The Perfect Stranger: A Novel

A fascinating, unexpected read that I thought I had figured out early on but I was wrong, and happily so. Leah is an unreliable narrator, which I normally loathe, but it fits here. My only quibble is that I think her past would have been more of an issue in the town she moved to. The school would have fully vetted her and Google would have revealed her to the rest of town.

Scintillating, tantalizing, shocking, and twisty....all of the perfect elements of a successful suspense novel! Megan Miranda has put together a divergent cast of characters...most of them unreliable....in a story that left me breathless at times. As the story unfolds, each new development leaves the reader yearning to read more, compelled to know how it will turn out! The setting itself is dark and mysterious, lending an eerie atmosphere to the story. Be prepared to settle in and become immersed in this story!

This book is crazy. Leah Stevens leaves her life in NYC to move to PA after a story gone wrong for the journalist. She runs into an old roommate, Emmy, who invites her to move with her. So Leah does.

But then people start dying. And Emmy disappears.

When Leah finds out Emmy is not who she says she is, she has to figure out how to put her own life back together before it's too late.

Leah Stevens left her exciting job as a crime reporter in Boston to teach high school in Western Pennsylvania. After an incident at the newspaper, (the facts disclosed unhurriedly through the story), Leah runs into Emmy, an ex-roommate she hasn’t seen in eight years. Emmy threw a dart at a board to decide where next to live. Leah, enticed by this daring old friend, agrees to join her in Pennsylvania, and her resolve to move and change careers commenced. It was the right plan at the right time--forthwith, the former journalist could press the reset, become a different version of herself and in a fresh place, an entirely new translation of Leah. But she didn’t count on veering off the road, a greased skid headed to oblivion.

There are express themes that run through this corkscrew tale, and motifs that emerge throughout the story. As I return now to specific passages that caught my attention while reading, I am even more impressed with the less visible tide of events, the implications and recurrent themes that underscore and drive the story.

“We forced the pieces until they fit what we thought we knew.” “They pull on pieces, let their minds fill in the rest. We crave logical cause and effect, the beginning, middle, and end. And the capstone of themes, or one of them: “I believed that life was not linear but cyclical. It was the way news stories worked, and history—that you ended where you began, confused and gasping for breath.”

The relevant idea is perception, and how we filter our experience and beliefs through the prism of our limited (or expansive) view. There’s a discovery, which establishes a case. But the clues, as they come in, leave a lot to interpretation or imagination. And then there’s an absence, which creates a scrutiny, and puts Leah at the center of the case. Throughout, Leah is using her journalistic skills to stay ahead of the police, while also drawn even closer to the inscrutable Emmy, who increasingly resonates as her echo and reflects as her mirror. I realize that my description is ambiguous; I don’t want to ruin discoveries intended for the reader.

As far as the plot, the initial crime is introduced in the first 15 pages, but the author is so keen at character portrayal that by then you are already installed in Leah’s head. And Miranda does a fine balancing act of action and reflection, so that half of the story lies external to Leah’s head and the other half resides within, but is just as active and enigmatic.

Miranda’s obvious genre is mystery and police procedural, but it is far, far more than your standard piling up of dead bodies. The author has an intensity that places the pedigree of the book above your typical chase in the woods. The ominous mood surrounds the house, sounds and sights that spook a city gal like Leah—cats scratching below, the owls above, the coyotes beyond, shadows moving around the house, curious knocks on the door--all amidst the dark playing tricks and the moonlight seeping in.

I was initially fixed on assigning 4 stars, assuming that the troubling pasts of Leah and Emmy, and some other common tropes, were used as a safe device by the author. However, as the story progressed, a lot of moving parts organically emerged. I was still unsure for a while, wondering how Miranda was going to juggle and conclude all the strands into one cohesive braid. But, in final analysis, not only did the author accomplish what she set out to do, she did it with an artfully constructed infrastructure, and fluid follow-through.

I read on the author bio that Miranda is an MIT grad. Maybe that accounts for her capacity to create a matrix; examine an equation; and solve a complex problem with finesse. If that doesn’t make sense, it will when you finish this mystery, which is always a step ahead of the reader. Her talent for building on the simple and generating an aggregate complexity was brilliantly controlled and measured. Don’t be fooled by complacency, thinking that you got this. She’ll get YOU! I’m delighted that the author thinks outside simple formula. In the end, I was dazzled. I already have her first book, ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, beckoning me in my short stack.

'The Perfect Stranger' was, ultimately, a disappointment. If you've read 'Gone Girl', 'The Girl on the Train', 'The Woman in Cabin 10', and other psychological suspense novels in this genre, then you know what to expect. There is a Matryoshka doll quality to the story and, as it unfolds, more and more of the truth is revealed. The novel is definitely a page turner but it lacked anything much above that definition for me.

Leah Stevens, a newspaper journalist, filed a potentially libelous news story that ended her career in Boston. She needs a new start and, perhaps naively, she decides to go to rural Pennsylvania with her friend Emmy who she hasn't seen in eight years and doesn't know very well. Leah plans to teach high school English and give up reporting. Shortly after arriving in Pennsylvania, a young woman is murdered and Emmy disappears.

As Leah gets herself more and more involved in the case, she begins to doubt everything she knows about herself and Emmy. She calls the police and has a difficult time convincing them of her story. In fact, she finds it difficult to convince them that Emmy even exists because it appears that she has not left a trace of herself anywhere.

I found the book very repetitive. The author's habit of stating a sentence and then stating again, was distracting and a waste of time. The characters are barely two-dimensional and there is nothing new in the plot - another 'why was I so blind to what was right in front of me' story.

Scrappymags 3-word review: Solid, entertaining mystery

Genre: Adult contemporary mystery. A touch more on the chick-lit side since the central relationship is two women, but tough for me to judge. Guys should give it a whirl. And let me know!

Shortest summary ever: Starting over in a small rural town after a huge work problem in her former career as a Boston reporter, Leah Stevens thinks she’s found a safe place to land. Along with her old college pal Emmy, they’ve rented a secluded house and begun new lives… and then (insert scary music) a girl is assaulted.

A girl that looks an awful lot… like Leah.

Then Emmy disappears and Leah is left holding bags, wait – LUGGAGE bags of questions, including if “Emmy” was even a real person. What’s the true story? And who IS “Emmy”? (dun dun dun…)

What’s good under the hood: This is my second review of a Megan Miranda book, the first being All The Missing Girls, and not to sound too McDonald’s (I’m hungry) but I’m lovin’ it! (Squeeeeee I’m a fan!) I wasn’t AS in love with this book as I was Missing Girls, because of the reverse narrative in THAT novel I was truly wowed. But this solid follow up is 4-star worthy – an enjoyable, driven, advancing story that kept my interest. I love a surprising plot – one that doesn’t follow a cliché, which is tough to do when nearly everything is cliché. What I just said was so cliché. See? It’s a solid follow-up. Intrigue, enough characterization and description without being plodding, and a multitude of turns that kept the pages turning like a hamster wheel.

