Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're joining the paperback pre pub BUZZ for a title that will have your brain running in circles trying to unravel the horror that lies beneath it all. Oh yes, there will be danger, death, and blood, but also fears faced, truths uncovered, and a finale you won't see coming. Before I get completely ahead of myself, let me introduce you properly. Today's spotlight shines on a soon-to-be-released paperback coming next week via Dutton...
by
Riley Sager
9781101985380
Dutton
About the book...
Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
That is until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit; and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.
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We begin with a jaunt through the forest; the birds are singing, the sun is shining...and the body count is rising. *-* Okay, let me RESET the scene...fading sunlight, a cabin in the woods, a planned weekend of merriment, until things turned way beyond a 180.
When first we meet Quincy, she's covered in blood and running for her life after whomever she was with (we uncover that part along the way) was killed (because that's pretty much all she can say...they're all dead). An experience like that is sure to have some lasting affect on the psyche, but years later, she seems to be doing fine or at least as fine as can be expected, and has a decent support system set up between her loving other half, her "savior" from that dreaded night, and a few (sorta) friends. You might say things could essentially be called "peachy"...until they can't. When news of Lisa's passing reached Quincy, she's rattled, but when Samantha comes out of the woodwork, she's rocked to the core. Things begin to shake loose from their carefully concealed hiding places, but when the final brick comes out of Quincy's mental wall, you won't even know where to turn.
The author makes sure to have readers in his grip from the very start. With the carefully constructed story, he maintains the air of mystery (deceit? lies? half-hatched plans of craziness?) rather well, leaving the final reveal to shock, awe, and otherwise make you rethink so many things that have transpired. There are things you at first believed innocent that take a walk on the sinister side, while vice versa for the pure villainy we saw with our own eyes. I was totally suspicious of Sam, but then Quincy also has shades of crazy to her character that kept you second guessing. In other words, good stuff!
In the end, though I don't read as many novels in this genre nowadays, I was compelled to keep turning pages from start to finish...and I did not see that finale coming. It definitely takes you on a dark journey through random acts of insanity while in its own strange way seeking justice...well, at least some of them were. If you like psychological thrillers, make room on your wish list for this one!
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About the author...
The Last Time I Lied is the second thriller from Riley Sager, the pseudonym of an author who lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Riley’s first novel, Final Girls, was a national and international bestseller that has been published in more than two-dozen countries.
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Special thanks to Abby at Dutton Publicity for the copy for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. The paperback edition arrives on bookstore and virtual shelves January 23rd, 2018 via Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, so mark your calendar or pre order your copy today!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
