Lisa Unger | THE STRANGER INSIDE

Plot (via Goodreads):

Even good people are drawn to do evil things ... Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend's house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but years later was released. Then someone delivered real justice—and killed him in cold blood.

Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, having put aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends' abductor force Rain to revisit memories she's worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can't Rain just let it go?

Review:

The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger is only my third book by her, but around 60 pages in, I had to put the book down, message Lisa instantly and solidify the fact that this woman was a new go-to author for me. There is just something so addictive about the combination of her writing, the setting, the characters, and the details in her writing. From a fall setting that has plenty of spooky atmospheric detail and is the perfect timing for such an eerie read.  With the backstory that features the description of heat and the smell of pavement with craving ice cream before such a horrible event happens - all of these small things that you wouldn't really think of are so prominent in this story just resonate and turn it into such an immersive reading experience. I know it may not sound like a huge deal, but I could feel the chill in the fall air with this read, I could imagine these characters and felt secure in following them along this journey like I would friends or family.

I loved, loved, loved the plot to this novel. The combination of a current mystery woven together with some PTSD, a story-line with a serial killer in the past, and a phenomenal spin on social media and the news was just almost sensory overload for me - I never wanted this one to end. I love Lisa Unger's way of plotting out a novel and I think this was her best work yet. There were so many generous and unexpected plot twists and bends in the road that changed the plot without seeming gimmicky or unbelievable. I loved the character of Rain, the meaning behind her name, and the memories from the past that were meticulously sprinkled throughout this novel. I was really enjoying the flashbacks as it wasn't necessarily two different timelines, but more or so flashbacks that would give you a breadcrumb of information to keep you intrigued and curious and then Unger just lets loose with the details and gives you the full story and leaves you breathless. This one can be creepy, unsettling, and completely binge-worthy. I took it everywhere with me and devoured it in one day; it was in my kitchen when I cooked my dinner, I read it in the bathtub - I just couldn't let it out of my sight. I think there could have been a few pages shaved off from this one just to kind of make the pacing a little faster during the second half, but by no means do I have any complains about this one.

I don't know what Unger is going to do next and I don't care - I am signing up here and now to scoop up all of her future titles, as well as planning to review her backlist while I wait.

Special thanks to Lisa Unger for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4.5/5