Bookwild - Great Thrillers on Kindle Unlimited with Gare Billings & Steph Lauer

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

This week, Gare, Steph and I share thrillers on Kindle Unlimited that you just have to read!KU Books We Talked AboutFatal IntrusionThe InmateReal EasyThe PredictionThe ThicketHis & HersA Flicker in the DarkThe Murder Between UsJane DoeThis Family LiesThe Drowned GirlsThe HeiressOther Books We Talked AboutGaslightSugarWhite Girl ProblemsPyschosAmerican Babe 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 

I feel like it looks like I have like literally just two hairs. I don't know why my hair feels so. You think your hair looks fantastic. Well, thank you. I think we're the best trio ever. I can say one thing about this trio though, honestly. Like, we all have fucking great heads of hair. You are right. You want to crack. Are you? I thought about this. I'm like, I could like put my hair in a different ponytail. And then I'm like, no, this is. me. They're going to just get my authentic self. I'm glad you did that. You need a blonde bombshell, though. Nobody can rock that side pony like you. Yeah. Like the, it's like the,

with your little skull sweatshirt, like, are you kidding me? I know. Give yourself more crad. So much more badass than us. I really actually, um, my goal is like right here and right here, I have like some pretty cool grays coming in and my goal is to like have it come in and be like a badass gray. but it's taking way too long. I don't know. So that's my ultimate hair goal, is to have, like, really cool gray hair. I feel like I'm either going to go gray,

and it's going to be, like, thick gray hair, like Dylan McDermott or someone. Or I'm going to lose all of my hair before it goes gray. God, I hope I never lose my hair. Oh, my God, if I lose my hair, I'm going to be pissed. Like, I, I, I, I am committed to having decent hair. I love your hair.

I love your hair. Thank you. I really didn't try to start this podcast out talking about my hair, but here we are. That's been a staple, though. Your hair's been a staple in the podcast. Remember when we first started and we talked about the Larry bangs? Oh, yeah. Oh, I forgot to tell you guys this Larry story.

I have forgotten, I think, three weeks in a row. So, like, this happened so long ago. but we went to see Chelsea Beaker in Chicago. Yeah. And I was so excited. It was my first event that I've gone to in person. Yeah. Yeah.

That's true. And so I'm like, I'm not going to sweat. I'm going to be okay. Like I know I'm going to have to park far away, but like, I'm not going to sweat that much. Yeah. I did. Like very, very, very, very. very quickly and like like I was a hot mess like my face is red like the bangs

Tyler's like maybe don't look at maybe you just don't you don't need to look at it like he was trying to save me and then when I did look they were the Larry bangs and that is how I met Chelsea Beaker I'm Chelsea Beaker met Larry Kate Well, Larry comes out to play. Let's do it. And she wanted to hug me. And I had to, like, it was the hardest thing in the world for me not to say, like, I'm really sorry that I'm so sweaty. I was like, I just need a hugger.

She didn't have to offer. But I was like, she is going to feel that I'm drinked in sweat. So that was fun. No air conditioning in the location. That's insane. And this happened at the beginning of September. so it was in the upper 80s. It was almost 90.

Chelsea Beaker looks like someone that like just like pleasantly doesn't sweat and like always looks perfect. Oh, never. Like I saw her bangs on her whole tour, not a singly bang on her tour. Her bangs are angelic the whole time. I just bought the UK cover of her book because she's coming to Madison.

I'm hoping that they're doing a signing, but I'm not sure but I want to get signed because. it's also very cool. Yeah. So left out. I need to read her damn book now. You do. You really like it.

Listen, here's my like, Lana Del Rey lyric for this episode is like I need to read the author that got Kate out of the house. This is going to be the clip. came into that because like what was it like i think you interviewed r jacobs in person right yeah he was the first person i reached out to and he was like i'll drive up to you and i was like what and he was

like i like road trips yeah yeah yeah but otherwise i haven't had any other this is the first like event that you've yeah talked about yeah that you've went to well and a little good sneak peek segue segue here. As part of it is because I do want to start offering services to authors. So help with like, I know social media stress is a lot of authors out and it just feels like something they just have to do. Tyler's really into photography and we make videos and reels for like our current clients already. So we also had this like perfect opportunity to practice. And again, I went as Larry. So pictures. so good too. Oh my god.

She loved him so much. I know. She's very, she's very cool. I need to read Godshot now. Yeah. I need to see if her books at the bookstore in Canada. Yeah.

I'm going to pick it up this weekend. I'm fucking not going. I have an embarrassing, I have an embarrassing moment. Can I tell you what I guys, what I did today? Yeah. Yes.

So I've been reading the last one at the wedding by Jason Reculak. I know I pictured his last name. And there's actually like something. There's something in his book where like the main character is like sick of people butchering his last name. And I kind of feel like it's like a dig at me because like I probably have said it like wrong a hundred times. But I was reading it and I had 25 pages left.

And I was like, oh shit, it's five o'clock. Got to go. and I sat here in the waiting room for the podcast for 10 minutes, like wondering if something happened because I didn't realize it was 5.30 and it was 5. I thought it was 5 o'clock. Oh. So I just sat here and I was like, where are that? And I like realized it and I was like, oh, I can wrap this book up.

But yeah, I thought you were late and not coming. I was like, is Garrett up point? He was like, is Gary going to be here? I was like, yeah. I mean, we've got some time. She was like, wasn't it 515? I was like, I didn't think it was 5.30. No, I didn't know.

I was like, no, but it's 5 o'clock. Here I am. And then I was like, oh, shit. And I went and finished the book and refilled my water bottle and set of prayer and hop on. Oh, I googled it. And I, because I recently heard someone say, I think it's in the audio book. It says reculac. But then when I googled it just now, it says reculic.

