Review: Jar of Hearts

**5 Goodreads Stars**

“The past is always with you, whether you choose to think about it or not, whether you take responsibility for it or not. You carry the past with you because it transforms you. You can try to bury it and pretend it never happened, but that doesn’t work.”

“Because buried things can, and do, come back.”

Jennifer Hillier’s Jar of Hearts is a twisted, heart-pounding thriller that examines the life-long consequences of a crime a teenage girl, Geo, commits out of fear and misguided love.

The book is written from the perspectives of Geo and Kaiser, a young boy who was Geo’s good friend now turned cop. Geo’s best friend in high school, Angela, went missing after attending a party with Geo and Kaiser. Geo and Kaiser were always the second and third wheels to Angela, who was stunningly beautiful and the envy of her entire high school. Fingers were pointed at numerous suspects, including many of the teenagers at the party, but Angela’s case remained cold until her body surfaces 14 years later.

When Angela’s remains are found, Geo is accused and found guilty of killing and dismembering Angela. Friends, family, and coworkers are shocked at the trial’s accusations and revelations. From all appearances, Geo was a successful, compassionate, and charitable CEO of a high-profile company in Seattle. According to the court, Geo assisted her much older boyfriend, Calvin, in the horrific crime when she was 16 years old. Calvin is accused of additional murders and is painted as a serial killer involved in other gruesome murders. Geo is sent to prison where she is forced to atone for her sins. There, she is the picture of a perfect inmate (if there is such a thing).

How, one wonders, could the seemingly put-together and kind Geo also be a hardened killer who took the life of her very best friend?

The book’s timeline shifts between the past and present, giving a picture of the events leading up to Angela’s death and the motivations behind Geo, Kaiser, and Calvin. The tension builds with each turn of the page, offering clues as to what happened that fateful night Angela was killed and how someone who had been a fastidious friend could be a part of her friend’s untimely death. The book raises some difficult questions. For example, how long must one pay for a terrible crime they committed out of fear? How can someone be both a loyal friend and a killer?

If you enjoy character-driven thrillers with sensible twists and turns, Jar of Hearts is definitely for you. This was such a quick, exciting read for me, and I hope that Jennifer Hillier enjoys much success when the book is published this summer! Thank you to the author, Jennifer Hillier, the publisher, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Jar of Hearts and some candy hearts to go with it 🙂 Jar of Hearts will be available for purchase on June 12, 2018!

Review: Believe Me

**5+ Goodreads Stars**

“Sometimes, when you wear a mask too long, you find it sticks to the skin.”

“Never fall for anyone who prefers to speak someone else’s words.”

JP Delaney’s Believe Me is a tantalizing character-driven thriller that explores the length at which an actress would take her craft. British born orphan Claire Wright has managed to flee England in pursuit of an acting career in New York City. A few months after living in New York and taking acting classes, Claire is beyond broke; she’s behind on her rent and is about to be booted out of her apartment.

Her luck changes when she finds clandestine employment as an undercover agent of sorts. Claire’s job is that of a temptress. She is hired by women to lure their husbands into committing adultery, to prove they are willing to cheat on their partners. This job allows Claire to put her acting skills to the test and helps her pay the mounting bills piling up in her shared apartment.

One fateful encounter, however, changes everything for Claire.

Claire meets the oh-so-charming Professor Patrick Folger when his wife requests for Claire to get him to cheat on her. Professor Folger is not like other men Claire has easily seduced. He doesn’t take her bait despite one of the best performances she puts on for him. The day after Claire’s failed attempt at making Folger hers, Folger’s wife is found dead in her room, killed brutally by what police believe to be a serial killer obsessed with finding beauty in death.

Folger’s academic research on poet Charles Baudelaire’s darker works makes him a prime suspect. Claire is then forced by the police to continue her cat and mouse game with Folger. But as Claire pursues Folger, she finds herself drawn into his deceptively dark sexual fetishes, some that border on the obscene. Folger, however, is the first man intelligent enough to intrigue Claire, leading her to wonder who is seducing (and perhaps blackmailing) whom. Claire finds that the character she was told to inhabit to attract Folger is taking over her sense of sense, claiming her mind and body with each passing minute she spends with Folger.

Is Claire falling into Folger’s trap? Is Folger truly capable of committing such heinous crimes? 

This book is sexy and absolutely lush. There are so many quotable passages and memorable scenes in Believe Me. It’s clever, seductive, and everything a psychological thriller should be. I loved all the twists and turns of this book, and would love to re-read it to see the hints and clues as to where the book was taking me now that I know how it ended!

On a side note, I thought the back story to this book was very interesting. JP Delaney, which is a pen name of the author Tony Strong, rewrote Believe Me after the original version, called The Decoy, was published in 2002. I was interested in reading Believe Me because I absolutely adored JP Delaney’s The Girl Before that was published last year. Both books kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you to the author, JP Delaney, the publisher, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Believe Me.