Bookwild - Thrillers We Will Always Recommend

Episode Date: November 3, 2023

This week, we share books that we ALWAYS recommend!Follow us on Instagram:Gare @gareindeedreadsKate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouchBooks We Talked AboutThe Paradox HotelIn My Dreams I Hold a KnifeThe Girls Are All So Nice HereTill Death Do Us PartJar of HeartsKismetPlease See UsSometimes I LieThe Woman InsideSome Choose DarknessBright Young Women 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 

And we are going to be discussing all things, chills, thrills, and kills. Kate and I are going to be talking about our favorite books, TV shows and movies that are in the thriller or crime fiction genre, as well as some reading habits and other items related to how we met on Bookstagram that will fit in with this podcast. So thank you so much for joining us. And we hope that you have fun and get totally terrified. was thinking today. Mm-hmm. Your dear friend, Adra McLeer, reached out to me. Yes. Good. And had, like, offered me a copy of her upcoming book.

Mm-hmm. And I was, like, listen. Like, I love and appreciate you, but, like, when it comes to indie authors, like, I do not usually accept gifted copies from indie authors because I want to support them. them. Like, your dream is to write, my dream is to read. Let's, you know, do what we can here. So, I was thinking, too, because I, I ordered physical copies of both of her books. And I was thinking

today, if they decided that publishing was going to move forward with getting rid of e-readers, and you had to, like, bite the bullet and read. No is my answer already. I quit. I quit reading. Goodbye books. If you had to pick for physical copies, do you think you would be a hardcover girlie or a paperback girlie? Oh, paperback 100,000 million percent. Yeah. Hyundai. Yes. Yeah. I love that that is what I do remember, like back in school or like when I would have to not rent. What do you do? Check out books from the library. Like a floppy paperback. That was a nice feeling. I just, I don't like, I, the other thing I, the other thing I, remember from my analog reading days is like you're sometimes your pinky starts to hurt when you're like keeping the hardcover open I'm sure you have this happen more than me since you still read them yeah but yeah it would be paperback yeah I'm definitely a paperback kind of person like luckily I live very close to Canada so I go to the Canadian bookstore because they have paperbacks before they have um hardcover usually. And

except for Brittany, Brittany came in hardcover. I just picked her up. Oh my gosh. I'm so pumped. That was pretty. I'm not ready yet. But yeah, I'm definitely a paperback kind of person. Or there's Blackwells,

which is like a UK shop that will ship to the U.S. for free. Oh, nice. So like everyone's talking about that fourth wing book. Yeah, I know. I come so close to starting it. I never do. And I'm like, I'm so curious. I don't want to have FOMO, but I know if I do wake up one day and I'm like, I need this book. Like I order the paperback from Blackwells.

Nice. I'm paperback all the way. Yeah. But I was talking to Tyler about, oh, it was actually after I sent you that real that was like extending your bookshelves. Like there was a company that like has little bookshelf extenders. And so then I was talking to Tyler about it. I was like, I don't know what I would do. if I actually had all of the physical books. And then I was like, well, I guess what I would probably do is like the cool part is how you can do those swaps too. Like there are different websites where it's like you can swap books with someone who wants to read one. And I was like, that would be nice. But I'm just sold on my e-reader. And a lot of it does have to do with control of the text.

I was at when I had um Kimberly G.R. Tano on she said at the end she was like oh you readers all the time like I have to make the text big and I was like oh my god me too and that is my that is my main thing because you were nice and sent me my copy of midnight is the darkest hour which I conveniently don't have right next to me when I opened it I was like this text is so little how are people reading physical books like I really can't show for context but what I'm saying is my text is big on my phone or my iPad. Yeah, nothing is rough. There are some paperbacks where like the text is like super tiny for me like. Yeah. Donna Tart probably. I have like three different versions of the shards by Brett Easton Ellis. I have the hardcover. I have the paperback that just came out. And then I have the UK paperback. And like I just want them to have them. You know, I also have it on my Kindle. But like I read it on my Kindle and I read faster on my Kindle but when that book came, the paperback

I was like looking at the text and I was like ain't no way Yeah. No way. It's so tiny. It is. But yeah, I was just very curious. Yeah, that was a good one. But I was

thinking this week I got into a little bit of a creative headspace and I was like thinking of posters I wanted to make because I've been getting really good feedback lately on the posters that I put on Instagram. And I was like, I want to do like very creative, realistic movie posters for some books. And I was like, what about my top five books that I always recommend that people are like, I want these books to be seen by people and be like, immediately think of me.