I don't know if that's true, so we'll have to find out. I thought the audiobook would have been correct. Well, I have an icebreaker. So, and the reason I thought of this was because Gare and I talked about this recently this week, there's a movie he told me to watch called Fresh. And it's great. It's great. But it's not a spoiler to say that there's cannibalism involved.

Is it? Is that in the trailer? I think it's in the trailer. I think it's in the trailer. I thought I was in the time. Yeah, I think out. I mean, it's been out for a while. So like if you haven't watched it. It's been out for two years or so. Um, right. You could still want to watch it knowing that. Um, it's, I thought I was like, I can handle it. And then I was watching and I was like, oh my God. Like at least the way that they were depicting it. Like I was just imagining someone eating my muscles. Like it was just so embedded in my head that I got so creeped out. And I was like, I got so creeped out. And I was. And I was just. And I was just. And I was just so. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. And I finished the movie because I'm not a quitter, but I felt so uncomfortable. And so like then that was the night I learned about myself that like cannibalism is maybe what I can't handle, even though I thought I could. So did you have any things that you're like, oh, this in thrillers really pushes me over the edge? Movies or books?

Yeah. because really it's like body horror is what I learned is like too much for me. I would say body horror is mine. Fresh did not bother me. It's more so like piercings or anything like going through skin in like a very strange way. I watched I watched a horror movie called American Mary and I absolutely loved it. and it was like gory, you know,

but I mean, it's a horror movie. It was kind of gory. I was completely fine until it showed somebody who like had the piercing where they split their tongue. Oh.

And I was like, that was the most disturbing part for me. Like, I don't hear like Dexter's like chopping people up and like, you know, blah, blah,

blah, and like throwing them back. I'm fine with that. Um, there was like a movie that I've watched where like somebody for like, I don't know if it was like for like, assuming it was like sexual gratification would like, like hang from hooks that went through the skin on their back.

Like that stuff. No. No. I'm reading an M.M. romance right now and a guy has like penile piercings. Yeah. Why didn't you say it like that? I'm trying to not be like, oh, the head of his dick was pierced. That works for me.

Like penile piercing. And I was like, ugh, I don't know if I want to read any more of this. Yeah. I would say body. Like I'm, I loved Demi more, but I don't think I'm going to be able to watch substance. That was the other one. Like, I was so excited for the substance. And, like, we were going to go the second night, but then we read the reviews.

And I was like, yeah, it's probably not going to work for me. Hmm. I feel like books are a lot easier for me than on-screen stuff. Mm-hmm. But I, I don't know. There's been a couple books that, like, weirdly stuff that, like, weirdly stuff that, I never thought would creep me out would creep me out. Like I guess in the most recent Noel W. Iley book,

there was just like some violence against just like families that was hard. And then there was like one book called Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina. There was like a folksy story about this head like rolling around town. It was so weird. What? It creeped me out while I was trying to fall asleep. And I'm like, of all the things like this. folklore kind of tale creep me out but I think like as far as um like movies and stuff there's

like ghosty stuff really creeps me out like the sixth sense started me for my whole life and like if someone pops up in like the rearview mirror of someone's car like or the back seat or like in a shower or something like that stuff creeps me out but I don't know if they're like no goes they just linger for so long yeah lights on type stuff I don't know though I don't know. Yeah. Those were good ones. And I really hate

certain bugs. Like centipedes, like those like silverfishy ones. I hate those my worst irrational fear is that I can't do it. Mine are snakes. Yeah. I can't do snakes.

I don't care about spiders. I don't. Bugs don't bother me. Like snakes, but frogs, freak me the fuck out. Oh, I know. Sounds like that too, yeah. Okay, so... I mean, I don't like them.

Like, probably like three or four years ago, I was, like, outside in the summer and I, like, came in. And I felt like I had a raindrop on my calf. And it was a frog. And it was, like, in my house and I was, like, screaming and I, like, didn't know how to get him out. I was, like, trying to push him with a broom and he was, like, holding onto the floor. Like, it was, like, the most traumatic. It scared me more than the time that the drunk guy tried to break into my house. Crazy.

Yeah. was the time that a frog was attached to my leg. Same thing. In the last one at the wedding, there is a spider moment in there. Just be aware. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

That book was so good. I need to read it. Oh, my God. I just finished. Five stars. I added it to like my favorite 2024. Wow. Yeah.

Just keep in mind, it is very different than hidden pictures. Yeah. It's very different. But it's not, I was kind of expect. like an Agatha Christie-esque, like, um, remote location, like locked room. Yeah, like, and I was like, I don't know if I'm going to be into this. And then like as the plot like began, I was like, damn, like I'm really into this.

Really, really into this. Yeah, it was really good. Okay. The mother-in-law was like perfectly creepy. Okay, the mother-in-law is like what I'm going to be like in 30 years. I swear to God. Oh, my God. Okay.

Kate can't wait for you to read it and then like think about that. That's so funny, though. I would rather see something in a movie than like in a book. Oh, really? I feel like if I like, if it's like coming up in a movie, I can like close my eyes really quick. But like in a book, it can like sneak attack because like you're reading it. And like all of a sudden it's like and then like he like chopped off their elbow or something. And you're like, oh, fuck.

I think you're like, you specifically seem so very. visual when it comes to visualizing books, I think I'm a little more like, I can like blur it out. I wish. No, I like, yeah. No, I picture like everything. Yeah, I like kind of love that for you though. I think I picture most things. Like burner was hard. Burner was really, really, really hard to read. Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter was really hard to read. Yeah. The good daughter. Did you know that Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter's on Kindle Unlimited? Yes, I did. Good segue.

