Be Careful of Who You Invite Into Your Home

Title: I Invited Her In
Author: Adele Parks
Genre: Thriller
Source: Kindle eBook
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars


Out of no where Mel received an email for her old college friend, Abi.  Abi is in trouble and needs Mel's help, a place to stay.  Despite not speaking in over 15 years, Mel invites Abi to stay with her family "for as long as she needs. Mel is overcome with nostalgia and loves having her past come back to her.  But not everything is as it seems as Abi begins seeing a new mystery man.  All of Mel's secrets come out and Abi seeks revenge.

I have to say this book was a HUGE disappointment.  As I kept reading, I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't.  I guessed everything fairly early so all the big reveals were not all too surprising.  This book honestly made me mad because it was almost laughable at times.


I did not like any of the characters.  I felt they were all annoying especially Mel.  She let her old friend basically rule over her life and take over, to the point of excessive drinking and dare I say neglecting her children.  Her family walked on egg shells to make sure she was comfortable even so far as letting her use the master suite.  It was all just a bit unbelievable for me.  This was supposed to be a thriller, but there was nothing thrilling about it.  It sounded so promising, but it fell super super flat.  There was absolutely zero edge, zero suspense that made me want to keep reading.


The story dragged on and I kept reading hoping it would get better, NOPE.  The characters are too cliched, the plot too predictable.  There was nothing that really kept me interested in this other than to see if the story would pick up.  I should have DNF'd it, but I wanted to persevere through it.  I almost wish I did DNF and moved on to a better book.


I would not exactly recommend this book outright, but if you enjoy a slow paced, predictable novel, then give it a shot but if you want something very suspenseful then move on and pick something else up.

Literarycat Review: Death Is In The Details by Heather Sunseri

Title: Death is in the Details
Authors: Heather Sunseri
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Source: Kindle eBook
Rating: 3 out of 5 Paws

Faith is a forensic photographer who is haunted by vivid memories of the night her mother and step father were murdered.  Twelve years later a string of fires are eerily similar to the one that took their lives.  Oddly enough the fires seem to correspond with the release of Faith's stepbrother from prison.  Ethan was convicted of setting the fire that killed his father and Faith's mother, but new evidence proved his innocence.  So who set the fire all those years ago and why are they trying to frame Ethan now?  FBI agent Luke Justice will not rest until he catches the serial killer who uses arson to mask his murders. What does he do when the evidence points to someone close to Faith, a woman he is growing fond of?  Can Faith and Luke find the truth behind it all before the flames eat them alive?

I keep going back and forth on what I think about this book.  There are moments when I like and other moments when I felt like it isn't a book for me. It progressed rather slowly for me and took a while for any of the action or clues to really make an impact on the feel of the novel.  I didn't feel attached to any of the characters, though the idea of Faith having a condition that makes her recall every moment that has happened to her with vivid clarity, as if it is happening at that moment.  For a good chunk of the book it wasn't as suspenseful or thrilling as I would have expected it to be, and I figured out the killer fairly early on in the novel.

I did like the motive behind the the murders.  There were some things that still didn't make sense when I finished the novel; things that were never truly explained with the big reveal.  The romantic part was unrealistic and was not needed.  Thriller/suspense novels do not need a romantic interest for them to be engaging and this was definitely a novel that would have been better without it.  It didn't feel like it added anything relevant to the story.  The main character solves everything by turning to alcohol and making really bad choices.  I simply could not connect with her as I absolutely hated her and Luke.  Luke just quickly gets into bed with her and just barely does anything to keep her safe and seems a little caustic as well.  He's a little too protective for only knowing her a short time, ready to fight for her after what a week?

Sunseri has a writing style that I could get into, but sadly it was the drull and boring story and very unlikable characters that made the novel feel like it was lacking something.  I am not sure if I would read anything else from her.