Tuesday, April 18, 2017

The Perfect Stranger - Megan Miranda

Megan Miranda's debut adult novel, All the Missing Girls, was a fantastic read. I couldn't wait to read her latest, just released book - The Perfect Stranger.

We meet Leah Stevens in the prologue. She's left her job in the city and moved to a small town to work as a teacher. Not a planned move, but...."(I) could start over. Be the Leah Stevens I had planned to be."

The why of her departure from her former life is only revealed slowly, in memories and offhand comments. And what of her roommate, the enigmatic Emmy? They lived together back in Leah's college days and now again by good fortune.

And then a woman is killed in that new, quiet small town. And Emmy goes missing.

Can I say that Miranda does missing girls really, really well. That first book also had us hunting for a missing girl. Miranda has again come up with a fantastic plot line in which nothing is as it appears - in part one. But in part two the mouse becomes the cat.....

"Truth and story - doesn't matter which comes first, as long as you get where you need to be at the end. As long as you end at the truth, all's fair."

So, who's telling the truth? I could see the danger ahead and found myself wanting to shout at the character to open her eyes and see what was coming! You know, those 'don't go in the basement' moments in a scary movie. She doesn't listen however. Thankfully, because otherwise the reader would be robbed of a heck of a good read. And no psychological thriller should be without that last gotcha ending. The Perfect Stranger ends with a 'just right' one. Read an excerpt of The Perfect Stranger.

Another great page-turner from Megan Miranda - this reader will be eagerly awaiting her next book.

You can connect with Megan Miranda on her website and follow her on Twitter.

1 comment:

bermudaonion said...

You've convinced me I need to read one of her books soon!