Solid segue. So we are going to talk about Kindle unlimited thrillers that you should read or that we read and loved, however you want to look at it. Was Pretty Girls on your list? Pretty Girls was number one on my list. And then pretty girls went off from my list because I was like, you have to stop talking about pretty girls and jar of hearts and bright young women all the time. It was one where I saw that it was on Kindle Unlimited.

So it was like, I wrote it. I was like, okay, this is one. It's like my backup is. Yeah, yeah. Pretty girls definitely like if, yeah, if you haven't read Pretty Girls and you have Kindle Unlimited, like that is like the best free treat you can get. yourself. Yeah, I'm kind of surprised it's on there, honestly. I am too. Are a lot of her books on there?

I don't know. Quite a few. I don't know. Because, like, I looked at least a jewel because in your last episode, someone had put, I found you, and then I happened to look, and I think only one of them is on there right now. So, like, some authors, it's like their whole collection and other authors, it seems to be kind of sporadic. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I noticed that, too. Well, I can start with one. And this one's fun because I loved it and I interviewed the authors. And it's called

Fatal Intrusion by Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldenado. And I flew through this one even though it's like long, like 450 pages. Harmon Sanchez is a tough Homeland Security agent who plays by the rules. But when her sister is attacked revealing a connection to a series of murders across Southern California, she realizes a conventional investigation will not be enough to stop the ruthless perpetrator. With nowhere else to run, Sanchez enlists the aid of Professor Jake Heron, a brilliant and quirky private security expert who, unlike Sanchez, believes rules are merely suggestions. The two have a troubled past, but he owes her a favor and she's cashing in. They team up to catch the assailant who misdifyingly has no discernible motive and fits no classic criminal

profile. All they have to go on is a distinctive tattoo and a singular obsession that gives this chillingly efficient tactician his nickname, Spider. Spider reference coming back. Over the next 72 hours, Sanchez and Heron find themselves in the midst of a lethal chess match with the killer as they race to stop the carnage. As the victims mount, so do the risks, because this spider's web of intrigue is more sinister and goes far deeper than anyone. could possibly anticipate. And there's like, this will appeal to a lot of different readers. If you like serial killer thrillers and really like it reminded me of Nordic Noir, too.

So like if you like those kind of stories, you'll enjoy this. If you like serial killers, stories in general, you'll like this. And if you like tech related thrillers. You'll also like this. Gary, Gair is like fuck me up with this book, right? I know. I'm like foaming at the mouth. Do you want me to send you my copy?

Because they sent me one. Here's the weird thing I have to tell you guys is I'm believing in like signs and synchronicities and something big is going to happen in my life because two things I did yesterday was I wrote an article for she reads about thrillers by indigenous authors. And I included the Nick Medina book that you referenced earlier. and I have not read it, but I was like, this sounds so good. I added it to my TBR and I included it in an article. When that article was done, I cleaned out my bookshelves and forgot to text message

Kate and tell her that I found an arc, a paperback art of fatal intrusion. Whoa. You are really happy. That was all yesterday. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So I'm either going to be like a millionaire or like super skinny or like, I don't know.

Married. Something major. Buy a lottery ticket there. Yeah. I know, right? Could you imagine? Yeah. I would be like, we're all just going to podcast every day.

I'm going to, we're all just going to be rich. That is the goal. Just rich housewives. Yeah. And I'll pay for our tour and I'll convince Taco Bell to sponsor us. Yes. I'm here for it. I know, right?

So, yeah. So I do want to read that and I found an arc of it. So it's paperback. also which is nice that's even better i know i was like wow that's that's exciting oh my gosh well do you who wants to go next yeah yeah you can go okay i'll do it hell yeah hell yeah um i picked books that i don't think i've talked about shockingly enough. My first one's by Jessica Null.

No, I'm just kidding. My first one, this kind of reminds me of like a horror movie in a way, like from like the 90s. So I wanted to include that because, you know, we're approaching Halloween. And my first one is The Inmate by Freedom McFadden. Oh. There are three rules. Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men's maximum security. One, treat all prisoners with respect. Two, never reveal any personal information.

And three, never, ever become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiaries most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don't know that Shane was Brooke's high school sweetheart, the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders, or that Brooks testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows, and he'll never forget. So it has dual timeline. And man, this, it is just so well-paced. It's wild. I absolutely loved it. I never saw the ending coming. And I just feel like it's like one of those Frida books that

like people don't talk about a lot. And. I think it's the, I think it's like probably the second or the third one that I've read by her. But like, I would say it's probably like came out in the last like five years or so. Okay. I thought it reminded me there was one that came out maybe like two or three of them ago. But maybe that was different. Okay.

Anyway, there's one called Ward D. That's it. Maybe. And I always get them confused because they're. covers kind of look similar. No shade of Frida, but like, yeah, the covers look a little similar, but, um, but yeah, the inmate, so good, so good. And the like, the dual timeline, she just does a really good job with that. So I think that it's like super fun. It sounds like her pacing is just like top tier fast. Impossible to put down. Impossible to put down. Even like, I mean, listen, like,

when you have somebody like Frida who has like, what, 15, 20 bucks or so, not all of them are going to like hit for you you know but like even the ones that like weren't my favorites by her still i like read in a day wow yeah yeah she's just fun i've only read the locked room by her i have not read that one yet and the housemaid's going to be turned into a movie i just saw that and you casted one of the characters perfectly crazy yeah i picked sidney Sweeney for Millian. That's who's going to play Millian. I was like, holy shit. That is so cool. That's another thing in the last, what, 48 hours you found out. Ooh.

That's good. They come in threes. She's right. She's right. Got some stuff going on. The group text is going to be on fire this weekend. My first one, it's funny that you reference like the Larry Bangs days, because this is one of like from a while ago I got from this podcast from gear talking about it is real easy my Marie Rutkowski Rikoski. We've come full circle.