You know what I mean? like, oh my God, Garrett's been like jumping down my throat about reading this book and whatnot. So that made me think it would be really fun to do a little game of our top five favorite reads and like what we will always recommend to people. Yes, I love that idea. And your posters have been very cool. Thank you. I've been having so much fun with Canva. I love it.

Canva's so cool. I signed up for like Canva Pro. Nice. I'm like, oh my God, I'm a techie. I'm a techie, Becky. He's joined our ranks. Oh my God. Look at me go.

But yeah. So, ladies first. Hit me with your best shot. Well, which one do I want to start with? Okay, I'll start with this one. One of the first ones I thought of is The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart. I just love it so much. It combines so many of my favorite things. And the gist of it is also he just released his cover for his next title. And I'm forgetting the name.

But I'm really excited about it even though I'm forgetting the name. Oh my God. Okay, I swear I'm really excited about it. It's not on good reads yet, so that didn't save me. but it is about a not it is about assassins and the cover is so cool that all I remember is the image and not the title so I can't wait for his next whatever titled book to come out check him out on Instagram and then you all yes yeah I'll put it in the show notes too just in case anyone was dying to know um but his book the Paradox Hotel is about a detective named January Cole. So she is stationed at a hotel that is across the street from a place where time travel ships take off.

And she's part of a bureau that makes sure that nothing bad happens with time travel, that no one's using it nefariously. And she sees a dead body in one of the rooms when she's on a patrol, but the murder hasn't actually happened yet. And so she's kind of like in the midst of like there's not tons of like you don't have to think through too much about time travel. But in the midst of that is a theme. She's also trying to like figure out and solve a murder before it happens. And it's just so fun.

I love the characters. I love the vibe. It's time travel and a thriller. I think he even like always quotes it as like time travel of dinosaurs because dinosaurs make it into it too. So, oh, my God. It's a saney, fun little book. It is one that, like, I always, like, when I'm in a, when I'm trying to figure out, like, what to read next, sometimes it's one of the ones where I'm like, I want something like the

Paradox Hotel. So that's why I went first with it. It sounds so good. It's really fun. That sounds really good. And it's definitely like a Kate bug. Like, only you could be like time travel, murder, dinosaurs. Yes.

Yes. Exactly. I love it. I mean, I'm wondering if this is going to be on your list. Probably not because I also really, I didn't pick ones that, like, are obvious that I would have picked before. I, like, tried to think of some other ones since I talked about some of my favorites last week, too. So I think you're safe. Okay.

All of mine are books that people are like, I'm sick of hearing him talk about being. I know. I was just trying to challenge. I was like, oh, let me find a way to squeeze these five books and that I can never shut up about. But my first one is, in my dreams, I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead. I just love dark academia. I love cold case murders. I love Ashley Winstead.

I love this book. Like, I will never stop. It's one of the craziest endings I've ever read in my entire life. And I'm obsessed. It's about basically six friends who are reuniting at their college. Ten years after they graduated. Their senior year, one of their friends was murdered. And Jessica Miller is our main protagonist.

And she just kind of wants, like, everyone to see, like, the new version of Jessica. like the person that she now is compared to the person that she was like 10 years ago, you know, because everything like fell apart when her best friend was murdered. And there's someone out there, dot, dot, dot, who is determined to find the real killer and make the guilty pay. So when all of the friends reunite, they are forced to confront what happened that night

and all of the secrets that they're all hired. from one another. So it's very much like cold case murder meets like I know what you did last summer, set in college and I just eat that shit up. Like it is so good. I love the cast. I love like there's just like so many scenes that like really pop up or pop out in my head. And the ending is bananas.

Bananas is the right word for it. bananas, bonkers, bat shit crazy. It's just one of those things. Like people sometimes will be like, oh my God, like I read this and it was really good. And I'm like, one of the most disturbing endings that I've ever read in a book is in my dreams I hold a knife. Yeah. So. It is.

It sticks with you. Yeah. Yeah. That's still on my other podcast between the lines. That is still my highest watched episode. and like the numbers continue to go up. And that was from like two years ago now. Well, I mean, she's getting so popular.

And the interview is fantastic. Oh, thank you. Yeah, it was fun. It was my first one. And I was very, very, very nervous. And then I was so glad I did it. I know. She was one of my like the lives that I was like very nervous for.

Yeah. And we went live and I think like, I was like, oh, like, let's keep it around like 45 minutes, maybe, you know, like if we run over a little bit. And we were live on Instagram for two hours. Oh my gosh. I forgot about that. And like, I was like, like I ended. Well, I mean, I ended it because I was like, I don't want to take up too much of your time.

