Bookwild - Serial Killer Thrillers, Action Thrillers and Psychological Thrillers with Gare and Steph

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

This week, Gare and Steph are both on the podcast and we all talk about books from our favorite thriller sub-genres!  Gare shares serial killer thrillers, I share action thrillers, and Steph shares "am I going crazy" psychological thrillers.Books We Talked AboutGare - Serial Killer ThrillersJar of HeartsPlease See UsBright Young Women Kate - Action ThrillersAlias EmmaAssassins AnonymousThe Recruiter Steph - Psychological ThrillersBloodlineWhen She Was MeLike It Never Was 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 

This week is super exciting because we have a co-host crossover extravaganza with Stefan Gere. This is so exciting. I am so pumped. Can I tell you guys a story? Yes. I can specifically remember I was cleaning in my room and I was listening to one of your podcasts about like dark academia or something's coming out for fall. And I was like, man, it would be so cool to like be on their podcast. podcast someday. And then I was like, step, there's like, they're so cool. And they probably have so

many friends. Like, I don't like, just move on. And then all of a sudden, like, however many years or a year later or something, like, we're here. So it's just very surreal and very fun. So thank you for inviting me. Oh, I love that. God. I have really vivid memories of other podcasts I listen to as well. So I like know what you mean. And so then it's like crazy hearing someone say it about. our podcast. But yeah, you were like the first person I thought of. Yeah, it was just so I thought the same thing when I first, like, started talking to Kate and I was like listening to between the lines and all of the author interviews. And I was like, if I ever had a podcast, it would be with this chick right here because she is so cool. And I love the way she talks about

books. And like, that would be my dream. And then my dream happened. And then I got pods. I know, we feel like that you would have been here. Yeah. Gosh. Yeah. I'm excited that you guys and we're all together now. It's nuts. It is nuts.

Because I have been like having my fan girl moments where I hear the two of you on your episodes. And I'm like, oh my God, I love them. Why are there balloons? You love just that much that it gave us balloons. Surprise. All of a sudden, neon green showed up and I'm like, do you have like pieces of like a tennis ball like over your camera or like your dog or something? I just felt like all these balloons and I was like, do Kate surprise me?

Where does come from? Another technology thing I don't know how to do. I know. Mine for a while if I put my thumb up was doing weird stuff and everyone was getting to experience a weird thumbs up. you would freeze on Zoom. Oh yeah, Anna would freeze. There were some funny phrases. And I, you were like laughing hysterically, but your face was like very serious. And I would be like, how are you doing that? I mean, the technology mishaps make it more fun. You know,

keeps it real. Oh, I've heard you always talk about freezing for like a year and I love it so much. and like can you hear the dog barking like it's a voice at least like once an episode yes which i love dude Bruce barked so loud like he was asleep so like it caught us by surprise right in the middle of me interviewing john fram so like he was like saying something really smart about like the bible and then Bruce was like bah I yeah I recorded a podcast last night and Murphy thought because I was at the dinner table that, like, I was eating and he was, like, pissed that I wasn't sharing anything with him. And I had his little, like, jar of, like, his little, like,

heart-shaped treats that are, like, the size of an M&M. And so, like, whenever he would start to, like, grumble or, like, bark, I would just, like, take them and be, like, flinging them, like, all over the room. So he would, like, stop barking. He's like, I love when you podcast, dad. Yeah, he's, like, do this more often. Am I lagging at all? Like, tiring yourself out.

It's not very long. Yeah. Okay. Okay, good. Fingers crossed. Yeah. Yeah, we are all dog. We are all dog parents for everyone listening.

So we share the uniqueness of trying to podcast and trying to be a dog, mom or dad. And trying to read. And trying to read. And there's that. With dogs. Steph is on, I mean, if you don't want the world to know this, we can cut it. But Steph is on a little solo, almost all focused on reading trip. I am.

I was like, hey, AJ, it's your turn to handle all things dog and puppy and cat. See ya. I'm going to hopefully read a lot. Yeah. But if this airs, it'll probably be home. So I guess it's not a big deal if we talk about it. Yeah, that's true. You're right.

That is so exciting. I know. Yeah. I hate when I'm like reading and he's like at the door barking because he like wants to go out and go potty and I'm like can I just finish this chapter and he's like I have a baby bladder like let me let me go. Oh yeah. I hate you stuff reading a little baby after too. Her little baby puppy. I'm a Murphy baby.

But I mean, I love him, but he's so stupid. I don't know. I've been on an audio kick. My physical eyeball reading has been slow as hell. So we'll hopefully get some more of that stuff done this week. Yeah. Yeah. It's exciting.

Gare, did you have an icebreaker? I did. I did. I did. thought of this today because I am hyper fixated on an album. So I'm like a huge introvert and I know Kate is too. But like if you have the opportunity to like hear an artist sing their album live, just you and them one-on-one, no like screaming teenagers. you just sit in a room and they just like sing it to you like a concert like who would be your artists and what album would you pick well the intro rid in me is like so nervous about how much

more than that would be it's like I'm going home because it has to be one on one okay I'm torn I'm torn and it's it's not what you would think I would be torn between but the two artists I've ever just massively hyper fixated over first was Eminem and then the second one was Taylor Swift so um not what people would probably be torn between um I love the range I know this is so hard that's a really hard one I'm tempted to be like but now I've got to figure out which M&M album. I'm so torn. I guess it could be like a combo of albums.

