My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018)

“Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him. I'd hoped I would never hear those words again."

Fantastic short novel about Korede and her sister Ayoola, the serial killer of the title, who keeps murdering her boyfriends. Korede is left to clean up the messes. When Ayoola starts to date Korede's longtime crush, things get especially complicated and messy. SO readable, engaging, and gripping, and the setting of Lagos is vivid and fascinating. 

Looking forward to Treasure and The Baby Is Mine, out in 2020.

Social Creature by Tara Isabelle Burton (2018)

Eminently readable contemporary novel about Louise, a nearly 30-year-old struggling writer in NYC who meets manic pixie party girl Lavinia, with whom she becomes fast friends. Lots of wild parties and reckless spending ensues. 

About halfway through the book, the story takes a dark twist. Pretty fun and interesting.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeycutt (2017)

This is one of those books that you want to stay home and read it without stopping until you reach the last page.

Eleanor is a 31-year-old accounts receivable clerk in Glasgow, who lives a solitary, alcoholic, socially unskilled life and talks to no one but her mother on the phone. When Eleanor and new coworker Raymond are walking from work, and old man collapses and things become more complicated but in a good way. Also, Eleanor has decided that she is going to pursue an attractive young musician and sets about changing her life. BUT, there is a dark, dark secret in Eleanor's past.

Eleanor is a fascinating character of Olive Kitteridge proportions, and this quirky but dark novel is incredibly compelling.

The Grip of It by Jac Jemc (2017)

Julie and James have recently bought a beautiful old home in the suburbs for an amazing price. But there's a few mysterious things they discover about the house--a strange sound they can't identify, mysterious secret compartments, their very unfriendly neighbor. And then things get even worse. 

Jemc does a beautiful job of establishing a truly creepy atmosphere and ramping things up without taking things too far. Very vivid and compelling. Also, this is one of the best horror covers ever. Matches the story perfectly! 

Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda (2017)

A very simple story: a married couple is driving to a romantic weekend getaway to a lake house. And yet ... As they drive, tension between them mounts and we learn they're both harboring secrets. 

Deliciously readable with beautifully unfolding tension and yes, a fascinatingly unreliable narrator. (I'm using ALL my adjectives on this one.)

You by Caroline Kepnes (2014)

Well-written thriller about a bookstore clerk who stalks, romances and stalks an attractive female customer. The stakes are high, and the perspective is really interesting. Although I normally loathe book written in the second person--to "you"--writing this narrative to the stalkee works beautifully and is very chilling. 

It's fascinating to read a stalkerish tale that takes place in the contemporary social media landscape. It's a deeply complex and yet very readable story. 

To say more would be spoilery.

Day Four by Sarah Lotz (2015)

Chilling horror(ish) tale about a cruise that goes terribly wrong. The ship stops moving, the plumbing stops functioning, the power is sporadic and all goes to heck. But is there something more than simply ship malfunction at fault? 

A racial and culturally diverse cast of characters include a famous psychic, the blogger determined to debunk her work, two old ladies determined to end it all on the ship, and the cruise ship employees with their own mega-dramas. Suspenseful, atmospheric and beautifully constructed. 

Day Four reminded me of Stephen King (high praise), particularly his novels that focus on humanity's last stand such as The Stand and The Mist. Great summer fun that will make you want to never, ever take a cruise.

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh (2015)

Engaging novel about a man looking back at his youth and a traumatic event that occurred to his beloved neighbor girl, and how he became a suspect. 

Walsh does a gorgeous job of encapsulating what it's like to be a child and have limited information and also to look back as an adult and see what you missed. 

Lovely, lyrical (but not in love with itself) writing.

The Voices by F.R. Tallis (2014)

Really interesting haunted house novel, set in the 1970s in London, about a composer, his wife, and their young daughter, who move to a stately home in Hampstead Heath where they start to hear mysterious voices. The wife hears them through the baby monitor, he picks up voices through his recording equipment. This starts them on a mysterious journey of finding out who may have lived in the house and where the voices came from. 

It's hard to say anything else without spoiling the mystery, so I'm not going to. Quite suspenseful and chilling, and extremely atmospheric. Surprising and haunting.

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay (2014)

This is an utterly mesmerizing story, both very harsh and violent, but very character-driven as well. Mirelle, the child of Haitian immigrants, lives in Miami with her husband and child. Her parents have moved back to their homeland of Haiti. Mirelle is visiting her parents there and heads out one morning to the beach with her husband and son when she is kidnapped and held for ransom.

