Bookwild - Summer Thrillers We Can't Wait to Read with Gare

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

Gare is back!  And we are talking about all the summer 2024 thrillers we are excited to read!Books We Talked AboutBodies to Die ForA Talent for MurderOn the SurfaceThe SororityLadykillerThe Hollywood AssistantLetters to a Serial KillerAssassins AnonymousShadowheartIt Had to Be YouThe Last PartyThe HatersThe Best LiesBehind YouSociety of LiesTalking to StrangersYou Will Never Be MeThe Last Girl Left 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 

So guess he's back this week. It's me. It's scare. He's back, everybody. Much requested. So everybody is super excited for this. I have my, even though it's not killing the tea anymore, I have my killing the tea sweatshirt. And just for everyone to know, I would wear it, but it's 80 degrees here.

So I would be sweating my way through this pod. It's always like the first, it's always like the first heat wave that like hits you really hard. because like in August when it's 80 you'll be like oh my god it's so nice out today or it's like not that hot yes you know what I mean yeah because it's like not 90 yeah yeah it's like sweating your balls off but yeah so I am so excited to be back thank you for having me yeah thanks for coming back I um I guess kind of to not make it about me, but just to kind of update all of our listeners, who are now all of your listeners. They're so ours.

Yeah. I, um, about like a year ago, I was diagnosed with what they thought was vertigo. Um, and then a year later, so like this January, 2023, I was getting like really bad dizziness and my heart was racing a lot and I was like, what's going on here? So they basically think that from when I had COVID, like two years ago, that I could have what they call POTS, which is postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which is that when like you're standing up, your heart rate goes up and your blood pressure goes down. And that's what causes you to be dizzy. So I'm waiting to get like tested for that. And that's kind of why I had to take a step back. One of the. one of the main symptoms of it is really bad brain fog. So that's kind of why like our last episode that we had recorded together, I just felt like I felt like a zombie when we were recording it.

And I felt like I sounded kind of like a zombie. Like I wasn't as like lively as I wanted to be or could have been. So that's why I was like, I don't want to take it day by day and be like, oh, well, this week I feel good on like Sunday from two to four or like whatever. So that's kind of why I took a step back, but I am obsessed with everything that you're doing with Book Wild. And I love all of your guests that you've been having. And I'm happy to be in the rotation. So I'm glad to come back and talk to you about one of my favorite topics in the entire world.

Yes. I'm super happy you're back. We've definitely had some fun guests, but they all ask about you too. so it's time it's time it's time it's time it's time to always fun to talk about books we're looking forward to yes yes and while we've said it a hundred million times in the past like how we do not like the heat of the summer yep for me there's nothing like a summer release like I feel like that's like the creepiest like popcorn thrillers like the darkest books and you know anything that takes place in the summer just kind of gives me that like Friday the 13th kind of vibe that like scary things

don't just happen when it's like cold and chilly happy things happen when it's cold and chilly you know right oh god god so I'm very excited to talk about them I think I I've like obsessed what was it like probably like a week ago we talked about recording today and I think that I've been obsessive about my list until like four o'clock today like for a straight full week I have been like obsessing over my list so it's no hard to pick there's so many good books coming out so many there's so so so so many um and I have like well I guess I can talk about it when I when I get to it I have like a couple of them that I have to be like okay just to let you know dot dot dot dot dot so Um, if you want, you can kick it off or do you have, yeah, do you have an icebreaker?

Oh my gosh, I didn't even think of one. No, do you. Uh, yeah, I kind of do. Okay, go for it. So one of the things that I've been doing on my little break is I've been like mood, rewatching TV shows and movies that I love just for like comfort. Um, because like if I'm having, having like a really brain fog moment. I'm like having hard time putting pieces together. So if I already know what's going to happen, I'm like, okay, this is comfortable. You're safe. So it's been between like Dawson's Creek. I've been rewatching. I've been rewatching the vampire diaries. But there's one show that I finished on my break that I am obsessed with. And I immediately want to start it again from the beginning. Whoa. So I'm wondering, because the reason I thought of you, with this is because it's um isa ray oh insecure insecure yeah i've got in brain fog's popping in already um no it's insecure i loved it so much there was only one thing in the end there was only one thing there was a character death in the very very end that made me like really really really really sad um yes but oh my god it is such a good show and i want to start it again from the beginning. I've never like been so addicted to a show in my entire life. Like if people don't

talk about insecure the way that they talk about sex in the city, I'm going to be pissed because in my opinion, it's so much better. I know. And they don't. They don't talk about it enough, like at all. It's so good. There's like really good character development in all of the seasons. And like all of the characters are flawed. So like, even when they're like fighting with each other, you're like, I don't even like, I see both people's perspective and like you still love both of like all of them. And all the guys are hot, which helps. The guys are gorgeous.

I mean, girls are too. The girls are gorgeous. The girls are gorgeous. Like, but everyone's gorgeous. You know like your core cast and that like they're beautiful. But like the men that. pop in and out of that show. Oh my God. Because I'm like with my rewatches and like some of the popular shows, you know, it's like are you team Damon or Stefan? Are you team like Pacey or Dawson?

So like with Insecure, I'm like if there is a man on this show, I don't care how toxic he is. I love him. They're gorgeous. They're gorgeous. Oh, they're beautiful. It's such a good show. Just all around. So it'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry, it'll make you horny. Yeah. Yeah. Laugh cry is like, yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah.