But if like she would have been like if it would have been like a face to face conversation at like a restaurant or something, I would have stayed longer than too long. You know what I mean? Like the conversation could have kept going. Yes. So she's just amazing. And that is forever one of the books that I will take with me on an island if I'm like thrown on an island with only five books. Yeah. It's going with you.

Oh, yeah. I get it. Well, I have one that's dark academia as well. And actually, I think in that interview, Ashley told me to read The Girls Are Also Nice Here by Lori Elizabeth Flynn. And so it's another thing where they're going back for a college reunion. And Ambrosia gets a note right before her 10-year reunion. It's even a 10-year reunion that says we need to talk about what we did that night. And so within going back to the reunion, she kind of has to face this relationship she had with this girl that was like just like the coolest of the cool girls.

Sully. And someone wants revenge for something that they did one night. And to keep it short, that's actually really all you need to know. But the way everything comes together at the ending, at the end, was so phenomenal. And it's another one where the ending, when you were saying that for in my dreams, I hold a knife, I was like, oh, yeah, that's exactly how I feel about this one. The ending sticks with you a lot because it's just not what you think. going into it.

So good. I love that. And just like mean girls dark academia vibe. Oh my God. Yeah. And even the cover. Yes.

I love the cover. I love the cover. I love the cover. She's like, is she going to put lipstick on her and then stab her in the face or? Exactly. Exactly.

Yes. This is exactly what it looks like. Oh my God. I'm obsessed with that book. It's so good. So good. I think I saw something on Instagram to where like her next book is like done. Like it's going to be coming out.

I added a job. on good reads already. It looks very fun. I just want to read like dark academia. It looks like that forever. Oh my gosh. I know. I feel like her next one is something in like a vineyard for some reason. I felt like the same. Like it's like a vineyard in Italy or something. Yeah. Till death do us part. It does kind of look like a vineyard.

after her husband drowned on his honeymoon his body was never found now a decade later she's ready to move on she owns a natural wine bar in brooklyn and is engaged to a patient's supportive man named kyle but out of the blue she sees him josh her first supposedly dead husband is this just a hallucination from the guilt or is it possible that her husband never died in the first place but there is a vineyard on the cover oh my god oh my gosh And now I'm seeing like the little details on this cover. If you guys end up looking at it. One, this guy kind of looks like watercolor.

And I thought that was kind of the blood. It was just blood. But it also looks like wine droplets is what that is. This is a very, very cool. Yeah, I'm so excited. The second is on NetGalley, I'm coming for it. Oh, that is a beautiful cover. Isn't that cool?

A little like bleeding wine drops. Yeah. August. Summer. Yeah. It'll be the end of August, though. So it'll be like, or the end of summer, I mean. So it won't be too long.

Well, we'll definitely be talking about that one next year. Fuck, yeah, we will. Um, gorgeous. Yeah. Gorgeous, gorgeous. Yeah. Well. I also interviewed her and that was a fun interview.

She's so cool. But she seems like really cool. Like ultimate cool girl. Like just like. know. And she like has little kids and is just like, just out there doing it, you know. Oh, my God.

Oh, what a lady. Speaking of women that I love with all my heart. To no one's surprise ever. I'm going to talk about the incredible hair model and fucking darkest mind, Jennifer Hillier. Yes. Jar of hearts like come on I fucking love jar of hearts so much with all my heart

Um Talk about an ending you will not forget Oh my God never No matter how hard you try I don't even know how to like word it either but like jar of hearts is like Three best friends one gets murdered One decides on going the route of being the detective to try to solve what happens to the friend and then there is Georgina Shaw

who basically has like this perfect life until she is arrested for the friend's murder because they find the murdered friends remains in her backyard basically not so subtle yeah so basically like

Gio as she's known ghost prison. But the thing is, that makes the story really twisty, is Gio's first love that all of the three friends were hanging out with when they were in high school was a notorious serial killer named Calvin

James. So you have, like, the dual timeline. And basically, like, the fact that Gio is kind of, I don't want to say, like, unlikable, but, like, she's definitely a girl that people will not always love in the book.

Like her best friend was murdered. She kind of sat on it for like 15 years, I think, like knowing what happened and not saying anything to anyone. She was in high school and like fell in love with a serial killer. And like just decided to be like, I'm going to have like lupitons and, you know, like run the pharmaceutical industry in Seattle. But yeah, so there's like dual timeline, serial killer thriller, really dark, really twisted, really amazing. But the thing that I like is I love like serial killer thrillers because like the psychology just like puts me in the zone of like I wish I could go back and be a criminal psychologist. but with this one, I just find it very interesting

to read a character that has a personal connection to the serial killer. The dual timeline there's something in this one in which people start dying again in the present time. And I always think it's really interesting

where they're like, this serial killer operated 20 years ago. these bodies are starting to pop up. Like, did he have an accomplice? Do we have the wrong man? Like, so there's just a lot of elements that keep the story very interesting to me. And Jennifer Hillier is like the nicest fucking human in the entire world. But the stuff that she writes, I'm like, it's dark in there, dude.