She is unbelievably brutally treated (though it’s never depicted in an exploitative way, and Gay realistically depicts the many, varied reactions to rape and abuse). After thirteen days she is freed, but her troubles are far from over. She must figure out how to heal, how to forgive her family and how to move on with her life. 

The beautiful thing about this book is how Gay depicts Mirelle’s internal struggle and her memories of her childhood, meeting her husband, and having her child as she is held captive. It’s beautifully interwoven and provides a respite from the grim reality of her situation. And I love a book that shows how people move on from tragedy. I also love that Mirelle is not a saint, not the most sympathetic character, as she describes herself as someone who is hard to love. And I love the complex relationship between her and her in-laws, and the very casual depiction of an interracial marriage. It even encompasses the earthquake that rocks Haiti. So beautifully done.

“The man sneered at me, called me dyaspora with the resentment those Haitians who cannot leave hold for those of us who can.” (p. 6)

“There are three Haitis--the country Americans know and the country Haitans know and the country I thought I knew.” (p. 11)

And Gay says of herself:

“I was born in Omaha, Nebraska. I am a first generation American. My parents emigrated from Haiti quite some time ago but they instilled in my brothers and I a profound cultural identity and they’ve since returned to the island on a part time basis.”

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012)

I adore Gillian Flynn and I loved this book.  Her third novel, and an immediate bestseller, lived up to all of the hype, and to my fond memories of reading her other two books. 

The story is told by a husband whose wife goes missing, and also through journal entries of the wife previous to the disappearance.  And yet we don't know the whole story.  Chilling and surprising, and includes some really great, insightful and often funny writing.  See below:

"I am not interested in being set up.  I need to be ambushed, caught unawares, like some sort of feral love-jackal.  I'm too self-conscious otherwise.  I feel myself trying to be charming, and then I try to be even more charming to make up for the fake charm, and then I've basically turned into Liza Minnelli: I'm dancing in tights and sequins, begging you to love me.  There's a bowler and jazz hands and lots of teeth."

"Mainly, I will admit, I smile because he's gorgeous.  Distractingly gorgeous, the kind of looks that make your eyes pinwheel, that make you want to just address the elephant--'You know you're gorgeous, right?'--and move on with the conversation.  I bet dudes hate him:  He looks like the rich-boy villain in an 80s teen movie--the one who bullies the sensitive misfit, the one who will end up with a pie in the puss, the whipped cream wilting his upturned collar as everyone in the cafeteria cheers."

 A page-turning novel that absolutely refuses to get off the bestseller lists.  Good for Flynn!  Write more books!

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (2003)

Unbelievably gripping book written as a series of letters from a woman to her estranged husband. The subject of the letters is her relationship with him, but primarily the subject is their son Kevin--a very troubled young man who shot up his school. The strange thing about this book is that the subject matter is so very shocking and horrific, which is normally is found more in pulpy, mass market novels, and yet it's written at an incredibly high level, vocabulary-wise and structurally.  It's incredibly compelling, and almost like a more literary The Bad Seed.  So creepy. For a nonfiction take on a similar subject, check out Columbine by Dave Cullen.

Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood (1993)

Witty and bitter tale of a villainess named Zenia wreaking havoc with the lives of three friends. I really do adore Margaret Atwood's books, but this is one of the few Atwood books that didn't plunge me into a deep, dark depression.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (2009)

Another dark, gothic novel by Flynn about a woman who was the sole survivor of the massacre of her family in 1985. Her brother went to jail for the crime, amidst claims of Satan worshipping, but as the money from the her memorial fund runs out, she hooks up with a "kill club" who try to solve mysteries. Told in alternating chapters from the present day and the past, and through alternating viewpoints. Flynn has an amazing gift for description, for suspenseful writing and clever turn of phrase.  See also Sharp Objects and Gone Girl by Flynn.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (2005)

A dark, gothic tale of a young Chicago reporter who gets sent back to her small Missouri town to report on the murder and disappearance of little girls. The trip brings up all sorts of emotional ghosts of her troubled childhood. Chilling and suspenseful right up to the satisfying conclusion.  See also Dark Places and Gone Girl for more compelling, chilling fiction.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (2003)

Written as a series of letters to her estranged husband, this is the story of a woman whose son grows up to be a school shooter. Fascinating exploration of what went so terribly wrong with Kevin--from the early days of her marriage to his childhood and beyond. Hypnotic and horrifying.