Three, uh, three main emotions. Yeah. Um, but because I've been like wanting to rewatch it already, I'm like wondering if that show or if there's any other show that you loved so much that you would consider rewatching because I know you're not like a rewatcher, but like if they were like, we're throwing you on an island for a week, what is the one show that you can bring with you to rewatch?

Yeah. Okay, that's a really, really good question. Okay. I'm trying to think of like, honestly, probably the Handmaid's Tale. Oh, my God. I was just wondering if you were going to say that. That's crazy because I almost said something else.

But then I was thinking of like shows where just like sometimes I get to the end and I'm like, oh my God. for the people who can't see my face. I looked shocked. And now when it happens a lot because like the story storytelling is so great. But the only thing is like it is, it puts you through the ringer.

So in some ways I'm like, is that what I need if I'm stranded on an island already? Yeah. But it like, it's just so everything about it is like so perfect. And sometimes like the end scenes, like their choice in music is always really special. spot on. And sometimes the song that just starts playing, like even in the end credits, you're just sitting there like, what is my life and how did someone write something this good?

Yeah, that is a really good one. I was going to say, I thought you were going to say that or Blackbird. Blackbird was so good. The other one that came up for me is bad sisters on Apple TV was really, really, really fun. It was really fun, but it was only one season. So I was like, do I need more seasons if I'm on this island? Yeah, that's true. I love it. I love it. Yeah, that's a good question.

Well, maybe this summer, when we're not binging all of the books we want to read, we can. I know. Try to figure out. Luckily, I have almost all of these on NetGalley. So this is definitely. I think I have copies of all of mine except for like two or three. Yeah. One of them was pitched to me on NetGalley, and I was like, how did I not hear about this?

Because it's totally on my alley, but do you want to kick it off or would you like me to? Yeah. I will. Okay. So my first one comes out June 11th, and it is called Bodies to Die for by Lori Brand. Popular Fitness Influencer Gemma has tried. transformed herself from a before into an after, complete with washboard abs, thriving business, and a gorgeous husband. But social media can be deceiving. Offline, the cutthroat world of bikini

bodybuilding may just eat her alive. That's if she's not first devoured by the secret nemesis that lurks beneath her polished surface waiting to destroy her. Software engineer Ashley is fat and frustrated, frustrated with failed diets, with a world that wants her to shrink, with bias, doctors, online trolls, and even her own mother. Until Ashley falls in with a mysterious and radical set of fat activists who are fighting back by any means necessary, she's never felt so alive, so full of purpose, she'll do whatever it takes to ride this high, destroy diet culture, and win the approval of her charismatic leader. But when Gemma's toughest rival turns up dead and more fitness girls start falling like dominoes, it's beginning to look like the body

image war has gone too far. Hot damn. I know. So Steph has read this already and said that it is like I had an episode of books as messy as reality TV and she said it's like one of those books. And that it's really fun because like you just can't tell who's perspective, who you're pulling for. Oh.

Lori is a bookstagramer, correct? Yes. Yeah. Lori Brandt lights and lifts. And she's a list. Oh, yes. Okay. So actually, I will shout her out too. She offered to send me the net galley to that book. Oh, yeah. And it sounds so good, but I, there's like a few things that could be like a trigger warning for me or a trigger or whatever. Right. So it does sound really good. So I'm going to have to live vicariously through someone who reads it and can cut some of the stuff in it out for me.

But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah. But. Yeah. But. yeah that does sound so so so good um but it sounds like it's going to be like really fast pace too that's what stuff said like i feel like it's like kind of crampy yeah like just like jump right into the action yeah yeah i'm super excited um well i haven't talked about a book in two months oh my god i'm so shy you're like how do i do this how do i do this um I actually did not write down any of my release dates. Oh, that's okay. So I'm going to guess on some of them because I think I know.

Yeah. But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. That's true. Disappear back into my cave for another couple of months and I'll come back. Well, there'll be links, so everyone can just click the link and they can find it themselves. So my first one is one that I was wondering. of you were going to have. And I know this comes out in June,

but it's a talent for murder by Peter Swanson. Ooh, yeah, I didn't include it. But yes, I want to be. That was the one I thought we were going to have similar. So Martha Ratcliffe conceded long ago that she'd spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival, archival, archival. Library.

I'm off to a great start. Archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas in the books she loved. But when she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with the job that took him on the road for half the year, when he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger. A year-end when the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he'd worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the last year and uncovers a disturbing pattern. Five unsolved cases of murdered women. Is she married to a serial killer or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner. Lily once helped Martha out of a jam with

an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is but what lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked they they could have ever expected oh my gosh i'm so excited for more lily i'm excited for more lily i'm excited for a possible serial killer i know it feels like dexter but like from reida Rita's perspective. When you said that to me, I was like, the way that your mind works

He needs to hit me up for promos. I'm like... The way that your mind works is a little scary sometimes. And all I can say is when you have a book come out, I'm going to be the first one to pre-order because I know that shit is going to be wild. Yes. Oh, it's going to be wild. That's for sure. It's going to be wild. Yeah.

It's going to be, that one's going to be so good. It just sounds so fun. It's going to be really fun. It's going to be really fun. I love, I love the way he writes, like, New England and, like, this, like, very, like, chilling, like, rich people and, like, the finest of clothes and, like, the finest of meals and then, like, leaving dinner to murder people. Just leaving to kill, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. there's also something like really scary about like a guy who's like probably I'm assuming like a really hot businessman who like travels everywhere and then you're like oh he's a fucking serial killer and like that just like scares me so much because I I grew up in the 90s like when I watched America's Most Wanted it as again it was always like the trucker the creepy janitor like the weirdo hanging out on the playground like it's never like the hot business guy that you're like. Oh my God. Right. I want to marry him. Right. Poor Martha just wants to be a librarian. Whether Peter Swanson writes him as hot, we will be envisioning him as hot.