What’s bad or made me mad: there were a few choices in plot toward the end that didn’t seem viable ( no spoilers) or didn’t seem consistent with what an educated sensible person would do, thus why it’s a four-star.

Recommend to:

Best-seller type mystery fans. Not a cozy mystery, but not a Jack-the-Ripper scene.
Probably a bit more chick-lit-mystery.
Book clubs would enjoy the friendship angle in discussions.
Do Not Recommend to:

If you can’t suspend a little disbelief. Avoid.
If you’re looking for the unusual like Miranda’s first book you’ll likely be let down.
Thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and Megan Miranda for a lively day of reading!

Author Megan Miranda presents some interesting possibilities in “The Perfect Stranger”, including the possibility one character may not exist. Fabricated to cover up the actions of another? Multiple personality?

Story drags on at the start and stop pace ofa tennis game, though. The action started to pick up with the remorseless acts of a professor, then stopped.

Character development is lacking. Who, for instance, IS Officer Kyle Donovan? Where did he come from? What is his history?

The story line itself reminds me of a 48 Hours episode in which a teen known for some bizarre, threatening art work was convicted of a brutal murder & display of a young woman in a rural area, while a bigger, middle aged surgeon who could cut precisely in the manner the young woman was & turned out to be a registered sex offender was never even questioned, & will now only be held accountable by God as he’s deceased.

Megan Miranda is an educated lady. This particular novel, though, falls short of expectations.

3.5 stars

Suspenseful psychological thriller with a lackluster ending.

Pushed out of her reporter job because she goes too far with an investigation, Leah Stevens flees Boston to Western, PA with her former roommate, Emmy, to start a new life. After a woman, who happens to look a lot like Leah, is attacked and Emmy goes missing, Leah begins to question how much she really knows her roommate. As Leah begins to investigate Emmy, more and more questions emerge about her mysterious roommate. At the same time, those around Leah begin to question her sanity.

I was loving The Perfect Stranger until I got to the ending. Things were moving along swiftly, tension was building, the unreliable narrator was making me question everything, and I was so excited to see how things were going to play out. But then I got to the ending...and it all kind of just fell apart. I was waiting for a twist or something big to happen, but I found the ending to be anticlimactic and I was left with a lot of questions. It’s not a bad read, but it didn’t live up to my extremely high, and slightly unfair, expectations. I would still recommend for an entertaining, suspenseful read.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Waste of time. The protagonist is stupid, all the characters are undeveloped. The author keeps hinting at things in Leah's past, but it's almost the end of the book before it comes together and the reader can figure it out. It's as though she's teasing us, giving us little bits of information to keep our interest, but not enough to satisfy. The story jumps around, the writing is jerky, and there are too many loose ends and unanswered questions at the end. I'm glad I got this from the library and didn't spend my money on it. I kept reading because I was interested enough to see what happened, but once I did, I was highly disappointed.

It seems perfectly plausible that a person can reinvent themselves (only in America!). In my country they would have sussed out from where you came, who your parents were, what did your brother do and even find out what school you went to very early. I doubt you'd get away with this here.

The story fascinated me. Leah has ended a troubled relationship. She has been friends with Emmy over a very long time. Emmy invites her to rural Pennsylvania and for Leah this is ideal. She can make a new start and hopefully the past will remain in the past. Her teaching position in the local school is without any problems and Leah hopes that she can fast track her career in this way baby steps at a time.

When Emmy disappears and Leah is forced to inform the local police about her friends absence things turn tricky for Leah. For one, there is no one who can corroborate Emmy's presence. There is no paper trail, no identity, no bills and when Emmy's boyfriend turns up murdered the police turn skeptical as to whether someone like Emmy actually existed and whether it is a figment of Leah's imagination. Leah's history does not help either.

It is left to Leah herself to try to find out what happened to her friend and what she discovers is a body blow as it is obvious that Emmy pursued her purely to steal her identity to make a new life for herself. How she did it was ingenious, convoluted and mind boggling.

Apart from the main characters of Leah and Emmy, everyone in this story has something to hide and in a small town, this is not easy. Unraveling the murders, solving them and finding Emmy was more than enough for this story.

Having never read any books by the popular author Megan Miranda previously or the highly successful "All The Missing Girls" I was looking forward to trying out this author by reading her latest offering "The Perfect Stranger".
Leah is a determined journalist who always strives for the truth. When something goes wrong with an article she writes - having got a little too close to the possible truth in a series of suicides - she ends up leaving Boston under a cloud. Moving to western Pennsylvania with her old friend Emmy to work as a teacher, she makes what she believes is a fresh start in an idyllic town, leaving her past behind. However, after not seeing Emmy for five days, Leah becomes concerned for her safety after an attack on another young girl occurs. Leah is helped by a handsome detective to help find out where Emmy is and after realising she really knows nothing about her and that all the documents relating to the move and the house are all in her own name she begins to suspect if Emmy actually existed at all.
I wasn't blown away by the plot in the story but that could just be me, it was a decent enough read that I wanted to see through to the end and for a lazy afternoon reading this fits the bill perfectly. I did doubt the fact slightly that Leah knew so little about Emmy, it's common practice that you learn things about someone the more you spend time with them and she had lived with her twice.
I'm happy I've read "The Perfect Stranger" and I would read more by this author, I am planning on hopefully reading "All The Missing Girls" someday and I would happily recommend this book to readers with the caution that if you have read her previous books this may not quite be up to the standards you are expecting.

3 stars

Running from a sketchy past as a journalist in the crisp confines of Boston, Leah Stevens is searching for a fresh start. Things turned ugly when she went too far on a story concerning suicides at the local college, and she found herself needing to get out of town fast. After hooking up with an old friend she knew from school, the two women decide to start over in the sleepy suburbs of western Pennsylvania. 

It doesn't take long for trouble to follow Leah, but it doesn't come in any way that she expected. On her way to work as a schoolteacher at the local high school, she notices a barrage of police cars and onlookers clustered together like so many penguins huddling together against a cold winter storm. Curiosity has killed more than cat it seems, and Leah discovers the source of everyone's whispering gossip and craned necks -- a body has been found along the trail near the lake, and the body of the woman just happens to look a whole lot like Leah. The woman is still alive, but just barely, and has been beaten within an inch of her life. 

