Right, the year is at its end and I can now definitively say that I have read the staggering amount of 78 books. Three posts will be dedicated to all the books I’ve read. Next year I will tackle my reading posts differently, but more of that in my post about 2019.

This is my third post in the “series”. The first post was regarding all the Sci-Fi and Fantasy books I read in 2018, the second about all the Classics, Contemporary, Historical Fiction & Non-Fiction books I read. This one is about the Mystery/Thriller/Horror and Paranormal books I’ve read.

Like the last times I don’t want to flood you with information about the books, so I have highlighed my favourite books of the year with extensive reviews. The other reviews are just one-liners. If you’d like more information about the books and my opinion about them, you can check out my Goodreads page.

Mystery/Thriller/Horror: 12 books in 2018

Favourite: Jane Harper – The Dry (2016)

I limit the amount of thrillers I read each year. Especially ones by authors who have written more books about that same character.

As of now, I’ve read & love Mo Hayder, Lee Child and I read (emphasis on the lack of love) Jo Nesbo. No more. The premise of the Dry appealed to me. I like the setting of a small Australian town in the midst of a drought. The atmosphere Harper sets is just right. The place feels bleak and grim & due to its small size we quickly feel like we know everything about everyone. However, we also find out everyone has secrets.

It’s these secrets that see Aaron Falk returning reluctantly to his old home town after 20 years. An old friend of his & his whole family has been shot in what looks like a murder suicide. Falk is asked to help the local police figure out what happened while having to deal with his own past at the same time.

The story twists and turns without being annoying. It’s a great read and I finished it within a few days. I simply couldn’t put it down. I will definitely read the author’s latest books as well!
Stars: 4 out of 5

Favourite: Riley Sager – Final Girls (2017)

Yes, Riley Sager, thank you!

This is finally a thriller I can appreciate. It has none of the tropes I hate in thrillers. The insecure alcoholic female who’s scared her boyfriend or husband doesn’t love her. Sure, there’s substance abuse in this novel but somehow I feel it’s justified in light of the character’s backstory.

The story is about Quincy. In the media portrayed as a “final girl” because she’s the sole survivor of a massacre at a cabin with her friends.

We’re getting to know Quincy ten years after the events. She’s still in contact with the cop who saved her and who still checks up on her from time to time, but other than that the events from her past are bygones. Her life seems perfect. She’s married to Jeff, a lawyer, and she has a baking website.

That is until Samantha, another Final Girl, appears on her doorstep.

I wasn’t inclined to continue reading incessantly, which is why this book definitely doesn’t deserve five stars. The ending is twisty and logical enough for me to rate it four stars though. I have hope in Riley Sager and I actually can’t wait to read his latest book.
Stars: 4 out of 5

Favourite: Stephen King & Owen King – Sleeping Beauties (2017)

Oh yes, what a fantastic father-son collaboration! I was scared reading this book, because I have high expectations when it comes to King’s longer novels the Stand and Under the Dome. The build up of this novel is pretty similar to those two.

Only the premise is completely different. Sleeping Beauties tells us a story about a tiny town called Dooling where a mysterious woman called Evie Black arrives.

Following her arrival, all women who fall asleep, stay asleep wrapped in cocoons. The men of the town (and the rest of the world are baffled by this). It also triggers a lot of mad behaviour, like we are used to from King. When the cocoons are opened, the women kill the closest man and go to sleep again.

Carnage ensues. This is where the similar build up comes in. Halfway through the book there are a few sleepy women trying to stay awake, while the whole town is going cray-cray. I like this and I don’t mind that it actually doesn’t add too much to the story itself.

I also like that the characters in the novel are well-rounded. We get to know all of them well. Normally, King likes proper baddies. This one doesn’t have proper baddies. I like that about this novel. I also like that the ending isn’t over-the-top King-esque. The whole narrative from start to finish makes sense.

It’s also a good social narrative of the times we’re living in. We get to see a society without women and what that does to the men. I definitely wouldn’t mind a future Stephen / Owen collaboration!
Stars 5 out of 5

Favourite: Stephen King – Finders Keepers (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #2) (2015)

Well, hello Mr. King! You came out with a real bang of a sequel! I’m afraid my review will not be able to do this book justice.

If Stephen King knows about something it’s about books, and writers, and being passionate about books. He is very knowledgable about the horror genre in general, which means he has written some good non-fiction books on this subject.

It could be due to this that Finders Keepers is such a good book. The story is about a young man who robs a reclusive writer. The man is obsessed with Rothstein’s books, and he wants to read the manuscripts he has hidden (and is unwilling to publish) in his house.

He does so, and he hides the trunk of manuscripts. Thirty years later, a boy (whose father was brutally injured by the stolen Mercedes of the previous book in this trilogy) finds the trunk. Thirty-five years later Morris (the aformentioned robber) wants his books back.

The reason the book is so good, is because the suspense level is contanstantly at a high. The bad guy, Morris, truly is a bad guy. He can’t be trusted (which he proves multiple times at the shocking start of the book), and he’s dangerous because of his obsession. Pete ,who finds the manuscripts, is really a nice boy. He’s not a bland character, instead he’s well fleshed out and he proves by the choices he makes that he is a very good guy.

There isn’t a passage in the book that is useless, or that King could have done without. Everything points towards the main events & towards character building.