Yeah, I have like a bunch of tabs in here because it was like pretty quotable. Let's see. I feel like I'm watching my baby graduate right now. I'm just so proud. I know. You always have like the good weak ones. That's why I love him so much. And when I did my review, it was probably one time, like, for sure, one of my most liked posts.

Wow. It's 1999 and Samantha has danced for years at the lovely lady strip club. She's not used to mixing work in friendship. Friendship, after all, between her jealous boyfriend and his young daughter, she has enough on her plate. But the newest dancer is so clueless that Samantha feels compelled to help her learn the hustle and drama of the club. How does sweet talk the boss, fit in with the other women, and make good money. One night, when the new girl needs a ride home, Samantha agrees to drive, a simple decision that turns deadly. Georgia, another dancer drawn into the ensuing murder and

missing person investigation, gathers information for Holly, a grieving detective determined to solve the case. Georgia just wants to help, but her involvement makes her a target. As Holly and Georgia round up their suspects, the story's point of view shifts between dancers, detectives, children, club patrons, and the killer. Drawing on her experience is a former dancer. Marie Ritkoski enmerces us in the captivating world of the club, which becomes alive and complicated, which comes alive with complicated people, trying their best to protect themselves and those they love.

And then it ends with how do women live their lives knowing that men can hurt them? And I think that that was like some of the most quotable things. Like one of the quotes that I, like the first one I tabbed was, he tells her to work if that's what she wants. She should do what she wants. He is so sorry. She tries to make him feel better for having hurt her. Like the way that women like apologize when they're actually the ones that were hurt in the first place, just like stuck in my head still. And I'm like, damry preach.

damn Marie that sounds like a TikTok sound I I love that you pick that one so much because I spent like an embarrassing amount of time scrolling through

like what books are available on Kindle Unlimited and I did not even see that one so I am just so proud right now like I need to read it it's one that I didn't end up reading yet I have so much to read.

You do. You do. You do. And I'm always like, I'm like the worst peer pressure for your TVR. Because I'm not like, oh, I think you would enjoy this. I'm like, no, Kate, this like needs to be your, like, you need to have this book in your life. And I'm like, a psycho. My TBR grew exponentially when I started listening to this podcast.

Yeah. What? I read some good ones. That's for sure. that's an amazing thing um well actually this would be this is kind of a fun segue because i'm going to talk about a book that step posted about that then i read all right so perfect so the prediction by faith gardener um is so fun if you like black mirror adjacent like sci-fi light would be more what I would say and a thriller but this one what is it about welcome to

silicon valley where the weather is perfect the income is high and Rowena Snyder is miserable a transplant from New York is it Rowena or Rowena I don't know I don't know I think Rowena okay Rowena moved into her husband Jacobs' idyllic childhood home with their new baby. But suburbia isn't Rueina's cup of Starbucks, and she's got serious anxiety and depression to boot. Jacob worried about their marriage scores a new product currently in beta testing from his tech job, Maxine, a digital friend that bonds with an individual by continually gathering their personal data. Along with functioning like an upscale digital assistant, Maxine has advice and prediction modes that have shown promise for patients with mental health issues. To Rueina's shock, the device turns out to be

not just helpful but eerily accurate, predicting events before they occur. It's a godsend until Maxine offers a series of increasingly bone-chilling predictions that will change Rueena's life forever. I actually had that on my backup list. I know. I love like Amin Maxine was the original name, and I like that cover a lot more. I like that one a lot. I, like, want to know the back, like, the backstory of why it changed, but, like, I don't know. I know. Who knows? Maybe, like, Amen.

Like, Amen, Maxine doesn't sound as much of, like, a techy, like, sci-fi thriller. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I could see that. Um, I just read a Faith Gardner book for the first time because of stuff too. Like, it never was. What'd you think?

Is it bonkers? Fucking wild. Yeah, it was wild. That opening, that like first chapter is one of the, like, my favorite, like, first chapters I've ever read. It was like, what? Where I was like, the nannies. And then I, like, texted Kate and I was like, this is fucking crazy. Yeah.

It is. It's super crazy. Yeah. That's good. It's good one. I don't have a segue. That's okay. Um, but in typical

Garrett fashion, I am cheating a little bit because my, my next pick isn't one that I've read, but it's one that I'm dying to read and I'm like actually picking up, like, I'm going to start it when we're done recording the podcast. So I was like, that's enough. Nice. So my first or my second pick is the thicket by Noel W.E. Um, sounds very like creepy. Halloween Halloweene.

This is the new cover and I'm obsessed with it. I know it's dark in here because I live in dreary, bleak New York, but this cover is sick. Her new cover is so good. So Nora can't stop thinking about the night

her brother died. She was supposed to stay with him at the Halloween carnival and he begged her to stay but they fought and Nora left him alone in the woods. That was before she realized there was a real killer lurking among the costumes and macabre props. When the carnival reopens just weeks later amid a media controversy, Nora decides to retrace

her brother's last steps in a desperate attempt to unravel what really happened that night. But the woods hold more than just traumatic memories. Before long, Nora begins to suspect that the killer's choice of hunting ground was no coincidence, and then the nightmare is far from over. That does sound good for fall, Halloween. I so I actually found out about this one a while ago and I've had it on my TVR forever because somebody compared it to like scream and like some of like the 90s like horror movies and I was like this sounds so good so good did you read run on red by her yeah because I feel like that with actually multiple of her books like that one in room for rent where they're they're like that where there's like the chase and you just feel tense the whole time. Wow.

Run on Red is like one of the best-paced books I've ever read in my entire life. I have to read this. Yeah. She has not let me down once. I added I added here too. Ooh. I love it. I think of, I think of asked for Andrea like at least once a week.