Like usually at a concert, people sing like... Teletation, most likely. Oh, that's a good one. I saw the reputation tour. I know. I'm so jealous. I think about that sometimes. I got so wasted that my friend that I went with was like you were dead behind the eyes for like a majority of the concert.

So you don't remember, but you were there. I always black out at concerts. Like, I've gone to them completely. Like, I've gone with, like, friends that drank and gotten drunk at concerts and, like, not remembered a lot. But I've also went to see Beyonce and Jay-Z when they did the on-the-run tour. And I was dead sober, and I don't remember a lot of it other than, like, this big stage that came out when she was, like, running in front of me. And I, like, died. I bet.

I might black out. that without drinking right yeah she was just like a flash is that who you would go to again gear or is that uh no um hit me hard and soft by billy eilish is my like i have never loved an album as much as i love this album i've been listening to it for like two months straight and i like keep picking up on little things with it like and i just can't stop like i cannot stop i so fixated on it yeah yeah all of those songs like i need to listen to more of them on my um my earpod maxes because i want to listen like with noise cancelling because there are so many extra little sounds and like stems and stuff in that album i need to do that yeah and like the last minute of like a lot of the songs will like completely

switch it up and almost sound like a completely different like genre and also like sound from the original song that it's just like I pick up on so much the more that I listen to it and I'm obsessed it reminds me of the structure you're talking about reminds me of queen is what oh yeah why did it sound weird to just say that but how they would have like different parts of songs and multiple of them yeah The last song on the album has lyrics that reference every other song on the album. Yes. That's cool.

And it's like so cool and just I love it. I'm obsessed. That is amazing. And she produced it with her little pibble in the chair with her most of the time. Yeah. Yeah. It's cute. She's so cool.

Kater's yours? I mean, I'm or Taylor Swift or did you pick? Oh my goodness. I think I would lean toward Eminem is the thing, especially the whole one-on-one part. Like, and rap feels like something I could just handle more for some reason, one-on-one. And let's see. Which album, though? I'm still torn on which album.

Possibly. I can't pick. But. Kate's like, I want Eminem to do the reputation album. You know what? closed off of emotionlessness of M&M's. I just feel like Taylor's going to be like too personal and emotional for me. There's like pyro.

Yeah. Things coming out of your seat. I mean, I feel like if you're having an angry day, that would be the best person. Yeah. I'm pretty much torn between the M&M show just because of how iconic so many songs on there are. and the Marshall Mathers LP too because I loved a lot of songs on that one too. So those are my, maybe I would mash those up. Oh, those are good.

And you're so different. I'm kind of listened to like kind of folksy music. To me, maybe this shows my age a little bit. When I was in college is when I first heard of Mumford and Sons and I went to their concerts and it was so, so, so good. And I think like an acoustic set would be amazing of their Sinomore album, which has like the cave and their kind of original hits yeah but it's super boring answer compared to your guys's answers but that's probably no i think it would be good it would be good for many like

dudes and also like marcus mumford's voice is so sexy and he is yeah he is yeah isn't he married to kerry mulligan yes i was just going to say that because what's that movie she's in that you talk about that relates to like so many books we love promising young woman oh yeah so all let just missions together i guess there we go there's a lot of stuff happening there i guess there is but that was my about the the me too movement she she said i think yeah i didn't see that one she is incredible in that oh my god you have to it is revenge it is good revenge. It is revenge. It's like journalism. It's like female empowerment. You will fucking love it. Oh, I did see this. I was thinking of another one. Spotlight.

Well, I did see that one too. It was the one, was it called bombshell? Like the one that had Margot Rope. Oh, yes. Yeah, and Nicole Kidman. and whoever played weird Barbie was in it with her too Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Yeah That was really good

Yeah it was called bombshell Okay so I knew Yeah Just kidding Yeah that's really good too So that's the one I haven't seen But yeah I do remember she said I need to send myself

I watch it shame with Michael Fastbender is one of her best performances in the entire world. He's like this like businessman who lives by himself in New York City and he is a sex addict and like she's the kind of like younger sister that like doesn't have her shit together and she just like comes to like stay with him and completely uproof his life. and it like causes him to go into a frenzy. It's one of the best movies I've ever seen. How would I?

I haven't heard of this either. It's not really rated NC17. I don't think I... Yes, it is. I didn't know that's what I was just seeing. Yeah. 2011. Yep.

Anybody who has ever... Anybody who's ever been with Michael Fastbender is very lucky. And very sore. Do you have this on? personal account. I wish. After that movie, 100%. Yeah.

Have you guys watched any movies recently? Anything new? Or new to you? I was going to watch American fiction today, but my AirPods died. I loved that one. I was going to watch that one.

We've been going movie crazy. So in like a nine-day span, we saw long legs, twisters. and a quiet place. Day one. That's what we saw last night. And I was sobbing at the end.