Like, there's a lot. There's a lot of stuff that she writes that are like incredibly dark. And she writes, like, really snarky, like, bitchy characters. so well. Yes. But like she's like a care bear. Like she's the sweetest person in the entire world. Have you seen that? I've seen it on Instagram and TikTok now. The guy who's like, authors taking their author picture after absolutely like gutting you and it's them like. Yeah. Oh my God. I laugh every single time I see it. I think of Ashley and Jennifer. I've never like,

It's really funny too because, like, I read primarily female authors. Yeah. And I love dark and bleak shit. And the women who write, like, the darkest, most, like, deprave things that you will, like, ever read are, like, have, like, marshmallow personalities. Like, they're so loving and sweet and, like, warm and kind. And, like, thank you so much for, like, reading my book. And I'm like, oh, like, you know, I love. it and they're like that your support means so much to me.

I know. I just read a book about you like beheading 40,000 people and like intestines flying everywhere. And you're just like sweet woman. Yes. Just like I love that. I love that. Because I kind of think that like I don't know if you. Do you hear a weird noise?

Okay. It's just me then. I had my heater on. Oh yeah. freezing here, but I don't know. It's starting to like hiss. Don't blow up. There was like a time where like, I would say in like the 90s, 2000s, where people were like, if you loved horror movies, if you loved thrillers, if you loved books about murder and stuff, that like there was like you were like stereotypically like a goth

or like somebody who's like, you know, like the outcast or whatever. So like meeting all of these like sweet people who love reading books about murder and then like meeting all of the sweet people who love to write books about murder. Yeah. And like completely killing that stereotype just like makes like teenage Garrett so happy. Yeah. I get that. So I'm like, see, I was just ahead of my time. You were.

You just were. Just reading Fear Street and watching scream over and over and over again. Just priming your stuff. setting myself up for shows and books. We're days like today. You're like, this is my time of year. Yeah, yeah. Which oddly enough, I did just start rewatching the sex lives of college girls, which

is like so far beyond like what I usually watch or read, but I just think it's so fucking good. It's like the best comfort show ever. I love that. So that's my recommendation. It's just a side recommendation there. Well, I have one that is kind of similarly bloody as it gets to the end. And of course, I had to talk about Kismet by Omina Oktar. He's also another little cinnamon roll who writes crazy unhinged stuff. But this one is about Ronnie, who moves from New York to Sedona.

This also was one of those books. I forgot about that until just now. that made me like research the place that it was taking place and like actually made me want to go there like for like three months like Sedona and like the pretty things in it were my personality so that happened as well but she moves to Arizona with her friend marley who is like this like over the top fitness slash all the things that you think of when people have like capitalized on something and turned it into a beauty or wellness person. that's who Marley is basically. So Ronnie follows her out there. And basically people start getting murdered in Sedona. And Ronnie doesn't know if she should have made the move that she made. But when I read it back, whenever I read it, I don't know why I'm losing my words.

it's been compared to nine perfect strangers and he's a Jordan Peel movie which is such a great description and she definitely has that same like satirical voice as Jordan Peel so that was another thing that was really fun about it but basically the like suspense and like unease

just like keeps building and building and building the whole time while also making fun of a lot of what we've done with wellness culture while calling it wellness and it's really not making us well. So it has all of my favorite things. Satire and it's a thriller. That's kind of like I see all these people post about moon water.

Right. Yeah. And I'm like, oh my God. Like I wonder what that. So my experience like the wellness community is like around me we have like a wellness cafe. And they sell like rocks and, you know, like the stones and stuff. Yeah. But like their drinks are like botanical lemonade or botanical lattes.

They have drinks there, but like they're like flavored, you know, like. Yeah. Or whatever, like every flavor is for like a different thing. My nose is so itchy. Same. And they make their own teas and I just don't know why my nose is so itchy. But they make their own teas and everything. But like, you know, like when I go there and I pay more for.

something that I would at like Duncan or Starbucks. Like I'm fine with it because it's like, it's a small business and, you know, they're like, it tastes good, you know? Yeah.

Bottom line. But when I read about moon water, I was like, oh my God, people are selling moon water. Like that just sounds like, I just like picture something that like just like, just like tastes so refreshing.

And then I found out it was just like water that like sat out during a full moon. Yeah. Just charged under the moon. Yeah. And I'm like, And even if you really believe in the power of the moon, you can make it yourself. You set it out under the moon. Yeah.

