Bookwild - Winter Thriller Releases We Are Excited for with Gare Billings and Steph Lauer

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

This week, Gare, Steph and I are talking about thrillers we are excited to read that will be released between December 2024-February 2025!Books We Talked AboutDeath of the AuthorTrust IssuesBeautiful UglyThis Violent HeartCross My HeartThe FavoritesTell Me What You DidA Gorgeous ExcitementNo Place Left to HideThe Lost HouseA Killing ColdThe Mirror House GirlsA Girl Like UsThe Three Live of Kate Cay Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

I'm sure you guys can tell I'm back with Steph and care. And I have rated Icebreaker. I can't remember what movie I was thinking about. Oh, no, it was a Black Bear episode. There's a Black Mirror episode where this guy tries on a new, like, virtual reality headset game. That's supposed to be like the scariest game ever. And the gist of it is it like taps into what it knows are your actual like worst fears. to scare you the most.

So, if you were to play this video game, what would be the first thing that would, like, pop up in your virtual reality? Sunapeeds. Do you say Sinepeeds? Yep. Yeah. They are gross. Mine would be a home invasion. Yeah.

I have since a little child been terrified of, like, a home invasion. and like back then it was like Marvin what's his name from like home alone like oh my god what if these robbers broke in but like now it's like what if Brian Coburger is just like in Bombay Looney Tunes

that shit terrifies me I've had like a lifelong fear of being framed and put in jail for something I didn't do Ooh I almost like he absolutely What? Almost like gaslighting. Like someone you're like,

you're like, but you did. You're crazy. Right. Right. So we see what. You just cracked why it's been a lifelong fear for me. I feel like to ease your fears a little bit though, you are such a techy person that like I feel like it would be really hard to like implicate you in any sort of prime because like somebody would be like no I was DMing her she was putting this story on her Instagram she was editing this podcast she was you know what I mean like her Kindle was active like during these hours you know like things that like you can't do while you're murdering someone yes like that evil mm-hmm

I have dreams. I'm in a jail cell. That would be really terrifying. Or to like accidentally commit a crime. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. But like something that you didn't do on purpose, but there were still like major like legal

ramifications for, you know what I mean? Right. I've thought about that a lot. I mean, not recently. But it's just like, well, if you do something, like if I accidentally got in a car accident, or something and like or someone like jumped out in front of your car and you're like well it's still my fault like I don't know yeah yeah that scares me that scares me a lot like or if like like what if like a text message comes through and you get into an accident even if you're not on your phone but they're like well this text message was delivered at the time of impact so like you must have been on your phone and lying about it

yeah that scares me yeah just yeah all the fears. Yeah. We read thrillers. Yeah. Ever since I was diagnosed with pots, one of my, I've never fainted or passed out in my life. But like when, ever since they diagnosed me with that, that's one of my biggest fears too is like fainting in public. Oh, yeah. That happened when I was at a restaurant once. This guy just like something, he started laughing and something with his, like his wife was a nurse. And she's like, sometimes it happens when he laughs. But he just.

went down. It was wild. And then he just got back up, but it was, it was scary. I get lightheaded when I laugh. Like, if I laugh really hard, I get like super lightheaded and like dizzy. Maybe that's what he had. I've had that before I had pots, but like I was like, oh my God, what if I'm like laughing so hard than I just like faint? And they were like kind of laughing about it, but I mean, he could have gotten hurt, but everyone was like so concerned and I think he was really embarrassed, but it's like, I don't know. Yeah, anyway. Okay.

Funny enough if Gair isn't fainting. Yeah. I've never fainted. I've never had. But I do get lightheaded when I laugh. And I have gotten lightheaded with you guys before, but I feel like it's like easier if like I'm recording with you guys and I like faint because Kate can edit it out and it's only between the three of us.

If she's like one minute, I'm laughing and then the next second there's like an egg on my head. One eye shot and I'm just like kind of like this. I think it's funny that right now. Yeah. Well, not anymore it was. I think it's funny you guys were talking about like crime related ones because mine was like bugs. I've also had really bad dreams about being on like bridges with no sides that are like really steep. And then also also the one I think we've talked about.

before where I'm like someone's chasing me and my legs are too heavy to run like those are my three fear like three like dream fears so it's just interesting what people like have different ideas of what their fears are and yours are way more realistic and probably make more sense i thought no one where i'm like hiding under something and i can hear these like big like think movie theater booming footsteps and it's just like i think i'm hidden but like oh my god it's about to I am. That's a really intense recurring one for me. I have a really terrifying recurring one where like, so like they're in my kitchen, there's like a back door that goes out to my deck and then there's like field and like woods and

it's darkest shit out there. And I have a reoccurring dream that I'm like walking to that door to like lock it and I know that like I have to like lock it as soon as possible and like right when I get to it, it like flies open and somebody like grabs me. Oh, that's super scary. but then like I watch like scream as like my comfort movie so I don't know I don't know if I'm like mentally like preparing myself because those movies are all about home impatience you're gonna have muscle memory of just like well this is what we do yeah yeah or I'm gonna do something really stupid that's gonna that's that's another one is dying in an embarrassing manner like if I'm like known for like watching all of these scary movies and like being the person that should know all the rules but then like I like I like like lock myself in a bathroom with no windows and that's how I die like that would be embarrassing it's like that meme that's like imagine dying a horrible death and then having like someone skip your episode of like your true crime documentary because they're like oh that's boring I'm like that's fine yeah no that one's lame

or sphere and I'm like I'm that person but I could also be the victim because like I'm the person where I'm like getting into a story and I'm like, oh, I don't know. Like, this, like, true crime, like, crime junkie episode is not hidden for me and I, like, skip it. And then that's what happens to you. Yeah. Yeah. And then I just, like, go out in an embarrassing way.