Like, I was expecting, like, I should have remembered because the other ones, like, the first one, I sobbed all the way through the ending as well. And so they, like, always are kind of Doomsday movies that tend to have, like, a lot of really emotional character development that then, like, ends in a really tragic way. So naturally, I was thinking about here. I was like, he would love this.

This is so sad. I probably would. They do this. I watch. No, you go ahead. Basically, they do this really fascinating. And I don't think this is a spoiler, even though it wasn't like in the trailers. They did this fascinating take where Lupita's like the main character, Sam, she's in hospice care, like, is like days away from dying.

And so then the like invasion happened. turns into like this contemplation on death itself because of her being so close to death already and so I was just weaving by the end but they like managed to do a really scary movie that like it explores all of that yeah I'm prepared I watched I think it's called like last night or after last night and it's Maggie Q was in it and she's like recovering alcoholic like war vet and she goes to this like remote house for a bachelorette party and these like hillbillies try to like attack the women and it was so good and her performance was like incredible nice yeah that one too am i am i frozen i have to ask is long

legs as scary as everyone says no is what i would say that's that's my okay so this is a subject that i think is really interesting too is how subjective scary is so jump scares gore all of that no but if like satanic stuff and cult stuff and that stuff really unsettles you then it is really scary so like i seen tons of people that are like I grew up around like some of this stuff so for me this was terrifying but it's not like visually going to terrify you multiple times is the best way I would describe it makes sense it's unsettling all the way through and it is beautifully filmed like every shot is beautiful to look at so like that even makes it really fun um but otherwise it's a lot I've seen people say this and I would agree with it.

It really is like reading a psychological thriller with a serial killer in it. Like, it's very similar to our experiences of reading. So like even when we got out, I told Tyler, I was like, that's a lot what like reading a scary procedural with a serial killer is like. So I still think it's super enjoyable. But no, I don't think it's like you're going to not be able to sleep at night. That Micah Monroe has like include. incredible taste.

Yes. She's stunning in it. I loved her and watch her. That was the first movie I watched. That was technically your recommendation. Because I've literally forced you, too. You posted about it, and I was like, that sounds amazing. One of my favorite.

Yeah. I just wanted to get caught up on anything movies, too, before we go into the awesome subject idea that you had gear for this week. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it's like really funny how, especially like Kate and I have had so many conversations about like how we love thrillers. But honestly, like the percentage of thrillers that we read like similar is pretty low because we have different taste in them. So I thought it would be really fun if we picked like a subgenre of thrillers and like, the three books that like made us really love these or like our three favorites or something to that nature of like what you love the most in your subgenre yes i love and then i was like this would be

so fun and step joining you oh my gosh that's so we all we all picked um i'm doing action thrillers and gar knew immediately what he would do yeah i know i'm going to do serial killers. My first gut thing was to do revenge, but then I decided that lately I've been having a lot of enjoyment from the, Am I crazy, psychological thrillers?

Yes. I love those two. I'm excited. I love those two, yeah, because there's so many different directions that can go in. It's so suspenseful when you don't know if you can trust yourself. And you're reading it and you're like, I don't know as the reader even.

what's happening in the back. Like, you're not watching these things play out. You're in someone's head, so you're just as lost as they are sometimes. Yeah, you start to feel crazy yourself. Well, I can't remember which order we decided on, so she'll go first. Well, since it was Gere's idea, maybe we should go first. Okay. Oh, yeah, I'll go first.

So my first pick for a serial killer thriller is, to no one's surprise, Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier. And it is about Angela Wong, who was one of the most popular girls in school, and she vanished without a trace. And the two people she left behind were her best friends, Georgina Shaw and Kaiser Brody. 14 years later, Angela's remains are discovered in the woods near Georgina's childhood home. And Kaiser is actually a detective with the Seattle PD, and he finally finds out that Angela was the victim of a serial killer named Calvin James. So to the authorities, he was just a serial killer that they were trying to hunt down. But actually, back in school, he was Georgina's first love. And they had a very rocky relationship, as you can imagine.

And it bordered on obsession from the moment they met up until the night that Angela was killed. So Gio's been hiding the fact that she knew what happened to Angela all those years ago and didn't tell anyone. And she's carried that secret with her forever. And now that she kind of spilled the beans, she ends up being arrested and sent to prison. But now as she is about to be released from prison, new bodies are turning up, killed in the exact same manner as her best friend. And it is amazing and I love it. But the reason I pick this one as like not your average serial killer thriller is because I really enjoyed the fact that it wasn't a police procedural as much as it was. It's very rare to find somebody where your main protagonist

has a relationship with the serial killer, especially somebody that they dated. So I was like, this is something I've never like, I've never experienced. story like this before and I just thought it was incredible and it stuck with me for like years and years and years yeah there truly is another serial killer story out there like that like the way it ends is like it's just everything about it makes it very unique yeah and when you find out what actually happened to Angela the night that she was murdered it's like one of the most like psychological disturbing things I've ever like read in my life I would agree.