So, I mean, I love my little wellness cafe because everything tastes really good. But if they were like, we set this water out by the moon for you and didn't add any flavor to it, I would be like, oh, well. I'll get something with flavor in it. Yeah. I would like a rose lemonade, please. Thank you very much. Yes. Thank you.

So, yeah, that's really funny, too, because I do know exactly what you mean where there's been, like, a lot of, like, things in, like, the satire genre that are, like, about the wellness community and some of how, like, ridiculous it has gotten. Yeah, it has. So, yeah. I don't know if I have a segue for that one. Unless your kismet is one of yours. I stuck to thrillers with this because if I got started on Mail,

romances, this would have been like a 10-episode season. I believe it. Because there's one that I was like, oh, I really want to talk about that book, but it's just not good with it. Well, I guess. Okay, so one called Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen. And it kind of eliminates the stereotypes with clairvoyance. Yeah. And I guess, you know, you go in.

So this one takes place in Atlantic City, basically. There's a young woman named Clara, who is clairvoyant. And then there's also a young woman named Lily, who is an ex-Soho art gallery girl, who is basically working out the casino spa. and she's just kind of there for like a fresh start. The boardwalk is busy, you know, like the casinos pop in. And basically these two come together because there is a man-hunting women in Atlantic City and behind a creepy motel and a marsh lie the dead bodies of these Jane Doe's that he's killed.

But the thing that I really enjoyed about this is like when you start the book, you hear about the clairvoyant that works on the boardwalk. And you're like, okay, like hokey, hokey, like, there's some sort of trick or like everything's made up or, you know, it's like one of those things where they're like, oh, if you see like a woman with a ring on, like, let her know she's like surrounded by love. But then like Claire actually really is clairvoyant. So, like, you kind of see that contrast between, like, her just, like, doing things for money with the clairvoyance and, like, the actual things that she cannot control with it. It was just so good. And it's so dark. And it's so, like, devastating.

The face you just made was devastated. I was just, like, it's so sad. There's, like, so many, like, disturbing things in it, but it's just so good. And you get like interwoven chapters that feature the Jane Does. So they're not just like a dead woman who's crime you're trying to solve. Like it's like this is why this woman ended up in Atlantic City. This is why this woman ended up in this marsh. Like this is, you know, like kind of their backstory to put like, you know, some.

That always makes it heavier. Even when you like. Yeah. Sometimes in like third person books where you are following multiple characters. And like one of them, you're like. like, I think I'm, I think I'm going to be here for this character's death. You're like, oh, boy. And then you're like preparing yourself the whole time.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's just like, I don't know. I mean, it's really like, I think with this one, like it's kind of like, sometimes you read about a character and it's like, it's like, uh, Amy Dunn. You know, like the beautiful like housewife, da, da, da, da, da. And like, people are like, I can't believe this happened. And then there's kind of like the woman that people will like.

be like, I saw this coming because she had like a high risk lifestyle and like she had like a rough upbringing and it's like there's still like human beings whether you had a rough upbringing or not or an at risk lifestyle. So she really like brought a lot of like, you know, harrowing emotions with with the characters to show that like it could be anyone basically to end up in that position. Um, so. Yeah, it's just really good. It's really good. It's one of my favorite books in the entire world and I just think about it. Far more often than like I probably should. Like I'm just like, it's your Roman Empire. It's my Roman Empire. I just like think of it. I'm like, should I read that again? Am I emotionally ready? Or like I'll just be like, I'll see like, because there's blades of grass on like the cover. So I'll just like see grass and be like, I'll think of please see us and be like, well, that book's really fucking sad.

am I in a place to read it right now? Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. I bought it a while ago. It's just chill in there. I think it sets itself apart from what a lot of people read in a thriller. To the point that you would be like, like, every detail in the book really just, like, is perfect.

So I think that you could read it and be like, this is just so fucking unique. That's kind of what I thought. and so well written that I think you would like it. Yeah. I need to bump it up. When you pick it up, I'll read it with you. I might, I might do it next. But I think I have, I think I still have like 300 pages left of Blood Sisters.

So. Enjoy them. Oh my gosh. I love it so much. So good. I hate that like, there's just some stuff going on where I keep falling asleep more frequently. And I hate it because I'm like. trying to read this book and then I'm like, God damn it, I fell asleep again.

So. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe I'll do that one next. Yeah. I think he really like that. I think so, too. I don't have a segue.

