What a cracker of a book! You know someone is going to die from the start but it’s not clear who or why right until the end. This is definitely a bit of a slow burner that gets darker and darker as the book goes on. There are twists all over the place and the ending was as hauntingly twisted as you would expect reading this. This was eerie and beautifully written with well fleshed out but deeply flawed characters.

A slow build but one that immediately has a feeling of dread at the back of your mind as you read. It’s very good and I’m going to read her other books now because I’m thrilled to find a new 5/5 author! 100% recommended.

I raced through this psychological thriller it had be totally gripped from the beginning. Each of the main characters had their own secrets which are drawn out through the story and things were not quite as they seemed.
There were lots of unexpected twists. I found this book shocking, dark, disturbing and unsettling but unputdownable.

A disturbing and sinister domestic thriller about a seemingly normal well off suburban family. It kept me hooked til the end. An enjoyable, twist filled read.

A extremely tense and gripping read that had me enthralled from the very start. I highly recommend this book especially to fans of domestic thriller genre.

This is more 3.5 than 4.

I struggled with this one. Some of the struggle was in direct relation to the writing, and some was from the difficulties of dealing with the unedited version jumping all over the place.

There was a lot going on here for one family to endure, and while they weren’t the most likable characters, it’s still hard to imagine that no one knew just how dysfunctional they were.

The ending I thought was the best part. I wish the whole book had been modeled after that ending, I think it would have bumped this rating up to a 5 star.

ARC provided by NetGalley

Gripping and unsettling. This is a great read that hooks you in from the first page and keeps you hooked in until the very last page. I’d recommend this to all domestic thriller fans.

I absolutely adored this book! It's one of those which got downloaded with a mass of others so it wasn't until I went back through my kindle that I discovered this, like a true diamond in the rough. It really was a complete delight to read, this is everything that a domestic noir should be. Eerie, creepy, that dark, sinister feeling but you can't quite put your finger on why. It's beautifully written, the characters and the plot are so well written and it really does take you into their lives to live this with them. I honestly can't speak highly enough about this story. There are also a lot of real life traumas thrown in and they're added in in a respectful way rather than feeling like they're just added for shock value, it feels completely natural. Clear your afternoon and treat yourself to this amazing book!

I am a massive fan of Karen Perry and this is just another great read from a great thriller author. it was darkly disturbing and so creepy with twists, turns and unpredictability. When you think you know what is coming it switches. I was totally gripped right from the start and I couldnt put it down.

I thourghly enjoyed this book, it was a bit of a slow burner. However in the end it had me hooked, the story was gripping and compelling.

Abi Holland considers herself to be very lucky. She is happily married, her eldest daughter Eva is off to uni. All she really worries about is her youngest daughter Beth. Beth is a bit of a loner, so when a foreign exchange student Corrine comes to stay Abi is relieved her daughter might finally have a friend.
When Beth starts to act out Abi begins to worry about Corrine's influence over her.
The Holland family have their share of secrets and Corrine is silently taking them all in.

This is the story of the Howard family. Abi, is a workaholic mother and is married to Mark, who is a stay at home father. They have two daughters Eva, who is seventeen years old and Beth who is thirteen years old. We also learn that Mark’s sister recently committed suicide and has left her house just to Beth, which has caused tension in the family. Since an incident at school Beth is dealing with bullies and has become very withdrawn and lonely. When the school takes part in a foreign exchange programme Abi decides it would be good for Beth to take part, but little does she realise how Corinne, the french exchange student, will affect all their lives. Beth becomes obsessed with her and Corinne is a very good listener but is also very controlling and manipulative. Abi looks forward to Corinne going back to France as she realises how she is dominating and changing Beth. The family are persuaded to visit Corinne and her family in France when tragedy strikes and Corinne’s true nature really starts to surface, Corinne has been listening to all the family secrets and lies and that drives this book to a shocking and unexpected conclusion. It is a compelling and disturbing read, full of lies, secrets, bullying, abuse and heartache. A real rollercoaster of a read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I received this book as an ARC via netgalley in an exchange for an honest review. I am grateful for the opportunity. Karen Perry is the pen name of Dublin-based authors Paul Perry and Karen Gillece.
The action in this book centres around the visits of a French Exchange student(Corrine) to a family in Dublin and the way that the youngest daughter (Beth) in that family reacts. From the outset the reader is aware that the narrative has ended in tragedy, that someone has been murdered. The reality is much more than that.

I struggled with this book for almost the first half. It felt disorganised and in some parts contradictory - some of that I have to admit as being due to my misinterpretation. However it does feel unnecessarily complex, just when i felt I had grasped what was going on the author(s) introduced something new. In truth the author(s) have thrown everything they have at this book; LGBT, mind control and bullying to name just some that won't give the storyline away.

I very nearly gave up but WOW i have to admit that the final sections more than made up for this. The gathering together of threads and more new threads - all drawn in so that i was holding my breath to see what on earth would happen next. The ending made me both gasp and cry.

I have read 2 others by this pair of writers one i really liked and one i felt a bit bland. This has elements of both previous reads but it's rating rivals the better of the two. I think I will be reading more by them.

I would love to know how they write together - does they take a chapter each or deal with separate elements of the narrative. Do they both know how it is going to end? or is it a surprise?

