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Michelle Carpenter

Michelle Carpenter is a crime fiction enthusiast working in the world of NYC advertising.

Book Review: Good Rich People by Eliza Jane Brazier

By Michelle Carpenter

January 25, 2022

Not all games are fair, and sometimes the players find that out the hard way. In Eliza Jane Brazier’s novel Good Rich People, two characters are thrust into a dangerously unfair game where they are fighting for their lives. Alternating between the perspective of main characters Lyla and Demi, the plot follows these women of…

Book Review: The Other Me by Sarah Zachrich Jeng

By Michelle Carpenter

August 30, 2021

If life gave you the chance to start over, would you take it? What if that chance wasn’t a choice, but forced upon you? The Other Me, Sarah Zachrich Jeng’s debut novel, follows the unsettling experience of a woman named Kelly Holter whose life is turned upside down when she steps into the bathroom at…

Book Review: The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

By Michelle Carpenter

May 24, 2021

What makes something real? Is it something tangible, or is it the feeling something evokes? Mary Dixie Carter poses this question in her psychological thriller, The Photographer. This novel follows a photographer, Delta, who becomes engrossed in the life of her clients, and in doing so seems to create her own version of reality. However,…

Book Review: Shed No Tears by Caz Frear

By Michelle Carpenter

December 1, 2020

The mark of a well-written story is one that immerses the reader and transports them into the writing. That’s exactly what Caz Frear accomplishes in Shed No Tears, the third iteration of the Cat Kinsella detective thrillers. Shed No Tears intricately marries a strong heroine, her dark past, a grisly crime, and the inner workings…

Book Review: Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

By Michelle Carpenter

February 10, 2020

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s first thriller, Untamed Shore, is a coming-of-age story set in Mexico that quickly turns dark when a young woman meets three enigmatic tourists. Sharks don’t just swim in the ocean, they can come ashore and slip seamlessly into your life. Untamed Shore attests to this as Silvia Moreno-Garcia juxtaposes the life of Viridiana,…

Book Review: Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale

By Michelle Carpenter

July 5, 2019

Last Summer by Kerry Lonsdale follows Ella Skye as she struggles to recover memories of losing her unborn son as well as the events leading up to her accident—but she quickly learns that some truths are best left forgotten. The saying goes, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” But what if what you don’t know…

Book Review: Our Little Secret by Darren O’Sullivan

By Michelle Carpenter

February 7, 2019

Our Little Secret by Darren O’Sullivan opens on a train platform where Chris plans to take his own life until Sarah inadvertently stops him. Sarah obsesses over the secrets that she learns Chris is hiding, but Chris tries to protect Sarah because some secrets are meant to stay buried… How far would you go to…

Book Review: Darling by Rachel Edwards

By Michelle Carpenter

January 17, 2019

Darling by Rachel Edwards is a psychological thriller where a teenage girl clashes with her new stepmother. Darling takes the classic and dramatic plotline of teenager vs. stepmother and adds a sinister twist. This enigmatic thriller by Rachel Edwards delves into the trials and tribulations of Darling, a Jamaican single mother living in High Desford,…

Review: Man of War by Sean Parnell

By Michelle Carpenter

September 18, 2018

Man of War by Sean Parnell is a fiction debut and an electrifying military thriller—a gripping tale of action, suspense, and international intrigue that introduces a compelling new hero, Eric Steele. Sean Parnell brings the reader into the trenches immediately with his military thriller, Man of War. The book dives into the action, transposing the lives…

Review: All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

By Michelle Carpenter

All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson is a diabolically clever tale of obsession, revenge, and cold-blooded murder—a sly and brilliant guessing game of a novel in the vein of Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, and Patricia Highsmith. When a young boy hears of his father’s untimely death and heads back to Maine, it is seemingly…

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