I feel like I need to read it again. Maybe I should. I haven't yet to reread anything. But you know how like you know you love a book, but when you just talked about some of the details, I'm like, I don't know what happened, but I know I loved it. Yeah, I have that all the time. And the only reason this one sticks with me so long

is because I read it probably five or six times. Perfect, yes. Yes. Love it. Good pick. It's always everyone. Yeah. As people still are discovering it, like watching people post about it their first, like, people give it sky high ratings. I love seeing people the first time they read it. Yeah. Yeah. It's so good. All of her books are really good, but that one just is my favorite.

Well, I might just segue off of you because I have one that I picked that I've talked about. so many times but I had to include it in my action thriller and it's alias Emma Glass like still my one of my favorite if not favorite spy series and the third one comes out in August or September and I'm super excited but this is the first one alias Emma. Nothing about Emma make peace is real not even her name a newly minted secret agent Emma's barely graduated from basic training when she gets the call for her first major assignment. Eager to serve her country and prove her worth, she dives in headfirst. Emma must covertly travel across one of the world's most watched cities to bring the reluctant

and handsome son of Russian dissidents into protective custody so long as the assassins from the motherland don't get him first. With London's famous ring of steel hacked by the Russian government, the two must cross the city without being seen by hundreds of thousands of CCTV cameras that document every inch of the city streets alleys and gutters buses subways cars and trains are out of the question traveling on foot and operating without phones or bank cards that could reveal their location or identity they have 12 hours to make it to safety this will take all of emma's skills of disguise and subterfuge but when emma's handler goes dark there's no one left to trust in just one wrong move will get them both killed.

And I've always, anytime I pitch this, I'm like, it happens over one night and she has to get him all the way across London without showing up on CCTV. So that's like even like the most simple pitch of it. But I, I read it like all in one night. I remember I was like sick and I just remember being like feverish on the couch and just being like

but this book is so good. I love that. I love when you like read a book and you can immediately remember like everything about your reading experience, like where you were, how you were feeling and like just remember reading it for the first time. Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. That's one of my favorite. I've been noticing more in books lately too, just their timelines of like, did this all just happen in like a day or two days? Because this, that's bonkers.

Like that person just had the craziest two days. That's what happened to me with that. I just read Fatal Intrusion, Fatal Intrusion by Jeffrey Dever and Isabella Maldonado. And I didn't even notice that until then I was interviewing them. And Jeffrey's like, we both like to keep our books happening in like three days. And I was like, that all happened in three days. I would prefer that if I were ever in like a thriller. book though because can you imagine being in like stuck in one of the thriller books that like

last like years or like decades like the anxiety that you have for that long i would die yeah that makes me think like sharp objects like her whole life yeah has been rough yeah um all the colors of the dark by chris whittaker is like spans decades that's what i heard I want to read that so badly. It's like an Odyssey. You won't regret it. Well, and the chapters are like a couple pages. Like I think that's when you have a book that chunky, like that'll keep you going, right?

I mean, I haven't read it yet, but that's incredible. I read it in two days. Yeah, two days and it was like done and I was just like, and I haven't picked up anything since. Ooh. I'm just sitting here and like, what do I do with my life? I should get it on my kin, okay. I'm okay I think that I heard about this author potentially the first time on this podcast but mine I picked Jess Lowry's bloodline because I read that on vacation earlier this year and I was like

what out loud I just thought was nominated for a best horror book in 2021 on good reads which I didn't I guess I mean I could see it I guess going in your way but So perfect town, perfect homes, perfect families, it's enough to drive some women mad. In a tale inspired by real events, pregnant journalist Joan Harkin is cautiously excited to follow her fiance back to his Minnesota hometown. After spending a childhood on the move and chasing the screams and swirls of news-rich city life, she's eager to settle down. Lilydale's motto, come home forever, couldn't be more inviting. And yet, something is off in this picture-perfect village. The friendliness borders on intrusive.

Joan can't shake the feeling that every move she makes is being tracked. An archaic organization still seems to hold the town enthrall. So does the sinister secret of a little boy who vanished decades ago. And unless Joan is imagining things, a frighteningly familiar figure from her past is on watch in the shadows. Her fiancé tells her she's being paranoid. He might be right. Then again, she might have moved to the deadliest small town on earth.

You make me want to read this everything that you talk about it. You haven't read it? I don't think. I haven't. Oh, my. The way it turns out is, like, I can only say bonkers. Like, it is, her books are just, like, wild. Like, the Quarry Girls is wild, but in, like, a kind of realistic way.

Like, some of them are just out there, but I love it. Like, I'm here for it. they're so dark like all of her books are so so so dark that like I am just like oh my god they're so shocking and she's like not afraid to like push the envelope totally totally yeah you just let it have to let it like don't go in with any expectations just let it Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's such a good one. I love that book. I fucking love Jess Lowry. Oh, her books are good. She's definitely an auto buy for me. Totally. Her new one coming out in September, I made the mistake of reading it like last year, right when it first came on that galley. And so now I'm, like,

upset that I have to wait for the third one. Oh, that's all right. She's so good. All right, Gere, back to you. Kate's like pouting. She's like, I don't know, just, Lowry. How am I going to fit this in? I know. Have her on his guest. I know. I know.

I need to. I need to stop booking so many guests so I can read backlist. Yeah. Which is you at all. I have like a certain space for Jess Lowry books like on my bookshelf, all her books together. Yeah. Yeah.

