Rea FreyRezensionen

Not great - not horrible

This was so good, I hope she writes more thrillers! Ruby is recently retired from nursing, they moved into her husbands dream house and her daughter is on track in school and looking forward to deciding what she wants to do for college. When she is out rowing one morning, she finds a dead body has come to surface and when police start questioning her and the neighbors, things are not as they appear. With each interview, the police slowly are pulling out tidbits about everyone, as well as just who Ruby and Tom are, as the newest in the neighborhood. As more dead bodies appear and the investigation continues, it seems that Ruby has been telling half truths and even she is shocked by the secrets that come out about her husband. Not only do the secrets bubble up like the body did, so does her past and that may just hold the key to cracking the case. Will the police be able to pinpoint the killer before another body shows up, or will it be left up to the community crime solvers who are no longer just playing a game of solving the murder. I especially loved the added chat sections and the clever user names! Thank you to Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for the tour invite and to the author and Netgalley for the complementary book. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

3,5 ⭐
This book is one fast and dangerous rollercoaster ride from start to finish. It starts with Ruby finding a body during her morning row. Everyone says it's her missing husband Tom, but why doesn't she recognise him? And who killed him?

The story is told in now and then chapters. We gradually learn what's happened in the past and how it affects the present. There are tons of secrets and twists, maybe even too many, if that is possible. I managed to guess the killer, but not the motivation. I also guessed many of the twists, but it did not hinder my reading experience. The pace is very fast and I just had to keep turning the pages to get to the end. I really, really liked the writing style. This is one of those books that could have been longer in order to tie in all the loose ends that left me wondering in the end. None of the characters were very likable, but I don't mind that in my thrillers. In fact the more nasty the better.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy of this book.

suspense

Told in two similar but distinct timelines The Other Year tells the story of how it would be to lose a child to drowning and then in a parallel timeline how life could go on without this tragic loss of a child. This is a deeply emotional book that certainly tugged at my heart in both timelines. It explores grief, joy, emotional healing, love, loss and so much more. The author writes beautifully and really tied the story up perfectly. I am quite impressed with how she managed to merge these two timelines in the end. I highly recommend this novel. It really is something quite unique and special. Five stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Harper Muse for the ARC copy of this audio book, it was excellent.

I've read all of this author's books and this is another unique thriller about a child. I can't imagine being a parent who has very limited vision, and a single parent struggling to deal with the loss of her husband, and then her mother, and the author does a good job of putting us in Rebecca's (the mother) shoes.
She is convinced someone has been entering her home, following her on the streets, and when she is positive that her infant, Jackson, has been switched with another baby, Rebecca (Bec) is in full-blown panic mode. I enjoyed her spunk and determination to do everything on her own, and although she has supportive friends, and an ex-boyfriend who sweeps in to help her with the case, we do see Bec push ahead on her own, determined to find her son, and also, to find out who the other infant is.
It's a thriller that will make you nervous as you cheer Bec on!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book. You know right away that things aren't going to go well for Lee once she makes the decision to go on her girl's weekend getaway, yet you don't know exactly what will happen.
Even after the weekend is over and the plot continues to unfold with Grace, her friend, and Noah, the man Lee was falling for, the "present" and "past" chapters slowly peel away the sub-layers as to why they have all gotten to this point in their lives.
I like the twists that unfold in the last few chapters, and they'll keep you guessing until the very end.

A bit predictable but enjoyable.

One of the most excellent books I have read so far this year. This is a book I recommend to everybody. The writing and storyline were both excellent. This book was so amazing that I literally finished it in less than three hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Interesting way to tell a story. In two alternating timelines, the story tells 2 different realities. Kate and her daughter, Olivia (Liv), go on a 2-week beach vacation. Kate's ex, Michael, texts Kate, so she momentarily looks down at her phone. In that instance, Liv disappears in the ocean. 1st scenario, Liv is fine, rescued from the waves. 2nd scenario, Liv is pulled out via a riptide, knocked unconscious, and drowns. What follows are 2 timelines of how Kate moves on with her life, her relationship with Michael, her best friend-Jason, and his daughter, Ayana. Finally, her life with Ian whom she meets on a farm. Grief and joy are both examined in this unique story of what if...

