By Jennifer Hillier
Minotaur Books, 2018. 305 pages. Mystery
When she was 16 years old, Angela Wong disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Geo Shaw was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school. But 14 years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. Kaiser, now a detective with Seattle PD, finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women, but back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. For 14 years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong. How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief?
I first heard of Jar of Hearts through BookTok where it was recommended as a fast-paced thriller with a shocking ending and it did not disappoint. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to relate to Geo as the protagonist, but the flashback timeline to Angela, Geo, and Kaiser’s friendship painted a much more sympathetic picture of the flawed Geo. Jennifer Hillier was able to portray high school friendships in such a relatable and typical fashion, but she really succeeded in depicting how a teenage girl could fall in love with an eventual serial killer. The two mysteries, what really happened the night Angela died and the copycat murders in the present, creates a compelling and propulsive plot that makes Jar of Hearts difficult to put down.
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By Greer Hendricks
St. Martin’s Press, 2019. 375 pages. Fiction
When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she'll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she's thinking...and what she's hiding.
By Riley Sager
Dutton, 2018. 370 pages. Mystery
Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or anyone--saw of them. Now an artist, Emma turns her past into paintings. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, who implores her to return to the reopened camp as a painting instructor. Already haunted by memories, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present. The closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.
BW
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