With the cops sniffing around Leah's place of business and one of the suspects named is someone who she had previous contact with, Leah is in a panic. Things get even worse when Emmy, her roommate, doesn't turn up for a few days. It's not unusual for the gypsy spirit that is Emmy Grey to spend a few days off the grid, but when Leah probes into her friend's work and private life and seems to come up with nothing more than a few slivers of dead-end information, she begins to worry. What if Emmy had something to do with the attempted murder? What if she's been taken herself? And why can't anyone find anything concrete on this woman no matter how deep they dig? Police involved begin to question whether Emmy even exists, as there is literally no proof that she shares her life with Leah in the slightest. 

Leah finds that Emmy's life is lie built upon lie in a veritable house of cards, and her desperation to find the truth before she is irrevocably wrapped up in something sinister means a race against time and logic. 

The Perfect Stranger is the second adult thriller by Megan Miranda, an author previously best known for her work in the YA genre. A follow up to the popular All the Missing Girls (a thriller told in the reverse narrative), The Perfect Stranger keeps right in step with its predecessor. Unique twists on common thriller backdrops appears to be Miranda's new take on writing, and I am a fan. With flawed main characters and spellbindingly deviant villains, Miranda is making an impression of an author who is clever and successful in the art of creating an easy "must-read." 

Miranda keeps her reader off-balance by creating false senses of calm in an otherwise dark storm. I was turning the pages as fast as I could read them with both of her psychological thriller novels, and I was not disappointed with the climax. The Perfect Stranger gave just the right amount of closure to make you feel as if you got the bulk of the story but also left an appropriate amount of room left for speculation. Giving the book 4.5 out of 5 stars, I recommend it to readers of Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, and lovers of an easy mystery read or readers who want to curl up with something that messes with your mind a bit during these chilly months of winter. This book is delightfully creepy and one that I can honestly promise won't disappoint. 

THE PERFECT STRANGER by Megan Miranda unravels a mystery and a murder that keeps circling back to Leah Stevens, who the book follows as she discovers more and more secrets that have been right in front of her face for many years and she just never saw them.
Miranda crafts THE PERFECT STRANGER much like a Harlan Coben book, with misdirections and distractions everywhere and hidden meanings and actions embedded in the past. The antagonist, Leah, slowly discovers links to the truth and unnerving for her to see how she is attached to that truth. While I must admit that the book was a little predictable, I found the design of the story fascinating, the main characters interesting, (although the cop/love interest seemed rather cliché) and the foreshadowing adequately mysterious. What makes this book stand out for me is how Miranda delves into Leah's (antagonist) head. It felt very accurate to how someone who is forced to recall previous events would go about it and the tiny discoveries made by really breaking down those memories. It's not easy for Leah and her recall is full of dead ends, regrets, and fogginess, but it mirrors how one truly searches the past.
THE PERFECT STRANGER reads like navigation app on your phone would in rush hour traffic with many pockets of construction; lots of rerouting and changing direction, but rewarding the reader by arriving at your destination: a satisfying conclusion.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Megan Miranda, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The title of this book is absolutely, 100%, the perfect title. It sums up the entire novel, in three simple words. Do you ever really know someone? Friends, lovers, siblings. How much is hidden, how much can one person keep from someone in their lives?

The story is twisted, and at first it's hard to keep track of the threads. Leah Stevens has run away from the life she had in Boston as a journalist. She's moved to a small town where no one knows her, to become a teacher. She's the stranger in town, hiding the giant scandal she left behind.

With her comes her roommate Emmy, an enigma all her own. These two became friends and roommates after college, until Emmy went away to the Peace Corps. Years later they reconnected, after Emmy's had her own troubles that she needs to run from. Leave everything behind and just go.

And Emmy goes missing. And a woman who looks identical to Leah is murdered.

And Leah slowly starts to wonder, who is this stranger I thought was my friend?

This story is so good. It takes awhile to get a good rhythm going, and there are bits that I couldn't stand. (Romance is never something that won't make my eyeball twitch, in any genre.)

But you see, I am biased. Because I read All the Missing Girls. And that book is so amazing. The formatting, the pace. Everything about that book sucked me in. Megan Miranda had a LOT to live up to.

She did fantastic. But she set the bar really high for herself.

You may see where this is going, but I doubt it. The reveal is actually so simple, but not simple in the bad way. Organically simple, because everything makes sense. All the pieces click together, without any jarring, "Where the heck did that come from?"

So, so good.

Leah Stevens is running. She really needs to leave Boston, so when she learns that her old college friend, Emmy Grey, needs a roommate, she is eager to live with her in her isolated cabin near the woods. Emmy, too, wishes to start a new life, having just left a troubled relationship. The women decide to start over together, Leah as a high school teacher, and Emmy as an employee in a hotel.

When a stranger who looks like Leah is found murdered and Emmy’s new boyfriend is found at the bottom of the lake, Emmy goes missing, Leah reports her missing roommate to the police, but they can find no record of an Emmy Grey. It’s as if she had never existed. This is when Leah’s investigative skills kick in, and she begins her own investigation.

This book is filled with twists and turns! Along with the realistic characters, they make this a book that is nearly impossible to put down.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

4★
“Truth and story—doesn’t matter which comes first as long as you get where you need to be at the end. As long as you end at the truth, all’s fair.”

That’s how Leah Stevens lived, and that’s why she had to leave town in a hurry. She knew the truth, directed attention to it, and it had fatal consequences that affected an old friend. She found support in the shape of Emmy Grey, her roommate after college whom she hadn’t seen for eight years. Emmy is a bit of a loose cannon, to say the least.

Leah tells us her story, sharing a bit about her family, a bit about her career, and gradually more about why she had to leave.

When she and Emmy parted company in the past, Emmy had said she was going overseas with the Peace Corps. Fancy running into her in a pub just when Leah was looking for a way to leave town. It was not unlike how she met Emmy the first time, when she was looking for a flat to move into after college. Emmy was fun, impulsive. Emmy drank a lot of vodka (with Leah). Emmy had peculiar values. Leah quotes Emmy.

“'All relationships fall into three categories. Three. That’s it.' She’d tipped her head to the side, her hair spilled out around her, to check if I was listening, whether I was awake. I liked moments like this, staying silent and letting her spin a tale. She’d looked back to the ceiling. 'Okay, here’s the hypothetical. Take anyone you know. Anyone. Let’s say you know they’ve killed someone. They call you and they confess. Do you either, A, call the police.' She held up her thumb. 'B, do nothing.' Her pointer finger. 'Or C, help them bury the body.' Her third finger went up, and she held them over her face, waiting.”

The girls move from Boston to Pennsylvania, where Leah has lined up a high school teaching job and hopes to start a new life. It’s certainly not Boston.