I'm assuming he's going to be, I guess maybe I'm just, I'm assuming. I could imagine he's like a troll. It's like really heavily focused on. I'm also realizing how easy I am because when somebody says charming, I automatically think they're hot. It's not always the case, I guess. There are a lot of charming people who are not very pretty. Oh, God.

He's just going to be hot in your mind, and there's nothing wrong with that. Poor Alan. I hope he's a sexy beast. I do too. Fingers crossed. Well, my next one has a lot of hot people. people in it by design. So it's a perfect segue. And it's actually what I'm reading right now. And it's called On the Surface by Rachel McGuire. I'm obsessed with it. I like I've had to like work work all day. Like I haven't had breaks where I could sneak in reading and it's killing me

how much I want to be reading this book. So already kind of a glowing endorsement. But it It follows Sawyerstone the Third and Danny Fox, a young couple who spends their time circumnavigating the globe aboard their 42-foot sailboat, documenting it for their fledgling YouTube channel sailing with the foxes. They've anchored an exuma in the Bahamas. As they wait for the price of crypto to rebound so that they can provision and continue their journey, they're partying and exploring with their fellow cruisers offshore. On the surface, everything looks perfect, but one night, Danny vanishes after a boat party, and Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance. The search for Danny is initially fueled by concerns that she drowned during one of her daily ocean swims, but Danny's pre-scheduled video posts recorded before she went missing soon reveal a darker side to her relationship with Sawyer. Meanwhile, Royal Bahamas Police Force Inspector Veronique Knowles has her hands full.

trying to heed the investigation on course as the story of the American woman missing in the Bahamas goes viral in the internet sleuths under the secrets from Sawyer's past. Sawyer Stone is far from perfect, but is he a murderer? This has everything I love. Like missing person,

social media adjacent, like touching on like true crime fanatics. I was like, it's going to be pretty shocking if I don't like this book and I love it. I love it. It sounds really good. It definitely sounds.

It kind of sounds like something that could be written by Rozne. Have you ever read anything by her? You would love her. She's a Canadian author. She's really good. She's really good. But her stories are always very, like, very, like, timely. And they always, like, feature, like, something of, like, some sort of element in nature.

So, like, this one has, like, you know, like the sailing on the yacht and just wild shit. but um yeah that sounds really good right at 50% we get this perspective that is like i don't know if you'll read this or not and if you don't i'll just end up telling you but the perspective is like amazing like the voice of this character is just stunning and i fell in love with the character in this chapter and it it there is like the perfect book that i could compare it to and it would give it So I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. On the surface, who's the author again? Rachel McGuire.

It's a writing duo. Okay. I'm going to look it up when we get done because I have like 20 pages left of the book I'm reading. Well, speaking of things that, like, you know I'm going to love this book. Comes out in August, I believe. It's called The Sorority by Nancy Bush. And it is just right up my alley. I pledge my own life and soul to the sorority.

Every school has its cool girls. And at River Glen High, they're known as the sorority. The name began as a joke, but it holds a grain of truth because they've made a pledge to protect one another, no matter what the cost may be. The pledge to kill Ethan Stanhope, that was a joke too but then Ethan died in a car crash on the night of graduation along with his little sister a tragic accident they said private investigator mackenzie loflin

remembers the girls of the sorority though as a cop's daughter she was an outsider now nearly ten years later one of them is missing and mac is hired to find her the accidents have started again too if that's what they really are because max's beginning to realize just how much of the sorority sisters have to hide and how far they'll go to keep their secret. That is like right up your alley. Do you have a cover? Have you seen a cover for it? There's no cover on good reads. Yeah. I've seen the cover. I can send it to you. I was just wondering. I got it in an email blast. I think the cover is like like partial like woman's face and there's like black fog or something. Yep, you see you're on Nightgalley.

Yeah, yeah. It sounds so good. Sounds so good. That is literally made for you. I love. You said they sent it to you? They said they were going to send me an arc of it, yeah. Nice.

But I just think that like it's, like I love an all female cast, especially when they're like, let's protect one another by like fucking killing this guy. Yeah, that's literally the best. Fuck man. But I'm like one of them going missing and like I love like a dual timeline or it's like 10 years later like somebody goes missing or somebody's murdered. Oh yeah. Like secrets from the past can be unburied. I'm just like, oh yeah. Yeah.

So. Can you hear my dogs? Okay. They're just like, fuck yeah. They're literally just back. They're two rooms away. And then I'm like, maybe he doesn't hear them. I'm just hoping because there's a siren.

Okay, I think it went away from us because it meant they were about to start howling and that would have been very loud. I think we're good now. But yeah, clearly they're like the sorority. They're here for the sorority. Yeah, they're just like, we want to pledge. We want to be a house dog. Yeah. And take down the men with him.

Murphy would be a horrible house dog because he just parks at everything other than like two people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Same. Ours Bark at everything. Yeah. Well, my next one is a, I think, mostly female cast called Lady Killer by Catherine Wood. It comes out July 9th. So, Gia and Abby have been best friends since they were girls, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were 18. In the aftermath, bookish Abby threw herself into her studies, while Erys Gia chronicled the events of that fateful summer in a salacious memoir.