Kate Baker and her daughter, Olivia, have taken a two week vacation at the beach. In one scenario, Olivia disappears in the waves long enough for Kate to panic. But, she eventually resurfaces with no ill effects. In another scenario, Olivia drowns and it changes Kate’s life irrevocably.

This is a unique layout for a book. And honestly, it might need to come with a trigger warning. When my children were little, I used to avoid books where a child was killed or kidnapped. When this child died…it tore me up. But, the way the author portrays the alternative year, very uncommon and different. I do not see how this author created this story and did not cry her eyes out, and maybe she did.

Sometimes you need a tale which will make you realize what is important and this story brings that front and center.

This novel is narrated by Brittany Pressley. I loved her. Excellent job on the emotion! And believe me…this story is emotional.

Need a heartbreaking tale…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

In this latest thriller from Rea Frey, Ruby is out rowing on the lake when she finds a dead body. The police are sure it’s her missing husband Tom, who had a history of abusing Ruby. Ruby isn’t so sure. Meanwhile, there are more murders in the neighborhood, so it’s clear there is a serial killer on the loose, and despite the neighbors playing murder club at their regular get togethers for fun, they haven’t managed to catch the killer (I did love those meetings though!) Plus, Ruby’s troubled teen daughter Lily is missing. I loved this thriller. It was told in dual timelines, fleshing out Ruby’s backstory, both as a child where she had a very complicated incident happen that ties into the murder club, and earlier in her marriage to Tom, and also in the present day as the police work to solve the murders. It’s a fun domestic drama and whodunit and I always enjoy Rea Frey’s books. 5/5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for review purposes.

I loved that the author made this story a novel! I think all parents, especially mother's have had that "what if" thought when a heart pound, panic situation has had us thinking the worse happened to our child and then seconds later all is ok when we see them again. But what if it really isn't and what happens to life then? This story was told as a parallel of the good and the worse case scenario of Kate's daughter going missing in the waves and how her life was drastically different from the other, depending on the outcome of Olivia going missing. This was quite an emotion read at times and you really felt what the author was trying to portray through Kate and her life. This author did a great job at making both storylines very different from each other but you knew it was the same character living each one it really makes you question how different your life could be if one situation in life had had a slightly different outcome. I really enjoyed this one, even though it was a bit of a tug on the emotions, and I look forward to more by this author. I also loved the discussion questions included at the end, it really gave more depth about the novel thinking of answers to those. Thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite and to the author for the free novel. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

In THE OTHER YEAR, a parallel timelines trope women’s fiction novel, Kate is a single mother who in alternate chapters experiences a year where in one reality, her daughter dies after a day swimming out in the ocean where she let herself get distracted while scrolling on her phone, and in the other reality, her daughter lives, and they go through the next year having mother daughter conflicts. I am a big fan of Frey’s writing and the way she always asks interesting questions. The way she wrote Kate’s grief and the chapters after Olivia passed were heart wrenching. Then in the other timeline where Olivia is alive, you see her as a tween and all is not necessarily rosy as there is conflict between mother and daughter and Kate is forced to ask if it is better for her daughter to live with her father (they’re divorced) even if that means giving her up. I found the parenting questions and grief questions were my very, very favorite parts of the book and written in a very compelling way. There was in the second half a pretty strong focus on romance with three men all vying to be Kate’s romantic partner. This, I’ll confess, held my attention less than the parts of the novel about motherhood and grief and I honestly didn’t really care one way or another for the person she ended up with. 5/5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC copy of this book from Harper Muse and NetGalley for review purposes.

Okay, but I need a tad bit more resolution! So Amy says bye, but does she sign over any papers? How's Emma going to be enrolled in school? Sticky. Nothing is actually solved; emotionally, they are fine, but they're still all on the run! The main propulsion of this book was wanting to know how it would end, and the ending didn't deliver.

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Thoughts tk.