You've always been. You've been a fan of it forever. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's called. You know I'm horrible with titles, but I think it's called like an unspeakable truth is like, the first one that I read by her.

And I was like, holy shit, this is like terrifying and sad and like just chilling. Wow. So good. And I think a lot of them take place in like the Midwest too. Like tiny Minnesota towns. And then they'll have like cute little illustrations in them sometimes because a lot of the main characters are kids or teens, but they don't read YA at all in my opinion. Yeah. But it's like a, I think that's cool actually.

I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. I do too. Because it's like the innocence factor of her characters make it like horrifying. Yeah. So. Speaking of horrifying.

Yes. My next one for a serial killer thriller is Clea Seas by Caitlin Mullen. It is like this is one of the books that I want to be buried with. I think it's perfect. It's one of my favorite stories. It's about one summer in Atlantic City and two Jane Does are laid out in a marshland behind the Sunset Motel, which is not related to Simone St. James, but only one person knows that they're there. But meanwhile, Clara is a young boardwalk psychic and struggles to attract clients for tarot readings that pay her rent. When she begins to experience very real and disturbing vision, she suspects that they could be related to the recent cases of women gone missing in town.

Clara meets Lily, an ex-Soho art gallery girl who is working at a desolate casino spa and thinks Lily may be able to help her. If they can put the pieces together in time, they can save another lost girl, so long as their efforts don't attract attention first. just so dark and I was a little hesitant because I was like if she's having like visions it seems kind of like supernatural to me but it just like made sense in the story but the thing that I think sticks out is like they'll mention a Jane Doe and there are chapters in between what Lily and Clara are like going through in present time and you find out everything you need to about the Jane Doe like where she was born how she ended up here how she ended up dying and it just like kind of gives such a voice to like victims in the story instead of just being like there was another

woman butchered and like nobody really cares they just want to know who did it but it's so freaking good and it's so dark and disturbing and it's just like terrifying and i love it's sad it's also it's also gorgeous like imagery and like I can just visualize like the marsh grasses like I know it's on the cover but also it's like it almost just like see it happening I don't know there's something it's so good there's something in like the very last line I don't know if it's like the very last line but it's like the end of the chapter that was so shocking and it's like the way it was written was like one of my favorite endings to a book. That's impressive.

And I'm just like, now I want to read it again. I think reading that book made, like, I think the visions or the, what did we come up? Where did we come up with Kate? What? I think you said it best. For visions. When people have visions, I don't know what that's called, but like now I'm like kind of into that. Yeah.

like psychic oh yeah like the psychic yes like psychic light yeah when we read night we read night we'll find you yes i don't know what the word oh yeah that one was so good i i get a lot of those tarot readers on my tic-tok now and it's like terrifying to me how sometimes they are so accurate Oh, this trippy. And I had two of them last night that predicted what was going to happen to me today. Oh, that's trippy. Yeah. It was so scary, but really cool.

I wonder if my TikTok's going to start showing me stuff since my phone's here listening. We'll see. Oh, yeah, I know. We'll see if you had to list my algo tonight. Imagine you're like, God. Well, my next one has very different, very different than like a motion of touchdowns and all of that. But I had to talk about Rob Hart's Assassin's Anonymous because it's just fantastic action thriller. In this clever, surprising page turner,

the world's most lethal assassin gives up the violent life only to find himself under siege. by mysterious assailants. It's a killer-be-killed situation, but the first option is off the table. What's a reformed hit man to do? Mark was the most dangerous killer for hire in the world, but after learning the hard way that his life's work made him more monster than man, he left all of that behind and joined a 12-step program for reformed killers. When Mark is viciously attacked by an unknown assailant, he is forced on the run. From New York to Singapore to London, he chases out of the war. clues while dodging attacks and trying to solve the puzzle of who's after him, all without

killing anyone or getting killed himself. For an assassin, Mark learns, nonviolence is a real hassle. And the tone of the whole book is pretty similar to that synopsis. So it is actually my other one. I compare it to this too, but both of these are actually very deadpool adjacent in their tones. And so it just makes it extra fine because you're reading action. And they make you laugh. I love how adventurous you are with books. Like Kate just wants to be like scaling, building in Berlin. In a book.

Yeah, like in a book. But then like real life Kate is like, please let me just enjoy my piece on my couch with my husband and my dog. Yeah. Wait a blanket. And Taco Bell. You guys need to talk about. We were talking earlier about how if we were all in person tonight, if we could have

Taco Bell and have more fun. We were both hungry. I love that. I would love a Taco Bell party with you guys. It would just be the most fun thing I've ever experienced in my life. I heard one of their new things that they just came out with is super good because one of my friends got it on accident and posted it in her stories and she said it was amazing. Something with steak.

Was it the, I keep seeing the giant cheez-it things and I'm like, ew, gross. I keep seeing. Some other stuff is a little. Everyone's saying that the cheeses are like, stale. Like, they don't crunch. Yeah. Oh. I don't fuck with cheez-ets.

No. I get with, like, goldfish because goldfits will, like, always have a crunch. But, like, a cheese-it doesn't always guarantee, like, the crunch that I want to satisfy me. No, it's slightly like goldfish. I can feel their little like goldfish bones between my teeth and I love it. That's the kind of crunch I want. I actually just want that. I was reading a book and it reminded me of eating rich chips when I was a kid.

