Thriller Book Recommendations: Jane Harper & Hazel Holmes
Did you, like me, miss #halfaweenathon? (It’s the halfway point in the year to Halloween, in case you were wondering.) Not to worry. There’s still lots of time to add great thrillers to your #tbr list for May and beyond.
Today, I’m sharing a suspense novel I thoroughly enjoyed and one that I’m just getting into. Feel free to watch in video format (above) or read on.
The Survivors by Jane Harper
I’m already a fan of Jane Harper. This Australian best-seller is a master with a pen, creating fictional stories you’d swear were real and characters you expect to meet walking down the street in your town.
The Survivors was no exception. Set in a small, coastal town where everyone knows everyone, the main character, Keiran, and his long-term girlfriend, Mia return to their hometown. There, they plan to help his parents pack up for a move to a new place. While there, however, tragedy strikes and a young woman is killed.
As the story unfolds, we learn more about a severe storm that occurred 10 years before, killing both Kieran’s brother and one of his best friends and presumably taking the life of a fourteen-year-old.
The way that Harper weaves the history of both the town and this storm into the present-day narrative is skillful. And the way that she develops her characters, making them as true-to-life as your own cousins or neighbors is genius.
I highly recommend The Survivors and all of Jane Harper’s other suspense novels. You can check out my audio review of The Dry, one of her earlier works via my YouTube channel.
The Estate Hauntings by Hazel Holmes
In this two-book boxset, Hazel Holmes creates a spooky, otherworldly setting. In Whitecrest, which I’m currently reading, a young family: Julia, her husband, and son, inherit a beautiful mansion in a remote town. Left to them by a deceased aunt, the only clause for them to become owners of the house is that they cannot sell it.
Driven by their hatred of the cramped apartment they share in the city and ever-mounting consumer debt, the couple gladly takes the plunge into small-town life. Only the beautiful home they inherited holds many secrets–and quite possibly some ghosts–within its walls.
The Estate Hauntings promises to be a page-turner and I’m looking forward to seeing how things turn out for Julia and her little family.
How Do You Find Books to Read?
I’m always curious how other readers find their next #tbr books. Recently, I watched a fellow Booktuber, Michelle Schusterman, who conducted a survey of her readers. What surprised me the most was that a large percentage of readers discovered new books via YouTube. The most highly-used way to find new books was through browsing (libraries, bookstores, etc.) and further down on the list were social media sites like Twitter and Instagram.
Please let me know how you find books to read.
Enjoy supernatural suspense novels? Monsters in the Green Mountains is perfect for lovers of authors like Shirley Jackson, Frank Peretti, and John Saul. You’ll find a full listing of this series and other books on my website.