“Just yesterday one of the other teachers said there was a bear in his yard. Just that: a bear in his yard. Like it was a thing one might or might not notice in passing. Graffiti on the overpass, a burnt-out streetlight. Just a bear.”

The teachers are nice, the kids are pretty much normally troublesome, and life is ticking along until a young woman is found badly injured and unconscious by the lake. This young woman looks surprisingly like Leah. Could she have been mistaken for Leah? Was Leah really the target, and if so, why?

Meanwhile, Leah has had some strange phone calls and emails. She suspects the school coach, and he’s locked up for a while, which quiets things down. When he’s released, it starts up again.

Kyle Donovan is the handsome young cop who investigates and gets a bit more embroiled with Leah than he intended. But he hasn’t met Emmy. Funny thing, that. Nobody’s seen Emmy for several days. In fact, Leah has trouble finding anyone who has EVER seen Emmy, and she has no idea how to prove she really does exist.

Talk about your three kinds of people! How do you classify people who just up and disappear? Is she going to turn up as another victim at the lake?

The author does a fine job of keeping up the suspense while getting on with the story, and she never falters. Leah and Emmy are believable characters (even as we wonder whether Emmy is a creation of Leah’s imagination), and Leah’s journalistic transgression is explained, to my great satisfaction.

It’s a well-told mystery with a wee bit of romance, which, although unnecessary, does serve to explain why Leah and Kyle might share some confidences they wouldn’t otherwise.

Leah is a lot braver than I would ever be, and Emmy is as clever as all get-out, as we used to say. It’s fun watching Leah use her journalistic skills to track every tiny lead.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted (at my peril), so quotes may have changed. . . but I like to give a sense of the author’s style.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda is a very highly recommended page-turner and I relished every one of those pages in this complex tale of suspense.

Leah Stevens was a journalist in Boston, but needed to resign from her job due to a story she wrote. Now she needs to find something new to do - in a hurry. By coincidence she runs into a roommate she had years ago during a time in her life when she also needed help in a hurry. Emmy was there eight years ago when they first met and helped Leah out before Emmy went overseas with the Peace Corp. It is a shocking surprise for Leah to run into Emmy now. The two immediately bond and take up where they left off. They decide to move together to a small town in Western Pennsylvania on a whim. Leah can get a position teaching at the high school and Emmy can find a job doing something.

Then a woman who closely resembles Leah is found seriously injured and Emmy has gone missing. Leah works with the police to try and help them while at the same time she tries to get them to look into the whereabouts of her missing friend. As both investigations continue it becomes increasingly clear that Leah really never knew Emmy well at all and the police are beginning to look at her as a suspect. Leah realizes that she needs to use her journalistic skills to uncover the truth about what happened and who Emmy really is.

Leah is a well-developed character and I began to like her more and more as the novel progressed and doubts began to develop. She becomes more spunky and begins to show more and more of her intelligence and intuition as she begins her own investigation while the police are more focused on investigating her.

The revelation of new information is wonderfully timed. It begs the question: How well do you really know other people? As Leah is desperately trying to find out what happened to her friend, you will begin to wonder if Emmy is even real and doubts about Leah's sanity will creep in. You only know Emmy through Leah, and Leah doesn't even reveal everything about her own life right away. The plot of The Perfect Stranger moves along at a gallop and never lets up. I enjoyed the fast-paced ride and twisty plot immensely. The writing is pitch-perfect in the suspenseful narrative.

I really enjoyed uncovering the twisty-layers of this swift-paced, agile novel of psychological suspense. It was a pleasure to read.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

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?

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.

Note: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley. I pride myself on writing fair and honest reviews.

I first became aware of Megan Miranda’s storytelling skill when I read her previous novel All the Missing Girls, which was told BACKWARDS. Not an easy thing to pull off, but she did it in a 5-star fashion, so I was ready !

In this one, the protagonist is an apparently troubled journalist named Leah Stevens, who has moved to a small town in western Pennsylvania to escape and start over. She picks up and takes off with her friend Emmy, becoming a high school teacher while Emmy works odd jobs under the table…or does she??? In fact, did Emmy really exist at all? When Leah reports her missing and the police come to investigate, there is no record of her existence anywhere, either currently or in the past when Leah and Emmy were college roommates. The reader is taken on a twisted ride while Leah tries to find Emmy while hiding her own past (the details of which are rolled out slowly, revealing the reason for Leah’s rush out of Boston and into Pennsylvania.

As the details of her past are revealed, we learn there was a restraining order against Leah and a threatened lawsuit for her actions in a story she wrote in Boston. Leah is just settling in to her new life when someone beats the crap out of a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Leah, and then Emmy disappears. Leah desperately wants to find Emmy, and becomes deeply entangled with the lead detective working on Emmy’s disappearance. She tries to cooperate, but the is no trace of Emmy, not even a digital footprint. At this point the reader may wonder if Emmy ever existed, or whether Leah might have dissociative identity disorder.

The possibility of a split personality is revealed as Leah tells the reader “I was an adolescent when I first started to see myself as two people…I was both walking down the hall and watching myself walk down the hall.” Speaking of a female student, she said she ”…held herself as if she knew it. She must’ve thought there were certain rules that still applied. “

Leah’s struggles become more clear as she continues ”…then you learn. Your backbone was all false bravado. An act that was highly cultivated, taught and expected of girls now. The spunk that was appreciated and rewarded. Talk back to the professor to show your grit.” Leah has learned that for her young student “…danger had not yet made itself apparent, but it was everywhere, whether she wanted to believe it or not.”

That is part of what makes this so GOOD: this is not just a mystery/thriller (although it definitely is a good example of that genre) – it is also a critique of how women fit in (or not) and learn to make their way in the world, whether it is essential to follow the rules, and the importance of learning about trust.

Leah’s struggle to reclaim her good name, find Emmy and figure out who, if anyone, she can trust makes this an interesting and exciting book. Five stars. And I look forward to Megan Miranda’s future work!