And I was like, I wonder if they still have them. And they are like, it's so hard to describe. It's like it's just like a square cracker, but like extremely crunchy. so I like and they're like ridges they're so good I got the sour cream onion ones recently I'm like these are amazing my gosh I'm so hungry right now you guys I am so into skipping out on regular shmangular potato chips and trying these like new things like they have like popcorn ones that are like round oh yeah and they're like super crunchy I love those I could eat a sun chip for the rest of my life and be happy right now like what flavor my my ranking of the sun chip flavors are harvest cheddar

because it's like the OG like it never disappoints um garden salsa because the little spice of the jalapeno is like chef's kiss and then the french onion because it's like good but it's not like as good as a spicy jalapeno or a shitload of cheddar. Yeah. Agreed. Thank God. Could you imagine if you were like your tasting sun chips fucking suck? Yeah.

I was like if you, well, but here's a thing though. I have friends that have different sunchip tastes than me and we can split like the multi-packs of like the small one because I'm like, I want the, I want the garden salsa. And they're like, well, I like the French onion. I'm like, great. perfect. I'm like, it's not that I don't like that, but I love that we have different favorites. We can share. I've never bought a small bag of sun chips in my entire life. We can have a big box of like 30 bags.

I'm like different. I'm like, why? I'm a weirdo because actually, honestly, my favorite one is the original plain one. Those are good too. And then cheddar would be next. and then gardens also I didn't even know that they made regular unflavored sunshed it's blue it's the blue bag I avoid I you like I never even like an ex-boyfriend that's that's that's so funny that you know a book I'm reading right now that almost has the tone sorry Kate that you were just talking about

the best lies by David Ellis. I feel like Leo has a little bit of that like Ryan Reynolds Deadpool vibe in his like his uh his uh I want to read a log almost it's like he's talking to himself I'm a fan of it and my third one is the same way so clearly I'm really a fan of it. I have like a bunch and I'm trying to pick which one but I think I'm going to pick one I haven't really talked about before and it is it came out this year I think it's a debut It's called When She Was Me by Marley Bush. And what? Is that the one with like a really ominous blue cover and a house on it?

It's like evergreen trees with a little cabin with like. Oh, okay. I've heard of this one too. There's two of them that remind me of one another and they're both on my TBR and I want to read them really bad. So I'm so glad that you're talking about this one. Okay, so I found this one, I think just on neck galley, and then I found her on Instagram, too. But man, this one was like, what is going on? And the twist got me, which was cool.

So it says there's only one way out of the woods. Ever since that night, twin sisters Cassie and Lenora have been inseparable. As the sole permanent residence of Cabin 2, their refuge on an isolated Tennessee campground, they managed to stay away from prying eyes, probing questions, and true crime junkies. Just the two of them, Cassie and Lenora, against the world. The peace and quiet is almost enough to make them forget about what happened all those years ago. Almost. Until a teenage girl camping at the neighboring cabin goes missing and the memories come rushing back.

As the crime becomes ever more recognizable, they know better than anyone that so-called happy families can be anything but. each sister suspects the other knows more than she's letting on. Trapped in the isolating claustrophobic wilderness, Cassie and Lenora must piece together the truth of what happened and the sinister truth lurking in their own pasts before it's too late. This is on my TVR too. It's all in their head. That's awesome.

Like what is happening, suspecting the twin, but they're also twins. So there's like that kind of unconditional care aspect. Um, yeah. And then there's like this, there's this past timeline and, and sometimes it's a little like a lot when they just keep saying that night. But it all makes sense at the end. Oh my God, I want to read it. I also find it fascinating when I like, it's like twins. Yeah. I love reading that. Mm-hmm. But there's that one and there's like this book that like people were talking about for like, like,

a while and it's like blue and it has like a dark blue house on it and I know like the font is in like yellow and like those are the two books that I always like bounce back and forth with like which one do I need to like make the time for yeah but you know me I just I love to forget titles I forget at the same thing so many blue and yellow covers so even if I think I'm thinking of what you're thinking of I don't know yeah yeah I'll find that that'll be my me in a mission tonight well if we want to talk about amazing book covers yes and my if my favorite young women um based to her publisher because this is the paperback edition that comes out on august 6 so if you're listening and you're waiting for august 6 a bright

beautiful new shiny paperback edition of bright young women will be available to see is my fourth copy of this book. Yes. But yeah, to anybody who has not listened to me, gosh, about this, it is, it takes place in January 1978 when a serial killer who has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest and is soon to be infamous murderer descends on the top sorority at Florida State University's campus in Tallahassee, the lives of those who survive, including sorority president and key witness, Kamala Schumacher, are forever changed. Across the country, Tina

Cannon is convinced her missing friend was targeted by the man papers referred to as the all-American sex killer, and that he struck again. Determined to find justice, the two joined forces as their search for answers leads to a final shocking confrontation. Yeah. I am obsessed with this book. It's like my favorite book in the entire world, but I just think it was really smart and timely for her to write about this infamous murder from the lives of people who were taken from him and like impacted so strongly because I think that's like when you watch like a true crime documentary or something like that they're always talking about who he was how he grew up what he did and like they talk like for

two seconds about victims. So it was really nice to see, well, not nice, but it was really refreshing to see Jessica Nol take that and tell it from like a woman's perspective instead of just like this horrible man who did awful things to women. Yeah. And you just like, the characters are so well developed. Like I still just like for being in their heads and remember like some cinematic scene. Very cinematic. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited for the TV show.

