Jennifer Jaynes (1972–2019)

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Welcome to Disturbia

This is a book that really caught me off guard when I picked it up it was simply because I could not get myself to sleep so I figured hey I will read great call on my part because I read it all in one sitting. The only issue is that it left me with no sleep. The story begins with a brutal murder that happens one year on Halloween, Chelsea's college roommates were brutally murdered and Chelsea was clinging to life. After she is taken to the hospital, she awakes with not much recollection of what happened that night but is told that her boyfriend Ethan is being implicated in the murders, but has fled and has not been found. Now, almost five years later, Chelsea has relocated to Boston with her best friend Elizabeth, a nurse she met at the hospital after the attack and is doing her best to move forward in her life.

After she reconnects with someone from her past, Chelsea starts receiving threatening notes, and constantly feels like someone is watching her. She thinks she sees Ethan at random places, and she grows more paranoid that she is in danger...

I loved this book! I am a huge fan of books where a character is being stalked or feels like they are being stalked, so Disturbed was right up my alley. I loved Chelsea as our protagonist, and most of the book was told from her point of view, though there were a few additional POVs, especially at the end of the book, I think they worked well in this book in lending to the creepy nature of the story.

The book starts with a bang and ends with one too. I was immediately drawn into the story, and ended up finishing it in just one sitting! I got strong 'Final Girls' vibes, which was another book (written by Riley Sager) that I just adored, so that made me even more excited to see how this one would end and compare it to Final Girls. I will be interested to see if this story continues into another book or if the author will leave things open-ended which would be fine.
… (mais)

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer Publishers. Kudos to NetGalley. I am grateful that you entrusted this free ARC Kindle e-book - "Don't Say A Word: Strangers Series #3" to me. Here is my honest review.

This is the first [a: Jennifer Jaynes|5337983|Jennifer Jaynes|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1419708844p2/5337983.jpg] title for me. [b: Don't Say A Word: Strangers Series|26850073|Don't Say a Word (Strangers Series)|Jennifer Jaynes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1457038839s/26850073.jpg|46886828] is third in a series. The description of this novel was the hook. I prepared to have to catch up with the already developed characters, plots and subplots. There was no need to catch up, this novel stands well alone.

The minute my eyeballs landed on the first page, I was into the story. Knowing the publication date was the day coming, I had no problem engrossing myself in this story. The only negative I can give is that I stopped breathing the whole read!

There were times while in a Dr's waiting room that I cried out, "...and she is with your son right now!" There were, "Oh no, please not that!" I could not help it. Jennifer Jaynes is a good storyteller.

Every minute I felt like I was inside the house with Allie, Sammy and poor Bitty.

I am already scanning Amazon.com for the first two books of this series.

Thank you for the wild ride. Whew!… (mais)

2.5 stars I would have given this 3 stars if I hadn't figured out who the bad guy was before the big reveal. Although not a spooky book in terms of the supernatural, it gave me the creeps with its family of violent mentally ill. It turns out that this is the second book in a series but it worked fine as a stand-alone. I doubt I will read more in the series because it is too dark for me in my current reading mode but if you like dark psychologically twisted characters, this series might be for you.

The story is about the "ugly young thing" Allie, whose mother had been an abusive psychotic homicidal prostitute and brother committed suicide in front of her after murdering some young girls. At 15, afraid of social services, she runs away. But life starts to get a bit better after she is "caught" and is assigned to foster care with Miss Bitty. I won't go into the thriller plot but wanted to comment on one of the strengths of this novel -- the well-done characterization of body dysmorphic disorder. Allie is actually a beautiful young thing but having grown up with her mother constantly telling her how ugly she was, she can't see it. This aspect of the novel was fascinating & Jaynes did a great job of showing rather than telling.… (mais)