But I was thinking of one that I read so long ago. But like it's always stuck with me. And it's sometimes I lie by Alice Feeney. obviously, you know, we're big Alice Feeney fans over here. No surprise. But this one that came out in 2017 is about a woman named Amber. And she doesn't wake up necessarily. But like she's in a coma. She comes to herself. Why can't I describe this? Basically, she's paralyzed and has thoughts, but like she's not awake. And the only things that she knows is that. that she's in a coma. Her husband doesn't love her anymore. And sometimes she lies. Those are the three things she knows about herself. Um, so basically she can't do anything and she doesn't remember what got her into the hospital. She has no clue how that happened. Um, and so you bounce back and forth between the past and her paralyzed self as you try to figure out how she even got there.

And it's just, it's a really good psychological thriller. Like, especially the parts where you're like stuck in her mind with her, not able to do anything. Like, it's just a really intense fun thriller that has, of course, a crazy ending. And I always think about it as one of my favorites of all time. But I don't talk about it as much. I think I just saw an orb float behind me. Like a ghost orb? I think so.

We'll have to like watch back when you edit. I was like staring at your eyes. So I don't know. Oh my God. But I'll definitely. Why am I blushing when you suck off? I have that effect. I get it.

It's the hair. On an unembarrassing fact. Because why not? Why don't people want to know this? Tyler last weekend was like needing to get out of the house and he hadn't seen the air store. So we went and saw it on Friday, I think. But like, this is the second time I've seen it.

When the freaking intro to reputation starts, I don't know how to explain how much energy builds in my body, I was flushed. Just like she hadn't even started singing it. It was just those intro lines to, are you ready for it? And I'm like, I am, I'm blushing right now about reputation. Oh my God, I love it. So we can't control our blushing. Sometimes it just happens. Literally like, I am about to combust in this seat. I will say we went to a theater. Bless you. Thank you. Fucking disaster. You seized a whole headphone out. we went to one of the theaters that is Dolby surround sound

and so it is like you actually have 28 different speakers in different positions totally worth it like both of us left and were like could everyone release their concert movies like this so that like we could go see concerts we love in theaters so this is me hoping that like Eminem releases one specifically but yeah that's my tangent You know, when I was a teenager, it was very popular for people to release DVDs of their tours. Yeah. I had the stripped one by Christina Aguilera, and I had the Destiny's Child, like, farewell tour.

Yeah. And I would, like, watch them all the time. I think it's dust. It's not an orb. I think it's like dust coming in front of my camera. Yeah, I've had that happen before. I'm starting to try to get into paranormal. So I was like, oh my God, maybe it's a ghost.

So he's going to want to like, am I seen? What are you trying to? Did you like read something with it in it? Or are you just trying to like get into it in general? I am. Well, I read Simone St. James. Please see us has a little bit of paranormal in it. But it's like very like believable like Simone St. James does.

But I'm actually like adding a lot of male male paranormal romances to my wish list. So I'm like gonna get like spooky dick. Spooky dick. I'm fucking here for it. So yeah. Speaking of spooky decks. Nice. Here is my man Paul.

Oh yeah. And Rebecca of the woman inside. It just reminds me of one of my favorite. movies in the entire world. I can't say the name of the movie because I don't want people to be like, that's the fuck and the same. And it kind of does. Yeah. So it is about a couple who like basically, you know, fell in love. Like Rebecca didn't know that love like this could exist until she met Paul and he's like charismatic and I just fucking love him. And I know, I just know Paul throws down in the bed. Like, let me tell you why. He's like one of my like,

Spooky dick. Like literary crush is fucking Paul. Uh, anyway. Um, so they're like obsessed with each other. They fall in love. And then 20 years later, all of a sudden, Paul and Rebecca are like fucked up in their marriage because there has been so many secrets. Rebecca has an opioid addiction.

Um, Paul is cheating on Rebecca and his mistress is stalking them. mistresses. Mistresses do. And then basically Rebecca, like, kind of ends up finding some things where she's like, this motherfucker is planning on starting a new life with his mistress and like leaving me in the dust and mama's not having it.

So even though her opia addiction is like, getting a little out of control, she's like, I'm going to get a fucking plan to pay this bastard back. And it's kind of, of like the dual perspective, but like also like one of those situations where it's like the most complex and unique domestic suspense book that I've ever read. And you can kind of see where like one character might be on track with what they think is going on. But like another one might be like you are so far wrong. It's ridiculous. And then like it kind of like flops as well.

or flips. But yeah, I just, especially when it comes to like a psychological thriller and domestic suspense, I love seeing believable. If it's believable, it's good. And if it's not, it's annoying. But like when if two characters could just communicate with each other. And the way that they did it, like you believe why these two don't want to communicate with each other. you know what I mean? Like other times it's like, well, he left for work 10 minutes earlier and I didn't get to tell him that like there's a knife under my pillow. And like with this, like you just like can kind of see why they like their communication is not great. And I just think it's like one of the best and most cinematic and perfect books I've ever read in my entire life.