Oh, my gosh. You guys read anything recently that you're obsessed with? Do me last. Well, I'm reading Mad Woman, because you guys told me to. And it has been the craziest reading journey of, my life. Monday, Monday I read 20 pages. Nice. Tuesday I did not read. And then yesterday I read about 80 pages. So I was at page 100. And today I am at page 300. So I read 200 pages of Chelsea Beaker Madwoman. And shit is hitting the fan because it's so like dense and it's so like

it's not like your typical like thriller like it's like very like literary so something just happened where there was a big plot twist and I was not expecting this to have a big plot twist yeah and then another plot twist just happened and I was like what in the fresh hell is happening in the last 10% of this book so I have like yeah yeah I have I'm on page 302 and there are 321 pages oh You're so close to knowing it all. And I'm like, damn. Like, why couldn't I just take, like, an extra half hour yesterday to read a little bit more? Now, you're going to have to text us about it instead.

This is always what happens to me. I feel like this always happens. Like, when we record, I'm like, I have 15 pages or, like, 20 pages left. Yeah, it does happen. It was the, I'm a dues one last time, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh.

Nice. Oh. I'm reading your other book right. Sorry. Go ahead. No, go for it. Oh, I'm reading her other book right now, and it is Bleak Billings. That's for sure.

But it's also got this, like, all the characters are very eccentric, and I don't know how to describe it. But it's almost like, it's like a circus of these characters. But it's like so sad and heartbreaking. But everyone is so, like, so strange and wild. I don't know how to describe it, but I cannot wait to see what happens. It is a cult. It's a culty book.

Is this Godshot? Yeah. And the cover makes so much sense right away. Oh. Same thing with Madboy when you get to the end, the cover makes sense. I was just thinking about that because I was like trying to come up with ideas of like a cast

and like what I would like to do for like a poster and I was like I don't know like this doesn't make sense to me yet but now yeah yeah she's just so good so good I'm reading the close up I love that cover Steph I have a copy of that I got to text you oh thank you yeah that's so good yeah that's another one we have to talk about so I'm obsessed like are you there wrong snarking voice. Yeah, I'm at like 20%. I'm really enjoying it. Um, and it's just, I feel like it's one of those that like slowly things just keep getting worse and worse. So I'm excited. I hope I have some time to read it tonight. You definitely have like influenced my TVR a little bit too because you know

how like we were talking about how you get into these little like micro niche like subgenres of books. And now, like, if anything is, like, a thriller that, like, has to do with, like, Hollywood, I'm like, I want to read it. And I feel like you influence that. I think so. Leaned into it. But yeah, the cover is so cool.

I'm excited to just to talk to her. She's a fun character, the main character. I also have a super, super niche. To your point. Book that I'm going to talk about that Hallie made me aware of. that comes out in January. Oh. I found another

niche of thrillers. Oh, yeah. That's not an amazing segue. I don't know what is. Yeah. So, Hallie literally told me about this like two hours ago, and I was like, well, that's going to go

on the episode tonight. So, this book is called Death of an author by Medi Ocaraphor. a quorum for. I apologize if I said. The future of storytelling is here. Life has thrown Zaylou some curveballs over the years, but when she suddenly dropped from her university job and her latest novels rejected,

all in the middle of her sister's wedding, her life is upended. Disabled, unemployed, and from a nosy high-achieving judgmental family, she's not sure what comes next. In her hotel room that night, she takes the risk that will define her life. She decides to write a book, Mary unlike her others, a science fiction drama about and asteroids and AI after the extinction of humanity

and everything changes. What follows is a tale of love and loss, fame and infamy of extraordinary events in one world and another, and as Zalu's life evolves, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur because sometimes the story

really does have the power to reshape the world. Apparently, it's like full, book within a book too. So we're also like reading the book she's writing. So I am very intrigued. I was like publishing AI book within a book like so many

random things in one book. What's the name again? Death of a storyteller. Death of the author. Of the author. Wow. No wonder. I was writing neck jelly. I was looking for it on good reads. The cover is really.

Yeah, it is her first name. Ooh. Thumbs up, like the cover, my vote. Yeah. Oh, God. I know. Yeah. That sounds really good.

Sounds like... I'm excited about how it's kind of very unique premise. Yeah. Yeah, we're definitely going to be hibernating for the winter months with our wintery TBR releases. is. I have so many in January. All mine are January. I only have two arcs in December.

Two, maybe three. One. Three. And then I jump to March. Gare, do you want to go next? Yeah. Yeah, hell yeah. Kate, I'm sorry.

