6
FROM THE SHELF
JULY 6�13, 2022
CHECKING OUT THE
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Thrillers are great for summer afternoons
Not traditional mysteries,
these novels explore
the darker places in the
human mind
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
While I always have a book — or two
or three — that I’m reading, it seems like
the long days of summer are perfectly
primed for hours and hours of losing
myself in a story.
Especially in the dappled shade of my
backyard, with a glass of iced tea close
at hand.
Reading tends to be seasonal for me,
similar to cooking. In the winter, I choose
more complicated recipes that warm up
the kitchen at the same time. These are
the days when I also choose more literary
reading or nonfi ction that requires a bit
more attention — and can fi ll the time
while the pasta sauce is simmering.
Summer reading is like summer
cooking — I want quick, easy recipes that
don’t take a lot of thought or energy. I
choose my books the same way — I lean
toward fi ction that is either lighthearted,
like an amusing romantic comedy that
falls into the “beach read” category, or
an absorbing mystery that keeps me
turning the pages.
I recently read two thrillers in one
week: “The Girl from Widow Hills” by
Megan Miranda and “A Flicker in the
Dark” by Stacy Willingham.
These are not murder mysteries,
but psychological thrillers that had me
guessing the entire time because I knew
the most obvious culprit probably wasn’t
the bad one.
In “The Girl from Widow Hills,” the pro-
tagonist is a woman who, 20 years prior,
was swept away in a storm and rescued
three days later from the sewer system.
She struggles with claustrophobia, and
sleep walks to the point that she’ll wake
up outside with no recollection of open-
ing the door.
She also lives in a secluded, dark
area with one neighbor — the perfect
setting for a scary story. One night,
she awakes outside and stumbles
over a dead body ... who turns out to
be the man who rescued her years
before.
Thrillers can tend to be somewhat
formulaic, but I do enjoy a compelling
story with interesting characters who all
are a bit suspicious. And I must admit, I
did not see the end coming.
“A Flicker in the Dark” starts with a
more sinister premise: 20 years prior
to the start of the book (I’m seeing a
pattern with 20-year anniversaries here)
Chloe Davis’ father was accused and
convicted of murdering six teenage
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girls. He’s been in prison ever since, and
she’s never visited him.
As the anniversary approaches, Chloe
is now a psychologist in a different
town. But then a teenage girl disap-
pears and is found dead in the ceme-
tery. Then another girl disappears.
The pattern is so close to the one
from her childhood that she obsessively
starts investigating on her own — but
neither she, nor the reader, see the truth
until quite near the end of the book.
These novels reminded me a bit of
“The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins.
Although we read thrillers with the mind
that the author is using misdirection to
fool us, it still takes skill to tell a story
that zips forward at a pace that you want
to keep reading.
Which is what I did, on a sunny after-
noon in my yard.
Next up is “The Woman in Cabin 10”
by Ruth Ware. The cover certainly looks
scary....
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