Oh, yeah. That's bleak as fox. I cried at the end, I'm pretty sure. Me too. Mm-hmm. It was really good, but like as I keep reading her books, it's a little bit different in terms of like it's fast pace, like run on red and some of them have this like breakneck like action. And I feel like ask for Andrea is just kind of like a little bit, a different point to the assignment or like a different. Uh, intention.

Yeah. Yeah, she's just so good. For sure. I'm trying to, like, angle it so you guys can, like, see me because I feel like... I know you are. It is just getting darker and darker. It's like, uh-huh. All you can see is, like, yellow hoodie.

I'm here in spirit. You're here. Wait, is it my turn? Mm-hmm. Okay. So I know this one you all talked about on your last episode. Granted, it was a while ago, but I just saw maybe I'm behind the times that they're doing a TV show about it. And that's his and hers by Alice Feeney.

Because I just saw it. I know someone posted about it, but then I just saw her post about it, like with the director's chairs, kind of. So I think that this book felt like just such a classic thriller, like in my opinion. And I think that if you haven't read an Alice Feeney book, this is a great one. There are two sides to every story, yours and mine, ours and theirs, his and hers, which means someone is always lying. Anna Andrews will do almost anything for her career as a BBC news anchor. When she's asked to report on a woman's murder in Blackdown, the sleepy countryside village where she grew up, it soon becomes clear that Anna isn't just covering the story.

She's at the heart of it. Detective Chief Inspector Jack Harper is suspicious of Anna's involvement in the case. He knows she knew the victim, but he has. hasn't told anyone that he knew her too. And Jack soon realizes he is a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone knows more than they are letting on. Someone isn't telling the truth. Alternating between Anna's and Jack's points of view, his and hers is a highly addictive, fast-paced thriller with a killer twist that will keep readers guessing until the very end. I don't know if there is another author that just like fucks with my mind, like Alice Feeney. like you just know immediately that you're reading her books because you're just like what's happening

and it's she's such a little like minks about it like i love it um his and hers is my favorite alicevini book wow it's good and there's a very dark dark dark reveal in that one very like and it like it flips things like on their head basically I'm going to tell you what, I don't remember all the stuff. I just remember. You're like, I loved it. I don't remember it. Yeah.

I remember like who at the end that I was like, oh, okay. But a lot of the rest of the stuff, I'm like, yeah, I don't know. But I loved it. I have a very like visceral, like, memory of like a reveal around like a campfire with that one. and I was like, this is just like, perfect. At the end, can we recap it after we're on recording? Yeah. Because I'll never forget it.

Perfect. So I'm interested to see how that goes, if it's going to be a series or a movie or like how they're doing it. Because like the twistiness of her books, I am just fascinated by how they could put it into a show. Yeah. I still hope that they do something with sometimes I lie. Oh, yeah. Because it was supposed to be Sarah Michelle Geller, and then Ellen DeGeneres decided to, like, have the world realize that she's an asshole, and they didn't make it. I was like, you ruined everything for Sarah Michelle Geller fans.

I know. Kate, do you hear something in your house? Yeah. Tyler came back, and I'm like, is everything okay? Do you want to go check? You can check. So, he said he had texted me. me and said he was going to the hospital.

And so then the fact that he came back, I was like, oh, no. There's there a reason he can't go to the hospital. So that's why I was starting to freak out. But he fell on his one wheel. He went for a one wheel ride before he went to the hospital. He fell on his one wheel. That's what's happening right now. Okay.

Yeah. His elbow doesn't have much skin on it, I think. Is it like the skateboard one wheel or like the standing one wheel. Skateboard looking one. Because I just noticed this weekend that there's a different type of one wheel that I had no idea existed. Yeah, that's what you're thinking of.

Uh-huh. Okay. He was wearing his helmet, though. He wants you guys to know. That's good. I'm like, he was thinking like something really bad happens, like, and you could, and that's why you couldn't go to the hospital.

So I'm like, oh my God, does something terrible happen? They're like, Kate, do you need to look at something in your house? No, I'm just, I was like, oh, I'm just going to go have a casual cruise real quick and just have some fun. And then I just, it didn't, well, it did not end fun. But, you know, I'm here. We're funny. All right. I love.

Now he's going to go to the hospital. I love Tyler grabbing the mic. I know. On the front of a gate. I'll tell the story. Yeah. I love that so much. I was intense.

Is your heart rate coming down now? Yeah, it's coming back down now. Well, we were like, you can tell, like, something's happening when, like, we're talking about, like, Alice Feeney or something. Right. Kate's, like, I'm looking, and she's, like, she's dropping, and I was like, this feels very much like the call is coming from inside the house.

Yes. Are you okay? Well, what was weird. is at the beginning of it, I told you guys. I was like, either Tyler came back or Harley's getting into something, so I need to go look. So then I went, and it was just hardly making noises. And I was like, okay,

so then this time I was like, is that Tyler? Is that my dog? Like, it was so confused. And then I saw, like, the camera notification. I was like, oh, it's Tyler. Okay. Okay. Well, mystery solved.

Damn. Well, glad it turned out as chill as it did. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. Me too. Okay. Well, my next one, I was shocked because Gare pulled up our, Gare and I did two episodes like this. A couple years ago. Was it two years ago now? I don't know. At least a year ago. And so he pulled out the list of the ones we did for that. And I

thought this one probably was on it, but I bet it got added recently. So a flicker in the dark by Stacey Billingham is on Kind of Unlimited now. did I take one? I didn't know that was on there. Okay. Yeah, so it must be new. That's probably why we used on the other one. Yeah. Yeah.

