Author: Lisa Unger
Narrator: Vivienne Leheny
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Publication Date: October 2020
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: From master of suspense Lisa Unger comes a riveting thriller about a chance encounter that unravels a stunning web of lies.
Selena Murphy is commuting home on the train when she strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat. The woman introduces herself as Martha and soon confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.
Then the nanny disappears.
As Selena is pulled into the mystery of what happened, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, she begins to wonder, who was Martha really ? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover…
My Thoughts: I don’t know where new to me author Lisa Unger has been hiding all these years and how I have never read anything by her before, but she is definitely on my list of authors that I really enjoy. Confessions on the 7:45 was a very good choice to begin with and, trust me, take this one to heart and don’t talk to strangers! I think if I had one gripe about the main character, Selena Murphy, it would be that she bares her soul and pours her heart to a stranger on the train. Why? You don’t know this person and maybe there is some comfort in sharing your pain, grief and problems with a stranger that you will probably never see again but get into a support group and share that! Especially when your husband is sleeping with the nanny! In fairness to Selena, the stranger, Martha, started it by confessing that she is sleeping with her boss, but that doesn’t mean we have to start playing true confessions here. Then when Martha alludes to how nice it would be if all your problems could just go away…major creeper vibes here. Who is this woman?
Then after confronting your loser bum of a husband and being faced with having to fire the best nanny you’ve ever had, and that sucks because your kids love her and she really is great overall if you look past the sleeping with your husband bit, your amazing nanny goes missing. She doesn’t show up the next day (to be fired) and has disappeared off the face of the earth. Of course, right away, Selena wonders if her husband had something to do with it and as the police begin investigating, it starts to feel like they do too. Or maybe Selena got rid of her. Or maybe the nanny knew her employment was about to come to an end and couldn’t face the looming confrontation she was likely to have with Selena and just ran away. There is so much more here than just a cheating husband and a missing nanny.
I enjoyed so many things about this story. Firstly, the author does an amazing job of weaving this story around and around all the characters, including Martha, the mysterious woman from the train. I kept trying to figure it all out but it’s just too complex and mind-blowing that I realized to just let that go and immerse myself into the story. Secondly, I really enjoyed how the chapters change points of view between Selena and Martha, which is a wonderful way to get to know the characters better, their personalities, their motivations, their triggers, their past, all of it. I highly applaud an author that can do this effectively and Lisa Unger is such an author. Thirdly, this author does a fantastic job of giving the reader just enough detail to keep them engaged without giving it all away. The surprise I felt as I learned how these two women are connected as well as the lives they both lead was jaw-dropping.
Lastly, I must give major kudos to the audio narration performer Vivienne Leheny. She does an amazing job of breathing life into these characters adding the perfect amount of emotion and tension. It really gives the reader a sense of being in the room with the characters.
My Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. I also recommend you add Lisa Unger books to your stack and if audiobooks are your jam, then you are sure to enjoy books narrated by Vivienne Leheny. This is a terrific book for any commute, it will entertain you and then you don’t have to spill all your deep dark secrets to strangers.
No comments:
Post a Comment