And I fucking love EG Scott. Yes. They're the best. They are the best. I still remember how much when that interview was. Well, that's like my. thing is like I like when it comes to like writing duos I'm like that's really cool

that like two people can write a book together I know I've always found it fascinating but when we like interview and they like explained to me yet again that they kind of did a cat and mouse game with one another where they were like I'm gonna send this chapter and like the other one to read and be like fuck you

man like I have to go like I have to follow up with this like them playing a cat and mouse game with each other while they're playing a cat and mouse game with their readers why there's a cat and mouse game with the characters. I'm like, this is just like trifecta of people emotionally manipulating each other. And I am here to be emotionally manipulated. Yes.

Into any, like, cult that EG. Scott wants me to be in. Yes. They could sell me moon water. There you go. They're the people who could do it. They could get me to join a cult. They could get me to help them hide a body. They could get me to buy moon water.

EG. Scott is. where it's fucking out with me. Let me tell you what. They could convince me of anything. I feel like Greg's just going to be carrying out buckets of water tomorrow night. He'd be like, what are you doing? He's like, don't, don't worry about it. One member of the cult. I found a lucrative option. Yeah, right. Greg, I will then mo you if you make me moonwater. Yeah, it's when you were talking about how, like the perspective shift is what matters so much. It's one of my favorite stories telling techniques.

It's something that I want to write someday is something where like where really you actually pulled off like his side, her side and the truth. So you like actually like neither of them are even ever right. And it's so impressive when you like really pull that off when you can like write events that truly can be, because you have to be able to create events that can be interpreted in different ways, so many different ways. And then, like, still use that for, like, a plot. So cool. It's the best. Yeah. And I think it, like, kind of, like, I've always wanted to write, like, a psychological thriller with two, like, two POVs in the sense of, like, one chapter, you, like, love one character.

And then, like, the next chapter, you, like, hate them. And, like, just reading it, like, kind of, like, siding with each one and then kind of getting to the end and being like they both manipulated me and fucked me over. Yes. Like the affair is so much like the affair. Shameless actually does it really well, just not in a thriller version where like sometimes you're so on someone's team and then like you have like multiple scenes with another person and you're like, DM I get where they're coming from. Yeah. Yeah. I totally see that. 100%. Yeah. I love it. Me too.

Well, I don't really have a segue. And also the synopsis for this one is so long. It's Some Chews Darkness by Charlie Donley. One, because I love Charlie, but also I love Rory and Lane. It's part of a series. It's also been a while since I read it. So you don't want me to try to completely summarize it myself. But Rory Moore is a forensic reconstruction.

basically reconstructs crime scenes with what's left over. And she, her dad just died recently and she's like cleaning out his law office when she gets a call. That basically brings her into a decades-old case from 1979 when five women went missing in Chicago. And the police at the time called the predator the thief. But he left, like, absolutely no evidence behind until they received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose special investigation skills helped her lead to his identity. But before they could talk to her, that woman disappears. And 40 years later, the thief is about to be paroled for Angela's murder. The only crime the DA could pin on him.

So as a former client of her father's, Rory now is reluctantly involved with the killer. And he continues to say that he didn't kill Angela. So she starts reconstructing Angela's last days. Another killer emerges from the shadows. And they're replicating the murders from 1979. So she has to put together a lot of things that have happened over the course of 40 years. to stop what's happening. And it's just so good.

I love, is that it is reflective. Oh my gosh, that is so cool. So Gare has a reflective version of the cover. I can't think of the word that. I think it's reflective and like probably now too. Maybe only the hard cover, but yeah, I love this cover. It's my favorite cover of his. Yeah.

And this is my favorite. well yeah it's so dark my second favorite yeah it's so dark i can never decide between that one and um the girl who was taken they're right tied i know it's incredible yeah i i love rory so much is it just two right yeah the suicide house is the next one i loved that one too but it's really dark and creepy and like really gets into the mind of some creepy killers and Yeah, he's so insanely talented. Rory is a little on the spectrum. So I identified with a lot of parts of her character.

It is always like fun and reassuring seeing it in a character. Especially when it's like well represented. Yeah. Yeah. My last pick has a very long synopsis. So we saved our long ones. And it takes place about a serial killer in the 70s. Oh, no shit, you're right.