So when Chloe Davis was 12, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe's father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she's worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid and seeing parallels that aren't really there or for the

second time in her life is she about to unmask a killer. It is so good. There's an update here that says in a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by Emma Stone. Yeah. Yeah. I was just going to say that. That's exciting. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, this one is just, it's also one that kind of feels like a classic thriller. Like, serial killer parent, like more serial killings happening. I love like a, I love like a backstory involving a serial killer and like the question on if it's like, did we get the wrong guy or did he have like an accomplice or is this a copycat?

Like that's just like a trope in like serial killer thrillers that like will always just draw me right in. Yeah. I sit up late to finish that or like to read that one. Like it kept me awake. Mm-hmm. Nighttime reading is hard for me. So that's good.

Me too. I fall asleep easily. The cover is so good too. Yeah, I love the cover. I remember being like super pumped for that one. Like when it was like announced, I was like this is going to be something special. I like read that when I first started getting back into reading in like 2022. That was a good one.

Yeah. Yeah, I love that one. um gare what you just talked about seems like that's like that way is it my turn yeah oh um speaking of serial killers there we go um speaking of serial killers and a little bit of romance between two men what can what can go wrong um my next pick is the murder between us by tal hour. It is, it's a duology. It's the first and a duology. So like if you love this one, then like the second one's even better. But it was just one night. It was just one mistake. FBI agent Noah Downing had questions about his sexuality that in a single night in Vegas should have answered. But Don finds him on a plane back to Iowa, back on the trail of a vicious serial killer who disappeared

six years ago and has suddenly resurfaced. There's nothing like a murder and best. to escape an existential crisis. Meanwhile, FBI profiler Cole Kennedy is still reeling after finding a heart-stopping connection with a seemingly perfect man only for him to vanish. When he sent to Iowa to profile the killer terrorizing America's heartland, he finds more questions and answers, both about the murderer and about Noah, the last man he ever expected to see again. A twisted secret stretches between Cole and Noah tangled with questions they both have

about each other. but now thrown together they have to unravel the killer's profile and follow his trail way back to the beginning to where everyone's questions are answered for once and for all I have 4.25 on good reads with over the 7,700 ratings. It's like dark right? It's yeah the serial killer's dark. I picked this up not thinking it was going to be as dark as it was. I picked it up because it was like an MM romance and I've read hockey M.M. Romance by Tal Bauer and love them. But I picked this one up because I thought it was like, no shade to Tal Bauer. I love him. But like I thought this was going to be like kind of like a little like lighter than it was because like it starts off with like two men having a one night stand who think that they're never going to see each other again.

And then they're like, oh no, we're just going to investigate a serial killer together like and try to avoid the elephant in the room. But then like as I was reading it, I was like, uh, this is. is like really scary, really scary. And it was like super dark and it was really twisted. The second book has the scariest serial killer I've ever read in my entire life and is even darker. It's the second one. Yeah. Yeah. The second one has the like scariest serial killer I've ever read and it's like even more dark than this one. Like they're perfect. I love them so much. It has a 4.45 the second one. That is high. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I know when people really like the first of a series and they're probably likely to like the second one in a series, I mean, you'd think, but like, that's a huge goodread score. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, it's like hard too because I was like, well, in the second one, like their, you know, their relationships like a little bit more established. So there's not like that drama.

But then like the way that he turns their story into something like really dramatic and scary it was chef's kiss and it's very like atmospheric. I love it. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. It's like one of my favorite books ever. That's awesome.

My third one is very much a stuff book. I would say if I had to like put my taste into one thing. And that's Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone. And if you love, like, the supporting women's rights and wrongs type books and having, like, a snarky female main character who's, like, out for justice after something happened to one of her friends, this is an awesome, like, fast-paced, easy read that's like, hell yeah. So this was just, like, the vibes were on point for me. Very on point. I haven't read the second one. I know there's another one. The second one's good. Is it? Yeah, I loved it. I loved it so much. And, and I love when, like, yes, the, the woman out for revenge, like, is out to get a shitty man. But there's also, like, a romantic relationship to root for. So it's not like, all men are the worst or all, you know, like, there's still some good ones out. there, but we're going to like, the bad ones are going to get what they deserve, which I love.

Yes. I'm here for that. You do. She does really good with like female rage and revenge. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So my next one is this family lies by J.M. Cannon.

I was obsessed with this book. And I definitely would have read it in like one day if I didn't have had something. had to go to. Um, so Iris Adler was supposed to be killed. In her home in southern Louisiana, Iris and her husband Joseph are both shot point blank in the head by an unknown assailant. While her husband is killed, Iris survives, but only by a ricochet. She wakes with her memory fractured. She doesn't remember her husband's family, eager as they are, to take her into their world of marble maids and prim southern manners. Not long after Iris goes to heal at the family's historical. plantation, a girl is found dead in the sugar cane stocks nearby. And of all, and of these wealthy,

strange people, Iris is surrounded by, she realizes one of them might still be trying to kill her. The only thing is certain is that not everyone is getting out of this alive. It is like so atmospheric, like suffocatingly southern. Like I felt like I could not breathe through the humidity of this book. But it's also a fun, it's a fun take on being a rich person, but you don't have your memory. So you don't know how you are. And so it's a fun take on the kind of like bad, wealthy people, but very atmospheric. And it has one of the, one of the more graphic deaths I've read at the very end. Oh. Uh-huh. Okay. kind of says a lot as a thrill

reader. Yeah, really. It was graphic. It was very gothic. That's a lot too, considering, like, I've recommended some, like, Nordic noir for you. Yeah. And, like, those are pretty, like... It was up there with those,

basically, for sure. Sign me up. Sign me up. Well, speaking about Atmospheric, if you liked the show The Killing, I would recommend the drowned girls by Lorith Ann White.

