(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Thanks to the best-selling horror novel her mother wrote forty years ago, 24-year-old Meg Ashley lives the glittery, aimless life of a wealthy debutante.  The abundant royalties pave Meg's way with gold, even if it is blood money, a poor substitute for a childhood filled with loneliness, manipulation, and abandonment.  So bitter is Meg that when she's offered a large sum to write a juicy tell-all book about her mother and Kitten, the cult classic that made Frances Ashley a household name, she agrees.  

To research Kitten, a murder mystery based on a real killing, Meg travels to remote Bonny Island, Georgia.  There, she meets Dorothy Kitchens, the owner of a crumbling hotel, and a woman whose life changed irrevocably when Frances' novel insinuated she was the real-life murderer.  Stalked and exploited by Kittie cultists her whole life, Doro has a unique perspective on Frances Ashley.  As Meg learns more and more about what really happened on Bonny Island all those years ago, she uncovers disturbing secrets about her mother, the real murder, and the islanders who know more than they're saying.  Unable to leave well enough alone, Meg finds herself in a terrifying nightmare that's scarier than anything her mother's ever written.

The Weight of Lies, a tantalizing psychological thriller by Emily Carpenter, is a complex, engrossing tale that kept me deliciously off-kilter.  With an atmospheric setting, intriguing characters, and a plot that twists and turns all over the place, it's a fast-and-furious kind of read.  Although I saw some of the ending coming, I didn't guess it all, which made the story even more satisfying.  I enjoyed this compelling novel; in fact, it's my favorite Emily Carpenter book to date.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other books by Emily Carpenter [Every Single Secret; Burying the Honeysuckle Girls] as well as novels by Ruth Ware, Sharon Bolton, and Carol Goodman)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, violence, mild sexual content, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I bought an e-copy of The Weight of Lies from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

The electricity crackling between them is the first thing Daphne Amos notices when she meets gorgeous real estate developer Heath Beck.  She can tell right off the bat that he's experienced the same kind of darkness she has.  When they get together, they decide to start anew—they'll leave their pasts in the past, hiding them even from each other, and focus instead on creating a bright new future for themselves.  That dream is interrupted when Heath starts experiencing debilitating nightmares.  Daphne wants to marry Heath, but this new development is decidedly unsettling, so when he suggests they attend a week-long couples retreat to get some help, she reluctantly agrees.  

Daphne's immediately unnerved by both the retreat's remote Blue Ridge Mountain setting, as well as its rules—no leaving the grounds, no cell phone use, no socializing with the other guests, video monitoring during daytime hours, and no roaming about at night.  The longer the retreat goes on, the more worried Daphne becomes.  Something is not right here and she plans to get to the bottom of it.  What she discovers are shocking secrets that someone will kill to keep under wraps ...

Tense, puzzling psychological thrillers are my guilty pleasure and Every Single Secret by Emily Carpenter certainly qualifies.  With its shivery Gothic vibe, a cast of complex characters, and a plot that keeps the reader guessing throughout, it's an engrossing, stay-up-until-3-a.m.-to-finish-it kind of book.  Like most of these kinds of novels, Every Single Secret is dark, depressing, and twisted.  Still, it makes for an immersive, consuming read—I basically read it in one sitting.  I had never heard of Emily Carpenter before picking up this book, but I've now read every one of her books and am eagerly anticipating her newest, Until the Day I Die, which comes out in March 2019.  That says a lot about how much I enjoy this author's books, disconcerting though they may be.   

(Readalikes:  other books by Emily Carpenter [Burying the Honeysuckle Girls; The Weight of Lies) and those by Ruth Ware, Sharon Bolton, and Carol Goodman)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, violence, blood/gore, sexual content, depictions of illegal drug use, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I bought an e-copy of Every Single Secret from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.