Review: The Stranger Inside

The Stranger Inside by Jennifer Jaynes

Release Date: May 9, 2017
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Pages: 284
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In this tautly crafted tale of psychological suspense, a recently widowed mother resorts to the unthinkable to protect her shattered family. But does she go too far?

After mystery author Diane Christie loses her husband to suicide, she and her son move to the small coastal town of Fog Harbor, Massachusetts. Her daughter is attending college nearby, and Diane hopes that her family can now begin to heal. But rebuilding their lives after the tragedy isn't so simple.

Diane's depressed college-age daughter, Alexa, still avoids her, critical of everything Diane does, and even her generally amiable teenage son, Josh, has started acting out. Diane pushes forward, focusing on her writing and her volunteer work at a local crisis hotline. She knows that healing takes time.

But then a girl from Alexa's college is found strangled. Worse still, the murderer uses the crisis hotline to confess to Diane . . . and claims she is the only one who can stop the killing. And just when the glow of new love from an attractive admirer begins to chase away some of the darkness, more girls turn up dead, and Diane races to solve a mystery she fears will hit terrifyingly close to home.

The Stranger Inside is a fantastically twisted psychological ride that had me hooked from the very first page! This is quite possibly my favorite read so far this year, I honestly can't say enough how much I loved it. I really had no expectations going in and I was blown away. I've been reading mystery/thrillers since I was a kid, so I'm not easily scared by a book. the Stranger Inside had jumping at every little noise, biting my nails, and loving every scary minute of it!

Main character Diane, who co-incidently is a mystery writer ( love her already!) and her son Josh and daughter Alexa move to Massachusetts after her husbands suicide. Her life begins to get more complicated, just as students at Alexa's college start turning up dead. Meanwhile at the crisis center Diane volunteer's at, she starts receiving mysterious distorted phone calls from the killer, who claims only she can stop the murders. With a serial killer on the loose, no one is safe, especially not Diane!

This was so expertly written, the pacing was fantastic, there were never any lags in the story or parts that dragged on. It was a quick, fast paced read, which are my favorite kind. It was extremely suspenseful and I found myself screaming things out loud as I read along "no don't go in there," "pick up the phone!!!" "don't get in the car!!!"

This is one of those stories where your suspicious of everyone and see shadows everywhere. The ending was mind blowing, there were so many shocking twists and turns one right after another, I was truly left speechless when I finished this one. I absolutely loved this one, and highly recommend it! Can't wait to read more from this amazing author!