So, but I know everything about bright young women by Jessica Knoll. So basically, if you have been ignoring me for the last five or six months, bright young women is the story that is loosely based on the Ted Bundy killings, in which Jessica Noel does an amazing job of creating the All-American Sex Killer, who is responsible for missing and murdered women throughout the Pacific Northwest. And then we meet a woman named Pamela Shoemaker, who is the president of her sorority in Tallahassee, Florida. And they're getting ready for just like what they think is like a normal night of, you know,

sorority, fun party stuff. And two of her sorority sisters are murdered and two are maimed by what she believes is the All-American Sex Killer. From there, Pamela, you know, is obviously dealing with PTSD from surviving the attack. And she meets a woman named Tina Cannon, who was in the Pacific Northwest and her close friend, Ruth, vanished. and she thinks that the All-American Sex Killer is not only the man who took her friend, but also the man who attacked the sorority house in Florida. So it's just incredibly devastating and very bleak. And Jessica Null does an amazing job of really showing who the victims were instead of focusing on the killer.

You know, there's like been a lot of things. about how Ted Bundy was like this charismatic, like good looking man. And then like on court records, like people are said to have seen him picking his nose in court and like how he like had to like lie to get into like law school and all of this other stuff. So her writing a book that focuses more on the women and the victims of a serial killer compared to like everybody knowing his name and face was just like utterly brilliant. I think she did a fantastic job with the book. And it's one of those stories that I just could read over and over and over again because

her writing is just. Yeah. Perfect. Yeah. And it's bleak. So it's a good comfort one for you. Yeah. It is so bleak.

And I'm like, oh my God, it's amazing. I could read it over and over again. But I love having my heart ripped to shreds. What can I say? Yeah. It's just your thing. It is. I don't know what happened.

I'm trying to like think of like if there was like a certain, you know what it is. it's like, I think some of the movies that I love, the movies that I watch, like, cruel intentions, the War of the World poses, like, I know what you did last summer, I think is one of the most depressing movies in the entire world because you're, like, following four teenagers who are like, someone's after me and I don't know how to, like, get help from, like, an actual adult. Right. But, yeah, like, there's just, like, a lot of things that I think, like, bleakness just. It just works for you. soul more than other genres, I guess. The way revenge speaks to me. Yeah, it is.

Oh my God, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You like bleak. I like revenge. Yeah. Bleakness. Bleakness to me is like female rage for you. Yeah. Definitely that too. 100%. Speaking of female rage, fair play on Netflix is a really, really, really fantastic.

movie about female rage. And the gist of it is these two, this couple who work together. Gender politics. I'm keeping it as spoiler free as possible because it's

very cool how they relay information to you. Gender politics basically turns a relationship that's just like a Wall Street day trader company relationship. into a thriller. So that's all I'm going to say. The way they reveal everything is really clever.

I was really obsessed with how it's produced. It's not like a lot of movies that you can really compare it to. But like for I really in an kind of an indie film way, it's like really impressive for what it does. So that's my blur. Yeah. I want to check it out. Mm-hmm. And the guy's pretty cute. so might keep your attention. God, I'm yeah, I'm rewatching the sex lives of college girls because it's just amazing.

Yeah. Gavin Leatherwood and it is just such a like, just such a dream boat. Yeah. And I love his character so much. But yeah. There's actually a couple of guys that I have a crush on in that show. Yeah.

Did it, has it ended or is it still going? It's still going, but I think with the writer's strike, it's like the third season's going to be delayed, but I don't know how much farther it's going to go after that. I would say, like, I would love to see it do four seasons for like each year of college. Yeah. But we'll see what happens. Yeah.

Because HBO is known to start, like, really fantastic shows and then just like not finish them. Yeah. You know, and it's like, you guys know what's going on. Well, they know what's going on. You know what I mean? Like, they know that like this is like, okay, like, if season three is like, if there's a possibility that season three is going to be last, then like end it how you would end it. It can be okay. Yes.

And if you are like, no, like the viewings and like the ratings and everything like that are so good. Yeah. Like we know there'll be another one. Fine. End it on a cliffhanger if you want to. But like. I agree. Yeah.

There's one on Netflix. It was like that like shattered me. I can't remember what it was called. I feel like it was something like Sinsate. That's what it was called. Oh, yes, I've heard that. I just had to hiss like a snake to get there.

Did they do a movie? Maybe they did. And maybe I was so heartbroken by that point that I didn't watch it. Season two, I don't know. Looks like they're just two seasons. Summer. Yeah. They did that with,

looking. It's like a show about like a bunch of gay men in San Francisco and they did two seasons and then like canceled it and like I guess like people were like so pissed off myself included that they ended up doing like a movie to kind of wrap up everyone's storyline. So yeah otherwise I would have been pissed.

I know. So yeah. Yeah. All the things we love. These are our books and now a couple of TV shows that we just always recommend. Yeah. I don't know.