Have you ever seen kids getting screamed at in public and wondered if it's an isolated moment or whether they have a bad home life? I have, and so the description of this book really called out to me.
Sarah is a woman who was neglected, abused and abandoned by her mother as a child. When she sees Emma Townsend being screamed at by her mother it affects her so strongly that she can not forget. When she is sure that this was not an isolated incident she steals Emma, wanting only to protect her and give her the love that she never had as a child and that Emma so obviously needs. Once they are on the run together she is not sure whether she's made a mistake. The story starts off really strong and I was sure I was going to fall in love with it but the ending was just too simplistic and unrealistic for me.

I received an advance copy for review.

Secrets of Our House is about a family with many many secrets! Desi the wife is in love with another man! Peter the husband wants a divorce! Jules their daughter doesn't want to go to college she wants to marry a local boy she has fallen in love with!

The family secrets all start coming to a head and intertwine so beautifully. This is a very emotional, heartfelt family drama! The characters are the type that no matter how much information you're given you will always want to know more! I loved this story! This was my first book by this author but I look forward to reading more of Rea Frey's other books!

Thank you Get Red PR and St. Martin's Press for sharing this book with me in exchange for an honest review!

Desi is a designer who built the Black House in River Falls, NC as a retreat for her family. Her husband Peter is an ex-Marine who teaches survival courses. Their 17-yr old daughter Jules is good at everything and will head to Columbia in the fall. But now, the family is going to spend the summer at the Black House so Desi and Peter can reconnect and work on their marriage. When Jules falls in love with Will, and Desi’s old love, Carter, reaches out to her, Desi questions all the secrets she kept and the decisions she made. When tragedy strikes, the bonds of family are tested.
Emotional and very tense at times.

Whew, this book! As I start to write this review, the first book that comes to mind to compare this psychological thriller about child abduction to is “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. While the plots aren’t similar, what struck me as I was reading was that I had the same feeling that there wasn’t a single main character in the book who was remotely good or that I was rooting for to succeed, but that the writing was so engaging and the plot so sensational that I couldn’t stop turning pages.

Sarah (the kidnapper) is on the surface a successful woman who owns her own business. However, she hides an obsessive, stalkerish personality and has not dealt with a breakup well. When she witnesses a young girl being spoken harshly to in an airport and slapped by her mother, she becomes obsessed with her, traveling to the girl’s hometown, staying in a hotel for days to stalk her outside her school and learn her patterns, then kidnaps her from her backyard. Sarah is the one at first the writing might lead you to believe is in the right, but you’re left wondering what normal adult who suspected abuse wouldn’t have just picked up the phone and called child protective services, the police, or the child’s school where counselors and teachers are mandatory reporters? Instead she kidnaps her.

It’s hard to feel much fondness for Emma’s parents. Her mother, Amy is physically and mentally abusive towards Emma, and her father is abusive towards Amy. I do wish Amy had not been depicted as overweight and ugly versus Sarah whose beauty was talked about at length (the text compared her to Anne Hathaway.) It felt like an attempt to try to depict mom as ugly and should have never had children, and kidnapper as pretty and an avenging angel, and felt unnecessary. You’ll have to decide on what you think of the ending!

Much like in “Gone Girl” you’re left reading through your fingers, wondering how this will turn out!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

I always enjoy Rea Frey’s women’s fiction for its well-drawn characters and dark, twisty situations.

The players:

Desi designs houses and has just moved from Chicago with her husband Peter and teenaged daughter Jules to the small town of River Falls. Peter is ex-military and now is into the survivalist life. His marriage with Desi is strained. Jules is dating Will, whose mother is sick with end stage cancer. Jules had been planning to attend college in New York, but now wants to forego school in order to stay in River Falls and be close to Will. Desi’s estranged brother Tommy shows up in town. Like Peter, he’s ex-military. Carter is Desi’s ex. He also served with Peter and Tommy in the Marines and has been trying to contact Desi.

The action of this book takes place over the course of a year. Many people in the book are under stress because of big life events. Will Jules and Will be parted when Jules goes to Columbia in the fall? Will and Ava’s mother continues to grow sicker as her cancer advances. Some characters are keeping secrets and have been for years. The marriage between Peter and Desi made me shudder to read at times. I wouldn’t really call either of them particularly likeable characters. Peter was cold and controlling and Desi was meddling and manipulative, but from a drama standpoint, watching their marriage self-destruct made for terribly interesting reading. Several huge medical events happen in the book and they were very well written with nail biting action and excellent pacing. My favorite thing about this book was the description of the setting.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for review purposes.

