmy works nights. Days can go by without them running into each other. The one day, driving to school, Leah comes across a crime scene. A woman had been bludgeoned and left to die near the lake. Leah is relieved that it's not Emmy, that they know who the woman is. Someone named Bethany. The man they suspect is the same man who has apparently been stalking Leah, which ties her to the case. She realizes also that she hasn't seen Emmy for quite some time. Leah reports this to the police, and when they ask for details of Emmy's life---for instance, where she works, Leah only has the vaguest details. Emmy had told her she worked nights cleaning at a run-down motel. But she didn't tell Leah the name of it. Eventually, the police, and the reader, start to wonder if Emmy even exists or if she only exists in Leah's mind. The novel is told in the first person, from Leah's point of view. There are a lot of surprises, and a satisfying ending that ties up all the loose ends. The novel is well-plotted, and the characters also ring true.Also, I liked the way Leah's personality and character were revealed as the novel went along. At first, it was difficult to know what kind of person Leah was. There were a lot of unanswered questions as to the motivations behind her actions. But when the entire story came out, you could see that she was a survivor who had been through a lot, and her previously inexplicable actions made sense.

I read so many mysteries/thrillers, and sometimes they're entertaining enough for the time I'm reading, but nothing special. This book surprised me. Compelling story, with a particularly interesting main character, and the author did such a great job of dispensing information. Yes, there is a lot of going back and forth in time as the story focuses on the narrator's present--and her past--but it's not even remotely confusing unless you're not paying attention, or have ever read a book which was not in chronological order. In fact, the structure of the book is why I'm bothering to review this at all--it was particularly cleverly done. We get more and more of the main character's background as the novel continues, little tidbits let out like a trail of crumbs, and the thing is? The make the narrator look more and more of an unreliable narrator the further we go into the story. It's not spoiling anything to say that: the clear premise of the book is that no one really knows who Emmy, the roommate, is, or if she even exists at all. It's something that kept me guessing all along, and was very well done.I was not quite such a fan of the ending as some others were: while there were some aspects I enjoyed, there were a couple of strands I'd have liked to know more about. But still, the end was satisfying enough.I enjoyed this book enough to get the author's other adult suspense novel, and I'll follow her work.

Between 3 1/2 - 4 starsWas very excited when I saw that the author of All the Missing Girls had a new book coming out. I Really liked All the Missing Girls and couldn’t wait to read this new book The Perfect Stranger. And it didn’t disappoint.Leah has lost her job as a journalist in Boston and then runs into her old roommate Emmy (who she has not seen in 8 years) Together they decide they need a new start in life and move to a small town in Pennsylvania (Where it seems like everyone who wants a new start has gone lol)When the book starts Leah has realized she has not seen Emmy in a few days, at first she was not concerned since they both work different shifts. And while she does not want to contact the police, since they are both trying to stay under the radar. She finally does contact Kyle Donovan the detective that is investigating the attack on a woman that looks like Leah. But as the investigation unfolds all kinds of questions come up, What did Leah do at her job in Boston to make her need to leave, who is Emmy really and where is she, and who is this woman Bethany that was attached and looks like Leah. And most important how are they all connected?Everyone in this town seems to have some sort of secret and I was not sure which of them was actually being truthful. I had suspicions about everyone, Leah, Kyle, Kate (a teacher at Leah’s school), the Principal, even a couple kids in Leah’s class lolThere were a couple things that I did have issues with though, First the fact that it was so long before Leah realized she had not seen Emmy. I know they worked different schedules, but I was like really, it took you this long to realize that she has not been home. Even with some of the explanations the Leah gave as to why I was still skeptical. Second, the front sliding glass doors that Leah kept feeling like someone was watching her. All I kept thinking was, Put up some curtains then. lolBut other than that, I very much enjoyed this book. I like how it kept me guessing.I think what I really enjoyed most though, was all through the book we were given hints to who Emmy was and what happened to make Leah leave her job and move from Boston. I did figure out a couple things, but for the most part until the end when it was all spelled out for me, I didn’t figure much out lol And the very end, well never suspected that :)