What? Okay. Yeah. The same people that made luckiest girl alive are turning it into, I believe it's going to be a mini-series, but I know that they said, like, TV show.

Anyone that has not read for young women yet, I think, not, one of my biggest gripes when I see some, I think that sometimes it's misunderstood what this book is because I think some people think it's a thriller. It's going to have a twist.

It's going to have this like action-packed reveal. And I'm like, I wish for these people going into it that they knew that that's not the point. Or at least in my opinion, that's not the point. And so if you haven't read it yet, it's fantastic. But like consider what Gare just read. what it is before you go in expecting that yeah yeah and i think that like her promotion was really smart with like her tic-ttock and stuff because she went to tallahassee she went to different places where like ted bundy had like murdered women and had talked to like survivors and read court transcripts

and like that's what it's about but it's like her fictionalized version of like what those women went through and like the aftermath of like everything that happened after the sorority attacks by ted bundy without being like a who done it or being about ted bundy himself yeah yeah but i feel like her books are just so good and like her writing is so like rich and dense and just like it like blankets you like it's just so good she's i love her i would get a jesscan old tattoo like before like well she would probably block me on instagram but like i don't even know just get like the little eyes from bright young women on like my arm could you imagine how cool that would be just looking at the cover i'm like isn't it cool like yeah it's kind of toparty like almost

andy warhol style so i think that's yeah i think you should yeah jane old for life just that yeah life with a wife yeah the And four instead of like F-O-R. Yes. Do you say tramsamp? No. Oh. Then she might want you.

We could find some solid response for that. I don't know if it's like the inside of my lip. You know how like that like sublime album cover where they have like the inside lip tab too? I like meet her and I'm like check this out. She's like, oh. I'm your number one fan. I have no transition for mine whatsoever. I've waited to see if there would be.

Nope. Because my next one, it is a blue and yellow cover. We were talking about that, but it is called The Recruiter by Greg Podalski. When my dog is running around and throwing bones at my feet, when bad guys need good help, they call Rick Carter. He's a criminal recruiter, I almost couldn't say that word, searching for contract killers, cyber hackers, gun smugglers, and any other sort of villains for hire, a European crime boss might need. But when the family he left behind in Jersey is caught up in a client's plot to monopolize the black market, Rick has to save them from two of them. his own top candidates, deadly assassins known as ghosts and the Persian. Fixing his own mess will require a set of skills he doesn't have. Not a problem as finding qualified health is where he

excels. But stepping into action, becoming the hero his family needs, that's new territory. For a man who spent the last 10 years being the best at helping the worst, this may be his last chance to do something right. It's just a really fun take, which is what he said. when I talked to him about it, like this is kind of the character in an action movie that like doesn't get time where like maybe like a fixer. We talked about like fixers, like a fixer's on for like 30 seconds or something and then he's just like no one cares about him anymore. So it's kind of like that fun character. Like the guy who connects people is like all of a sudden thrown into action himself and he's not good at action. So it's just like it's unique. and funny. Like, this one has the Deadpool tone, too. I love that. I just remember when you were telling me about that book and you were talking to me while you were reading it and you had a nickname for it

because I could not remember the title of it to save my life. And when anybody reads that book, you can DM Kate and ask her what the nickname was because it was cracking me up. Yeah. If you like action you will love this one it's just good it starts off like bloody that's what i'll say like it gets like right into it and you're like oh mistakes are already really high damn yeah i feel like all of yours would be like not like my type of book that i could like focus on because i'm so like scatterbrained and i'm like what does berlin look like but like i would love to watch them as movies And that's, like, really cool that, like, that's also, like, kind of like a theme of yours is that, like, they're also cinematic and, like, that, like, spy thriller and, like, action thriller genre. I'm loving it more this year. I think I've always loved it. I'm just, like, finding it more this year. Like, it's more into my, like, algorithm.

Yeah. Me too. Well, I'm sure it comes up as recommended on your rating and liking. How else has been? I think that you're, I don't know why. When I thought of Fixer, Do you remember the movie, like, with Charlie Day and Jason Bateman and Jason Sudecis about their horrible bosses or something? Yeah, and then the fixer was, I think, like, Jamie Fox or something, and he was, like, trying to be so tough, but he actually, like, wasn't tough at all. And that just kind of reminds me of that because it was so funny. But, like, you're right, he's in it for, like, five minutes. And then he's gone because he's just.

And I'm like, you're right. They are, like, the unsung. action. And the author is a corporate recruiter. So like, he was, he was like, what if it was for criminals? That's awesome. Wow. That's so cool. I love when people take stuff that they know and just like go for it. Yeah. My gosh. I was sitting here trying to figure out my last one. I'm going to go bonkers again. So my last one is Like It Never Was by Faith Gardner. This from the get-go, the first chapter, is like, oh, okay, we're in it.

