Emily Carpenter | UNTIL THE DAY I DIE

Plot (via Goodreads):

If there’s a healthy way to grieve, Erin Gaines hasn’t found it. After her husband’s sudden death, the runaway success of the tech company they built with their best friends has become overwhelming. Her nerves are frayed, she’s disengaged, and her frustrated daughter, Shorie, is pulling away from her. Maybe Erin’s friends and family are right. Maybe a few weeks at a spa resort in the Caribbean islands is just what she needs to hit the reset button…

Shorie is not only worried about her mother’s mental state but also for the future of her parents’ company. Especially when she begins to suspect that not all of Erin’s colleagues can be trusted. It seems someone is spinning an intricate web of deception—the foundation for a conspiracy that is putting everything, and everyone she loves, at risk. And she may be the only one who can stop it.

Now, thousands of miles away in a remote, and oftentimes menacing, tropical jungle, Erin is beginning to have similar fears. Things at the resort aren’t exactly how the brochure described, and unless she’s losing her mind, Erin’s pretty sure she wasn’t sent there to recover—she was sent to disappear.

Review:

Emily Carpenter is a go-to author for me. I became a fan when I completely gobbled up The Weight of Lies and haven't looked back. This is my third Carpenter novel and while I will admit - each one has had a completely different feel and no two are even close to being similar, you can always tell when you're reading an Emily Carpenter novel just based on how you read it. The phone is shut off, the reading nook is extra cozy, and there's no time to cook a meal. Carpenter's writing is sensational  with a prose that is razor sharp, characters that are so realistic that it's scary, and a plot that will spark your imagination throughout the entire story. 

Until the Day I Die is by far the most complex Carpenter novel that I've read just yet. There was so much going on in the beginning that I just couldn't help but completely wrap my head around the plot, welcome the characters, and dive into the unknowing - which is exactly the kind of read I love! Once the characters were familiar and the plot was coming together, the story took a turn into a rather unfamiliar territory for me and I was not only nervous, but anxious to find out what tricks Carpenter had up her sleeve. I was completely unprepared and remarkably surprised. 

The plot to this one was really intricate, filled with dazzling detail and a ton of wonderful characters. It's so hard to trust anyone in this novel because everyone has a reason to be rather persuasive and untrustworthy and yet, you need someone on your side to hold your hand throughout this twisty tale. The plot to this one kind of reminded me of the movie The Net with Sandra Bullock but on a whole other level. It's emotionally charged (but not sappy), it has remnants of domestic suspense (but moves like a thriller), and is full of intriguing twists (without being too far fetched). Needless to say, this is one bad ass action packed novel that packs a punch and really delivers up until the bittersweet finale. Why bittersweet? You don't want it to end, but even though it does, Carpenter delivers by wrapping up every single detail deliciously within one hell of a novel. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next - and whatever it is, I'll be first in line to sign up for the experience. 

Special thanks to Lake Union an Amazon Publishing for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5