Twelve years later, Gia is back in Greece for the summer with her shiny new husband and a motley crew of glamorous guests, preparing to sell the family estate in the wake of her father's death. When Abby receives an invitation from Gia to celebrate her birthday in September beneath the northern lights, she's thrilled to be granted the time off from her high pressure job. But the day of her flight, she receives a mysterious threatening email in her inbox, and when she and Gia's brother, Bini, arrive at the Swedish resort, Gia isn't there. After days of cryptic messages and unanswered calls, Abby and Benny are worried enough to fly to Greece to check on her. Only when they arrive, they find Gia's beachfront estate, eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts, a manuscript she wrote, detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. The pages reveal the dark truth about Gia's provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of the guests they entertained with busy champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun.

As tensions rise, Gia feels less and less safe in her own house. But the pages end abruptly, leaving Abby and Benny with more questions than answers. Where is Gia now? And more importantly, will they find her before it's too late? Drama. Is that cover like... a woman on a porn yes we know what we're going to make a teaser clip out of you got right anyone who watches that on mute is probably like why are they like pretending to be birds

yes it's that cover i think i have that on that galley so i would be totally down to read that with you okay yeah let's do it your summer TBR from somebody who is like a very self-proclaimed introvert your summer TBR is like very adventurous yeah you're right like you're like going on like yachts and like to Greece and you're just like traveling the world workout culture yeah you're like all about it yeah like the summer of like Kate being adventurous and I'm going to travel the world from my couch. I love that. I love that.

That's how I feel when I've been binge watching SVU. Oh, yeah. And, like, sometimes I'm like, I guess my little, like, health issues aren't that bad because I'm not, like, being thrown in a dumpster and, like, still alive. Sometimes I have to give myself that perspective, too. Yeah. I'm like, it could be far worse. So. Yeah.

But I feel a lot better when it comes to dating. because of my next one, which I believe is also, well, I have it right here. So let me just check and see when it comes out. June 25th. Nice. June 25th, we have probably my most anticipated read of 2024. Mm-hmm. I'm just so excited to read Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coriel.

this one sounds so good it is about a woman named Hannah she's a 30-something year old who is like sick of watching her friends get married fall in love and like go to the suburbs so she's been recently ghosted but she finds community in a true crime forum that's on a mission

to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta after William a handsome lawyer is arrested for the killings Hannah begins to write him letters. She feels like it's a perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her and even feels healthy at first. But then William writes back. And Hannah's interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession,

leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and be friends other true crime junkies like herself. When a fifth woman is discovered murdered, the jury has no choice but to find William not guilty, and Hannah is the first person he calls after he's released. The two of them quickly fall into a routine of domestic bliss. Well, as blissful as one can feel while secretly investigating their partner for serial murder. Dun, done, done.

Dun dun dun. For all my swifties out there, this is giving fresh out the slammer. I know who my first call is to. Some of you all are going to enjoy that. Some of you are like, shut the fuck up about Taylor's Wives. Right? That is too funny. That concept is amazing.

I have an idea where I think it's going. And if I'm right, then I'm like, okay, maybe I should write a book. And if I'm wrong, then, like, I would love a good twist. Right. But I think I have an idea as to where it's going. And I'm really curious to see if I'm right because I kind of love, like, the social commentary on, like, women who chase after, like, men in prison. Right. Or if, like, a series, like, kind of, like, what a lot of women did with, like, Ted Bundy.

which is why I thought Jessica Noel's book last year was such like a timely book to have out because sometimes if women or people I guess in general it will have to be women if there's like a guy who's like capable of like murdering a bunch of people and he's like somewhat attractive it's mind boggling to me that there are some people who like are like oh well he's perfect it's got to be like at least on some weird primal level like they think like because he's dangerous and powerful like if he loves her she's going to be really safe yeah still I mean that's a stretch it's the only thing I can come up with I mean listen I am easy as fuck like everybody can tell that from this podcast but like I would never in my ever loving

mind, feel comfortable knowing that somebody was capable of murder. No. Even if it was Jacob Allorty, like, I would be like, could you imagine coming home and being like, oh, I'm sorry they forgot your side of sour cream with your chikolet? Sleep in one aisle. What if it was a revenge murder? Huh? What if he murdered someone out of revenge? You would have to have, like, a long conversation about it.

But, I mean, I'm talking like, serious. killer like when it's like more than one person and it's like yeah you know like it could be alan from the peter swanson or it could be william the hot lawyer but like when it's just like multiple people and like all signs point to you that's like guilty you know like i don't know i would just be like what is the little thing that's going to send him over the edge and murder me right so i get but i'm excited for the social commentary with it though but it sounds really good. Sounds like it's going to be kind of snarky. I would think so.

And I love snarky. Speaking of serial killers. My next one is Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart that comes out June 11th. 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 after 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. That sounds so snarky. I know. Like, if the synopsis is this snarky. That sounds so good. What's the reformed hitman to do. It kind of gives me like, I don't know. I don't know the name of movie but like i'm like getting like some sort of like action movie that's like just as much comedy as it in action maybe Deadpool oh my god there's a spider on my wall move it's really little oh okay well hold on we gonna murder at

oh my god yes i had to i would have been fixing all that shit I would not have been able to let that go. Can you please leave it in the podcast? Yes. Where you're like, hold on one second. And I'm like, are you going to murder it right as you pick up your murder weapon? Yes, I will keep it. Because I love that.

That would be another amazing real. We're getting super ones. Yeah. Give me one second. Yeah. That's too funny. So yeah, an assassin who's trying not to kill, but people are trying to kill him. Well, he's trying not to kill.

