When is the last time that you read a book where you just couldn’t tell where it was going? One that pleasantly surprised you? Here are 4 books that went in a different direction that it seemed at first and we were too thrilled with where they ended up!
– TANYA PATRICE –
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find – her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
This book is drama, suspense, and a little weirdness rolled up into one. It teases up with what could possibly be going on – why is Noemi’s cousin acting so cray-cray?! And the reason caught me by surprise. This is a beautiful period, atmospheric, “slow burn” novel. The creepy, weird vibe increases as we get more and more into the book, but there’s also a mystery that’s front and center. And check out the accompanying playlist from the author.
Dead to Her, Sarah Pinborough
Marcie Maddox has worked hard to get where she is after the illicit affair that started her new life a few years ago. But her world of country clubs, yachts and sumptuous houses in Savannah, Georgia, isn’t easy to maintain, no matter how hard she tries. Nor is keeping her husband, Jason, truly interested, especially when Jason’s boss brings home a hot new wife from his trip to London. Sexy, drop-dead gorgeous and black – Keisha quickly usurps Marcie’s place as the beautiful second wife. When Marcie sees the extra spark in the room when Keisha and Jason are together and their obvious, magnetic attraction, the gloves come off.
This is a good old fashioned suspenseful book complete with quite a few shallow and unlikable characters who you will want to hate. At first all the characters seem so frivolous and stereotypical, but the author, who tells this story from multiple points of view, does a wonderful job as getting us into their heads and showing us that – everything is not as it first seems.
I’ve also read Behind Her Eyes by Sara Pinborough which was on our list of Another 3 #WickedGoodReads That Prove You Can’t Always Trust The People Close to You and A #CrazyLove and Lies Reading List [Vol. 2].
– KIM –
The Haunting of Tram Car 015, Dejeli Clark
I saw this described as a fantasy detective story and thought that was perfect. Senior Agent Hamed al-Nasr, and his new partner Agent Onsi, work for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. On assignment to address a haunting in a tram car, they realize that the ghost is much more than just a ghost. So begins the task of trying to figure out just exactly what they’re dealing with and just exactly who can help them deal with it.
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 returns to the alternate Cairo of Clark’s short fiction, where humans live and work alongside otherworldly beings; the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities handles the issues that can arise between the magical and the mundane. Senior Agent Hamed al-Nasr shows his new partner Agent Onsi the ropes of investigation when they are called to subdue a dangerous, possessed tram car. What starts off as a simple matter of exorcism, however, becomes more complicated as the origins of the demon inside are revealed.
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
The scene is a beautiful wedding set on a gorgeous but isolated island. The bride is immaculate and the groom is stunning. Everything has been planned to perfection. But this perfect scene is hiding secrets, shame, and jealousy underneath. By the end of the night someone will be dead and no one will know who to trust anymore.
When is the last time you read a book that surprised you? Which book was it?
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