I get a lot of the books I read from the library (love my library!!) so with our local library being closed for COVID-19, I’ve had to change up my reading routine.

First, I re-read a favorite book and then a couple of other older books I had sitting on my shelf at home, including this WWII novel set in Korea: White Chrysanthemum. And I’ve started a couple of books that will take me longer to read. See my post on reading more than one book at a time.

I do prefer ” real” books because I spend so much time on screens anyway, but eventually I was driven to my ipad and kindle account to see what I had available there. Luckily I have a couple waiting for me including this new thriller:

You Are Not Alone: A Novel by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Every once in awhile it’s nice to spend a whole day on my couch finishing a psychological/domestic thriller, which is what I did yesterday.

Set in New York City, the book reads like a set of diary entries from several perspectives and stars Shay who has just witnessed a woman throw herself in front of a subway train. Though Shay was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, as she tries to process the tragedy, her curiosity (and loneliness) leads her to become entangled in the deceased woman’s set of friends and eventually in a strange and dangerous situation.

To help frame the action, Shay’s chapters start out with statistics and psychological findings, which she is obsessed with.

We tend to like people whom we perceive as similar to us. And the less information we have about a person, the more important these perceived similarities are in influencing our approval.

an entry from Shay’s data book

The book had amazing suspense. I remember feeling nervous about something as simple as opening an envelope.

As with most thrillers I read I found myself getting annoyed with the characters and thinking stop trying to solve this yourself, call the police!! And the ability of “normal” people to pull off some of the CIA-like operations is difficult to believe. But of course keeping those limitations wouldn’t make for as good of a book, and I wouldn’t be recommending it right now.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic version of this book in exchange for an honest review.