Title: The Stranger Inside
Author: Lisa Unger
Genre: thriller
I had only read one book by Lisa Unger before, Ink and Bone, and thought it was great. So when my book lottery (seriously, I just choose a number at random and what comes up is the book I read) selected this one, I was excited and looking forward to a new thrill. Sadly, this one didn’t work for me at all. I had to roll my eyes a few times, and there was a giant plot hole that I could not get past.
From Goodreads: Even good people are drawn to do evil things … Twelve-year-old Rain Winter narrowly escaped an abduction while walking to a friend’s house. Her two best friends, Tess and Hank, were not as lucky. Tess never came home, and Hank was held in captivity before managing to escape. Their abductor was sent to prison but, years later, was released. Then someone delivered real justice–and killed him in cold blood.
Now Rain is living the perfect suburban life, her dark childhood buried deep. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom, putting aside her career as a hard-hitting journalist to care for her infant daughter. But when another brutal murderer who escaped justice is found dead, Rain is unexpectedly drawn into the case. Eerie similarities to the murder of her friends’ abductor force Rain to revisit memories she’s worked hard to leave behind. Is there a vigilante at work? Who is the next target? Why can’t Rain just let it go?
This book just misses the mark all the way around. The main character is okay, not too annoying, but I just didn’t care about her much, which I should have, given her childhood trauma. And a secondary character, who is a bit of a spoiler, so I’ll keep quiet, was absolutely absurd. I didn’t believe this character’s situation at all. The dialogue was super cheesy and didn’t sound authentic. And the plot twist, ugh, just no. I gave it three stars because I definitely wanted to get to the end, but it was just so lame overall. Bummer.
Pleasant Nights 