Go for it. Because I know that one of us was going to do this. yes so my first one coming out in January um January 28th is trust issues was that one of yours yes yes but I have plenty and we have to talk about yeah I was like wow I don't think talks about that as long as we talk about it yeah yeah so trust issues by Elizabeth McClea McCona Keenan and Greg Wands comes out January 28th. It is an equal parts murder mystery and suspense novel delving into the mind of a serial manipulator who brings together a brother and sister looking to avenge the death of their mother and take back the sizable inheritance.

Hazel and Kagan Bailey are on the best of terms when they're informed of their mother's untimely death under mysterious circumstances. When they reach out to their stepfather, a man they both aren't fans up. they're struck by his overwrought performance of grief. It's obvious he's putting on an act. To make matters worth, he refuses to let the siblings get in touch with their mother's lawyer to see about the family money Hazel and Kagan desperately needed. Hazel is drowning in debt after being financially cut off and Kagan never quite got his life together.

His expensive habit isn't much help. The police seem to be more interested in interrogating the siblings instead of taking a closer look at the stepfather, whose airtight alibi is completely. shielded him from further suspicion. Frustrated and increasingly headed toward financial ruin, the siblings take things into their own hands by tracking down their stepfather's daughter, who he claimed died tragically years ago. Ava, their step-sister, is unlike anyone they've ever met, an effortlessly gorgeous cyber genius, with the psychological scars of being raised by an unrepentant con man. Both siblings are smitten and a tug-of-war over Ava's affection

ensues as the trio tracks down the man responsible. The man the siblings know as Perry. Trust issues is a wonderfully complex suspense novel that will keep readers on their toes as the story unfolds in delightfully surprising ways. And I can't freaking wait because I love the way that they like write their characters and obviously like I've loved everything they've written. So I'm super pumped for that one. That sounds really good.

Yeah. Yeah, I am so excited for it and my video has disappeared. I was hoping you were still there, so I'm glad you are. Yeah. So weird, I'm realizing that the natural light is going to be gone in like a really short amount of time. I know. I get done work at 4.30 and it's like dark out by like 445 and it pisses me off. Lovely.

Oh, hi, Kate. I'm back. Yeah. Yeah, I am obsessed with everything that they put into this book. Like, they're so good at the, like, tricky family relationships. You know, I love a con thriller and figuring that out. And, like, it feels like a psychological thriller, too. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, 100%. And I think that, like, they told me it was, like, kind of like a road trip plot as well. which I don't see a lot in thrillers and I like how they always like they always take something in their plot that like isn't very prominent in thrillers and put it in there

like how I told them how I love how they write different relationships and like I'm really excited to read how they write like sibling relationships because I feel like that's not done a lot in like domestic thrillers. Right. I agree. I'm excited. The cover's so cool.

Yeah, their cover is really good. Well, thank you to you both for letting me take this next one because I'm so excited. I have an actual copy of it. I know. So my first one is Beautiful, Ugly by Alice Feeney. And I think if anyone's been listening to Gere and Kate for a long time, this podcast is a Alice Feeney fan podcast. I have heard from people that have read it that this is her best one yet, so I'm very excited. All right, let's see.

The million copy bestselling Queen of Twists, Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage, dot, dot, dot, and revenge. Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, and then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge, the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there, but his wife has disappeared. A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can't sleep and he can't write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get

his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible, a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. wives think their husbands will change but they don't husbands think their wives won't change but they do ooh oh my god that sounds so good i haven't read this sounds amazing yeah so good i've heard from people that it's her best one yet as well yeah just how even in the last two sentences like that is those two yes are so alice fainy in my yes like i agree i so I'm super excited for that.

I think I'm going to have to restart my computer. Okay. Okay. So I'll be back again. Okay, see that. We'll just be chilling. Just chilling. I was starving.

So I was trying to, like, I hate eating on camera, but I'm, like, trying to eat something quiet. I don't know. What do you have going on this weekend? Am I, should I be even surprised? I know. No, you shouldn't be. Oh my God. Quiet on that end.

Huh? You've been mighty quiet on that front. I feel like I get to a point where I'm like, this is like done and I have to like move on. But then like a couple of days later, like we always like kind of like find our way back. And I feel like I really jinx myself because like when I first met Kate, I was like, I want to be Maddie and have like a mate relationship, like a toxic. relationship with somebody, like on euphoria. And like, now I have it. And I'm like, I don't know if I like this.

It was cooler on euphoria. It was cooler on euphoria when like you could turn the TV off and not be stressed out. But like, I don't know. I don't know. I think I, uh, I want to say maybe he's learning a lesson. And time will tell. But I don't know. He like actually poured his heart out to me for the first time in his life.

Oh, that's good. I mean... Hey. I feel like my mom just caught me, like, smoking a sick rat behind the high school. I'm just trying to be like, I'm back. It came off a little more menacing. Oh, my God, I love my life. Hopefully the restart fixes it. That seems to be what fixes it. So, Fingers crossed. Yeah.

So anyway, Alice motherfucking Fiemey. Oh my God. I just like, she's like somebody that like maybe like one day when I'm like older or I'm not like so focused on a TBR like I am. She's somebody who like I would love to binge all of her books all over again like back to back. Hmm. I like that idea. So is Bruce.

Yeah. Oh my God, I know. And she seems so nice. Yeah. Isn't it the most wild thing is when these thriller authors just seem like... The sweetest little peas? Sweet. And it's like, what happened here?