I have a serial killer book about two serial killers. Ooh. Because I love serial killers. Yes, you do. I'm going to end up one of the women in prison that I just talked about. I know. You got to be careful. I should say I love serial killer cases.

I find them to be more interesting because. I think it's very wild how like somebody can walk into a murder scene and be like, oh, this guy's a white male in his 40s who like hated his mother. His favorite color is blue and he probably eats fast food three times a week. And I'm like, oh. So it's like, yeah, it's crazy to me how they can tell that. But it's also very interesting like the whole process of catching them. Right.

Now I've talked about this book before. and that's because this book was supposed to come out last summer and they pushed it back to this summer. So it comes out in June and it's called Shadowheart by Meg Gardner. It is the fourth book in the unsub series. But now you've been more excited for it because it's finally here. In a Tennessee prison, Ephraim Judah Good draws haunting portraits of women he claims he killed. Around the country, desperate families of the missing seek answers in his eerie drawings, and on a darkened back road in New York City Street, a new killer poses duct-taped bodies at the

site of goods murders. Two serial killers are locked in a twisted rivalry. To stop the brutal slayings, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendricks must unravel the connection between Good and the Broken Heart Killer. Their warped competition destroys anyone in their path, caught between in a manipulative cycle, path and a ruthless unsub. Caitlin has to dive into not one but two dark and

twisted minds. She will risk everything plunging into the depths of their depraved clash to hunt down an unstoppable killer. That sounds terrifying. That sounds so scary. She wrote Oh my God.

Into the dark, no, into the black nowhere. It's the second unsub book. but it is um so each one of these is like usually loosely based off like a real serial killer the first one was the zodiac the second one was ted bundy and the third one i think it's the golden state killer when i read the second one that's loosely based off ted bundy the opening was the scariest opening to a book i've ever read in my entire life oh wow like that's saying a lot

I have never been so scared reading a book. I was like, like, it made Lars Kepler look like Winnie the Poe. Just like Winnie the Pooh. Like Little Pooh and Peglet, just like running around giggling. It was so fucking scary. It was so scary. I hated that. I mean, I loved X.

The book was amazing. But, like, the opening, I was like, I never, I'm just going to follow the sun everywhere and never live anywhere where it's dark. Yeah, I get that every now and then freaks you out that much. Yeah. You're like, am I going to sleep tonight? Yeah, yeah, never. I can't wait to read that series again. Well, at least you, I mean, you love it that much.

Oh, yeah. Re-experience that fear again. Yeah, it's like one of the best series I've ever read in my entire life, so I highly recommend it to everyone. Damn. Yeah. Yeah, I need to. I still haven't, but I need to. No, you love it.

You'll love. Yeah. Well, mine, because apparently I'm into spies and assassins the way you are serial killers. Nothing has changed. No, not at all. My next one is called It Had to Be You by Eliza Jane Brazier, who I love. So when Eva and Jonathan hook up on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris, they think they'll never see each other again, which is too bad because neither has ever felt a spark like this for another person. But love isn't on the agenda in their line of work.

Six months later, they run into each other in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. This meeting is not by chance because Eva has been hired to kill Jonathan. She's a contract killer, but what she doesn't know is that he is too. Their meeting kicks off a high stakes cross-continent adventure. I almost said croissant instead of cross-continent, but I had to like stay in my head, like, don't say it, don't say it. Cross-continent adventure across Western Europe. There will be tourism.

There will be bodies. Eva and Jonathan might even fall for each other. As the two get closer to completing their assignments, it becomes clear. that they're also being hunted by something even more dangerous than love. Very like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but Eliza Jane Grazier. That's what I was just going to say. Yeah. Yeah. Mr. Mrs. Smith. Totally. Total vibes. I'm very excited. I love all of her books. She's like, it's like fucking terrifying how her mind works. I know. Like everything is so different than the last. Yeah. Like rich people,

where it was like podcast, wealthy people, horses, spies. Spies. That's an impressive run. Maybe her next book will be about croissants. Maybe it will. Maybe I just inspired her. Maybe. She's got like a snarky little prose too.

Like she's very, like, you just always get lost in one of her bucks. I agree. I'm very excited for that. I actually have a copy of it. The cover is so cool. Yeah. Here. Folks. There it is. Two of my favorite colors. Well, it's not totally pink. Giving vibes. It actually does look very pink in person. It did look pink on yours. Yeah. Yeah. And then I looked at the good reads and it looks more peach. Oh, that could be. Yeah. Well, I'm, that's a little. I'm, that's a little bit. I'm, that's That's the one thing of me.

That's like a typical guy is I'm like thinking of pink. Yeah. And you're like, that's peach gear. That's an orange pink. That's peach. Um, couples doing creak cray stuff. Um, my next one comes out sometime this summer. I don't know what I do one.

It's okay. Sometimes. Um, it's called the last party by A.R. tour and I love her like she's so good at like twisted dark domestic suspense um the cover's fucking amazing like naturally it's definitely a cover by even if this doesn't sound like it's up your alley it's so so good um but this one is about perla waltz who lives with her husband grant and their precious daughter sophy in a gated Pasadena community a fluent sociable and accomplished Perla plays the part of a loving wife and mother to perfection. It seems like an ideal life, if not for a decades old crime that has become Perla's dark and consuming secret obsession.