I would like to thank Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an ARC of "The Perfect Stranger" by Megan Miranda. The genres of this novel are mystery,thriller and women's fiction. The story takes place in Boston and rural Pennsylvania. Leah Stevens, a journalist is forced to leave Boston after there is a scandal with her newspaper and source.She also has an order of protection issued against her. Leah follows her friend Emma to rural Pennsylvania and starts a new life as a teacher, hoping to leave her secrets behind. Leah had met Emma 8 years before and Emma offers Leah a place to live. Emma seems to have many secrets as well.
It isn't long before there is a murder at the lake of a woman that looks very much like Leah. Around the same time Emma disappears. Leah is concerned that Emma hasn't been back at their house. after finding a necklace on the ground that belonged to Emma ,and turns to the police. Kyle Donovan is the police detective on this case. When asked, Leah is not sure of Emma's birthdate, or where she works. There is no evidence that Emma exists, except back in Boston, where the person who knows Emma has an order of protection against Leah. It appears that everyone has secrets in Pennsylvania, including Leah's students.
There is another body found in Emmas's car,(which is a stolen car)in the lake. It seems that the dead man was Emma's boyfriend. Again, what happened to Emma.? The police now view Leah as a suspect and fear that she has lied about Emma existing. Kyle, the detective is investigating Leah's past life in Boston.
The story had me on edge. There are twists and turns,and the ending is unexpected. I like the way Megan Miranda sets the stage and descriptions of the characters, and places in the novel. I would recommend this as an intriguing and exciting read.

Emmy Grey has been missing for five days. Her housemate, Leah Stevens, is worried, and on the fifth day finally calls the police. She already has a relationship with the detective due to the discovery of a girl beaten in the woods who is now in a coma. Leah is a former journalist from Boston who lost her job. After years of separation, she bumped into Emmy, and the two decided to take off to parts unknown and live together. There Leah became a teacher and realized she did not know much about Emmy, not even her last name.

Leah is the first person narrator of Megan Miranda’s THE PERFECT STRANGER, thus we travel through her mind. This technique allows us to feel that we are actually a character in the narrative.

Kyle Donovan is the young, handsome detective on the case, though Leah takes it upon herself to do some investigating on her own. The only information she has is that Emmy told her she works in the "Last No-Tell Motel." She visits the motels near her home and comes upon one that fits the description of such a place. She girds herself and goes into the falling-down mess only to be told that nobody saw or knows Emmy.

When Leah is finally alone, she decides to go through Emmy's things and is surprised by what she finds: "This dresser was full of casual button-downs, tunics, leggings. Thick socks and ribbed camisoles. It seemed that this Emmy favored practicality above all else." Leah remembers her roommate dressing in a sexier way, yet another reminder that she really does not know the young woman she thinks of as a friend.

Leah is afraid of Davis Cobb, the main suspect in the case of the girl who was found near the lake. He seems to be everywhere. He was the coach at the school where Leah teaches but currently is on suspension. Leah is getting phone calls from someone who either whispers or says nothing. She does not trust Cobb, and believes he is always coming on to her and is stalking her.

As the novel unfolds, readers may begin to wonder if Emmy ever existed at all. Everyone in this rural Pennsylvania town has something to hide, including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own? If Emmy really was a person, what was she hiding, and is she hiding now?

Clues and red herrings are scattered throughout THE PERFECT STRANGER, and it is up to the reader to keep up with the trajectory of the plot. The pace is fast, and the events occur at breakneck speed. Leah believes, "When you get down to it, everyone was a mystery, just waiting to be unraveled."

Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda is a perplexing mystery about a woman who goes missing around the same time another woman is attacked. Is there any connection between the two cases?

On the same day Bethany Jarvitz is bludgeoned, high school teacher Leah Stevens becomes increasingly concerned over the whereabouts of her roommate Emmy Grey. Trying to pinpoint the last time she saw her friend is not easy since they work opposite schedules, but Leah decides to err on the side of caution and report the disappearance to the police. Having already been questioned by Detective Kyle Donovan, she turns to him for help in finding Emmy. However, the more questions Kyle asks about her friend, Leah realizes how very little she knows about Emmy. When the police are unable to uncover any information about her missing friend, Leah begins her own investigation but there are many surprises awaiting her as she begins digging into her roommate’s past.

Following a scandal surrounding a newspaper article about a series of college suicides, Leah has no choice but to quit her job as a newspaper reporter. While she is trying to figure out what to do next, she unexpectedly runs into Emmy at a local bar. Although she has not seen nor heard from her friend in eight years, Leah has absolutely no qualms about agreeing to Emmy’s plan to move to Pennsylvania for a fresh start. Leah has secured a job as high school teacher and although she is a little troubled by the unwanted attention of the school’s basketball coach Davis Cobb, she has no regrets about her decision.

Trying to keep the information about her past under wraps, Leah is rather evasive during her interview with local police after Bethany is attacked. She continues to be a little vague as she reports Emmy’s disappearance and after Kyle cannot find any solid details about her missing roommate, she soon realizes she does not know much about her friend. Emmy does not have many possessions but after Leah makes a shocking discovery, she aggressively begins her search for information about her friend’s past. The deeper she digs, the more elusive her friend becomes and Leah has difficulty trying to make sense of the things she knows about Emmy. She is quite introspective as she reflects on their friendship and Leah soon reaches an utterly shocking conclusion as she uncovers stunning clues that leave her reeling and desperate for answers.

The Perfect Stranger is a compelling mystery with a unique storyline. Leah is an incredibly loyal friend and despite her former profession, she is rather naive in the face of overwhelming evidence that Emmy possibly fabricated her entire history. The first half of the novel is a little slow paced but once Leah begins her investigation in earnest, the story then hurtles to a fairly shocking conclusion. Fans of the genre will enjoy this complex and multi-layered mystery by Megan Miranda.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

"You can't escape the truth. It finds you eventually."

The follow-up to Megan Miranda's highly acclaimed book "All the Missing Girls" is a very interesting read. The characters are well developed, especially the main character Leah. Reflections throughout the book help shape her story nicely. The other main character, Emmy, is also well developed through Leah's broken memories of her.

As the plot unfolds, a bizarre set of circumstances leads you to wonder if you're reading about a story that the main character has made up. Maybe a figment of her imagination. Maybe an alternate reality she has created to cope with some of her own problems. But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Creepy events keep happening that are more than mere coincidence. Pay attention to the story or you'll miss the subtle foreshadowing throughout.

All along the way Miranda gives you little bites of information that force you to push forward and continue reading well into the night. She has a way with descriptive language and dialogue that slowly ratchets up the tension page by page. The sordid details from Leah's past and present constantly work against her at every turn in the case, and the tension ratchets up another notch as she dives into her past on her own to discover the truth. Everything comes crashing down on Leah towards the end of the book as she tries desperately to fit the pieces together. The conclusion is not really unexpected, but I appreciate how Miranda ties up all the loose ends nicely.

I recommend this book to fans of mysteries and thrillers. It was a good fast paced read. I received this as a free ARC from Simon & Schuster on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unlike many other readers I have never read Megan Miranda's popular book All The Missing Girls but based on the buzz surrounding that book, I jumped at the chance to review her latest literary offering.