I'll channel all your stuff into your books. I know. Well, I have a recommendation for an author who's... just sweet as can be you and writes twisty as fuck stuff. Yes. This violent heart by Heather Levy

comes out in February. So this one is about Devin Mays. She was done with a small conservative town she once called home. She fled when she was 18 after her best friend's summer took her own life, leaving Summer's twin brother Keaton lost in his

grief. But when tragedy strikes again. Devin has nowhere to turn, but back to the place that first broke her heart. Being back in Arcana means struggling with the old guilt that shrouds her bisexuality and her feelings for Keaton. There's so much she's still hiding from him and so much of their shared past that's now resurfacing. It's not long before Devin has reason to believe Summer's tragic death wasn't suicide after all. Summer had secrets too, and she wasn't the only one who didn't want them exposed. As Devin and Keaton piece together the mystery of what happened that fateful summer,

they must reckon with their own truths before they can move forward. But one person will do whatever it takes to stop them. She seems like there's stakes all over the place with this one. It seems like she's taking pieces of like a lot of like thrillers you think you would know what was going on in and like sewing together her own like little, Quill of Mayhem, and I'm in Newette. A quill of mayhem. I love that. That sounds really good.

Right. I don't always love a face cover, but I really love this face cover. I know. I also am going to let everyone know. This is Read Now on NetGalley. Oh, nice. It's labeled as general fiction and romance, but, like, obviously from the things you're saying.

Right. like it's got a little more going up. Yeah. That's probably why I haven't seen it because I usually search by my genre. I think that they have a copy of it too and it's so pretty. There it is. So pretty. I'll be the Vienna White of arts for everybody.

I love it. But yeah, I love it too. She is so cool too. I love her. I love her. Yes. Yeah. And.

Oh, my. God, I'm so bad with titles. Kate. Hurt for me. Hurt for me. Yes. Hallie, I wanted to do a female rage episode and I mentioned it hurt for me last night. Yeah. That one felt like contemporary fiction with like a thriller element in it. So I wonder if that's why this one's like general fiction as well because her characters are so well plotted that it's one of those books that like, at least with hurt for me.

Like, I was like, sometimes I would forget there was a mystery aspect to it because I was like so wrapped up in the main characters. Relationships. Yeah. Totally. I'm really excited for it. That's exciting. Speaking of hearts. Do it.

Coming out, January 14th, I have one called Cross My Heart by Megan Collins. And I love this cover. I love this cover so much. I know you do. I know. I had this one like, anytime I see like a pink cover, I'm like, Kate. Same. This one's doing pink and purple.

Yeah. Yeah. But this one sounds so good. It is about Rosie Lachlan, who wants nothing more than to find the one. A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she's working at her parents' bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that. can't come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called Donor Connect,

to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret. She's convinced that now she's convinced that now she has his wife's heart. She and Morgan are meant to be together. As she and Morgan correspond, the pretense of avoiding personal detail soon disappears, even if Rosie's keeping some cards close to her chest. But as she digs deeper into Morgan's previous marriage, she discovers disturbing rumors about the man she's falling for. Could Morgan have had something to do with his late wife's death? And can Rosie's heart sustain another break?

Or is she next? Has so many cool elements. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I also kind of like, I also love like it seems like there's going to be like maybe like a little bit of a stalker element to it. And I love a stalker story.

Let me tell you what. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, like I'm looking at my arc now. I'm trying not to pay much attention to what I see. But it looks like there's some mixed media elements in it too. Oh, that's fun. Like their text messages or maybe the message is on the app.

But right. Yeah. This little puppy sounds really good. And I always love her stories. I know, me too. She's a... Neathing by her. Oh, you would love...

Thicker... Was it thicker than water? Yeah. Thicker than water. That one was good. She had the... The family plot. Yeah, the family plot.

That one I haven't read yet. The Winter Sister? Oh, yeah. That's her debut. great too is one of the best books I have ever read wow with like a dual timeline and like a very like there's like one scene in the book that is like engraved in my mind like I can picture it so perfectly oh wow it's so good it's so it's fucking sad as shit too oh that checks out tracks it'll make sense all make sense all I'll screenshot that real wow that cover is pretty

too. Oh, yeah. I need to read more of her. Yeah. And it's wintery. So I need that. There's little snowflakes on the cover. So if you need a wintry book,

while you wait, everything we talk about, add that one to your list too. So one of the books that I requested immediately when I saw it was coming out. and it's coming out in January was The Favorites by Lane Fargo. And before I read the synopsis, if anyone is saying that name sounds familiar,

it is because they never learn is one of the most amazing female rage and revenge stories ever. One of the most memorable characters, Scarlett. And I just took a screenshot of, one of Lane Fargo's most recent post that ended with If you thought I was a feminist killjoy before Oh, you just fucking wait. So I'm excited for her next book to say. Oh, I love her.

She said all my rage, all my fear, and all my power is going right into my next book. I got goosebumps. Me too. She's a bully mom too. Oh. I know. But first, the favorites, which I've seen so many posts of good reviews.

Yes. But I think it's a little different. I don't think it's really thrillery, but I think it's more like dramatic. So to the world, they were a scandal to each other and obsession. An epic love story set in the sparkling savage sphere of elite figure skating about a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice. She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family's support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Roka, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection made them a formidable duo on the ice.