23 years ago, Leewood Folkrum confessed to murdering two young girls during a birthday party. Though he's been condemned to a life sentence, his crime is not forgotten, not by Perla and not by an inquisitive doctoral student interviewing Folkram for his dissertation. He's getting the killer to open up about his motives, his contempt. confession and the truth of what really happened on that horrible night. As the past and the present intertwine, the deceptions behind the infamous murder begin to surface. But who's deceiving who and why? And as an ingeniously twisted plan is set in motion, who will be the next to die? I can't believe I haven't heard about this one or seen it, because that cover is amazing. She wrote, synopsis is amazing. She's, she wrote this like trilogy.

about like a cam girl who like keeps herself locked in her apartment because she yeah it is so good it is so good but i've like read her other books too and they're so good they are so freaking good like she just right like they're really dark they're really really dark and they're always like twisted and like really fast-paced. There's one about like a woman. I read every last secret. Is that the one about the serial killer who was like killing teenage boys? I don't feel like it was.

I feel like from the cover, it was more domestic, um, like wealthy couple moves in, life coach. Oh yeah. Yeah. one was good. There's one that like when there's one that I was reading the good lie. Yeah, I think it's a good lie. But it's about like a serial killer who's like going after like teen boys and like the

details of the crime. I was like I had to read it like twice because I was like she really freaking like she went there. Yeah. Yeah. It's so good. It's so good. Yeah, that sounds very dark. But they're always like disturbing and dark and just like completely addictive. So I'm really excited for this one. I love her. I know. Now I am too. I need to go request it. Such a cool cover. Oh my God.

We actually have a really cool picture of like a close up of me smoking kind of like that that I've always wanted to use. But since what I was using wasn't legal in Indiana, you know, couldn't really use it. Is it legal now? No. It's not? Nope. We're surrounded by states where it's legal.

We can get Delta 9. That's how I have gummies. Like, somehow that's legal everywhere. But, oh, well. It was such a cool picture, though. But my next one has a... You can say it was taken in a different state. Yes, that's a good point.

You're like, no, that's not my bedroom. That was in New York. Yeah, yep. But my next one has a really cool cover, too. And you guys know how obsessed I am with David Ellis. So his new one, The Best Lies, comes out July 23rd. And it is about Leo Bolinoff or Balinoff. I don't know.

Balinoff is a diagnosed pathological liar with unthinkable skeletons in his family's closet. He's also a crusading attorney who seeks justice at all costs. When a ruthless drug dealer is found dead and Leo's fingerprints show up on the murder weapon, no one believes the word he says, but he might be the FBI's only shot at taking down the dealer's brutal syndicate. Risk his life going undercover for the feds or heads straight to prison for murder. Leo accepts the FBI's offer, but it comes with a price, including a collision course with his ex, Andy Piotrowski, Andy Piotrowski, and let's just say

Ann, it says A agent. An agent and a cruel calculating crime boss, Leo's trapped in a corner, but he has more secrets than anyone realizes and a few more cards left to play. I'm excited for that one. I love what. I love what closer. Yeah. And that cover so, so. fucking cool.

Yeah. All his covers are so, like, shows so much. Rain drops on a window just, like, sign me up. I know. Rainy for your day. Yeah. Oh, I can't wait. I can't wait for that one.

I'm really excited for him. Well, I guess then my good segue is that, like, nobody's going to be surprised I'm talking about this book because I never shut off about Robin Harding. And her book, The Haters, comes out this summer in July, July 9th. The cover is really cool. It is. I have a cool cover. But this one sounds really good, especially if you have been on Instagram or if you are on book talk and have heard about this.

But it just kind of deals with like the toxic things that authors have to deal with. Um, so the haters is about Cameron Lane, who is living her dream. After years of struggle and rejection, her first novel has finally been published. Her editor's happy. Her teenage daughter is proud. Her boyfriend and friends are all excited and she just feels like she's on top of the world. But then she receives a disturbing message from an unknown sender. Rattled by the accusations she finds there, Cameron swallows the sick feeling in her

stomach and resolves to put the missive out of her mind. But when she checks her ratings on a popular book site, she finds a scathing one-star review. The reviewer is so articulate and convincing that soon Cameron's book is flooded with bad reviews. Could the reviewer be the same person who sent the ugly email and why do they want to ruin her? As the online harassment creeps into Cameron's personal life, she vows to find out who's behind it. Is it really a disgruntled reader or could it be someone she knows? The troll's actions are escalating and when the abuse turns deadly, will take everything Cameron has to unmask the enemy so intent on destroying her and finally learn why she's being targeted.

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. It sounds scary. It sounds so good. She is so freaking good. Like a couple of her books have kind of like a stalker element to it. But yeah, she's so like her pacing is freaking wild and all of her plots are so good. best. Oh, she is just like the perfect, like, author to get you out of a reading slum, but she's also like the best person to have on your TVR for summer. Like, everything about her scream summary to me. Yeah, I agree. Love, love. I know. I'm like, I'm really excited for that one. It kind of sounds like the last word. Last word? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I just like it, though, because I keep seeing things like, on like bookstagram and book talk about like people tagging authors and like negative reviews and stuff like

that's so weird and it's like it's weird but like also like i think there was somebody else there was some sort of author in the fall that had some sort of like scandal and like everybody was like bombing their book that wasn't even out yet and like leaving one-star reviews but yeah it's That's shitty. That's crazy. That is crazy. Well, I don't really have a segue way. It's another cool cover.

Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown. It comes out August 13th. Did we have one in common? No. I was going to say that I wanted to give this book a shout-out at the end of it because the reason that this book is on my summer TVR is because you told me about it. and I almost add it today, but I was like, I'm not going to steal that from her, but this is from both of us. This is from both of us, though.