This story is set around Leah, a tainted journalist who moves to a small town with her old friend Emmy who has suddenly reappeared in her life. When Emmy goes missing and there's a brutal attack against a woman who looks suspiciously similar to Leah, Leah starts to investigate.

This book has very bleak, dreary tone throughout which I wasn't crazy about. Miranda uses the ever-popular unreliable main character which worked well. The Perfect Stranger has a lot of characters and subplots - almost too many. There's a lot going on here but these subplots didn't always work well together.

As far as characters go, I can't say I was a fan of Leah. She was frustrating and while I liked that I didn't know where I stood with her she also came off as overly naive for an experienced journalist. Who doesn't know details about a person they've lived with, especially when they feel such a strong connection to them? As a journalist wouldn't that bother her that she was missing those pieces of information? It just didn't ring true for me.

I struggled to rate this book because some aspects were done well and others were weak. The suspenseful build-up was strong but it also felt unnecessarily convoluted much of the time. The plot had great potential but the energy fizzled out at the end leaving readers without a major twist. Instead we're given a meek conclusion that didn't give readers enough explanation or confrontation that we were hoping to witness.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This review is also posted on my blog The Baking Bookworm.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda is a perplexing mystery about a woman who goes missing around the same time another woman is attacked. Is there any connection between the two cases?

On the same day Bethany Jarvitz is bludgeoned, high school teacher Leah Stevens becomes increasingly concerned over the whereabouts of her roommate Emmy Grey. Trying to pinpoint the last time she saw her friend is not easy since they work opposite schedules, but Leah decides to err on the side of caution and report the disappearance to the police. Having already been questioned by Detective Kyle Donovan, she turns to him for help in finding Emmy. However, the more questions Kyle asks about her friend, Leah realizes how very little she knows about Emmy. When the police are unable to uncover any information about her missing friend, Leah begins her own investigation but there are many surprises awaiting her as she begins digging into her roommate’s past.

Following a scandal surrounding a newspaper article about a series of college suicides, Leah has no choice but to quit her job as a newspaper reporter. While she is trying to figure out what to do next, she unexpectedly runs into Emmy at a local bar. Although she has not seen nor heard from her friend in eight years, Leah has absolutely no qualms about agreeing to Emmy’s plan to move to Pennsylvania for a fresh start. Leah has secured a job as high school teacher and although she is a little troubled by the unwanted attention of the school’s basketball coach Davis Cobb, she has no regrets about her decision.

Trying to keep the information about her past under wraps, Leah is rather evasive during her interview with local police after Bethany is attacked. She continues to be a little vague as she reports Emmy’s disappearance and after Kyle cannot find any solid details about her missing roommate, she soon realizes she does not know much about her friend. Emmy does not have many possessions but after Leah makes a shocking discovery, she aggressively begins her search for information about her friend’s past. The deeper she digs, the more elusive her friend becomes and Leah has difficulty trying to make sense of the things she knows about Emmy. She is quite introspective as she reflects on their friendship and Leah soon reaches an utterly shocking conclusion as she uncovers stunning clues that leave her reeling and desperate for answers.

The Perfect Stranger is a compelling mystery with a unique storyline. Leah is an incredibly loyal friend and despite her former profession, she is rather naive in the face of overwhelming evidence that Emmy possibly fabricated her entire history. The first half of the novel is a little slow paced but once Leah begins her investigation in earnest, the story then hurtles to a fairly shocking conclusion. Fans of the genre will enjoy this complex and multi-layered mystery by Megan Miranda.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

"You can't escape the truth. It finds you eventually."

The follow-up to Megan Miranda's highly acclaimed book "All the Missing Girls" is a very interesting read. The characters are well developed, especially the main character Leah. Reflections throughout the book help shape her story nicely. The other main character, Emmy, is also well developed through Leah's broken memories of her.

As the plot unfolds, a bizarre set of circumstances leads you to wonder if you're reading about a story that the main character has made up. Maybe a figment of her imagination. Maybe an alternate reality she has created to cope with some of her own problems. But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Creepy events keep happening that are more than mere coincidence. Pay attention to the story or you'll miss the subtle foreshadowing throughout.

All along the way Miranda gives you little bites of information that force you to push forward and continue reading well into the night. She has a way with descriptive language and dialogue that slowly ratchets up the tension page by page. The sordid details from Leah's past and present constantly work against her at every turn in the case, and the tension ratchets up another notch as she dives into her past on her own to discover the truth. Everything comes crashing down on Leah towards the end of the book as she tries desperately to fit the pieces together. The conclusion is not really unexpected, but I appreciate how Miranda ties up all the loose ends nicely.

I recommend this book to fans of mysteries and thrillers. It was a good fast paced read. I received this as a free ARC from Simon & Schuster on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unlike many other readers I have never read Megan Miranda's popular book All The Missing Girls but based on the buzz surrounding that book, I jumped at the chance to review her latest literary offering.

This story is set around Leah, a tainted journalist who moves to a small town with her old friend Emmy who has suddenly reappeared in her life. When Emmy goes missing and there's a brutal attack against a woman who looks suspiciously similar to Leah, Leah starts to investigate.

This book has very bleak, dreary tone throughout which I wasn't crazy about. Miranda uses the ever-popular unreliable main character which worked well. The Perfect Stranger has a lot of characters and subplots - almost too many. There's a lot going on here but these subplots didn't always work well together.

As far as characters go, I can't say I was a fan of Leah. She was frustrating and while I liked that I didn't know where I stood with her she also came off as overly naive for an experienced journalist. Who doesn't know details about a person they've lived with, especially when they feel such a strong connection to them? As a journalist wouldn't that bother her that she was missing those pieces of information? It just didn't ring true for me.

I struggled to rate this book because some aspects were done well and others were weak. The suspenseful build-up was strong but it also felt unnecessarily convoluted much of the time. The plot had great potential but the energy fizzled out at the end leaving readers without a major twist. Instead we're given a meek conclusion that didn't give readers enough explanation or confrontation that we were hoping to witness.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This review is also posted on my blog The Baking Bookworm.

Reuniting with a roommate of 8 years ago, Leah finds the solution for starting a new life in a small Western Pennsylvania town. Leah, a journalist from Boston, found her career in shambles after failing to divulge a source for an expose she wrote. Emmy is looking for a new start along a more conventional path, having left a stint in the Peace Corp. It's old home week for the two, for a while - renewing acquaintances and getting caught up. It only takes a couple weeks for things to change drastically.