This was my second Rea Frey book and all I can say is she has managed yet again to write a quite delightful psychological thriller that kept me guessing. Rebecca is blind, having lost her sight several years earlier. She also has recently lost both her husband and her mother in the last year (this is a book that is very much about grief and recovery—not an easy read.) She has a 3-month-old baby.

A lot of the book at first is about set up and establishing how Rebecca functions in the world and within her friend group so it takes until about 1/3 of the way in to get to the main event which is—Rebecca believes someone has switched her baby out with a different baby—and no one else will believe her. After that, the pacing is taut and moves quickly all the way to the end. You’re left wondering if this is all in Rebecca’s head or if the babies have been switched? (No spoilers!) Well crafted and I enjoyed it.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

Desi has secrets…yes more than one.​

Jules now has one, but she will reveal it.​​

We meet this family in their gorgeous house in the woods that was designed by Desi for peace and comfort, but this house does harbor secrets held past and present.​​

SECRETS OF OUR HOUSE moves on as we see the family taking a three-month summer vacation at their dream house and as the dream house has everyone changing their lives in one way or another.​​

The characters were authentic, the setting was gorgeous, but the story line had me looking for when something was going to happen.​​

Things did happen, and things became tense with a final thought that it’s family that matters.

​​It was well written, but the story line seemed too much like a soap opera to me. 3/5​​

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

Author Rea Frey's latest book, Secrets of Our House, was inspired by her 2019 visit to the Georgia home of fellow author Emily Carpenter -- a large, black house. She has crafted an engrossing story about "secrets, lies, and betrayals," written during the pandemic when most people were spending significant chunks of time in their homes. Thus, she "couldn't think of a more perfect setting" for her new novel than the fictional Black House that figures prominently in Secrets of Our House.

The story opens at the home that Desi designed in the North Carolina mountains just outside the little town of River Falls. She runs a successful interior design firm in Chicago, while Peter, her husband, is a former Marine sniper who has made a career of training urbanites in tactical self-defense. He has also taught their daughter, Jules, to be a survivalist, and she will need those skills as the summer unfolds. Seventeen-year-old Jules is artistic and athletic, an academic achiever who is scheduled to begin her first semester at Columbia University in New York in the fall, majoring in biomedical science. She is painfully aware that her parents' marriage is in trouble. Their relationship has become increasingly "bitter, silent," with the two of them growing further apart with each passing day. Desi is lonely in North Carolina, missing the city, its energy, and her work. But she and Peter have agreed to spend the summer at The Black House for the specific purpose of deciding if their marriage can be saved.

Desi is receiving text messages from Carter, the man she loved, but hadn't seen or spoken with for years until she recently ran into him at a farmer's market. She regrets having given him her business card because now he wants to get together with her. Worse, she thinks she sees him in town. Desi isn't "sure if she secretly wants Carter to show up or if that would literally be the worst thing that could happen." On top of that, her brother, Tommy, has shown up unannounced. Tommy served with Peter and Carter in the Marines and, as a result, has suffered from PTSD and mood swings, struggled with drug addiction, and tends to appear only when he needs money. A drifter, he has just returned from Morocco and will stay with Desi's family until he decides to move on again.

Secrets of Our House is a tale about choices, and how decisions one makes about life always have consequences. Sometimes the impact of those choices is unforeseen and even unintentional, but there is no escaping the ramifications, even if, as in Frey's tautly-constructed story, they only manifest many years later.

And for Desi that's exactly what happens as the story unfolds. Jules has fallen in love with a local pilot, Will, who is four years older than she is. He has a close, loving family, all of whom have rallied around his mother, Lenore, who has terminal lung cancer. Jules loves River Falls and the close-knit community she has become part of -- almost as much as she loves Will, with whom she has become intimate. She wants to defer her studies to remain in North Carolina with her father, who dreams of building a survivalist course there. But Desi is determined to keep Jules from making decisions Desi fears she will later regret. Desi, of course, has the benefit of hindsight that Jules lacks. And plenty of regrets of her own.