He surfaced two years ago, then he disappeared. But Detective Angie Palarino never forgot the violent rapist who left a distinct calling card. Crosses etched into the flesh of his victim's foreheads. When a comatose Jane Doe is found near a local cemetery sexually assaulted, mutilated, and nearly drowned, Angie is struck by the eerie similarities in her earlier unsolved rapes. Could he be back? Then the body of a drowned young woman floats up in the gorge, also bearing the marks of the serial rapist and the hunt for a predator becomes a hunt for a killer. Assigned to the Joint Investigation Task Force, Angie is more than ready to prove that she has what it takes to break into the all-male homicide division. But her private life collides with her professional ambitions when she's introduced to her temporary partner James Maddox, a man she met the night before in an intense anonymous encounter.

together Angie and Maddox agree to put that night behind them but as their search for the killer intensifies so does their mutual desire and Angie's for rays into the mind of a monster shake loose some unsettling secrets about her own past how can she fight for the truth when it turns out her whole life is a lie Bruce really wants to read it he's like that's a fucking great he's like that was a great synopsis So that's the first in a trilogy and they're all fantastic. And they all have amazing covers.

Yeah, the covers are so, so beautiful. Yeah, they're just fantastic. I love the killing with all of my heart. I think that it is sensational. Like, I also did not realize that my last two picks were like both like literally like people teeny up to like fight

or like find a serial killer that have like had sex you're right okay I didn't know that about the second one yeah it said it said in the synopsis it says that her new partner is a man she met the night

before in an intense anonymous encounter oh damn and it's a lot of laugh out loud kind of situation. Like it'll be like good for you, girl. Get it. Get it. Oh, I'll always support that.

My third one, I don't think I've talked about before on here. And it's a little on the, I would consider it pretty universally recommendable because I don't feel like it's super dark or anything unlike some of the other ones we've talked about. And that's the heiress by Rachel Hawkins. that one was fun yeah i actually listened to this one on audio and i will say that sometimes on kindle unlimited it will include audio and that means that you can listen to it on the audible app even if you don't subscribe to audible so um just kind of like keep that in mind if you're an audio

listener sometimes that is an option and you it'll like pick up where you left off if your eyeball reading versus listening, which is very cool. I've never done that, but I know some people do. Tyler does actually. That's how he reads books. I always have just like one of each going. I very rarely would ever like go back and forth, but I know some people do that a lot. So this one is, I would say I've recommended for people that kind of liked Evelyn Hugo potentially, but our lady like their toes. into thrillers or anything like that. When Ruby McTavish, Callahan, Woodward, Miller, Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious.

The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son Camden wants little to do with the house or the money, and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado, and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past. Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable. And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden,

questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following Ruby's disappearance as a little girl? What really happened to those four husbands who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realized that an inheritance can entail far more than what's written in a will and that the bonds of family stretched far beyond the grave. That one was so fun. It was fun.

I've never, that's the only Rachel Hawkins book that I've read. I think I was drawn in by the cover big time because it's pretty gorgeous. All of her covers are good. Kate, I think you're muted. I am. My dog was being loud. Now I'm here. You were really right, too, how you were saying, like, for people who do like Evelyn Hugo.

but like want to dip their toe into thriller. That's like a perfect audience. Mm-hmm. I think, thank you. In one of my book clubs, there's a lot of like not typical thriller readers. So like I've become so very conscious of that of like, they're probably not going to read like those Lorothan White books,

but I could definitely bring the heiress to the group. Yeah, I was just going to say I would get kicked out on day one. Yeah. Yeah. So we're kind of trying to figure out where that like boundary is, but it's like fun to, it's fun to like, yeah, try other stuff. But it is so interesting when you come become so used to reading really dark stuff. Yes. Reading not dark stuff is like a total shift in mindset where you're like, like I just read kind of a cozy, like witchy book. And it was very cute, but I was like, you have to kind of like switch your mindset so that you're not bored by like just dark and gross happening. Exactly. I know. I know. That's how I feel.

I know. I talked about it in one of my stories, but I had someone asking if I wanted to read an interview for a cozy mystery. And it just felt so weird sending my email back that I'm like, don't like my murder. cozy. I just would hate to be, I mean, obviously it's a fictional character, but can you imagine being murdered and being like, oh, I'm going to go out in style and then being like your murders

in a cozy mystery instead of like something by Jennifer Hillier. Yeah. Like we're, I mean, a lot of them have a lot to do with like, or at least the ones that I've seen and I read one and I was like, that's not really for me, was like food and recipes and just. Joanna Fluke. Yeah. I used to read Joanne Fluke, like the blueberry muffin murder. Oh, it wasn't that, but it was, I mean, that sounds. Or like, you know, there's the ones.

Someone told me they're actually like not bad. Like when if you go on neck gallery or something and there's all or book outlet and there's all of these like mysteries with like dogs and cats on the cover and they'll have like pet related titles and stuff. And I'm like, so you're telling me this is a murder mystery. But it's got like a golden retriever on the cover. Like, okay. You should check it out. It's entertaining just to see. Yeah. I mean, I'm intrigued. I used to read ones about a woman named Hannah and she, like, owned her own bakery. And, like, each one is named after a dessert, like, in her bakery.

And they would just be, like, very cozy. But then, like, I obviously got into the dark stuff and I was like, can't go back now. Don't need that anymore. Good luck to you, Hannah. She has so many more. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And I think she wrote some romance.

Yeah, under Alessandra Tori. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. There's like one that's called a fatal affair that came out, I think, last summer. And that's the only one by her I haven't read. And I looked up the synopsis today. And I was like, ooh, that looks like so, so, so good. I wish that we had like a watch what happens live drinking game.