When a young woman is found dead on her college campus, her sister doesn't believe it was an accident, and her search for answers leads her closer to home than she ever would have imagined. Maya can't wait to return to Princeton for reunions. It's been a decade since she graduated, but she, is looking forward to seeing old faces and reminiscing about her college days. And this year is even more special because her little sister Naomi is graduating. But what should have been a dream weekend becomes Maya's worst nightmare when she gets a call that no one ever wants. Naomi is dead. The police are saying it's an accident, but Maya suspects there is more to the story than they are

letting on. As Maya pieces together the months leading up to her sister's death, she starts to realize how much Naomi hid from her. Naomi had joined Sterling Club, the most exclusive social club on campus, the same one Maya belongs to, despite Maya's warnings. And if she had to guess, she'd say Naomi was also talented

in the secret society within it. The more Maya uncovers, the more terrified she becomes, that Naomi's decision to follow in her footsteps might have been what got her killed, because Maya's time at Princeton wasn't as wonderful as she always pretended it was. After all,

her sister wasn't the first young woman to turn up dead. Now every clue is leading Maya back to the past and to the secrets. She's kept all these years. Oh my God. Love. I can't love me. Dark academia with like massive stakes. Tyler's calling me. He knows I'm podcasting. I was like, where did that come from? The cover is really cool too. it's so cool and that randomly i had a dream that i was um that i like for some reason like went to a coffee shop you know how dreams don't make sense and Lauren Ling brown was just sitting there and I just like sat and talked with her so i had a dream with her i um I wrote an article for she reads about like anticipated summer reads um yeah and i included that one in there and she

dmmed me back and forth a little bit to like thank me when the article came out yeah she is like one of the nicest fucking people i've ever talked to she seems so cool she is so cool she's so sweet and i'm just like oh my god like i cannot wait to read your book because you sound fucking amazing that's probably why she made it into my dream it was like i need a calming presence She would be. I bet she'd be a really good friend. I think so, too. Yeah.

Um, my next author seems like they are really cool, too. Um, but I will say my next author seems like they're going to be really cool too. Oh, yeah. Um, but I will say, I'm really excited for this one because you guys know that I live really close to Canada. I don't know when this book comes out in the U.S. So if you find somewhere, like I know that it used to be, there used to be like a website that people went to that they could get like a book from anywhere around the world and book depository. And it would be like free shipping. So this one I know comes out in Canada on May 6th or 7th.

I think it's May 7th. So if you're a Canadian listener, then go get it. And if you are a U.S. listener, then hopefully it is a U.S. listener. and then hopefully it is out in the U.S. soon or you can find it online somewhere. Sorry, but it just sounds so good. It does. It is called Behind You by Catherine Hernandez. And it is actually inspired by a chapter in Canadian history that follows fictional characters

terrorized by a fictional perpetrator. So this one is about Alma, who is a Filipino woman who works as a film editor for a cheesy true crime series featuring the most notorious killers of the 20th century called Infamous. On the surface, she seems to live a good life with her wife, Nira, and her teenage son, Mateo. But there's so much left unsaid. It's not until Infamac's last episode features the Scarborough stalker that she remembers coming of age when the serial rapist and killer was attacking women and girls in the Scarborough in the late 80s and early 90s. What unfolds are two timelines in the past, young Alma watches the entire city become consumed with a manhunt for an elusive, terrifying

suspect, and while she herself is in jeopardy from close corners, in the present, Adal Alma must come to terms with her own ideas of consent to stop her son's dangerous behavior toward his girlfriend. It has a lot going on. It has a lot going on. A lot going on. I don't know. It says it comes out May 7th, but, like, maybe it doesn't know.

I know it does in Canada because I, I pre-ordered it. Yeah. Because I go to Canada every weekend. Right. But I tried to look it up on Amazon and it said like something weird, like limited supplies or like not currently available, something like that. So I don't know if it's going to be like out on Kindle or what the case may be. but I had to include it because it just sounds very it just sounds very good

but I also think that now I'm going to go down the rabbit hole of the Starborough stalker and like learn more about that case before I read it because I think this could be very similar to like bright young women by Jessica Knowl. Oh yeah that would you know how like she did like with bright young women, like what she did with like Ted Bundy, like this could be.

Because it says it's inspired by a chapter in Canadian history. So I'm going to have to do a little research. But it just sounds really good. And I couldn't help but include it, even though it might not be available to a lot of people. We'll see. We'll see. Well, my next one definitely is coming out in America as well. And I've seen a lot of people loving it already,

so it's getting me even more hyped for it. And it's the Hollywood assistant by May Cobb, July 9th is when it comes out. Cassidy Foster is heartbroken, stuck in life, and getting a little too obsessed with plants. Then when a well-connected friend becomes sick of Cassidy's moping and gets her a gig, with a famous Hollywood couple, Marisol and Nate Sterling, Cassidy jumps at the chance to move to sunny, L.A. The Sterlings are warm and welcoming, a perfect couple. All Cassidy has to do is be available a few hours a week for errands. In return, she has access to luxury. Design our clothes, a sparkling

cool, great pay. When Nate takes interest in her, asking her to read scripts he's written, Cassidy thinks this could be the key to kickstarting her writing dreams. As they're business relationship grows, so does their attraction. Nate is sexy, talented, and Cassidy can't believe her luck. Clearly, Marisol doesn't know what she has. Maybe that's why the two are always fighting when they think Cassidy isn't around. But Cassidy learns that she was hired for a different purpose. The Sterlings aren't the perfect couple. Marisol isn't the perfect wife. And when one of them is found dead, Cassidy becomes the perfect suspect. It sounds like a perfect summer

Reef and the cover. Here's the cover. I have my little art cart right here because I reorganized my bedroom on my break. Nice. So I was just like grabbing shit that we both mentioned. I get it. Yeah.