Clinging to skating and each other to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller coaster relationship. Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the 10-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Roka, claiming to uncover the real story through interviews and their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can't stand the thought of someone else divining her legacy. either. So after a decade of silence, she's telling her story, from the childhood tragedies that created her all-consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational

rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may even be more shocking than the headlines. Inspired by the powerful love and hate that fuels Emily Bronte's classic, Wuthering Heights, the favorites is an exhilarating dance between passion, ambition, and what it truly means to win. I'm so excited. Yeah, I definitely spark notes to Wuthering Heights in high school, so I don't really know what happens, but I almost prefer it that way. But I'm insane. They Never Learn is one of my favorite books, and I did not know that she had a new book coming out until just this moment. Are you serious?

Like, I had no idea. Like, I follow her on Instagram. I did not see anything. Yeah. Have you seen the cover now? I looked it up because it comes. about January, I think, 14th. Yeah.

And it's going to be in paperback in Canada. Ooh. So something Hallie pointed out to me about it is like the cover even has, has like markings all over it that look like skate lines. Of the skate lines in the ice. Oh my God. That's what the texture on top of it is. Like she helped Lane, like, or they just like talked about the covers and stuff and

like she's been like a big part of this book with her. So she had like all these little details and I was like, oh my gosh, you're bright. There are like skate marks on top of the book. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. I really want them to have a pre-order sale really badly because I would go hand-shunded on Black Friday. Last year I bought like 28 pre-orders.

So I'll do it happens. Well, if anybody wants the Canadian paperback just hit me up and I will go. Yeah. I'm excited to see what it was over. It's the same cover. Okay, nice. Yeah. I love it.

And it's only $26 Canadian. So that's like $22 American or maybe $20. Yeah. That's decent. I don't know what like a common paperback crisis these days. I think like American. I think they're like 18 now. I think so too.

Because I know some like hard covers I've been getting are like 30 and I'm like, whoa, buddy. Yeah. They used to be like 27 and now they're 30. Yeah. Well, my next one, I have seen so, I've seen like quite a few people already review this and say it was amazing. And it's called Tell Me What You Did by Carter Wilson. Oh, yeah, I just got approved for that today. Nice. So she gets people to confess their crimes for a living. He knows she's hiding a terrible secret. it's time the truth came out.

Poe Webb, hosts of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess their crimes. They've committed to her audience. She can't guarantee the police won't come after her guests, but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame, a potent combination that's proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording,

Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind. But when a strange and oddly familiar man, appears on her show. Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother's murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother's murderer is dead. Poe killed him.

That's the synopsis. It sounds so good and the cover's so cool. Yeah, really quick one. If you're on YouTube, or people not on YouTube, he's Vana. You can book for us. Did you read it yet here? No, I'm so behind on everything. I just have literally like piles of books everywhere of like what you guys tell me to read.

Right. Publishers tell me to read what I want to read. Yeah. There's like hockey butts. Yeah. Stinkled everywhere. Yeah. Yeah.

Like I'm reading like a very dense copy of Mad Woman that is like very dense and literary. But then like there's also like a hockey romance that I'm also reading. so yeah there's just balls of it's everywhere i just got a that sounds so good though i know i'm excited for it i'm very excited for this one um god what was the he wrote another book that i really enjoyed too oh he'll be i think he'll be new for me oh yeah he's written a lot mr tenders girl yeah it's like a serial killer thriller and it was very very very very very freaking dark oh megan marina's obviously yeah he's got a special place in my heart for nice the dark stuff carter wilson is this author oh i didn't realize that they had more

yeah he's got he's got a lot he's got a lot kids buckle up buckle up buckle up buckle right up Um, well, my next one, if I can find that. It's somewhere. It's somewhere. I'll just read the. My next one seems like it might be more literary, but I know that it has a thriller aspect to it. Um, and it is called a gorgeous excitement by Cynthia Weiner. Um, it is a dazzling debut.

novel set in 1980s, New York, when cocaine is easy to get as ice cream, about one young woman's summer of infinite possibility and looming danger. It was the summer of 1986 when the girl was found dead in Central Park behind the Metropolitan Museum, half naked, legs, spayed, arms flung over her head, larynx crushed. There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986. Avoid her mother's depression-filled rages and lose her virginia. before she starts college in the fall. Both are seemingly impossible. When her mother isn't lying in bed for days,

she's lashing out at Nina over any perceived slight. After giving a blowjob gone spectacularly wrong, Nina is the talk of Flanagan's, the Upper East Side Bar where young Manhattan society congregates. It doesn't help that she's Jewish, an outsider among the blue-eyed blondes who populate the rarefied world. She can fit in, kind of, with enough alcohol and prescription drugs stolen from her parents' medicine cabinet.

Flanagan's is where she pines for the handsome, preppy, and charismatic Gardner Reed, who every girl wants to sleep with and every guy wants to be. After she's introduced to cocaine, Nina plunges headlong into her pursuit of Gardner, oblivious to the warning signs. When a new medication seemingly frees her mother from darkness and Nina and Gardner grow closer, it seems like Nina might finally get what she wants, but at what cost? Freud called cocaine a gorgeous excitement, but a gorgeous excitement for the wrong guy can be lethal. Damn.

