Review: Her Every Fear

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Title: Her Every Fear
Author: Peter Swanson
Publication Date: January 10, 2017
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Psychological Thriller
Recommended If You Like: The Kind Worth Killing, Hitchcock-like psychological thrillers

The Book:

Kate Priddy is still recovering from her kidnapping at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, and an apartment swap with her distant cousin seems like the ideal way to get away from it all. Traveling from London to Boston, Kate hopes this is the key to getting over her fears. But when her new next-door neighbor is murdered, Kate realizes her fears may be hitting all too close to home.

What I Liked:

This is a book full of twists and turns, and some highly creepy characters. In fact, this is a really creepy book, one of those eerie ones that has you second-guessing everything you're reading. There's a part towards the end that is downright terrifying.

Swanson is constantly turning what you think you know on its head, which is something I really appreciate in any mystery or thriller I'm reading.

Anything I Didn't Like?

The last third of the book feels too rushed. Swanson has done a great job building up all this nail-biting suspense, and then everything just kind of happens at once. Everything that happens is creepy, and surprising, but it all gets a bit mushed together, and seems less plausible, due to the speed at which the plotting suddenly moves.

So...?

I really enjoyed The Kind Worth Killing, and thought it was absolutely brilliant, especially the way Swanson expertly flipped around everything readers were taking for granted in his story. He does something similar here, but not to the same effect. Her Every Fear would have benefited from a few extra pages, and some time to let Swanson's great twists really sing.