214 Palmer Street: A completely gripping psychological thriller packed with suspense by Karen McQuestion
About The Book
A house with a secret. A woman with nothing to lose. When Maggie sees the beautiful Venetian blinds moving in the Caldwells’ front window, she freezes. Her favorite neighbours Cady and Josh are away, so who is in their house? The pretty young woman who answers the door tells a convincing story. She’s Sarah. The house-sitter. Just here for a month. An old friend of Cady’s who needed a place to stay. She’s pleasant and warm, and Maggie wanders back to her house thinking she might have made a new friend. Yet she can’t help but wonder why Cady never mentioned Sarah. What Maggie doesn’t know is that on the other side of the door, Sarah is starting to panic. No one was meant to see her at 214 Palmer Street… An unputdownable psychological thriller from number one bestseller Karen McQuestion, which will make you question what secrets your own neighbors are hiding… For fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for '214 Palmer Street' by Karen McQuestion.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Karen McQuestion, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 6th April 2022.
This is the first book I have read by this author.
I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'An unputdownable suspense thriller from number one bestseller Karen McQuestion, which will make you question what secrets your own neighbors are hiding… For fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl.' I am a huge fan of 'Gone Girl' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 47 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are medium to long in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Wisconsin, USA 🇺🇸.
This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Sarah Aden, Kirk Aden, Gavin Kramer and 'Her' . The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions that set the scene. The title and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.
The storyline is fast paced and I was completely absorbed throughout. It is filled with suspense, mystery, romance, tension and so much more. I started reading this in the morning and could not put it down. I loved that you go into this book starting with one mystery and then you dive head first into another and another until your completely surrounded in suspense and tension. I was not expecting the turn of events at all and I loved that everything was wrapped up perfectly at the end leaving you knowing what happened to each character. There is nothing worse than getting to the end of a book with loose ends so a huge congratulations Karen.
It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.
The characters were all strong, well defined and realistic. I became completely invested in not only Sarah but also 'Her' storyline. I won't say who 'Her' is but all is revealed in the book in good time. I wasn't sure what was going on with Sarah at the start but my heart really went out to her. I can't say too much about any of the characters really as I don't want to give too much away. Phil was another likeable character and I enjoyed meeting and getting to know him. I did start writing my thoughts on another character but decided that I will sadly have to leave it here as I realised it was giving too much away. What I will say before I end this though is that each character whether you love or hate them suited their "role" perfectly and "worked together" to make an absolutely fantastic psychological thriller.
This is the first book I have read by Karen but it certainly won't be my last!!! Congratulations Karen on an addictive book I am now off to Amazon to add the rest of your books to my wishlist. Here is to you next success 🥂
Overall a fast paced psychological thriller that will keep you hooked from the first page to the last.
Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Psychological Fiction, Suspense Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Thriller and Mystery amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'The Girl on the Train', 'The Woman in the Window' and 'Gone Girl'.
277 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 4 /5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@KarenMcQuestion @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
About the author
Karen McQuestion is an Amazon Charts bestselling author who's written more than twenty novels and has sold over two million books worldwide. She's also the co-host, (along with USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson), of the popular podcast, BEHIND THE BOOK.
Her publishing story has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR and she has appeared on ABC's World News Now and America This Morning. McQuestion’s books share common themes of connection and kindness. She lives in Hartland, Wisconsin.
From Karen: To be notified of giveaways and book news, please sign up for my email newsletter at www.karenmcquestion.com
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