Wow. Yeah. There's a lot going on. There's so much going on in it. And I'm very obsessed with every aspect of it because it seems like it's going to be obviously very like character-driven. But also like there's this weird, I won't say weird, but like there's this. very mysterious notion that there was a woman murder in the beginning of it.

Do you get the shards vibes from this at all? That's an interesting point. That's very interesting point that I never thought of. In a good way. Yeah. 80s, there's a murder, maybe there's a serial killer, but you're also like going through this person's coming of age. And like, I love that.

I don't know. I think that's so cool. The cover is so unique too. Yeah. is gorgeous and I wish I could find my friggin copy of it and spinning around my cart but yeah

it's just drowning books over there story my life I don't know maybe a little like gossip girl but like in a cool way too oh yeah yeah well I do it

I think it's cool I think it's gonna be very interesting. It kind of gives me like maybe like the shards or like something maybe Jessica Knoll would write. Ooh. I found it. Yes. That is cool.

I'm obsessed. I am obsessed. Isn't it long? It says 384 on neck galley. My arc is 350. Oh, okay. So maybe it's just a bigger font. Well, I'm here to help out that when you're green chat. Yeah.

Okay. What's next? Well, speaking of, I'm going to guess this is like teenage life. So a book club that I'm in, we got arcs of the new Megan Lally. which she also wrote that's not my name is that what it was called yes yeah um so this one is called no place left to hide and it is gorgeous i really enjoyed her i don't know if that was her debut but like the pre her previous book um i'm guessing it's also y a but i which can be hit or miss for me but i really liked her last book. She can't run from her past in this twisty new young adult thriller from the New York

Times bestselling author Megan Lally. To Brooke, images everything. She works hard to maintain perfect grades, perfect looks, a perfect life, especially after the incident that threatened it all. Getting into her dream university puts her that much closer to a fresh start. How can she say no to celebrating with all her classmates? Hanging out with her crush by the bonfire is the perfect end to the night, except it isn't the An old truck starts aggressively tailing Brooke and her best friend on an isolated road towards home. Someone thinks they know the truth about the incident and they won't stop until it's all out in the open. This terrifying drive is about to bring out Brooke's worst fears if she survives it. I'm getting run on vibes like fast-paced wild.

It's giving me cruel summer vibes. Ooh. Okay, okay. And I need to email them like tomorrow morning and tell them like, like, I need this. I need this because I am so excited for that one. I wrote like an article for she reads about like anticipated YA thrillers of 2025. And I found so many gems that I want to read. And like that's number one because I loved, loved, loved.

That's not my name. They gave me Courtney Summers. vibes where like the ending was so disturbing that I was like is this really YA I couldn't believe it I know like people are like oh my gosh your jaw's gonna drop I was like I couldn't I was like that's not yeah yeah it was such an insane ending and I was depressed AF for like a couple of days but also in the midst of it there were parts where I laughed like it's just like at some of just like the teen yeah

I so like to me that's a really great thing where you can have a little bit of everything yeah no she's gosh I'm really excited for that one yeah do you guys have more

yeah I have two more that I could talk about okay cool I do too my next one is the lost house by Melissa Larson and it's a long synapsis. So just listen to it all. 40 years ago, a young woman and her infant daughter were found buried in the cold Icelandic

snow lying together as peacefully as though sleeping, except the mother's throat had been slashed and the infant had been drowned. The case was never solved. There were no arrests, no conviction, just a suspicion turned into what? Oh, just a suspicion turned into a, the husband did it. When he took his son and fled halfway across the world to California, it was proof enough of his guilt. Now, nearly a century later, and a year after his death, his granddaughter, Agnes, is ready to clear her grandfather's name once and for all. Still recovering from his death and a devastating injury, Agnes wants nothing more than an excuse to escape the shambles of her once stable life, which is why she readily agreed. or readily accepts true crime expert Nora Carver's invitation to be interviewed for her popular

podcast. Agnes packs up and hops on a last minute flight to the remote town of Bifrost, Iceland, where Nora is staying, where Agnes's father grew up, and where supposedly her grandfather slaughtered his wife and an infant daughter. It is merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing. Is it merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing? Is it merely coincidence that a local girl goes missing the very same weekend, Agnes arrives. Suddenly, Agnes and Nora's investigation is turned upside down, and everyone in the small Icelandic town is once again a suspect. Seeking to unearth old and new truths alike, Agnes finds herself drawn into a web of secrets that threaten the redemption. She is hell-bent on delivering and even her life, discovering how far a person will

go to protect their family, their safety, and their secrets. so many things going on. There it is. Harley. She's the cover. You're okay. That sounds intense. I know. It sounds kind of like Nordic noir a little bit. Yeah. She is dark as fuck.

It sounds dark. This is her debut. It's called Shutter. Ooh. And it is so disturbing and dark. It's like about a woman who goes like to like, the woods to film this movie by this like infamous director and

it's fucking dark. Damn. So yeah. And both of her books, both of her books have been blurred by Donya Kucovka. Oh wow. Who wrote notes on an execution. So that's all I need to know.