Like, this is the reason this girl in high school is mad at this other girl in high school, and she tries to play a prank, and it just, like, goes poorly. and then you flash forward into her future, and I think she's been dwelling on it for a really long time. But anyway, I'll just read it. The deeper the secret, the darker the shadow. Ten years ago, Jolene nearly killed her friend Elizabeth in a gruesome accident, and no one has any idea, not even Elizabeth.

Jolene has been trying to outrun the guilt ever since, wandering from place to place and career to career. So she's shocked when, after her latest move, she runs into the very person she's been avoiding for 10 years. Elizabeth still lives with scars from the accident, and she's still clueless how it would have been that fateful night. Or is she? As the two women rekindle a friendship,

Elizabeth's increasingly disturbing behavior makes Jolene wonder if it's her own guilt, if it's her own guilt stalking her, or if Elizabeth finally is exacting her revenge. So it is a lot of, like, it is. I need to read this like real, like now. Yeah, it's wild. So the funny thing is I've been so curious on Faith Gardner because I feel like she's kind of getting the Freedom McFadden, Colleen Hoover treatment where like people are reading

one of her books and like completely becoming obsessed with like her entire backlist. And I haven't yet talked to anyone that I like know personally that's read one of her books. So this makes me like, this is so like Kismet for me. Yeah. Yeah. This is my second one by her. Because she has like a series of standalones. And then she has just like standalones.

Because they're just a series because they're in the same like universe kind of. But they don't have like repeating characters. I don't think unless there's Easter eggs. But this one was a total standalone. And it can be solidified that she just is like a fast-paced. She like loves when people call this. hinged. So it's just kind of

it's like yeah. Yeah. Oh my God. She's friends with Noel Ely. I think so. I think they're

really close. And I love her. No, I want to read more of both of them. Did you read any Noel book? No.

I haven't read any of hers. I've read Faith Gardner's. A couple. Three? Ask for Andrea is like my favorite book in like the world.

Yeah, I heard about that you're talking about it from like years and I still ever read it. It's stuck, it's so, it's like the lovely bones meets like the quiet tenant and like just all of this other like different things that you can put in a thriller that make it like so good. But it's like very bleak but like also just like insanely addictive. of. Yeah. That's a Bulae endorsement. I love her. I think a long time ago, Gary, you talked about that book and also before you knew my name by

Jacqueline Bublitz, like in probably a similar episode. It was the same episode. Yeah. And then I just requested Jacqueline Bublitz's new one on NetGalley, and I have, like, really high hopes because I really liked that first one. But I don't know if it has that kind of, like, spirit. type thing again. It might. I'm not sure. Her publisher reached out to me, I think, last week and was like, oh, we have arcs of like the new Jacqueline booblets. And I was like, please, for the love of, like, I will return an organ to you. Just like send me a copy and I will do whatever you want. Like, I am just so excited for it. The cover is amazing.

I know. Oh my God. Yeah. She's incredible too. I need to look for stuff. So many. It's just so much. Now I want to like binge all of these Bates Gardner books. The prediction is like dart. That's the first. Yeah. The past series is like really Black Mirror-esque. Like it's like near future.

And it all has to do with people who like work for the same like kind of like Google type company. Okay. Like as a person that I never think of like tech stuff as my interest. Like it totally. It was so it was just like a normal thriller to me. It just is like. universe she created. You know who else I want to get into and like read all of their back list is Lucinda Berry. That's my fall goal. I feel like you'll crush those because

they're all pretty short. Yeah. And she's her like book reviews of all of her books just keep coming up on my TikTok and like people are like saying that it's really hard for them to rank her books between like what they love. But like they're all just like these like all of her stories are so disturbing. Like, there's so many TikTok people like sobbing. Yeah. The end of like, Santa Noah and Phantom. There's one, I think, called appetite for innocence that I've heard like a lot of good things about, too. She just writes so many.

I feel like she's writing two a year sometimes. She has a new one that comes out Monday or Tuesday. And it sounds really good. It's like three friends that like have a secret and then like something happens like, or 20 years later, it sounds really good. It's like an overhead shot of like a bunch of people on like inner tube, tubes, tubes and a lake. It's cool. Yeah.

I thought I just saw it on that Gallup. And the fact that she's a, either is or formerly a psychologist, psychiatrist, like, I'm just like, you know, you know how to know how to. to probably write some of that. I suck at titles, but the one that she wrote, I read two of hers. There was one I think called When She Returned, and it's about like a woman who disappears.

And then there was another one, I think it's called off the deep end. And it's like a woman who, like her car goes into a lake or a body of water and she thinks that she's saving her son, but she accidentally grabs her son's best friend. because like her son and his best friend oh my god that was so good it was like it's there's so or at least that one because it's only one i've read of her that's that's emotional yeah like he goes there i mean in the background of the two kids whoa wow

yeah yeah so good i was just looking up because i didn't realize yeah i didn't realize yeah i didn't realize cover on neck galley that they were on inner tubes and that's actually super cool cover. I love that cover. I love it.