The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
Published in: 2017
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: ★★★
Find it here: Perfect Stranger

This ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads: In the masterful follow-up to the runaway hit All the Missing Girls, a journalist sets out to find a missing friend, a friend who may never have existed at all.

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?

Book Worm’s Thoughts: Last year I read and loved Megan Miranda’s All the Missing Girls (a thriller told entirely in reverse) so I was excited to read her latest book.

Like a lot of other reviewers, the first thing I have to say is that this is nothing like All the Missing Girls. This is a straightforward, chronological thriller and any time we visit the past, it is in the form of a memory. For me, this was a solid 3 star thriller. It proceeds at a fast pace, there are plenty of twists and turns, and I was up until midnight finishing it (bear in mind I am usually in bed by 10:00 at the latest and normally asleep by 10:30). So I was definitely hooked by the storyline.

I liked the characters although I did feel some of their actions were unrealistic, or would have raised several eyebrows if they had behaved that way in the real world. I had to accept that this was fiction and not real life in order to be able to gloss over the fact that Leah was able to become a teacher with no background check. I mean really?? does this happen in the USA??

The background characters are interesting and I think there is the potential for another book based around the secondary characters. I am sure Megan Miranda could still create a book full of suspense and unexpected turns.

Overall, this provided some light-hearted escapism from my more intense reading.

Who would like this? I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good thriller, anyone who likes a book where you don’t know who you can trust, and anyone who is able to suspend belief and just go with the flow no matter where the narrative takes you.

Want to try it for yourself? You can find a copy here: Perfect Stranger

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