The Silent Sister by Shalini Boland

My thoughts...

Lizzy lives a pretty low key lifestyle. She lives with her longtime boyfriend Joe and manages a high end shop that sells gifts and clothes.  Life is pretty uneventful for Lizzy, that is until she acquires a stalker.  Suddenly, random notes appear in places that are not readily accessible to the average person. The stalker appears to know her every move and has access to her schedule, her home, car and work. Each note escalates with  a more sinister tone, until Lizzy ultimately experiences physical harm. 

Every time Lizzy lets her guard down another note appears.  The police now know her address by heart. Understandably this shakes Lizzy to the core. She has to struggle to keep her lifestyle normal, but lack of sleep and anxiety are overwhelming her and taking a toll.

Lizzy finds herself suspicious of everyone. Why would anyone want to stalk and harm Lizzy? Everyone appears to love her bubbly personality.  Is it a scorned admirer? A jealous past high school classmate? Her landlord and manager that has access to her home and work? Her jealous boyfriend that accuses her of being a flirt? A friend's brother that is too friendly? A neighbor that wants to get to know her? Her estranged sister? It could be anyone.....and that is the problem. It really could be anyone.

I found this to be a very well paced book. It held my attention from the start. There was never a period where I felt that the book dragged. The stalker made sure of that. It held my interest because I kept wondering what on earth was going to happen to poor Lizzy next. There were so many possible suspects that it kept you wondering.

As for the ending, there is no way you are going to be able to guess how this ends unless you have psychic abilities! This one has a couple really big twists at the end that I highly doubt you are going to see coming. I  couldn't wait to find out who the stalker was. I had no idea there was another twist thrown in there too! This was my first book by Shalini Boland and it definitely will not be my last!

5 stars from me!!! Happy reading!!

The Perfect Friend by Barbara Copperthwaite

Summary
This story revolves around two friends- Alex and Carrie.  These two become quick best friends, bonding during support group sessions.  Alex is battling anorexia and Carrie's battle is cancer. 

Alex has destroyed her relationship with her husband and children, or so she believes. She lives in a chronic state of guilt and despair. Feeling isolated and hopeless, she clings to her new friend Carrie, no matter what the circumstances. 

Carrie is new to town, but makes it known that she has a wonderful, supportive family.  Her life is practically perfect, except for her diagnosis of a aggressive form of cancer.

Is everything as it seems? Or are there lies and deceit found around every corner?  Why does everyone around them keep disappearing? Where is Joanne, Simon and Smudge? Who is Natalie?

My thoughts

There is a whole bunch of lying and a whole lot of surprises in this book! I feel this isn't your typical suspense/mystery book, I feel it touches on alot of deeper subjects in addition to the twists and turns. Basically, it is a bit deeper than that. It touches on how people adapt to mental illness and grief and how they compensate for it.  Being an Emergency Room nurse myself, I deal with people going through major life events and I get to see how they cope with it. I felt the author really captured how people that are so consumed with anorexia function. Alex had to lie to cover up more lies. It was a way of life for her.

Well thought out book. I often had to stop and wonder who was lying and why. There were many lies being spun, but in the end they were all explained away. They are truly friends until the end or are they?
5 stars 

The Day I Lost You by Alex Sinclair

Summary

 This story takes place in a high end apartment building that Michael Walls resides at. The majority of the book is from the point of view of his ex wife Erika. Unbeknownst to Michael, his ex wife and daughter Alice have arrived to his building to collect a toy that Alice has left behind during one of her visits with her father. Erika and Alice's visit turns drastically wrong when Alice bolts out of the elevator and disappears before her mother can locate her. Every parents worst nightmare unfolds as the reality sets in for Erika that her daughter is now missing.

The story is narrated by Erika, with some chapters being in the present tense with the search for Alice progressing. Other chapters focus on filling the reader in with the past life that she lived with Michael that lead up to their divorce. Michael climbed the ladder to become a high powered, wealthy attorney that had no time for his family. He was a controlling husband that could not understand why Erika felt the need to leave him and take Alice with her. There was an event that took place that Erika often refers to that she felt was the end of their relationship. 

My thoughts

Mr. Sinclair, you have managed to do it again! After reading "The Last Thing I Saw" I was expecting another great twist. I was not disappointed! This story seemed straight forward about a mother's pure terror of losing her daughter. We go through the journey of all the emotions she is feeling during this traumatic event that is occurring. We also get a glimpse of all the resentment and distrust she has for Michael. But true to form, there is a major twist at the end.

You no doubt will be in for a surprise. Fantastic ending, I was completely suprised at the turn of events the last couple of chapters.

The Memory Box by Eva Lesko Natiello

Summary 

Caroline lives in a suburban neighborhood where google is often used to drum up dirt on others and attribute to gossip. She unearths some disturbing things in her past that she has no recollection of. Wary of asking her friends, risking them thinking she has lost her mind, she embarks on a journey to discover the truth. Has she been living a lie? Did she give birth to these two beautiful girls? 

My Thoughts

 This book was extremely intriguing. It held my interest from the very first page. Sometimes you read the first couple pages and you already know you are going to enjoy the book. This was one of those times for me.

We are allowed to travel along with Caroline, with insight into her innermost thoughts and allowed to feel her spiraling out of control as she desperately seeks the truth out. Or do we even know what the truth is that she is seeking? Can you stuff all your memories in a so called memory box and pull them out as you see fit? 

This author spun this story into a very twisted ending. I had no idea it was going to take that direction. Fantastic turn of events. Really enjoyable, unputdownable (as Andrew would say) read!