SYNOPSIS:
There is a stranger outside Caroline’s house.
Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she’d have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aiden, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.
As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she’s built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aiden for comfort…and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aiden’s obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline’s husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her own husband’s murder.
My Review:
Juicy and unputdownable!! And it was just optioned for a film. This book really left my head spinning!
”Sometimes fate sneaks up on you. But Aidan Callahan didn’t sneak up on me. He was brazen.”
This book kept me guessing until the very end. If you are looking for a suspenseful story filled with twists and turns, this is it! Told from multiple points of view, the author created a very dark thriller that literally kept me on the edge of my seat.
Caroline lives a life of wealth and privilege. The carefully constructed facade of her glittering New York life begins to unravel when she suspects her beloved husband Jason of infidelity and in a state of shock, has a one-night stand with the sexy, much-younger local bartender Aidan.
”My first impression of Aidan was that he was a potential thief. If only I’d listened to my instincts, I would’ve turned and run in the opposite direction. But that’s not what I did. I walked toward him. And I will always blame myself for what came after.”
Aidan has a very troubled past and what Caroline thought would be a passing fling turns very intense very quickly. It is best to go into this book blind without reading any spoilers but suffice it to say this story resembles ‘Fatal Attraction’ with some major twists and turns.
I loved the peek behind the glamorous lives of Hamptons and New York City residents and the themes of class, privilege and infidelity. As I was reading this book, I imagined Blake Lively as Caroline and Armie Hammer as Aidan and the author just announced that the book was optioned for film! I can’t wait to see this book on the screen. Many books are touted as summer reads but ‘A Stranger on the Beach’ is the perfect beach read. The author really knows her way around a courtroom and her legal knowledge really shines in the last half of the book.
The author built an ominous tone throughout the book and yet I was still surprised at the shocking conclusion. I did not know which character to trust and felt sympathetic towards both Caroline and Aidan as the story progressed. If you are looking for a smart, fast-paced domestic thriller that will keep you on your toes, then you will love ‘A Stranger on the Beach’!
(Thanks to the publisher who provided an advanced copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)