Title: The Perfect Stranger
Author: Megan Miranda
Pages: 337
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Source: Free ARC from Simon & Schuster
Rating: A-
Note: As stated under the Source (above), I received this book for free from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.
Summary: Leah’s career as a journalist is pretty much over, and all she can is hope that no one else will get wind of what she did. Not quite sure what to do, it seems like kismet when she runs into her old roommate Emmy at a bar one night. Emmy is looking to escape a stalkery ex-boyfriend, and when she suggests that they both walk away from their lives and start over somewhere that one will know them or their pasts, Leah is on board.
A few months after they settle in to a little house in a small town in the middle of western Pennsylvania, a woman is murdered, and Emmy disappears. Leah’s past as an investigative journalist draws her into the story, looking for clues in both the murder and Emmy’s disappearance. Before she knows it, things begin to unravel and she had no idea which end is up. Is Emmy’s disappearance related to the other woman’s murder? Can Leah keep her past in the past while trying to solve this mystery? Is anything at all what it seems?
Review: Megan Miranda’s last book All the Missing Girls was one of my top ten favorite reads last year. It was so different and so freakin’ good that I jumped at the chance to read and review The Perfect Stranger. Without a doubt, this book was one of my most anticipated reads this year. Now, I won’t say that I’m disappointed because it is a very good book and there are lots of things I liked about it. But it wasn’t All the Missing Girls.
It was, however, very clever with an intricate plot wrought with all sorts of twists and turns. Leah is an unreliable narrator, which complicates things even further. There is quite a lot going on with her that we aren’t privy to in the beginning, and we know even less about her friend Emmy. I didn’t necessarily dislike Leah, but I didn’t like her either. And Emmy…well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself.
And it was an intricate and well-laid plot that kept me on my toes, never quite sure of the truth, always suspecting that there was something I didn’t know that would turn the story around. Smart. Very smart.
So, no. It wasn’t All the Missing Girls. And you know what? I’m not sure it’s fair to expect it to be. It’s not an easy thing to hit it out of the park the first time, much less over and over again. Maybe it didn’t wow me at the same level, but it definitely cemented Megan Miranda as a go-to author for me.