We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

We are fully in summer now, aren't we! 

Today I'm a stop on the Random Things Tour for Marcus Kliewer's We Used to Live Here. 

Eve and Charlie bought the house on Heritage Lane planning to flip it and resell it. And though it requires more work than they'd initially planned, the property was too much to pass up. 

While Eve is home alone one night, a family knocks on the door. The husband, Thomas, says he grew up in the home. They're in the area and he wants to show his kids his old home. Reluctantly Eve allows the family in but their quick tour is derailed with the family's youngest daughter decides to hide in the basement. 

And thus begins an absolute headtrip of a book! Holy moly!

I feel for Eve. 100% I'm the kind of introvert who literally hides in their house when someone comes to the door. Like if I don't want to answer it's somehow not actually my right to do so and I'll get in trouble or something. 

So yeah, in Eve's place I wouldn't have even opened the door! But that's just the first hurdle. She tries to turn them away, going so far as to call her girlfriend to get a surefire excuse and pass in refusing the family their tour, but gets no answer. 

Then, while the family's daughter hides in the basement, Eve's partner Charlie arrives and invites them to stay for dinner! Eve is pissed! And I don't blame her. 

And then things begin to get weird. 

In addition to Eve's unplanned guests and the narrative that begins there, just about each chapter is followed by a document of sorts outlining increasingly odd material. Half the fun is in trying to put the pieces together!

We used to Live Here absolutely begs to be read in one sitting--and I really dare you to try otherwise! According to the marketing material, it's going to be adapted for Netflix and it's absolutely going to be a must binge!

Now, one more note, it's supposed to be based on a "Reddit hit"—I don't actually spend any time on Reddit so I wasn't familiar with it. If you are, yay. If you're not, I highly recommend going into this without any kind of Google searches. Like I said, the weirdness and trying to figure it out really is a big part of the fun!

We Used to Live Here is out now in the UK and in the US.

The Escape Room by L.D. Smithson

Hello, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for L.D. Smithson's The Escape Room. 

Clara is desperate to get picked for The Fortress, a new reality competition escape room with a 100k prize. Money she and her sister can definitely use in the wake of their mother's illness and death. But after being accepted onto the show, Clara breaks her leg and can't compete. She only barely manages to convince her sister, Bonnie, to take her place, arguing that they look enough alike that she can pull it off and that Bonnie has always done better at puzzles anyway.

The competition is set in an old fortress that dates back to the 1800s, though it wasn't completed until later. At one point it was even a hotel. But rumors swirl around the place, as the contestants soon learn. It all seems fodder for the clues to the game until viewers' commentary starts to suggest something much more sinister. 

The Escape Room is a no holds barred thriller that had me hooked from the strange and bloody beginning!

The structure of the book is interesting to note considering Bonnie is a guest on a podcast in the aftermath of the show. She's telling the story, even though it played out ostensibly in front of a live audience. And it adds a definite layer of suspense that I absolutely loved!

So I've never done an escape room. And honestly I have no real desire to. One is the fear that I'd absolutely suck at it! And reading this one, I have to admit I never would have figured out any of the clues the contestants are faced with. 

What's more, even though the clues seem to lead to prizes of a sort (remember the oreos and peanut butter Survivor episode--note, I watched little of that show so my reference point is very dated), the viewers vote on contestants to go head to head with one another throughout. 

Which seems fairly normal to the kind of program the game is based on. Except...Bonnie notes that something feels off from the beginning. 

The Escape Room is a cool premise done in a way that I found to be truly fresh and fun! Throughout, there are dispatches from "The Director," which hint at a more nefarious plot than even I could guess at. 

This book has blockbuster written all over it and I was here for every single page--frequently with popcorn to accompany it!

The Escape Room is out now in the UK and I highly recommend adding it to your immediate must read list!

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for Tess Gerritsen's latest, The Spy Coast. 

For Maggie Bird, retired life is about keeping her chickens safe. A far cry from what she used to do for a living. 

See Maggie is one of a handful of retired CIA agents who now call the small town of Purity, Maine home. But her quiet retirement is about to come falling down around her. 

A woman has shown up telling Maggie that a fellow operative has gone missing. What's more, details of an op they worked together have been leaked. Which means Maggie's cover has been leaked. Later that same day, the woman is found murdered in Maggie's drive. 

Now Maggie will have to try and figure out who's behind it all, with the help of her fellow retirees. But as they run their own internal investigation, the local sheriff's department is also on the case. And sitting Sheriff Jo Thibodeau is starting to think there's something fishy about her town's newest residents. 

This first in a new series from Gerritsen is a bit of a change from her longtime Rizzoli and Isles series. And it is exceptional!

The Spy Coast introduces readers to Maggie Bird. And boy has she led a fascinating life!

While on vacation in Bangkok, decades ago, Maggie met and fell in love with Danny. A doctor traveling overseas, he's doing one last grand tour before returning to the UK where a steady job will offer him a chance to help his mother. 

But what begins as a benign, everyday life experience—meeting and falling in love—kicks a series of events into motion that has repercussions way down the line. 

A retired spy offers, I think, so many story possibilities! Not only do I hope we'll get more adventures from Maggie and her cohorts, but I absolutely love the idea of main characters outside the "normal" range we see. I was immediately drawn to this story simply because of the premise of following a former spy in their sixties! (And of course because it was Tess Gerritsen.)

The Spy Coast is a new favorite for me! I hope we get more of The Martini Club and would LOVE to see this get picked up for adaptation as well! Give me more!