Woman with a Secret by Sophie Hannah / Reviewed by Jonathan W. Thurston
Killer Nashville Book of the Day
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Sophie Hannah
We all have secrets. Deep, dark, chilling secrets. Things we wouldn’t tell our best friend or our lover or our family. But what if you had the chance to confide in an absolute stranger?
Nicki Clements, the Byronic star of Sophie Hannah’s new psychological thriller Woman with a Secret, found someone she could tell everything. It was a simple online exchange. Only secrets aren’t quite so simple.
When everyone’s least favorite local online reporter is killed by a mysterious murderer, with even more mysterious circumstances, the cops struggle to narrow down the list of actual suspects from the ample one of people who hated him. When the cameras show Nicki driving past the reporter’s house multiple times the day of his murder, she may have to confess to worse things than murder.
Sophie Hannah approaches this thriller with an almost experimental mindset, using emails, texts, news reports, and even dating ads to bring together a suspicious cast of characters, each with their own motives and, as the title suggests, their own secrets. This meta-narrative approach, while reminiscent of Mark Z. Danielewski, is fresh and startlingly engaging.
This absolutely chilling novel brings out the most frightening of psychological thrillers: the secrets we all have buried deep within us. Sophie Hannah captivates readers with a bone-chilling story in the tradition of Gillian Flynn and Tana French. From the charmingly sadistic Craigslist ad on page one, readers will be hooked and begging to turn the page. We all have secrets. Some are just better left in the dark.
Jonathan W. Thurston is a literary studies graduate student. Aside from his studies, he owns a small publishing house called Thurston Howl Publications and serves as its editor-in-chief. He has written several books on his own and always enjoys reading a good horror novel. When he’s not busy with grad school or his business, he is often found reading a good book with hot tea in one hand and his dog Temerita curled up at his feet (she often thinks she is a cat, you see).
(If you have a book you would like featured, send an ARC for consideration. The Killer Nashville Book of the Day Reviews are coordinated by Clay Stafford, with the assistance of Maria Giordano,Emily Eytchison, Will Chessor,and credited guest reviewers. For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com and www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com.)
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