For Desi, "what was supposed to be a relaxing summer has instantly turned complex." Carter is communicating with her and stirring up old feelings from which Desi has been running for many years; her brother has arrived without warning; Jules' relationship with Will is deepening and, from Desi's perspective, threatening to derail Jules' future; and Peter is becoming "less and less emotionally unavailable," despite the fact that they agreed to give their marriage one last try.

Desi astutely senses that her past is about to catch up with her and she cannot "escape herself." To give her emotional conundrum context, Frey details, at expertly-timed junctures, the choices Desi made many years ago, as well as her escalating desperation to keep long-buried secrets from coming to light. "Was her entire life really about covering up who she really was?" she ponders. Frey also explores the factors that played into Desi's decision-making all those years ago -- a desire for "stability and protection;" genuine but very different feelings for Peter and Carter; and copious amounts of guilt about her actions. Desi concluded long ago that "she needed certain and familiar, not wild and unpredictable." Frey skillfully and compassionately portrays Desi's inescapable internal struggle to finally and conclusively reconcile the war that has raged between her heart and mind for two decades.

Peter has always been a dedicated father to Jules, but often withdrawn and unreachable in his relationship with Desi. He promised to leave the Marines once they were married, but broke that promise, serving several more tours before finally coming home to stay. Did he have reasons for making that choice about which Desi has remained unaware? If so, why has he never told her the truth? Jules is decisive and committed to the life she is designing for herself, but earnest and loathe to disappoint her parents, especially her mother, in any way. With respect to Jules, Desi is well-meaning but, like every parent, makes mistakes. And her failure to appreciate the impact of her actions on not just her daughter's life, but others' lives, as well, could prove catastrophic and heart-breaking.

Frey heightens the dramatic tension and suspense by placing her characters in life-threatening situations that force them to put their differences aside and work together to ensure the survival of those they love most. In the process, revelations -- some shouted in anger and frustration at inopportune moments -- come amid critical, strategic decision-making. Desi and Peter have also long harbored resentments, jealousy, and anger toward each other and, individually, experienced profound disappointment and sorrow. The truth comes to light as they navigate an unspeakably harrowing crisis in the wilderness that could cost them everything they hold dear.

Secrets of Our House is an absorbing, entertaining, and richly emotional examination of a family that has been careening toward a crossroads -- a reckoning -- for a long time. Having now arrived there, she illustrates how each character reacts and adapts when the truth is known, and what they decide is best for each of them moving forward. Will they be able to forgive each other, and themselves, in order to forge new, healthier relationships with each other?

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.

A domestic thriller and wilderness survival tale.

Peter and Desi's marriage is faltering at the same time their eighteen-year-old daughter Jules is falling for a local boy from the town below their remote mountain vacation home. The clash of class and expectations brings multiple secrets to light, as the wilderness tests them to their limit in a fight for survival.

Desi's a wealthy, big-city architect who brought her dream to life in her remote mountain getaway, and Peter's an ex-marine who now focuses on survivalist skills. But Desi's haunted by thoughts of Carter, a marine who deployed with Peter and is her one who got away. When Carter shows up unexpectedly at their mountain house, Desi feels her marriage stretch to the breaking point. Meanwhile, Jules is dealing with her feelings for Will, whose mother has terminal cancer. Her inevitable death and Desi's dreams of her daughter attending Berkley bring their relationship to the brink.

I found both Desi and Peter hard to like, as some of their choices set them on a very hard path. But Jules and Will are adorable as the couple fighting societal expectations to be together. The wilderness surrounding the cabin is almost a character unto itself, as the author refuses to let us forget the brutality of nature as, after an unexpected incident, (I can't say more without giving spoilers) many characters' survival skills are pushed to the limit.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Desi was not remotely sympathetic or likable as a main character which made it very difficult to like the book. There was also way too much going on - Desi and Peter's marriage, Desi's relationship with Carter, Juliette and Will and Will's family. This just wasn't a book for me. I won an ARC of this book from Goodreads.