63B6B2F3-7FB6-4FDB-8346-FB402EBD2532Today I have a review of The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger, available from Harlequin/Park Row Books.

Pretty picture coming soon! My copy is on the way. A big thank you to Harlequin Park Row for the invitation to the tour and the complimentary copy.

My Thoughts:

I did it! I read my first book by Lisa Unger! And I loved it!

While Rain Winter (pretty name, right?) escaped an abduction attempt, her two friends, Tess and Hank, did not. Hank eventually was able to escape, but Tess never came home. The abductor was found and sent to prison, and upon his release, he was murdered.

In the present, Rain is living what looks to be the perfect life. She’s a stay-at-home mom with a young daughter. And then another murderer is found dead, and Rain just can’t shake it. Who is this vigilante?

It’s so hard to avoid spoilers with this one. What I can tell you is Lisa Unger is gifted at getting inside the minds of both the killer and his victims. She also has a way of building complexity and blurring the lines between right and wrong. We tend to think of these crime cases as black and white, but what if they aren’t?

It’s a tense thrill ride and I loved every page of it, even as dark and dirty as it was. Rain is one of the most memorable characters I’ve read.

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:

Even good people are drawn to do evil things…

Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice–and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, having put aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?

Introducing one of the most compelling and original killers in crime fiction today, Lisa Unger takes readers deep inside the minds of both perpetrator and victim, blurring the lines between right and wrong, crime and justice, and showing that sometimes people deserve what comes to them.

Have you read The Stranger Inside, or is it on your TBR? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR