Bookwild - Five Fave Authors and Books with Gare and Steph

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

This week, Gare, Steph and I talk about five of our favorite authors and our favorite book of theirs!Books We Talked AboutThe Last HousewifeBright Young WomenPlay NiceThe Woman InsideJar of HeartsThe Family Next DoorThe Night She DisappearedDark HighwayThe Quarry GirlsThey Never LearnThe TrapThe Children on the Hill Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

We've got Steph and Gare here, and Gere has an icebreaker. We're going to get right into it. We've been gossiping beforehand. My feral text messages. Her you. Yeah. Mm-hmm. My friend Carmiel's coming to visit next week, the one from California.

I didn't know you had a friend named Carmiel. Yeah, he's the best. I didn't know until you sent us that screenshot. I was like, who is the name? Yeah, he's the best. But he, like, randomly will be like, text me and be like, got you a new phone? follower because he like lives in San Diego and like meets all these like new people and like whenever people like to read he's like follow my friend on Insta so he's he's he's coming to visit next week

so the text messages are going to be feral then too so love it um but we recently did a challenge that I almost bowed out of and like panicked over where we were recommending single POV thrillers So I was thinking I recently fell in love with an author and she's notorious for like multiple POV but also multiple timeline. And so I wanted to know if you were reading the back of a book and you were like, this sounds fantastic right up my alley like everything I love in a story. But it had the option of doing a dual timeline or a dual POV, which one would you choose? Timeline. 100%. I just love when time is played with in general. So I think that's what I would probably lean toward always and always like pulls me to the end even faster. I can do that. I just love it.

I think that the only time recently that only a timeline was played with and my was tell me everything by Cambia Brockman. Oh, yeah. I've been, almost all of mine have been P-O-V switch and maybe time switch. I don't know, Gary, you go next. I love it. I think for pacing-wise, I'm going to go timeline. I love when I get to the end and I see that there are things that are connected in the timeline. Yeah.

Interest-wise, P-O-V usually, because I like when they, like, contradict one another. Oh, yeah, that is. Like, kind of like, like, the show of The Affair. Have you ever watched that? Yeah. And, like, how... I love that show so much. But I, like, love how, like, he's like, oh, my God,

this, like, waitress was, like, coming up in her cute little skirt and, like, bending over in front of me. And then, like, with her, she's like, I'm just trying to do my fucking job here. And she looks depressed and tired and, like, he isn't even wearing a shirt. Yeah. And she's like, oh, my God, this guy's a major creep, like, get on out of her. Mm-hmm. I love that. You're right.

That's a good one too. It's so unique that. You know what? I've been reading single POV a lot lately. I hadn't thought about it. I think when I read POE shifts, it's like they're in different places or doing different things.

Like I love what Gare's talking about where like their actual perspective of something like is different. I don't know how often I've read that. Like that was such a unique experience for me watching that show. I don't know. I think I'm going to go. with um i'm gonna go with

you'll be you stumped her stumped me my last five-star read was multiple pov linear timeline so i'm just going with it i like see it's interesting because i think i'm like i'm like i like all of them it'd be so different if i definitely didn't like one like if there are people that yeah it's so interesting to me that there's people that do not like those shifts.

Yeah, that's how I feel. I guess when I started getting really into reading, those were so common. There might be people where, like, I don't know if that's newer. Who's I just talking to about that? I can't remember. I was talking to an author. Maybe it was when we were in Houston. I don't know.

Yeah, we were trying to, or I think it might have been Ashley when we were in Houston. I think we were talking about. The prevalence of multi-POV now. I love it. Yeah. I love that. You know how I had on a few episodes ago that our book club read Mary Higgins Clark from 1975, where are the children?

I finished it. And like it's all in third person except for one, like the villain's perspective. But like even then, it was cool to me that like, is that the dog? Oh my gosh. I just love how like every time he's like, fuck you, mom. I know, I can't believe you're recording again.

I don't know if she keeps this in or not. It was just interesting. There was like perspectives of like everyone in the town. Like different people in the community, like they had a perspective. It was actually so cool. And I couldn't believe that was 1975. Wasn't that also in the new or like the latest Shari Lapina. I have not read it. Oh my god. It's my favorite one of her so far. Oh. Like, what is it called? Someone knew something. Is it out yet or not? Yeah. It's like the one from last year. Oh. Fuck you.

Someone knew something. I just saw you like cackling. I was like, fuck you. You know that I'm awful. I'm awful with titles anyway. But, that was by far the worst one I've made up. So my nose, I'm saying. That's kind of how most of them are. Um, yeah. Okay. In my, in my defense, she does have one called someone we know. Oh.

But it's called, what have you done? Are you saying hi to everybody? Yeah. He's like, I heard you made up a dumb fucking book. Uncle Garrett. No. Yeah. What have you done?

Yeah. I mean, I like when it was cool how like every person like, oh, this person stopped at the grocery store and saw this. And this person like saw this car drive by. And like everyone had this little piece that like made the puzzle come together. And I thought that was so cool. So it can't be that new if it was in 1975. I guess was my point. I just thought it was really cool that like.

Like, she did that in 1975 and like somebody like did it recently. But I love that. I love when there's like a lot of POVs or like random like, um, like when you're reading like a whodunit or something where there's like the detective and they're, they're interviewing random people throughout the town. Yeah. And like interwoven chapters. I like that too.

That has to be kind of real, right? Like they're kind of asking whoever was around. It must be. Yeah. So we were thinking today, though, that we would do our favorite, five favorite authors and our favorite book by them. So that's what we're going to do. Might have some repeats. I have a long list, so.

I have a long list, too, because I was like, I know we're going to. Well, and I even meant, like, you're probably going to hear about books we've talked about before. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I also. For sure. put some backlists in there. For sure.

Well, should I start? Yeah. I do always start, don't I? Yeah. Since I kind of mentioned her before, maybe, I don't know if that was recorded or not. But I just keep, I just keep this year thinking about how much I love the last housewife. It just

I just keep thinking about it And for anyone who's ever heard me talk about it You know that partially It's because of that fucking amazing finale scene It will never leave my mind ever And obviously Ashley's a faith I mean it is a glorious Good for her shit show

And obviously Ashley's one of my faves I can't remember if I just said that either guys You just got to bear with my I'm so glad you started with Ashley. Yeah. Because I feel like that was the one that I knew that like all three of us were going to pick. I knew you at one of you was going to take it. Yeah.

So if you have not read this one, which is more common than I think I like convince myself, here is the synopsis. While in college and upstate New York, Shea Evans and her boy and her boyfriends, her best friends. Wow. Shea Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with web of lies about the way the world works, bringing them under his thrall. By senior year, Shea and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Now, eight years later, Shea's built a new life in a tiny Texas suburb. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death, delivered of all

ways by her favorite true crime podcast crusader, she begins to suspect that the past she thought she buried is still very much alive and the predators more dangerous than ever. Recruiting the help of the podcast host, Shea goes back to the place she found never to return to in search of answers. As she follows the threads of her friend's life, she's pulled into a dark seductive world where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. When Shea's obsession with uncovering the truth becomes so consuming, she can no longer separate her desire for justice from darker desires newly reawakened she must confront the depths of her own complicity and conditioning but in a world built for men to rule it both inside the cult and outside of it

is justice even possible and if so how far will she go to get it i mean i think we know it's been on my brain a little bit more so yeah if you just need to just bask in some female rage and can handle lots of trigger warnings. This one's for you. We would say this is her darkest book, right? I think so, yeah. I mean, I think people that read thrillers, this just goes in a direction where you're like, oh, okay.

And you're like, at least has such a high concentration of very dark moments compared to any of the other ones. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I would definitely say it's her. darkest. I think that the violence in this book will bury me is darker. I know. Oh. But it's like emotionally heavier. Yeah. But like this one is like, oh my God, there's so many scenes I'm just like replaying in my mind. Yeah. Me too. I'll just say this. Like there's, I mean, there's kind of like a sex cult aspect.

Yeah. Just a little bit like, ooh, am I going to get uncomfy right now? It's like, okay. Yeah. So if there's, there's obviously some work through like, where is this going? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh, my gosh. Definitely. But yeah. But yeah.

That ending, man. Oh, get it. I love it. I can still see it. Mm-hmm. Vividly. My memory is so bad with books, but that part, I'm like, all right. Mm-hmm.

Oh, God. I know. I love her. I do, too. She's going to be in Chicago. I'm hoping I'll be able to go to that one. on the 28th with Lane Fargo. Shut the fuck off with Lane Fargo.

I want to go to that. When is it? It's on a Monday, but it's on the 28th of April. April? It's like a week. Yeah, 10 days. Oh, it would be so cool if you could come, though. I know.

We really need to actually book one. We've got to sink something up. I thought Steph and I might be able to. Me too, and then I plan my stuff a year in advance, and this is the kind of stuff that happens. Being type A has some drawbacks. Oh, it does. Just ask your shoulders.

Oh, Gary, you're up. Okay. Hello. I'm just going to get this out of the way. wait are you gonna go like similar to something you may have shared earlier i'm gonna go like yeah i mean i have i have like those and then i also have like other ones okay so if people you know if we have ones in common then we can all agree in love so obviously i will never talk about my favorite authors without like drooling over

Jessica Nol and like how much I love her and bright young women is my favorite book in the entire world there's no lie there I just think it's like fantastic it's everything I love in a book it's beautifully written the characters are amazing and it's Jessica Nol and the cover is fucking gorgie gorgie

all of the covers are so cool so in on a Saturday in 1978 in Florida in the middle of the night a man breaks into a female student dormitory He goes from room to room and kills several residents. He will soon be known as one of the most famous serial killers in the USA, but he was observed committing his crime.

The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will forever change by this night. They have all become victims, but they tell their perspectives here. They remain masters of their stories, and they hunt the perpetrator on their own against resistance from the justice system and the police, against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer. Fuck yeah, Jessica Knoll.

So good. Oh my God. Yeah, and so similar, because I caught this book will bury me. Has some similar feelings. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I like, so obviously this one's loosely based on Ted Bundy, but I love that, like, the name Ted Bundy is not in this book once. Mm-hmm. The name of the killer is not in this book once.

he's only known as like the defendant. Yeah. And I like that she wrote this book for the reason of like everybody knows who Ted Bundy is, but most people can't name like one of his victims. And yeah, it's just, it's like written in a way that like even if you know the Ted Bundy like story, it's just like written like so like well in the sense that it just like really like draws you in. Yeah. And I'm upset.

I love her. We'll accept no slander. No. No. All I can think of is that TikTok trend where, like, women are going by punching their husbands in the throat. I didn't know that. I mean, why is that not in my honor? They, like, walk by and it's like, when your husband asks you to stop buying books and she, like goes like this and he's like, oh.

Oh, my God. How is that not in my FIP? I think the sound is from, um, The sound is from this like Jason Bateman movie with Melissa McCarthy where she has the big red curly hair. And they're like, road trip or something. Yeah. There's like some like road trip and he says something and she like punches him in the throat. But like people are like recreat using the sound and like being like when your husband tells you to do this. And then they like. Oh, that's smart. Yeah. It's funny. Oh, my gosh. Well, Tyler's going to be happy when he gets home. Yeah. You're like, Garrett told me this new cool thing. Yeah. Watch this. Oh my gosh.

So my next one, I'm actually going to shout out a book that's coming out because I'm so excited for it. I have not read it yet. So one of my favorite authors that I just discovered in 2024, no surprise, is Rachel Harrison. I've talked about her a lot. But she has a new book coming out in 2025. And it's probably one of the only ones I haven't talked about yet. So this one is called Play Nice and it has like the most Kate vibe cover. It does.

It's color scheme. Yes. I love it. So let's see here. A woman must confront the demons of her past. Cleo Louise Barnes leads a picture perfect life as a stylist and influencer. But beneath the glossy veneer, she harbors a not so glamorous secret. She grew up in a haunted house.

Well, not haunted. possessed. After Cleo's parents' messy divorce, her father, Alex, moved Cleo, her sister, and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or Alex claimed, that's not what Cleo's sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped Alex of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent. She even wrote a book about her experience in the house. After Alex's sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Cleo and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Cleo sees an operative. for house flipping content. Only as the home makeover process takes place, Cleo discovers there

might be some truth to her mother's claims. As memories resurface and Cleo finally reads her mother's book, the presence in the house becomes more real and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Cleo's beautiful life to its very foundation. I'm excited. I need to request this one if it's on that galley. I just gave up right away because I've never gotten a Berkeley book because I'm not here yet. I'm still excited. I would like to like I would like to like accept zero arcs

in like September October and like binge her entire catalog. Oh my God, that would be a perfect time to read it. So, so great voice I think. And like I'm not like we've talked about this so many times before like I don't really know if I'm like a horror reader. I'm not really sure

but I like her horror. Yeah. Yeah, I still haven't read a single one of hers yet. Maybe that's what I need to read next because I need a good one to read next because this last one didn't go anywhere. Dude, black sheep is about a devil cult and it's so voicy. I think you'd like it. Maybe I'll do black sheep. Yeah.

What did I read? I'm thinking about devil and Mrs. Davenport, but I also feel like I don't want to go back in time, but like I also feel like I'm going to love it. It doesn't feel that back in time. Okay. I mean, just as like women's struggles are still women's struggles, if you know what I mean. It could have been taken place whenever. Yeah. Man.

Either one. Well. Oh my gosh. My next one I had to talk about, I mean, for multiple reasons. One, because Gare introduced me to this book. and now two of my other friends who are also on this platform so I had to talk about the woman inside by E.G. Scott when they were E.G. Scott. It just felt right for this podcast. So for those of you who have not read it, Rebecca didn't know love was possible until she met Paul, a successful, charismatic, married man with a past as dark as her own. Their pain drew them together with an irresistible magnetism. They sensed that they were each other. ideal and perhaps only match. But 20 years later, Paul and Rebecca are drowning as the damage and secrets that ignited their love being to consume their marriage. Paul is cheating on Rebecca

and his affair gets messy fast. His mistress is stalking them with growing audacity when Rebecca discovers Paul's elaborate plan to build a new life without her. And though Rebecca is spiraling into an opiate addiction, it doesn't stop her from coming up with a devious plot of her own. and this one could end absolutely everything. What follows is an unpredictable and stylish game of cat and mouse, a shocking tale of unfaithfulness and unreliability that will keep you racing until the final twist and make you wonder just how well you really know your spouse.

Which really is sometimes the downside of reading so many thrillers because sometimes it's like, how do you really know anyone? Oh, you're skeptical. How? You're like... Spoiler alert, you don't! But yeah, I had to shout them out. Obviously, they're writing under their separate names now, and they have Imposter Hour.

Go listen to it if you like hearing about creatives with Imposter Hour. But this one's so good. Oh, my God, I fucking love a woman. Do you know how many times I've told... I've asked AJ lately or told him, I was like, I feel like there's something you're not telling me. Like say it all the time. But I think it's just like mood, not like I think he's keeping anything from me. It's more just like I'm stressed or you know what I mean.

I feel like you're not telling you. I mean, you know, the good thing is like if you ever did, then like you're going to be able to tell because he's going to react a little differently. That's true. I'll be like, I'll find out. Don't worry. that's always my come back oh god

we are just shining rays of positivity today I love you I just love how nonchalant you said that like I'll find out no that's like how conversations in my house are I'll figure it out I'll figure it out

oh my god I'm trying to play oh bad oh my G Scott yeah um I feel like I'm like feverishly like going through the ones that like I don't want to reference TikTok again but like I feel like I've been scrolling so much but there's there's this girl that I fucking love and like she's like she always like ends her TikTok with like like she's complaining about something and she's like do you know her? I love her so much but I feel like that would be like me where I'm like had to get Jessica Noah the way because like if somebody like took Jessica Noah I'd be like right. I could see it. So it's so funny though too.

Like how pissed you feel if someone didn't like a book that you loved? But like we also all know what it's like to read a book and be like, I thought I was going to love it. I don't know. It didn't work for me. But like someone else says it about something we love. We're like, fuck. Yeah. Yeah.

Like if one of you guys were like one of my favorite authors is Jessica Nol and I'm going to talk about like, right? You want to be like, what the fuck? If one of us actually did that with a straight face, I would be so shit. It would be so confusing. You just don't do it. So without further ado, my name. I have to, I have, I have a, I have a weird soapbox.

Did you know that it's called a bald-faced lie and not a bold-faced lie? I recently found that out because of Victoria Helen Stone's new book. I thought Victoria Helen's Stone book was called Bald-Faced Liar because it was a on bold face liar. Oh. So I thought it was... I thought it was bold also. I thought it was bold until today.

Oh, yeah, just recently found that out. What's weird as I knew it was bald, but I must have seen something recently this week because the crazier part is that I was thinking about it. And I was like, it doesn't even make any sense. So, like, I was thinking about it recently about how it didn't make sense. I feel like bold makes more sense. Yeah, because you like, like a bold, like that's bold. like that's bold of you. It'll fucking lie to me.

Yes. Motherfucker. So. I agree. Maybe it's just like bald people that lie. Never trust a baldy. The phrase bald-faced lie is used to describe a lie that is blatant and easily recognizable similar to a person with no face facial hair, which is bald. It implies that the lie is so obvious that it doesn't require any clever deception. But that would have to mean, like it was from a person who used to have to.

have facial hair for it to be obvious. Like that's not, that's still not a blanket statement. Well, if you're that bad at lying, it's still bold of you. Yeah. Exactly. I don't know. I don't know. We have our own little dictionary of. True about. Yeah. I will never say bald face liar. Anyway. One little angel that I will never bald face or bold face lie about. is my little angel baby Jennifer Hillier. I love her so fucking much. I sent her a message today. And I was like, I can't wait to meet you in a month.

If I pass out, look for somebody who looks like Henry Cavill to recess stapy. Hell yeah. See in a month. I was just talking about Jennifer Hillier with Hallie like three hours ago when we were recorded. She is so fucking brutal. I love her. Are you like, thank you for your cover re-releases? because this is awesome.

I haven't mentioned it, but I'm hoping that, like, when I see her, I can be like, what's the tea on that? Give me a scoop. She'll really get out of here. So my favorite of hers, this was really hard between jar of hearts and things we do in the dark. And I feel like I've only read things we do in the dark once. So, like, maybe that's why it's difficult because I've read jar of hearts like probably three or four times.

maybe five who knows um so i'm just gonna go with jar of hearts because it involves a serial killer and i fucking love serial killers fictional ones fictional ones let's be clear um so this is the story about three best friends who are not us one who was murdered one who went to prison and the one who's been searching for the truth all of these years when angelo wong was 16 years old she was one of the most popular girls in school and she disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend Georgina Shaw,

now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with the girls back in high school. 14 years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Gio's childhood home. Kaiser, now a detective with the Seattle PD, finally learns the truth. Angela was the victim of Calvin James, the same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women. To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer, but to Gio, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Gio, or Calvin was Gio's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, the relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met

right up until the night Angela was killed. For 14 years, Gio knew what happened to Angela and told no one. She carried the secret of Angela's death until she was arrested and sent to prison. While everyone thinks that they finally know the truth, there are dark, secrets buried deep. What happened that Faithful Night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches back

up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up. Kill the exact same manner as Angela Wong. Boom, boom. That's such a long synopsis. Gosh, it's been so long since I've read that book. It's obviously amazing. It's just been so long for me. It's probably when I first read it. You guys.

That's what I read it when I read it when I first started recording with Gare. It's his legacy. Yeah. It is. Oh my God. It is so, so freaking good.

And I think, like, it was one of my, like, it was one of my first, like, bookstagram books that, like, I was like,

this is the darkest thing I've ever read in my entire life. And, like, I loved it. Like, I read this before I read, like, pretty girls.

Yeah, it was definitely one of the ones that I was like, holy shit, like, this is crazy, but, like, obsessed. Yeah, for sure. I love that. I love that you have, like, I don't know if I could tell you, like, just, like, my top, whatever favorite books. And I love that you have those, and you're, like, ready. Hardcore passionate about them. Like, gun to my head, I could list them off in, like, 10 seconds. Exactly.

Mm-hmm. Oh, well, my next one's not that dark. It's a little wild, more wild than I thought it was. So I have talked a few times about how much I love Sally Hepworth, but recently I binged one of her older books called The Family Next Door. And she, I think, used to be more like drama and now she's more thriller. And I feel like this was kind of in that middle ground, in my opinion. And I will say this reminded me of like, I love a neighborhood suspense. Like, I love one. Like Lisa Jewel, the other mothers, the whispers, like, give it. Okay.

So the small suburb of Pleasant Court lives up to its name. It's the kind of place where everyone knows their neighbors and children play in the street. Isabel Hetherington doesn't fit into this picture of family paradise. Husbandless and childless, she soon catches the attention of three Pleasant Court mother. But Ange, Fran, and Essie have their own secrets to hide, like the reason behind Ang's compulsion to control every aspect of her life, or why Fran won't let her sweet, gentle husband wear near her new baby. Or why three years ago, Essie took her daughter to the park and returned home without her. As their obsession with their new neighbor grows, the secrets of these three women begin to spread, and they'll soon find out that when you look at something too closely, you see things you never want. wanted to see. It was bonkers. Like there was some bonkers reveals and I was like,

bring it on. Like I have I not read this one yet. Yeah. Yeah. I think, well, when is it from 2018? Oh, wow. Yeah. It sounds. So like what I really, really love about her is that like her books, you're like, this is going to be so juicy and gossipy and like fast pace and they are. But like, I find that like what I really like about her is that like all of her books are usually darker than you think they're going to be. Yeah. Like Darling Girls was so much darker than I thought it was going to be. I was like, holy mother of pearl. I still need to read that one. Oh yeah, you do need to read that one. It's so good. This one is like I wouldn't go dark. I would go like, I think I wrote in my review, like, don't tell, don't come up and be like, oh, that's so unrealistic. Like, I'm telling you right now,

it's probably not going to be something you'll encounter in real life. But I think it's like a, It's like real stuff. It's just not stuff you encounter a lot. Mm-hmm. Don't even tell me. It's not in stock at my Canadian bookstore. I've never seen it on a shelf. I got it from Libby.

Like I bet I'd have to order it. Yeah. I've been to multiple bookstores lately. And like lately some of my five-star reads, I'm like, I have to order a bunch of them to have trophies because they're not on shelves. Like Devil and Mrs. Davenport's not on any shelf. I gotta order some. The Canadian cover

is like darker though. Like it's like the same cover but like it's like darker. Oh yeah, it's like a darker sky. Yeah. Darker blue and yellow. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That's my shit.

Not that like slashy written font. Sorry. I will fucking eat up every single one of them too. They're all fucking good. though. Give me a fucking... It's terrible. Give me a blue and yellow cover

with like a fucking paintbrush font and I'm just like... Fucking feral for it. Sign me up. I will gobble that up like fucking pizza on a Saturday. Let me tell you what. A window with a light on, bitch now. Yeah, with like

maybe like a single female silhouette. Yeah. I was going to say one or two. A very cartoon silhouette by the way. Like with like Or like, or it's like a silhouette in the background. You're like, does she know someone's behind her?

I love the silhouette where like she clearly has like the very like stereotypical like Barbie ponytail. That looks like a question mark. Or like the Megan Collins one like because it's so much about pregnancy, like the bellies are like super obvious. Which is a good book. We're just laughing about covers guys. we're just laughing because there's so many. Oh. The fucking Lego Lego Bob.

He's a Lego Bob. Oh, God. All the books I have right now have like almost the same cover, but none of them are that shockingly. These are the Frida McFadden books I have left. And look at all the spines. There's like one that's not black and yellow. It's all black and yellow.

They're kind of similar, but like the font size and spacing is different on every single. Yeah. I don't know. Oh, silly. Elfrida. I love it. I'm a frena arena. Well, I have a blue cover for my next one, but there's no yellow.

Oh, just kidding. There's one little strip of yellow, but it's, it's not. It doesn't count with the cover. But speaking of blue covers and authors who, used to write drama but write more thrillers. I love Lisa Jewell and I loves the night she disappeared for whatever reason. That one has stuck with me for years. And it's like an underneath you're underneath the water and a pool covers. That's why it's blue. A synopsis though. 2017 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date leaving her baby with her mother Kim. Kim

Kim watches her daughter leave and as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return and waits. The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place. She never returns. 2019, Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree. dig here. A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma, and dark secrets lie at the heart of

Lisa Jules' remarkable new novel. I didn't need to read that last part, but my dog was trying to climb on me. If you're watching YouTube, you'll see you. So I was just trying to keep reading. She's like, come on, mom. Can you look at, if you're on Goodreads, you should look at the other, like, the other edition of our book. Oh, oh my gosh, I'm scrolling. Why isn't it? showing it to me. That's weird. Oh, here we go. I have to, oh my gosh.

There is a blue and yellow version of this. Why is mine not loading? Mine wasn't either. I had to like toggle something down. It's definitely a silhouette. I love it. It's too funny. Oh my God, there is.

Well, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see then otherwise you'll just have to go yourself. Actually, too, the thing that's funny is the U.S. paperback has a lot of more yellow in it. Yeah, it does. I don't like that font. I'm just going to say it. It doesn't work.

I don't like it. I think that the one, maybe it must be the U.S. hardcover or something. That kind of more serifed font. Yeah. Really nice looking. I like that one more.

but yeah it is definitely dual timelines and i think that's funny since that was your um icebreaker i think it's dual timelines and multiple povs i think so i love that i love when it's multiple timeline there's there's something about like a shitload of multiple povs and timelines like all in one i just read one that had like three three POVs and like five timelines within them. Whoa. Fucking amazing. Was it a thriller?

Yeah. Is it Lisa Gray? Yeah. We got you, boo. I need to re-rot one. The night. Oh, my God. That sounds like you're not to keep track of, and that's what my brain likes.

Dead of Night is her newest one. I fucking ate it up. It was so good. It was like very much like seaside like vibes. And I really had no idea where the freaking story was going until like I had like an inkling at like 80% and then I was like still wrong. So Lisa Gray is going to be my next pick. Because I. I read two of her books this year, and then in the matter of a week, I read six.

I caught up. I read, I fucking love her so, so, so much. I've talked about the final act on here. I love, it's like a Hollywood thriller, but during my read, I started the Jessica Shaw series, which has, like, four books in it, and they all have, like, trope or, like, plot devices that I'm, like, obsessed with. but the one that stuck with me that was like dark and I was like oh my god you guys like I am like full on like tearing up right now other than the final act like this is my favorite one it's the third book in the jesska shaw series but like you still have to read the first two but you won't regret it because she's brilliant um but it's dark

highway by lisa gray like I ate the shit up it was just I mean so addictive um an isolated highway in the middle of the desert, the perfect place to hide a secret. LA-based artist Lori Simmons disappeared two months ago. Her camper van abandoned in the isolated 29 Palms Highway, miles from anything or anyone. With the police investigation stalled, her parents put in all their faith in private investigator Jessica Shaw to find out the truth of what happened. Jessica and her partner Matt Connor discover that two other women are missing. their disappearance is connected to the same highway. When a link emerges between these women in a group of former college friends,

Jessica feels certain they're closing in on their target. No sooner do they follow up. Then Lori's parents get spooked and drop the case. Jessica's blindsided but determined not to give up. Three women are missing and many more may be at risk. She can't turn her back on them. But the more she pulls at the threads of the truth, the closer she comes to danger.

Can she find out who's behind the crimes before they come for her? damn damn damn jessica shaw is the baddest motherfucker i love her so much she is like tough as shit i like that i love that you've just like burned through her books yeah so cool i read yeah so i read the final act which i'm like obsessed with and then i read the dark room and i was like wow the dark room was like super fucking dark like holy shit and then I like collected her books and I like was like oh I need to get into these and like all of the Jessica Shaw books have plots that I like like there's like a missing highway there's like cold case murder there's um like one that's like a bout of like group of women who like write to serial killers in prison they're just so good and so I like binge them and I was like dark highway is like the most perfect book for me it's just so good. she even has one that's like if you like selling sunset like I'm addicted to that it's like my housewives um she has one about like these like five brokers who like live in los angeles and they're like you

like if you sell this $50 like Malibu mansion you get a million dollars and then like the night of the open house there's a body in the pool so it's like selling sunset with like fucking murder oh yeah so good with fucking murder y'all isn't it fun when there's like a an author that just like, you're like, this is my niche. You've got. Yes. I've read eight of her books and every single one of them have been four to five stars for me. Wow. Every single. Like there's not like, and I love her so much. She's prolific. She just pumps them out. Right. Eight, eight books. I'm like, there's going to be probably one that didn't, you know, that might not work for me that well, which is fine. But I was like, holy fuck, Lisa. Like, I am just like, no, every single one of them worked for me.

every single one of them work for me. Yeah, I like that. She's kind of like, I would say like, Karen Slaughter meets Jennifer Hillier with the pacing of Alice Feeney and Freedom McFadden. Damn. That's fascinating, yeah. Like, not so much like popcorn thriller as Freedom McFadden,

but like just like the pacing, like you're like, yeah, I'm not putting this puppy down. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. addictive. Love. Ooh.

I'm obsessed. Well, I guess, speaking of authors that have, like, a lot of books and they're pretty dark, I'm going to talk about Jess Lowry.

I don't really know which one to talk about because I really like a lot of hers. So I always, like, honestly, avoid talking about Corey girls because I feel like

that's her most famous one, but I will say it was the first one I read, and so I, I'm going to talk about that one. And I also think it's, like, really unique, in my opinion. Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city.

But for two best friends, it's not all fun in games. Heather and Brenda have a secret, something that they saw in the dark, something they can't forget. They've decided to never tell a soul, but their vow is tested when their friend disappeared. the second girl to vanish in a week, and yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate. Searching for answers on her own, Heather fears that no one in her community is who they seem to be.

Not the police, not the boys, she and Brenda met at the quarry, not even their parents. Heather is terrified that the missing girls will never be seen alive again because of what she stumbled upon that night. She knows she's the only one who can keep it from happening again. I feel just Lowry's books.

She has a lot of, like, teen protagonists. They're not YA by any means. I really like that, though. Like, I really like having, like, a teen from an adult perspective, kind of. I think, like, the tunnels underneath the town are super unique.

I really like that. And, like, Midwest thriller is always fun. Yeah. Yeah. That's my favorite of hers, too. There's, like, one scene in that book that, like, is engraved in my mind. Is it down in the tunnels? Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. I was like, mother-of-od. It's about time I read her books. Wait, have you not read any girls? I haven't read a single one. Oh, Kate. Oh.

Oh, funny. I love that. Oh. And I will say I am probably an outlier in this crew that, like, I don't love a series. Like, I'm a standalone girl. but I do love her what are they? Steinbeck and read the killers. I do

like her series because I think the detectives are really unique and cool. Yeah. I was just thinking about that. I think I'm behind on one of those. I think there's two out and ones coming out in July, the third one. And they should be

read in order in my opinion. I do not think they're standalones. Oh, I thought it was cat doing something. Oh, that was totally mean. Moving the most around. That's in chaos. That means I am next. Oh, my gosh. Well, I talked about her earlier. So I will definitely still need to mention Elaine Fargo. And I was torn because I did really love the favorites in just a very unique way that I was not expecting. Yeah.

But like they never learn is still my favorite. It's just the truth. Wow, this is long. You got some bangers on this, uh, uh, revenge tour you're talking about with your favorite offer. Oh my God. Are they all revenge? They probably are.

Was that one? No. Yeah. Last housewife. The woman inside. They never learn. Woman inside. All of them have.

All of them have like a good for her moment though. Oh, yeah. What can I say? That's the next t-shirt I need to make. Yeah, you do. Okay, my dogs are being so weird. And Tyler just got home, so we'll see how this goes. Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor,

but she's even better at getting away with murder. Every year, she searches for the worst man at Gorman University and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she's avoided drawing attention to herself, but as she's preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Scarlett insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge, Dr. Mina Pierce. Everything's going according to her master plan until she loses control with her latest victim,

putting her secret life at risk of exposure. Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally, free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident, everything Carly wishes she could be, and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the

attack her pay and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality. So Steph was right. I am on a revenge train right now. I like it. Yeah. I fucking love that book so much. It's like I think this was, I don't know for sure, but I feel like this was my first like female serial killer book. And I was like, wow, that works for me. Yeah. I definitely like when I was really like when I was reading that. I was like, it wasn't my first one, but it was my first likable one. Yeah. That could be a tier. Like, I liked her. I liked her. My other one was Gretchen from the Chelsea Kane series. Oh. And Summit Lake? No, um, Chelsea Kane, um, not Summit Lake. That's, it's like cold. It's like cold of night.

I think it's like them. I'm thinking the wrong things. But it's like the serial killer who was like the psychologist and she was working with the FBI. And like she was having an affair with like the lead detective and then she tried to murder him. And then like he's like still visiting her in prison because he's like in love with her. Because she's like bats shit fucking crazy, but she's hot as fuck. That'll do it. But yeah, Gretchen is not likable.

But I love. Love. They never learn. good for her I think that one was kind of set up for like I could continue and if it does I mean I feel like there's a lot of pressure probably to if you do continue that so maybe just leave it but like she's so cool that's like one of my top like books that I like I really want to see this adapted yes

I really want to see it. At least the favorites is probably. Yeah. I know. I worked so hard on my cast for the favorites that like if they picked anyone else, I'd be like, why? I know. I feel like some. There's a few books.

I'm like, yeah, cool. And there's some that I'm like, if they do it, they should hopefully do it right. Or don't do it at all. Oh, you mean like how somebody that I think is always fucking on the ball with interesting plots is my home girl, Catherine Ryan Howard. Obsessed. Obsessed. I think every one of her books is so, like, unique

and just, like, wild shit show crazy, and I love her. And my favorite is the trap. I still think about the ending probably once a week. The last, like, year and a half. So it is an unsettling mystery inspired by the series of still unsolved

disappearances in Ireland in the 90s. where one young woman risk everything to catch a faceless killer. A year ago, Lucy's sister Nikki, left to meet friends at a pub in Dublin and never came home. The third Irish woman to vanish inexplicitly in as many years, the agony of not knowing what happened that night has turned Lucy's life into a waking nightmare. So she's going to take matters into her own hands. Angela works as a civilian paper pusher in the missing persons unit, but wants nothing more than be a fully-fellee. fledge member of the Garda Irish police force. With the official investigation into the missing women stalled,

she begins pulling on a thread that could break the case wide open and destroy her chances of ever joining the force. A nameless man drives through the night, his latest victim in the backseat. He's going to tell her everything from the beginning and soon she'll realize what you don't know can hurt you. It is so good. Oh my gosh. someone I can't remember who asked in the book club earlier, but they were like, is the trap?

Is it really good? And I was like, yes. And then I was like telling them like the story of like how we ended up reading it. Gere and I did around the same time. And we could not stop talking about the ending. We were just like sending all caps back and forth. Yeah. Yeah.

I was like so obsessed with it too. I watched like, I looked up the case that it's like loosely based on. and I watched a documentary and like the worst quality on YouTube because it's like the only way I could find it

so I could like learn more about this because I was like so like stuck in this book and I still I just like stare at it sometimes and I'm like I'm going to reread you one day it is so good is it really I would have thought my gut would have said it was long but no if you have if you look at like the physical book

it's pretty short Yeah. I think the audio is pretty short. I think her biggest one is runtime. That was a long one, which was so good anyway, but whatever. Her newest one's on its way. The one that's not being. Yeah.

Nice. That covers pretty good. This is one of those moments where it sucks that I don't read physical books because I can't just like order it from the UK to my Kindle. Yeah. We can't order. So that's interesting. You can't get an ebook or do they not have?

have e-books. They didn't publish it in the U.S. so like his book is coming, I'm assuming, from the U.K. somewhere. Yeah. I am not understanding this. Because she's just like, how does he not picking up? It isn't happening. And I'm like, what do you mean? Yeah. I want to know

the tea on it too. Yeah. Because like I was, she said so many published here. She's had so many published here and they're all by Blackstone. And she only said like this one isn't being published in the U.S. Yeah, she was specific. Like, I don't know.

I don't know what happened. Is it something like in the book that like it is like too taboo? But like every book around here is dark. You know what I mean? Yeah. Huh. Can't wait for you to read it, Garrett. Because she's not like afraid to like go there.

Right. Right. Huh. I don't know. I'm so curious. Because it's like kind of like a ghost writer. Like situation. Oh.

I think. The cover does have, it has fire on it too, right? Kind of like the ghost writer by Julie Clark. Yeah, but I mean,

I know. But it's like very like, burn after reading. Has a 3.8 on good reads. Sweet. Oh, speaking of burning on the cover. Ooh.

I really like Jennifer McMahon, who is kind of like, I haven't talked about her a lot, but like to me, she's kind of like Simone St. James where there's some supernatural stuff, but it doesn't really feel super horrory. It's more like thrillery. I will say, I don't feel like for a lot of people, the children on the Hill is their favorite book. But for some reason, like, it's definitely mine by her. Nice. And maybe it has something to do with I have not read Frankenstein, which I think it's kind of like plays off of. I don't know. But anyway. Whoa. I love Frankenstein. Yeah, so I don't know if it would.

Love it. Turn that off or on for some people. I don't know. This is dual timeline, and I really liked it. It's 1978. At her renowned treatment center in picturesque, Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill.

But when she's home with her cherished grandchildren, Violet and Eric, she's grand, teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals and providing them with care, attention, and love. Then one day, Grand brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris, silent, hollowide, skittish, and feral, does not behave like a normal girl. Still, Vi is happy to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their monster club, where they catalog all kinds of monsters

and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell, and she and Vi and Eric do everything together, ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vaya explains, monsters are everywhere. In 2019, Lizzie Shelley, the host of a popular podcast, Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She's determined to hunt it down because Lizzie knows better than anyone else that monsters are real, and one of them is her very own sister.

It does play with the idea of Monster a lot. I think that that's very cool. And I realized also, again, I do love like a child's perspective in a non-children book. So I really liked this one. I really want to read that. There's a lot going on in it. I like there are lots of elements. Yeah, I love like the, okay, we're in like Vermont.

And also there's kind of like this ward like hospital. was like kind of creepy I love like the kids perspective and then yeah like how do these storylines come together to she I interviewed her about was a darling girl

yes about that one and she was saying like she has like whole concepts come to her in her dreams it's very like I don't know what the word are mystical almost like the way she talked about writing like not super strong

which always just like seems magical to me yeah to be able to do something without structure and I love because I'm assuming it because like the blurb says like a genre defying novel inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein so then it's cool that the podcaster has it's Lizzie Shelley so I'm assuming that's like a nod oh that's cool I like that yeah yeah I've read like two bucks by her and like one of them i really liked and then the other one like i was like i don't know if this is for me but like i'm so curious on children of the hill and the winter people that one's good yeah i'd say some of them on my opinion are on the like slower side like she has a very like beautiful style of writing in my opinion um but i'll say like this one's really

felt different than her other ones in a way. And like, like I'd say the Knight's sister, the drowning kind, they're kind of like a little slower in my opinion. The winter people is like creepier, I thought. And like good for wintertime, definitely. Wow, that covers like, yeah, creepy and snowy. See, maybe I need to read this one since it's 82 degrees here. What?

There you go. Oh, there you go. Yeah, you could do that. You can do that. Yeah, she's She's got a lot of... She's really cool. Mm-hmm.

I think she lives in Vermont too, doesn't she? It would make sense. I think all of her books take place there. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I wonder how many times I've like, I wonder if I've ever ran into her and just like didn't realize that.

I have. She seems like a person that's like a really quiet, but like super creative, thoughtful. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Seems to have a large interior world. Yeah. Oh, that's a very nice way to say What I would say about myself

I would say that about you too I feel very lucky to be allowed inside sometimes Oh, you guys, you can't make me cry Actually, it's really easy to make me cry right now I love being a guest in this house Just go for it