Oh, that would be fun. So if you listen to this podcast after work, do not sue a, us if you have to get your stomach pumped, but you should have drank every time we said the word dark. We're not responsible. I was talking about this book because I think the only thing I'll say, and I kind of said this to Kate when she texted me because all I can say without giving anything away is like, if you, if this book goes the way that the main character schemes, you're like, this is

the darkest possible book I've read. So I was just like, holy shit. I think this is probably one of the books that like as much as I would love to see it like adapted that people would like walk out or be like you're you're sick. People would struggle with it. You're sick for like enjoying this. I know.

That was what I said. Like I was like I'm examining myself for how much I love. this story. I loved, like you said, like very unlikable, but like I loved the snark in her voice and like how sharp-witted she was.

Yes, because that's what takes it from yeah, it is a really like wildly wild synopsis, but when you're reading it, like there's this piece of it that's still kind of fun. And it's like, how can these two things go

together and that I think much credit to the author for being able to do that. Yeah, the way the reveals are placed, like keep that feeling going. And then the stakes are just so high. So you're like, what's going to happen? Yes. And I love the little like at the beginning of the chapters when they have little verbs from like the neighbors and stuff. Like that was just so cool and made it so bingeable. Yes. I loved that too. Oh,

it was so good. Yeah, especially, like, I feel like she did a good job of, like, having those, like, little blurbs from, like, the neighbors and people that, like, knew, like, know the characters. Because, like, some of them would be, like, spot on. And then, like, others would be, like, that's not exactly true, you know? Like, you got late. Yeah.

Yeah. And it also, like, one of the things that I liked about that one is, like, there are certain like rich people who will like truly plot out what you know about them. Oh yeah. Totally. Yes. And it felt like so real to maybe like social media or I guess almost like missing white woman or something where it's kind of like what people say all you know that the viewers

are going to take that as true. Mm-hmm. Even though like you just said Gare, like that was intentional why they thought they knew that in that particular way. Very interesting. Yes. Like my friends and my like family make fun of me because I like this is very unusual for me to be wearing yellow because I usually wear like white, cream, gray and black and like that's it.

Like I stick to like 90% neutral wardrobe. And there was like one part where Perla was like saying like it's in her character to only wear neutrals. And I was like. Oh, fuck. I know. It just means you look sharp. I love your casting gear for it.

Yes. Thank you. It's really good. That was a good one. I almost had Margot Robbie as Perla. Interesting. I mean, I kind of like Riley more. I do too.

Yeah. Did you all watch Under the Bridge? No, I haven't watched it yet. Lily, um, Lily Gladstone. Is that her name? Yes. Yeah. I really liked, what's her name, Riley?

Riley. Right. Yeah. In that, um, in that role. Like, it was, it was dark, but like a little, I don't know how to describe it. She was serious, but like a little playful at times. And so I think that that is fitting. Yeah.

Like kind of snarky like Perla, Perla is. I watched the girlfriend experience with Riley Kito in it. It's a TV show where she like is a college student who becomes like an escort and she her character is very like

emotionally withdrawn and is very good at like I'm not stressed about this like I can emotionally detach and that's kind of why like I picked her because I just love her and the girlfriend experience. When I Google that.

when I think of what the title is and when I think of as this like main photo of her in it, I'm like, that's not, they like kind of clash, but if you're saying what it's about, it makes more sense. Because when you think girlfriend experience, you think it's going to be like fun. Oh, no, it's dark. No. No. It's dark and twisty.

But I think like each episode's like a half hour and it's a very fun show to like this. Yeah, I know. I just was right in the tone. Her acting in it is like sensational and like the cinematography is like really good. Wow. I need to watch that.

Yeah. Well, I know what I'm doing tonight. Maybe. I also started a new book. What did she start? It's called Gaslight by Miles. I can't pronounce his last name and Sarah Shepard. Oh, yeah.

The cover is really cool. I love Sarah Shepard. Miles Joris Perafeet. So I'm going to figure his name out before I interview him, but it's Miles and Sarah Shepard for now. It's like about a woman who like survived a cult and then basically didn't tell anyone in her new life about it. And then someone from her old life shows up on her doorstep.

That's like the shortest version of explaining it. Damn. Everything unravels again. Yeah. The cover is so cool. And they were sending me a copy and I thought I was going to get here today and then it got delayed. So I was going to be like, and look, it's so pretty. But y'all are just going to have to look it up yourself.

I've seen it a little bit floating around. Yeah. Can I say that if you're, if you like Perla, in some ways. And I also think it could be good for fans of Kill for Love. No, how to kill. The one of the black with all the bodies on the front. Yeah, Kill for Love by Laura Pickleslemeyer. Yes. I just started. I just started Sugar by Mia Ballard. And it is, it's like, I think you could use all of those characters together because I don't think she's necessarily like, likable, but she has some qualities of other lead female characters that we all like. Yeah, I'm interested to see where that one goes. But the cover is the coolest thing ever. I never heard of this book.

I had neither until she sent it to me. And then I was like 2% in and I'm like, I think Kate would like this. so I'm trying to figure out like as it goes I'm like is it still that way I think so but like I bet they need to accept my request oh my god yeah um if you if you like if you've made it to this far in the episode and you like snarky bitchy like characters like Perla but you don't want something as dark. White girl problems by Babe Walker. It is so funny, but she is like a psycho. But like, it's not dark. There's no murder in it, but like it will make you laugh out loud. I am a huge Babe Walker fan. It's kind of like

Perla meets any character played by Emma Roberts. Psychos is great. American Babe. Yeah. But I'm obsessed with Bay Blocker. Probably the only non-thriller, non-M-Romance books that I'll read. But yeah, if you like that like snarky, like, oh my God, did she really just say that? Yeah. Yeah.

I love the synopsis, just like the exaggerations. Like, she's never met, she's 50 bazillion Twitter followers. I love it. anyway well so we all love snarky characters i guess we all love snarky characters and clearly kindle unlimited just keeps improving yeah