I can’t believe I almost stopped reading the Bill Hodges trilogy after the first book! I almost can’t wait to read the third one, because the scenes with the original Mr. Mercedes killer were absolutely baffling!
Stars: 5 out of 5

Others

• Joe Hill – NOS4A2 (2013)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because this book is a solid read. It’s a bit too long, but that’s because Joe Hill has borrowed a lot of his dad’s way of writing (Stephen King). Introductions to characters who are about to be killed off tend to be lengthy. I kept wanting to read more, even though I knew nothing would happen that would surprise me.
• Araminta Hall – Our Kind of Cruelty (2018)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because I understand what Araminta Hall tried to do. She tried to focus on the psychological aspect of a psychological thriller rather than the plot. Unfortunately, the execution isn’t great which means that the first 200 pages feel repetitive. After 50 pages we already know Mike is obsessed with V. It’s refreshing we’re seeing things from a male character rather than a weak female character (one of my thriller tropes). The last 100 pages are quite interesting as they take place in a court room (this isn’t a spoiler). However, nothing surprising happens.
• Stuart Turton – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because this book is like Sherlock Holmes 2.0. & Cluedo on drugs. I’m not much of a puzzler. I like to get pulled into a book by its characters and by the premise. That’s a bit difficult to do here, because we find out about the real premise & characters towards the end.
• Lee Child – 61 Hours (Jack Reacher, #14) (2010)
  • 3 out of 5 stars but it’s difficult to pinpoint why exactly. Possibly because I thought the countdown from 61 hours was unnecessary. Possibly because Reacher came across as an incredibly annoying know-it-all (he’s always a know-it-all but not always annoying), and he even came across as whiney. Not to mention, the awkward discussions with the woman who has is former job in Virginia. Why does he want to know if she’s married so badly, back off Reacher!
• A.J. Finn – The Woman in the Window (2018)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because it’s inspired by Rear Window & The Girl on the Train and it’s terrible. The main female lead has problems & she tells herself grand stories about her neighbours (does this sound familiar??). Then she sees a crime happening, but when everyone disputes this, she is not sure if she even saw something. So many storylines of this book are boring, and far-fetched. It’s not atmospheric, it’s not exciting, it’s a story propelled forward by a drug/alcohol-induced woman. If this is not your thing, don’t read it!
• Aimee Molloy – The Perfect Mother (2018)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because this book is filled with mommy shaming (a bit like the book Little Deaths but not as outrageous), and a quest of three of the moms to find the missing baby. I thought the story was a bit far-fetched, but I still gave it three stars because it’s enjoyable. It’s not really a thriller, it’s more a story about the dynamics between different women. It’s told from different point-of-views which keeps the story fast paced.
• C.J. Tudor – The Chalk Man (2018)
  • 1 out of 5 stars because this book has triggered so many feelings in me. Only negative ones though. Sometimes I can kind of understand positive reviews of a book I don’t like, in this case I really really can’t. I feel that nothing positive can be said about this book. First of all, it’s hardly a mystery/thriller. Half of the time I was so confused by the setting that I didn’t manage to get enthralled at all. It doesn’t help that the main narrator is an incredibly unlikelable bore.
• Jo Nesbø – The Devil’s Star (Harry Hole, #5) (2003)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because I have a problem with the writing. One thing is for sure, the bad writing is consistent throughout all the novels. It’s either Nesbø’s writing or Don Bartlett’s translation, but most of the scenes are absolutely incomprehensible. Emotions jump from sad to angry in one single paragraph.
• Mo Hayder – Tokyo (2004)
  • 5 out of 5 stars because it’s one of those books that has stayed with me after 12 years of standing on my bookshelf. It’s one of my all-time favourites.

Paranormal: 2 books in 2018

Favourite: Marisha Pessl – Night Film (2013)

This book started out as a solid 4.5 star read, but slowly slowly descended into the 3 star range. However, it’s such a strong novel overall which will stay with me which is why it’s a favourite.

The story is about Ashley Cordova’s alleged suicide. She’s the daughter of a creepy film maker, who makes mysterious “night” films that aren’t publicly released. As such he has a bizarre following of crazy fans. Scott McGrath has been captivated by this film maker for years. He has even lost his job & marriage because of him.

Ashley’s death pulls him back into Cordova’s life. He takes it upon himself to investigate her death, together with Hopper, a boy he meets at the place of death, and Nora. This very unlikely trio starts working together.

The story starts out great, as does the format with several media screen shots and other interactive pages. These dwindle and so does the story.

It’s the first time in years I’ve had nightmares because of a book, but it doesn’t manage to pull the thrill through to the last page. It’s a dense novel, and since the thrill starts on page 1 it’s hard to stay captivated and interested throughout.

There are paranormal elements to the book.

It’s good but not great, I think Marisha Pessl’s writing shows great promise though and I can’t wait to read her latest novel Neverworld Wake.
Stars: 3 out of 5

Others

• Stephen King – End of Watch (Bill Hodges, #3) (2016)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because the characters are incredibly bland. Brady has become unbelievable as a villain, thus killing the suspense of the novel. We all know the outcome of the story. It’s one of those books I actually wanted to close and put away, but I didn’t and I regret it. I would suggest you to only read the second book of the trilogy Finders Keepers, which actually reads as a standalone and it doesn’t add anything to the first and third book of the trilogy.

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That’s it for the books I read in 2018!

What was your favourite mystery/thriller/horror or paranormal novel of 2018? Please let me know in the comments!