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What You Wish For

What You Wish For by Mark Edwards My rating: 5 of 5 stars Mark Edwards takes us on an absolute ride in What You Wish For, delivering a masterclass in psychological tension and atmospheric dread. At its heart, this is a story about belief systems, how easily human perception can be warped, and the terrifying power of shared conviction. Having studied safeguarding and extremism—and growing up in a world where rigid religious doctrines dictated absolute truth—this story resonated on a deeply uncomfortable level. Edwards deftly explores how easily hope and the search for meaning can curdle into a cult-like devotion. Whether it’s money, religion, commercialism, or even the magical lies we feed our children (from Father Christmas to the Elf on the Shelf!), humanity has a endless appetite for believing in the unseen. Edwards could have picked any devotion to center this story on, but the path he chooses floods your veins with equal parts fear, excitement, and breathless tension. You’re co...
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Beneath the Surface Fear is Different

  Beneath the Surface by Chris McKenna My rating: 5 of 5 stars There is a very specific, visceral kind of fear in falling backward off a boat into the deep ocean—strapped into a wetsuit, monitoring your air pressure, relying completely on your dive buddy, and sinking into a world where no one on the surface knows you’re there. Beneath the Surface captures that exact adrenaline rush, carrying a tension that feels entirely unique compared to traditional thrillers. It’s the fear of the vast, silent unexpected. Knowing Chris McKenna’s background in non-fiction dive photography and children's literature, I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of his fiction—and I wasn't disappointed. His real-life diving experience shines through on every page; underwater, every breath matters, and that authenticity makes the story deeply immersive. The pacing is fantastic, balancing moments of mouth-watering food and sensory details with high-wire tension as the true motives and grief of the cre...
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Change your Life The Minders

  The Minders by John Marrs My rating: 5 of 5 stars What starts off like a golden ticket to a dream adventure quickly twists into a high-stakes psychological nightmare. In classic John Marrs fashion, The Minders takes an idyllic, life-changing premise and slowly strips away the illusion until you realize just how dangerous the game really is. If you’ve read The One, you’ll recognize the subtle threads woven into this world—particularly the DNA matching elements and the heavy emotional baggage each character carries into the story. But don't worry, no official secrets act was signed, so my lips are sealed on the specifics! Marrs excels at orchestrating tension. He lulls you into a false sense of security, lets you catch your breath, and then violently pulls the rug out from under your feet, leaving you floundering. The anxiety ebbs and flows, building until you feel like you're walking a tightrope right alongside the characters toward the climax. Much like a dark Roald Dahl t...
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If They Knew ARC copy what a ride.

  IF THEY KNEW by A.J. Wooding My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review: If They Knew Rating: ★★★★★ Would you have boarded this cruise liner if you knew what was going to happen? If They Knew is a fast-paced, high-stakes ride from beginning to end. The initial social dynamics gave me serious West Side Story vibes—just without the musical overture! As the situation escalates, it transforms into an intense 'them vs. us' fight for survival. This isn't Lord of the Flies fighting over someone's glasses; this is a raw struggle over the most vital elements of human life: water and food. It’s not necessarily a story about survival of the fittest, but rather survival of the one with the right mix of pluck and pure luck. The tension in this book ebbs and flows like the tide, lulling you into that false sense of security that thriller writers do so well, right before another cataclysmic catastrophe hits. There is a lot of breath-holding along the way, and at times the atmosphere felt so...
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What a ride!

  Gray After Dark by Noelle W. Ihli My rating: 5 of 5 stars Gray After Dark by Noelle W. Ihli The Verdict: What a ride! Gray After Dark starts at a steady, simmering pace, but right from the beginning, there’s a cold knot of curiosity and trepidation sitting in your chest. Thanks to a chilling prologue, you know something terrible is waiting in the shadows for the main protagonist, Miley. She takes risks, and you spend the first half desperately hoping she’ll somehow stay safe... And then—SLAM! You hit the midpoint, and the story violently shifts gears. Suddenly, you are strapped into a unrelenting rollercoaster of fear, entrapment, and absolute anxiety, desperately wondering how Miley is going to survive. Just when you catch a breath because someone finally shows concern for her safety, the dynamic shifts again, forcing her into a desperate survival dance alongside a character whose motives are utterly terrifying. The Shocking Reality What makes this book truly harrowing is kno...
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A Baffling, Darkly Funny Ride: You Killed Me First by John Marrs

  You Killed Me First by John Marrs My rating: 5 of 5 stars A Baffling, Darkly Funny Ride: You Killed Me First by John Marrs Right from the prologue of You Killed Me First, I knew something absolutely awful was going to happen to one of the main characters—but the mystery was figuring out who. At first, I honestly thought I was reading a UK version of Desperate Housewives (no offense intended, John, I loved that show so it is a massive compliment!). The three protagonists—Anna, Liv, and Margot—rubbed along just fine. Their day-to-day lives co-existed beautifully, right up until they didn't, and everything began to spectacularly unravel. Along the way, the book starts bordering on the supernatural. At times, I felt like I was reading an episode of Ghost Whisperer, until I finally realized it was actually bordering on pure insanity. It touches on that scary reality we all know: that little voice whispering in our heads. The one that tells us we are useless, or on the flip side, th...
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Trapped in the Unknown with Mark Edwards: One in the Family

  Trapped in the Unknown with Mark Edwards: One in the Family Review Rating: ★★★★★ What a ride! I’ve just got back from a long trip to Penrith, and my constant companion on the trains to Cumbria, the buses to Pooley Bridge, and the winding roads to Kendal was the audio version of Mark Edwards’ latest thriller, One in the Family . And let me tell you, it made the miles absolutely fly by. If you've read The Magpies or The Wasp Trap , you already know Mark is a master of making scary things happen to ordinary people. But One in the Family is something beautifully different. It is tense, it is odd, and it packs an unbelievable amount of drama into a tight, relentless timeframe. Time doesn't matter when a writer knows exactly how to build tension like a pressure cooker. "It gave me total Agatha Christie vibes—that classic setup where a group of people are completely cut off from the rest of the world..." But instead of a sun-drenched island, we are dropped into...
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