Yeah. Consistently one of my top-viewed episodes on YouTube and audio. Donia? Yeah, Donya. Yeah. Yeah. If Donia tells, like, if Donia and you two tell me to read it, done.

We're in. We're in. We are in. No, that sounds so, so, so good. So good. Okay. I have one that I'm excited about called A K. Allis Marshall. Yeah.

And this one sounds really good. I know that I loved what lies in the woods by. her. And this one sounds really good, too. And it comes out February, something. Comes out in Feb. This winter. Pre-order it and find out one. Very fourth. February 4th. When Theodora Scott met Connor, a wealthy, charming and member of the powerful Dalton family, she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he's brought her to Idlewood, his family's

isolated winter retreat to win over his skeptical relatives. Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can't ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has with the place. Then, in an abandoned cabin, Theo finds something impossible, a photo of herself as a child, taken at Idolwood. Theo has almost no memory of her earliest years, but now she's starting to piece the fragments together. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Dalton's do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idolwood may cost Theo everything. Dang. That's creepy to find a picture of yourself.

You're muted. My dog was barking, but I'm super excited for this one. I'd seen the cover, but I'd never heard the synopsis. Yeah, I'm very excited. for it because I kind of got a little burnt out on like protagonist goes to like rich families like isolated you know but then

the fact that she has found the picture of herself as a child and like has no recollection that part is like where I'm like this is going to be very interesting so yeah I'm excited for that one same same yeah yeah I really like what lies in the woods.

Yeah. So, yeah, that sounds really good, actually. That was out on Neck Galley so long ago, but it never had a cover. And now it finally has a cover. And now I finally read the synopsis. And that sounds really good. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's going to be really good.

Do you ever have these moments where you have, like, multiple books that, like, kind of have similar tropes and, Like right now I'm reading Chelsea Beaker's book about a cult. And then my hold on Libby for Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison came in. And I believe that's also like religious cultish. And then the book, which is great, it's like going to be right in a row. And then I saw my next one is Faith Gardner just posted on Instagram that she had another book coming out. And I immediately saw the last housewife as a comp on the first. front. And I have not seen midsummer or read the girls, but I just was like, this, I'm obviously

into it into this. I think it's also about a cult. So it is called the Mirror House Girls. And it comes out January 23rd, 2025. And it says, an isolated compound, a so-called family, a collision course with unthinkable violence. When Winona rents a room at the eccentric mirror house, She hopes to make new friends. What she gets instead is a family, led by the charismatic psychologist Simon Spellmeyer. But if she wants to stay at Mirror House, Winona must join in following Simon's strange protocols for self-improvement. Warning bells chime inside her, yet the allure of transformation keeps her there. His methods are disturbing, but the results are undeniable.

Soon, Simon's vision for their future spirals in a darker direction. The group relocates, expands, and Winona's once close bond with her housemates grows fractured by mistrust until she's trapped among people she hardly recognizes, including herself. Can Winona wake up to the true cost of Simon's vision in time to get out alive, or will the utopian dream descend into a tragic nightmare? I don't know. Wellness compound, huh? I got like a little bit, as I was reading that, I thought about. like the setting of I guess you could say nine perfect strangers but at first immediately it was yellow jackets like the the wellness place that they have in present day so it'll be

interesting to see how that one turns out yeah I'm excited for that mirror girls the mirror house girls mirror house girls I mean if you're going to say like hey if you're like the last housewife i'll be like okay yeah i'm like you got my you got my attention yeah i have i have one that totally i had to request it without even thinking about it because it it pitched itself as succession meets saltburn um and i was like okay go on so this one is called a girl like us by Anna Sophia McLaughlin. It's 2000, whoops, I scrolled really fast.

It's 2004 and former reality TV star and party girl, Maya Miller, has just married the most eligible bachelor on the Collins, on the Collins Sterling of the globally famous Sterling family, whose history of aristocratic titles and land holdings rival a British royal and whose media empire is comparable to the Murdox. To some, Maya represents the American dream to others a gold digger. But when Collins, cousin Ariana, the heiress of the family's immense fortune, is found murdered. Maya is thrust into the first as she is revealed to be the next heiress to the fortune and then as the prime suspect.

Swiftly, the entire Sturley family goes into lockdown at Silverhouse, the family's ancestral estate in the English countryside. They're told us for their own safety, but Maya becomes convinced that it's not to keep threats out, but to keep secrets in. Now she has no choice but to find and expose the truth hidden within the Sterling family and why Ariana, a girl she had never met, chose her to take her place. But Maya has secrets of her own, and she knows that in order to survive the Sterlings, she'll have to beat them at their own game. It sounds delicious. Yeah, it does. I really see the succession saltburn comparison too, like the whole family going into lockdown to figure out succession. Who's the author again?

Anna Sophia McLaughlin. Loughlin. Okay. It's a debut. Yes. I'm so glad you had all of them. Like, no. Now I'm, like, thinking, like, all of the books that I have to read this winner

because, like, even the ones that you guys picked, I'm like, oh, here it is. I know. I'm like, here's one. And here's, like, here it is. And here it is. I will definitely read that one with you because... I think it'll be fun. Yeah.

I remember... They sent that to me, like, like, a little while ago, maybe, like, a month or so ago. because it sounded good, but I did not pay attention to the saltburn comp. And so, like, now I'm, yeah. Yeah. But yeah. That sounds so good. I'm excited for it.

