The Perfect Stranger – Book Review
The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
Published by: William Morrow
Publish Date: January 2018
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
HB&W Rating: 3
View on Goodreads
Buy on Amazon: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository
Synopsis
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.
Determined to find Emmy, Leah cooperates with Kyle Donovan, a handsome young police officer on the case. As they investigate her friend’s life for clues, Leah begins to wonder: did she ever really know Emmy at all? With no friends, family, or a digital footprint, the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Soon Leah’s credibility is at stake, and she is forced to revisit her past: the article that ruined her career. To save herself, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey—and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.
Everyone in this rural Pennsylvanian town has something to hide—including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own?
Synopsis source: Goodreads
Review
I read The Girl From Widow Hills not too long ago and really enjoyed it. So, after reading the description on this one, I was pretty excited to start it. It definitely did not live up to the hype in my mind. Sadly, this book was just okay for me.
Don’t get me wrong, it is still a suspenseful read, and the story unfolds interestingly enough, but to be honest, the main character just left me feeling kind of ‘meh.’ She’s too contrary to what the author has tried to portray her as: sharp, intuitive, hardened investigative reporter, reeling from a failed attempt to bring the truth of her last story into the light. In actuality, we have a woman who has, despite her intimate knowledge of how deceptive people can be, throws her lot in with a woman she doesn’t know anything about. I could buy it only for so long. Someone so smart should learn that non-answers to questions about basic information needed when you are looking to become roommates with someone (like a person’s name for example), should be red flags. But no, she KNOWS her “deeply, if not thoroughly.”
I just found it all to be too far outside of the realm of plausibility to be all that thrilling. On top of that, there are certain story threads that were not wrapped up by the end of the book, like a spool of thread in the web of the story that is left hanging from a wall and doesn’t actually connect with the web.
Now, am I comparing it unfairly to TGFWH? I don’t believe so. Her writing style and the way she unfolds the story were comparable and enjoyable. For me, I just didn’t care at all for the main character and there were just too many unanswered questions at the end of it all for it to earn any more than 3 stars.
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