Abi and Mark's daughter Beth has been going through some troubles at school recently, reacting badly to consistent bullying from her classmates, and the sudden withdrawal of friendship from her best friend. At first they are glad when she forms an attachment to French exchange student Corinne, but as their friendship becomes closer, they begin to worry that Corinne is a bad influence on Beth, controlling and manipulative. But it isn't only Beth who has shared her secrets with Corinne - voluntarily or less so - and Corinne knows more about the family than any of them could possibly realise.

This is a complex and nuanced story with a lot of troubled characters who aren't all that easy to like. Rather like a soap in the amount of terrible things that happen to a very small group of people, it is an interesting and gripping psychological thriller as you try to unravel where the danger lies. From the opening of the story it is clear that something tragic has happened, but we are kept guessing as to what, and why, until the very end. I was not sure that the end of the book entirely rang true for me, perhaps I read all the characters wrong, but it was certainly the sort of story that kept the reader on the edge of their seat.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

A dark and shocking story about the secrets that hide within families


Abi Holland has always loved both her teenage daughters, but whilst bright, popular Eva seems set for great things in life, her youngest daughter Beth is quiet and lonely. When her and her husband Mark welcome Corrine, a confident and enigmatic French exchange student, into their home, her and Beth quickly form a firm friendship. At first, Abi is delighted that her shy daughter has found a friend to bring her out of her shell, but after a while Beth starts behaving strangely. As Corrine becomes more and more of a presence in the family and starts to insert herself into Beth, Eva and even Mark’s lives, Abi begins to question who exactly they have let into their home - and in on all their many secrets.


This was a brilliant, twist-packed, and tense domestic thriller that had me hooked right from the first few pages. The opening scene is set in the present, right after some sort of terrible incident, and then the narrative jumps back in time to the evening before Corrinne’s arrival to explain the sinister events that led up to the tragedy. The whole book has a chilling and foreboding atmosphere as the reader knows right from the start that something horrific is going to happen, but the author does an excellent job of keeping us guessing what it is right until the end, building up the drama and tension to an explosive end. The characters were all multi-layered and complex, and I found Corrine and Beth to be believable portrayals of teenagers with their complex emotions, dealing with relatable struggles and issues of teenage life. The author manages to craftily foreshadow dark events to come with little clues that pack a huge punch when you finally realise what they were hinting at, and the story builds to a genuinely shocking and unexpected conclusion that stayed in my head for days after I finished reading.


It is genuinely difficult for me to find fault with this book. My only negative comments would be that it is quite a dark story and touches on some elements that may be triggering for some people. Additionally, jumping back and forth in time might be a little confusing for some readers.


I absolutely loved this book – I literally couldn’t put it down and in fact, I read the whole thing in just under a day. It is one of my favourite books that I have read this year, and I will be sure to seek out more by this excellent author.


Daenerys


Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of this book to review.

This was a very emotional read. Full of complexities of two teenage friends who come together via a school exchange.
On the surface all seemed normal, but as the story went on. layers were peeled back and the whole story becomes more complex.
I did find some parts rather hard to read as the cruelty of school is horrible and I am sure we are all familiar with it.
It was very well written with some. with interesting characters. Tragedy simmers beneath it all.
A good strong book.

You know, in the beginning, there are three teenage girls. Someone is dead. And a mother’s been taken to the police station. And getting to the who, how and why is one long, gripping, twisted tale. Karen Perry’s Stranger is a psychological thriller …. exploring abuse, bullying, control, the cruelty of teenage girls (and my gosh but they can be cruel). It’s a domestic drama which grips you from the first page and just when you thought you had it all figured out and the worst had happened, there’s one last twist that comes out of absolutely no-where and leaves you reeling. Shocking, real, brilliant. Could. Not. Put it down.

I enjoyed this book even though the climax of the story was semi revealed in the first chapter. The story wavers between Abi, the mother being taken to the police station in the aftermath of some terrible event at her daughter’s school, with the recent past where a French exchange student enters the family’s seemingly normal life and the destructive influence she has on the members of that family. I thought the characters were extremely well written, even if I didn’t particularly like some of them - especially Abi, and the pace of the book was exactly right. I don’t think I’ve read anything by Karen Perry before, but I’ll be looking out for her in the future.

It was a bit like watching a car crash - inevitable and horrifying.
Sisters Beth and Eva have had difficulties in theirs lives, but it takes the catalyst of Corinne to bring it all out…in the worst way.
A harrowing read.

Now this has gone straight into my favourites of 2021!

Right from the off I was not only compelled but completely unwilling to put it down. It drew me in and didn't let go of its grasp until the very last word.

Extremely well developed and well defined characters that really come to life on the page. There's a whole host of characters that are unique, quirky, mostly likeable, plausible, complex and so easy to picture in your imagination.

I love the fact that Karen Perry so easily portrays 'ordinary' people in 'ordinary' situations but draws you into this catastrophic storyline without you even realising.

This is a truly complex thriller that is full of twists, secrets, lies and explosive ending. Multi-layered is an understatement.

Yes... it was a bit of a slow burner but the unique storyline unfolds brilliantly so it just adds to the tension and unease.

One of the easiest 5 stars I have given! Loved, loved, loved it!

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the ARC.

This is a dark, creepy and at times emotional read.
I couldn’t put it down once I started it.
There were plenty of twists to keep me guessing throughout.