I have one that's a December release. Nice. What? December 10th, I think. Oh, no. Why do they never say? Well, it's called What the White? New by Darby Kane.

I love the cover. I love like the dark creepy door and then like the light down here. But it is about Dr. Richmond Doherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. He's also very dead, thanks to the fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Mrs. Daugherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted 97 days and he'd had two suspicious accidents during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow. As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, size are chosen with Catherine, Richmond's high school sweetheart, wife number one, and the mother of his children, leading the fray.

Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the past he charted years ago. go. Determine at all cost to unravel Richmond's legacy, Addison soon becomes a target with a shocking note left on her bedroom wall. You will pay. But it will take a lot more than faceless threats to stop Addison. Her plan to marry Richmond and then

ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she's not done with him yet. Yeah. So that one sounds so good. That does. What was that one called? it's called

What the Wife Knew. Oh, that's right. Okay, okay. Yeah. I read Pretty Little Wife by her. Well, I've read all of her thrillers so far, but Pretty Little Wife is like so snarky and like twisted as fuck and I just like can't wait to see what she has up her sleeves.

She also wrote a pretty like, ragey revenge, but kind of in like a legal way. I can't remember what's called. The Last Invitation. Something about invitation. I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

The last invitation. Mm-hmm. Which. I need to read her. Yeah. Yeah. The engagement party was fun. The replacement wife and pretty little wife are my favorites.

Mm-hmm. Um, so maybe the fact that this one has wife in the title as well, maybe that's a good sign. Um, but pretty little wife is really, really fun. If you haven't read that one, it's, um, it has a very twisted ending, but you guys would love Lila. Um, yeah. It's like basically like her husband is missing. And there's also like a college, a female college student that's missing. Um, um, and. And, like, like Lila like is kind of like oh my god like I wonder where he could be but like the reason that she wonders where he is is because she actually killed him and like hit his body and like she's like the body's not where I hit at yeah oh yeah yeah so it's really good damn and the ending is super dark nice so Merry Christmas I when you brought up Darby Kane

I remember one of the book clubs I was in was reading one of her new releases, and it didn't feel that long ago. And I think it was the last, the party one. That must have been her. The engagement party? Engagement party. So I feel like she must be pumping our books out pretty quickly. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. I think she does like a, I know like usually her books are like December, January releases, because she also writes romance under the name Helen K. Diamond. Oh, wow. Wow. Damn. A romantic suspense. I'm sorry. Oh, that sounds interesting. I interviewed this guy, Victor Mathos, and part of his bio is that he writes two books a year. And so I was like, do you have any secret to writing two books a year?

He was like, oh, it's more than two books. I just write two books under this name a year. And so, like, he's like, I write like four or five sometimes because he writes like sci-fi, and then this was a legal thriller. I was like, I was not expecting that answer where he was like, actually, it's more than two. Yeah, it's like, he was really cool, too. Like, he was very fun to talk to. That's crazy, too, because I feel like sci-fi books and legal thrillers would be two genres that would take longer to write.

Yeah, you would love the silent watcher that I just read of his. It is a creepy serial killer. Isn't the cereal called The Creeper? The, yes. Okay, I have a copy of it. Yeah. And I think that I held on to it because that was one of the ones that you said had like a really cool spine. Yes.

Yeah, on the inside, it has the city. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think you would like it. Oh, damn. All right. Well.

Yeah. When you get to it. When I. get to it. Yeah. Yeah. Like pile mountains of books. You're like, I'll get to that one. Oh, my gosh. I don't know what to pick. So my last one that I'll pick, I think Kate might have told me about a while ago. And I also think it might

have been a read now on Neck Galley, but it is called The Three Lives of Kate K. Oh, yeah. And the description is, and I feel like a lot of books kind of use this as a comp. So we'll see how close it actually is. But it's the seven husbands of Egil and Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past. Kate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a best-selling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she's one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Kate Kay doesn't really exist.

She's never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity has been a closely guarded secret until now. As a young adult, her and her best friend Amanda's dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Kate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Kate understands that returning home is the only way she'll be a whole person again. Yeah, this is such a cool premise.

I like this, just this concept. Yeah, it has already 271 reviews on NetGalley and has four stars. Wow. A good sign. That is a good sign. Yeah, I have this one at Galley, too. Kate Fagin, F-A-N. I know.

Damn, I want to read that now. You can probably get it. I would have to do. I'm probably send it to you. Yeah, look at this. Atria. Cool.

Oh, I know. I love that. And like the rear view mirror split. Yeah. With the little like, air freshener hanging. Yeah. I love that.

I love that. I love that. I love that it's like three. There's three sets of eyes in the rear view mirror too. Mm-hmm. Damn. Damn. I know.

You guys. we have a lot to read this winter. I know. I just gotten to a point where I was really happy with my neck galley. And then I was like, well, now I got a lot to catch up on. But I'm excited. Yeah, I'm definitely booked up for winter at this point. Yeah.

I'm like terrified to like look right now because I have like a huge list of backlist. But like January scares me how much. many arcs I have. Yeah, I'm reading, I'm going to be reading a lot of January in December. I mean, I probably should, but we all know how my time management has been lately. So.