Emmy is missing - here today, gone tomorrow - without a trace. At the same time, a girl's body is found at the edge of the town lake. Badly beaten and in a coma, everyone hopes she will recover and shed light on her attacker. Bodies are piling up - an old boyfriend of Emmy's is found dead in Emmy's car, submerged in the lake. And, Leah is desperately trying to find Emmy. Suspects are also piling up. Leah, who teaches school, is finding that some of her students know more than they should about all the events. The local detective is starting to look at Leah and wonder if her friend, Emmy, had anything to do with the attack and murder. Does Emmy really exist? She's beginning to sound like a figment of Leah's imagination.

The reader is then bounced back eight years and then forward to the present - and back again...well, you get the idea. At the same time, new characters are introduced, or old ones are reborn - and the result is a complicated plot, and a case of whiplash. Regardless, you find yourself happily turning pages in rapid succession, eager to find out what could possibly happen next!

Information, evidence and clues continue to accumulate right down to the last pages. Leah's experience as an investigative reporter gives her the determination to follow every lead, until, finally, all the questions are answered. Some of the hype for this novel calls it a "brain- tester" , "Hitchcockian", and written in "reverse chronological order" - and it is all those things. So don't plan on multi-tasking while you're reading this novel - you'll need all your wits for this one!

4.25-4.5 STARS

When journalist Leah Stevens crosses several lines of professional integrity—and with the threat of a lawsuit looming overhead—Leah is unceremoniously forced out of the job she loves. So, after a chance encounter with a friend from her past, Leah leaves her life in Boston behind to follow her friend to rural Pennsylvania in search of a brand new start.

Just as this former journalist turned teacher settles into her new yet lackluster life, a young woman is attacked close to Leah’s home. Possessing an eerie resemblance to Leah, one has to wonder if Leah might have been the culprit’s true intended victim—especially since the main suspect in the girl’s attack is a man who has displayed an unhealthy interest in Leah from the very moment she arrived in town. But it’s the sudden, ominous disappearance of Leah’s friend & roommate—Emmy Grey—that has Leah on high alert.

The situation goes from disconcerting to bizarre, when the police fail to uncover any proof of Emmy’s existence. The lack of a paper trail, along with a lack of witnesses to attest to Emmy’s presence, sheaths Leah in a cloud of doubt and under an umbrella of suspicion. Complicating the situation even further, is Leah’s romantic involvement with Kyle Donovan, the attractive police officer who is investigating the recent attack while also searching for the elusive Emmy Grey.

The unique and intricate plot of Megan Miranda’s latest book, “The Perfect Stranger,” was an instant draw for me. Pulled in by the initial premise, I felt compelled to unravel the mystery that was laid out before me. Still, I found portions of the narrative to be choppy and confusing, making it difficult to remain fully engaged. And Leah, herself, was a bit of a conundrum, as was her strange connection to the girl without a past. Piece by piece, Leah’s secret torment was gradually revealed—a blatant attempt to add greater insight into Leah’s character. But, for me, she never quite made the leap beyond one-dimensional. Yet, despite it all, I just couldn’t put this story down. While not without its flaws, I found “The Perfect Stranger” to be a good, suspenseful read.

Last year All the Missing Girls totally wowed me. The whole telling the story backward gimmick actually worked, plus the writing and story were there to back it up. So of course when Megan Miranda had a new book out I was all in. While I didn’t love it like All the Missing Girls, The Perfect Stranger was still a pretty good book.

We have Leah Stevens who has gotten into some hot water at work and in her personal life in Boston and needs to get far away. When she bumps into an old roommate who is also in a bad situation they decided to live together again but this time in out in a small Pennsylvanian town. Leah changes her profession to a teacher and tries to keep a low profile. Still, with creepy calls and emails, a woman who looks like her that was almost killed and a roommate that seems to not be around a lot more than normal, Leah is wondering not only how out of the spotlight she can stay in this small town but if she is even safe.

This book just had such a creepy atmosphere and feeling to it. Like if it was made into a movie it would have been shot with an off color, darker filter to give a certain vibe. But it is a book so the writing did that perfectly. Information about Leah, her past and her roommate is all given out slowly so you never really have a full picture. This also made me question whether our main character was a reliable narrator because I just didn’t know what to think. I did appreciate a little romance that happened with Leah and a police detective. I really liked him but of course that made me suspicious!!

Anyway, I hate going into any more details even though I hate being vague but books like this are best gone into with little information. If you liked her last book or like a good mystery you should definitely check this one out.

One of my gripes about the psychological thriller genre is that often the characters are ALL unlikable, making horrible (and often unrealistic) life choices that send the lives of those around them spiraling out of control (yes, Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, I am looking at you). I love books that feature narrators with whom I can relate. If you are looking for a story that contains the latter character, this is the book for you.

Leah, the main character and narrator, finds herself in a precarious situation at work, one that leads to her resignation. Devastated and broke, she conveniently runs into an old friend, Emmy, who offers her a new chance at life and a place to stay. Not thinking twice, she immediately takes her friend up on the offer. Leah starts a new career as a high school teacher, and finds herself comfortably settled in her friend's rural town. Leah tries her best to put the shame of a failed career behind her, but the past has a way of creeping back into one's life.

Slowly, the life Leah has fought to rebuild starts to unravel: Emmy goes missing, a man is found dead in Emmy's car, and a women whom Emmy knew is found nearly dead in a field. Leah begins to question her very existence as police look to her as a suspect and Emmy is nowhere to be found.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book (and Leah's story) because every twist was unexpected, yet something that could certainly happen in the real world. This book makes you question how much you know about those around you, and their motivations for being with you. It's well written and the characters are fully developed. I highly recommend it, and just bought Megan Miranda's All the Missing Girls because I enjoyed her writing so much!

THE PERFECT STRANGER is the follow-up to Megan Miranda’s debut novel, “All the Missing Girls, a story that was told in reverse. In The Perfect Stranger, a journalist sets out to find a missing friend, a friend who may never have existed at all.

“Confronted by a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit, failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston when she runs into an old friend, Emmy Grey, who has just left a troubled relationship. Emmy proposes they move to rural Pennsylvania, where Leah can get a teaching position and both women can start again. But their new start is threatened when a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is assaulted by the lake, and Emmy disappears days later.”

Leah works with Kyle Donovan, a young police officer on the case, to try to find Emmy. Did she really know Emmy? Even the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey, and in doing so come to terms with her own shady past.

I have to admit that I had high hopes for this book, but in my opinion, it was not at all like All the Missing Girls. At the beginning, I had trouble connecting with the characters, even the main character, Leah and would have liked a more fleshed-out characterization to enrich the plot.

All in all, this was a quick read that was acceptable, but I was expecting so much more. While I definitely didn't like this one as much as All the Missing Girls, I still look forward to reading more from Megan Miranda.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Megan Miranda for an ARC.