May Cobb is so fucking good. She's such a good storyteller. I love her. I love her so much. She's so fucking sweet too. I know. She's the sweetest. and writes just the wildest shit.

She's so good. Yeah, I'm going to be on yacht and with spies and in Hollywood this summer. Yeah, you're going all over the place and I'm just literally investigating serial killers, I feel like. I actually think of all. Serial killer, I'm going to be in a sorority, another serial killer, another two serial killers, cold case murder, reviewer gone bad, another serial killer and possibly another one with my last one. My last one I have comes out in August. It is one of my favorite authors. Her name's Fiona Barton. She's really popular for The Widow. I had to look

because she's one of those people that's like The Widow, The Child, like is always like The. Except for this one. This one is called talking to strangers and the cover is so sick. You're going to love it. It is about a woman named Karen Simmons who is murdered on Valentine's Day and Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death while others banned together to protest society's violence against women. into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive news gathering once again antagonizes Elise. A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished

news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would be a lot for her career, and she's willing to go up against not just Elise, but the killer himself to do it. Wow. Yeah. That feels kind of action-packed. yeah it sounds super action-packed and there was like one book like my horror story right there was one book that i i think that internet predators are so fascinating in the investigative part of it like what they do to use technology to like find internet predators and there was one book by joy fielding that i really wanted to read and it i think i don't remember what it was called but it was by joy fielding and it was about a serial

killer who uses internet dating to like find his next victims and I never got a chance to read it because I accidentally donated it to my library. Oh no. This is a really nice thing that you did. And I'm like, son of a bitch. Yeah. But yeah. So I love Fiona Barton and I am just so excited to read this and like this is going to make up for the last time of me not being able to read the joyfielding book. Yep. That's good. That is. Those are all my anticipated summer reads. Yeah.

I had one other one. I do too. Ooh. That's amazing. We'll just do some more. Because we're just that excited. Well, mine is You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Hugh Satanto. It comes out August 20th.

Influencer Meredith Lee didn't teach Aspen Palmer how to blossom on social media just to be ditched as soon as Aspen became big. So can anyone really blame Mayer for doing a little stalking? Nothing serious. More like stocking light. Then Mayer gets lucky. She finds out she finds one of Aspen's kids, iPads, and swipes. types it. Now she has access to the family calendar and Aspen's social media accounts. Would anyone else be able to resist tweaking things a little here and there showing up in Aspen's place

for meetings with potential sponsors? Mayer's only taking back what she deserves, what should have been hers. Meanwhile, Aspen doesn't understand why her perfectly filtered life is falling apart. Sponsors are dropping her, fellow influencers are ghosting her, and even her own husband seems to find her repulsive. If she doesn't find out who's behind everything, she might just lose it all. But what everyone seems to forget is that Aspen didn't become one of TikTok's biggest mom influencers by being naive. When Meredith suddenly goes missing, Aspen's world is upended and mysterious threats begin to arrive, but she won't let anything get in the way of her perfect life again. Intrique. Intrique. Intrique.

influencers in the wild yeah going crazy um that sounds really good yeah was that like was that like your your bonus one if we had one in common or if i like took one more yep okay that's funny because i have one that literally says bonus uh-huh yeah if you had taken one of mine um because i thought we were both going to have peter swanson so i thought we might have me maze. Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah. I, so this one is a little cheating because I think it would be really good summer reading, but it came out a week ago. So this one's already out. So, you know, if you're waiting for, you know, some of these other ones to come out, then maybe pick up this one. Yeah. It's called The Last Girl Left by A.M. Strong and Sonia Sargent. Five years ago, Tessa,

Chamberlain was the lone survivor of the beach house massacre that left three of her friends dead and Tessa with an inescapable unending dread. Now she's back to face her fears. Renting the same beach house where she almost died, Tessa returns to lonely Casadega Island off the coast of Maine long after the tourists and summer residents have departed for the winter. But as the fog rolls in and the nights grow longer, she wonders if she made a terrible mistake. There are footsteps on the porch, creaks from the second floor, and an unsettling feeling of being watched. If only someone believed her, because the terrors, Tessa thought, were long behind, are starting again. And this time, Trapped in Alone, she might not be lucky enough to survive them. That sounds very scary.

It's also such a huge psychological level of scary when people don't believe you. Yeah. It's kind of giving me, like, one of my favorite movies is watcher. with Micah Monroe, where she is kind of in Bucharest, I think so. And she goes there with her husband, and she thinks that this man who is watching her across from another apartment building could be a serial killer. And, like, nobody believes her, like, her husband is just, like, you're bored. You need you have too much time on your hands. and it just like when people don't believe you and they just don't understand why you're anxious or scared or like whatever the emotion that you're feeling it just makes it even scarier

when you feel like you're experiencing it by yourself yeah i agree that cover is really cool too oh it's really cool yeah it's really creepy it's very fun yeah we just gave it 18 books for people. If anyone complains to us. Hopefully something spoke to you. If anyone complains to us that like you don't know what to read this summer,

I've just got this episode like copy and pasted. So like if I get a DM, they're like, oh, I can't find anything to read. I'm just going to be like, here you go. Here you go. All of this. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh my God. It was so much fun. It is. These episodes are so fun. I know. But like now I don't know which one I want to start with. Oh, I know. I'm in the middle. Because now I have some of yours I want to read, too. Yeah. Who knows what your heart will be drawn to. Who knows where I'll go from here.