REVIEW: You Are Not Alone

You Are Not Alone
Authors: Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

I fell in love with the writing of these two authors after reading The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl. Mostly because the stories they weave give me the chills. I continually find myself thinking "Holy crap....this could actually HAPPEN to someone.''  Most of the time when I read thrillers I am safely cocooned in my BS/believability cushion....yeah right, she would do exactly what she shouldn't have done....sure the killer would be right there.....yeah the cops would miss that. You know....the plot doubts that keep me free from freak-outs while reading seriously scary stuff. It's my blanket while reading horror and dark psychologically twisty tales.

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen took my blanket! I want my blanket back!

This story totally sucked me in. The main character makes a couple decisions out of kindness....and her world spirals completely out of control.

Shay really has nobody. But, she's all about data anyway. As a market researcher she sees everything in facts and percentages. And as a 31 year old woman alone....she knows what her percentages mean. Then she sees a woman commit suicide in a train station. There was nothing she could do, but she feels terrible. The woman seemed so....empty. Shay leaves flowers at the woman's apartment and goes to the memorial....those actions put her on the radar of a strange group of women, Strong women. Focused women. Retaliation. Revenge. Whatever. They. Want.  Shay finds herself sucked into the vortex of the Moore sisters. Can she escape?

Shay is the narrator for most of this story. But you also get peeks into the Moore's heads and other side characters as the plot progresses. It really grew into a mix of cult and gang mentality....yikes! I live in a town with a cult that has been outed on several news programs and books and movies/documentaries for being abusive/controlling/scary.....and they target people who are alone, disenfranchised, easy to dupe with just a little fake attention. And once they have them.....they indoctrinate them and slowly gain control over every little portion of their lives. All control. All manipulation. And severe retaliation if they refuse to comply or try to leave. That's why I found this story believable and chilling. I've seen how intelligent people are pulled into circumstances that they normally wouldn't be drawn to.....it's all clever manipulation and deviant personalities in charge.

Loved it!! They got me again!

(I really would like my safety blanket returned, girls. Seriously. I have a Joe Hill book on my TBR and I can't possibly read it without my BS blanket. Give it back!)

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**