Thanks to a story she can’t corroborate but which resulted in tragedy, reporter Leah Stevens finds herself without a job or prospects. Seemingly fortuitously, she runs into an old friend she shared an apartment with in college. The friend, Emmy, suggests they become roomies again in a different town where they can both start fresh. Leah lands a job as a teacher but soon finds herself the object of a coworker’s unsolicited and unwanted attention. Then a woman who bears a striking resemblance to her is found murdered, the coworker is brought in for questioning, and Emmy goes missing. Leah reports Emmy’s disappearance but, in an attempt to hide her past from the detective investigating the case, she is evasive in her answers about both the coworker’s actions and her relationship with Emmy. As a result, Leah becomes the main suspect and, to save herself, she begins her own investigation.

I enjoyed The Perfect Stranger by author Megan Miranda with some reservations. There were times when it stretched my suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point and I often found myself putting it down. However, there’s plenty of suspense and twists and turns and, if the plot seemed at times…unrealistic, these kept me returning to the book to find out where the story would eventually lead. Overall, not a bad read especially for people who enjoy psychological thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Journalist Leah has to leave Boston due to being accused of libel and harassment of a professor. Emmy has recently returned from a Peace Corps trip and is seeking a new home, as well, due to problems in her most recent relationship. The two women have decided to move together to rural Pennsylvania where they can start anew. Leah takes a job as a teacher and Emmy cleans hotels and houses until she can find something that she is more interested in doing. At the same time that a young woman that looks eerily similar to Leah is beaten into a coma and left for dead, Leah finds that Emmy is missing. Emmy must use her former investigative skills to help local detective, Kyle, find her friend but soon finds that what she thought she knew about her friend may not be true.

This book was okay. There were some twists and turns but the ending was pretty predictable. It was easy and quick to read but there was a lack of excitement to the book. There were times when I doubted my initial instincts and was hoping for a certain outcome but it didn't work out that way. While the characters of Emmy and Leah were interesting, it wasn't enough to make up for the lackluster story line. I still had times when I enjoyed the book and think that it would be good for fans of suspense but realize that this is not the best suspense or thriller out there.

I received an advanced copy of this book in order to write an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Megan Miranda's debut adult novel, All the Missing Girls, was a fantastic read. I couldn't wait to read her latest, just released book - The Perfect Stranger.

We meet Leah Stevens in the prologue. She's left her job in the city and moved to a small town to work as a teacher. Not a planned move, but...."(I) could start over. Be the Leah Stevens I had planned to be."

The why of her departure from her former life is only revealed slowly, in memories and offhand comments. And what of her roommate, the enigmatic Emmy? They lived together back in Leah's college days and now again by good fortune.

And then a woman is killed in that new, quiet small town. And Emmy goes missing.

Can I say that Miranda does missing girls really, really well. That first book also had us hunting for a missing girl. Miranda has again come up with a fantastic plot line in which nothing is as it appears - in part one. But in part two the mouse becomes the cat.....

"Truth and story - doesn't matter which comes first, as long as you get where you need to be at the end. As long as you end at the truth, all's fair."

So, who's telling the truth? I could see the danger ahead and found myself wanting to shout at the character to open her eyes and see what was coming! You know, those 'don't go in the basement' moments in a scary movie. She doesn't listen however. Thankfully, because otherwise the reader would be robbed of a heck of a good read. And no psychological thriller should be without that last gotcha ending. The Perfect Stranger ends with a 'just right' one.

Another great page-turner from Megan Miranda - this reader will be eagerly awaiting her next book.

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.

So the suspense of this book kept me on my toes I really wanted to know if Leah would uncover the truth about her roommate. She did but the ending I felt lacked the wow factor in it all. Maybe the author wanted to play it safe, but I wanted to know what truly would make Emmy Grey do what she did. It couldn't be just because of her knowing someone eight years ago no, to me it seemed more deeper than that.
In The Perfect Stranger Leah is starting over with her life because of what happened when she was a journalist. She still thinks about it though she is trying to move on. Everything seems to be going good for her as she is becoming a teacher until someone is found injured near her home not only that she is getting phone calls and emails. When her roommate goes missing Leah can't just let the cops do their job it could be too late. So Leah starts investigating and what she will uncover will be something that seems to have been in the works for a long time.
How you can trust anyone when the one person you thought you could trust is not who they truly are?
There was plenty of suspense there I just felt it lacked the big wow factor towards the end more like a safe ending. I felt that Leah could have demanded more answers from Emmy. As well as Kyle could have demanded more answers for Leah being as he is a police detective he seemed to be very forth coming with things going on with the case with Leah.

Leah randomly runs into an old friend, Emmy, who is fresh out of a troubled relationship and looking for a new start. Leah has her own problems and is also looking to start over somewhere new, so the timing couldn't be more perfect when Emmy suggests they move together to a small town in PA. The pair had settled into their new lives when tragedy strikes - a woman in town is found brutally assaulted and clinging to life. What's even more disturbing is how much this girl resembles Leah and the questions the police are asking. In the midst of this, Emmy goes missing without a trace. While cooperating with the police, Leah launches an investigation on her own to find answers, but discovers there is very little she actually knows about Emmy. The police find nothing on Emmy either - it's as if she's a ghost and doesn't exist.... Does she even exist, or was she all a figment of Leah's imagination?

I had read All The Missing Girls and definitely wanted to read The Perfect Stranger - it didn't disappoint! The ending tied it all together and those final pages were great!! I really enjoyed the way it ended. This one is a quick read - it's one of those you don't want to put down because you want to find out what the heck is going on (and I wasn't sure which way things were going). Enjoy!

Ever since I finished reading All The Missing Girls last year I’ve been an instant fan of Megan Miranda‘s writing style. She was on my list of favorite 2016 discoveries and you might already guess I added her newest thriller The Perfect Stranger to my list of most anticipated 2017 releases as soon as I heard about it. I read The Perfect Stranger for the first time back in January and it ended up being my very first 5 star read of 2017. Because even though my expectations were set high after her thriller debut last year, Megan Miranda managed to outdo herself with her newest story. Well written, fast-paced, lots of plot twists, suspense, interesting characters… In short an excellent psychological thriller! I found myself hooked right from the first page and she is without doubt one of my new favorite authors of the genre. The way the author is able to build suspense, add plot twists and slowly reveal more about the characters is simply impressive. It’s unreliable characters at its best and it took me a long time to figure out what was the truth behind it all as everyone seemed to be having something to hide. There’s no ‘backwards’ plot this time for those who didn’t enjoy that aspect of All The Missing Girls, so if you like the genre there really is no excuse to not grab a copy of The Perfect Stranger. Trust me, you won’t regret it!