Under My Skin is Lisa Unger’s eighth stand-alone novel. It’s a twisty, twirly thrill ride of a book which takes an in depth look at the emotional pain that accompanies violent loss and examines the bad choices we can make on the journey through grief.

A year ago, Jack Lang went for his morning run through a Manhattan park and was brutally murdered. His wife Poppy has not been the same since. Once decisive, independent and strong, she now finds herself spending morning to evening in a drug, grief and alcohol induced daze. Her friend Layla is essentially running her life and Poppy likes it that way. Or she thought she did. Lately, though, she’s not so sure that’s a good situation.

Her husband’s murder has never been solved but that is not the only mystery surrounding that period in her life. Shortly after Jack’s funeral, Poppy disappeared for several days; her phone was dead and a search of the area surrounding her home and work turned up nothing. She appeared suddenly in the lobby of Layla’s apartment complex, ragged and dazed, wearing a tight red dress and high heels; she was so ill and confused, she had to be hospitalized. She has no recollection of what happened during that time, but she does know one thing: no one will tell her the truth about it. Layla lies when questioned, and the detective in charge of Jack’s case prevaricates.

Now she’s begun dreaming about that time. Dreams of herself waking up in a bathroom stall in that red dress. Dreams of voices, laughter and a matchbook with a phone number. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy comes to a startling realization: the only way forward is backward because the secrets in her past may very well cost her her future.

Ms. Unger is a strong writer and that shows here in her skillful weaving of multiple time frames and multiple issues. Poppy is essentially an entire encyclopedia of disorders; not only is she suffering from PTSD but her endless pill-popping causes hallucinations and time losses where she begins at one place and arrives at another with no idea of how she got there or what happened in between. Her sleep deprivation causes microsleeps with hypnagogia and REM atonia, conditions which cause nightmares so potent they interfere with her reality. She is reclaiming her lost memories but her other issues make it difficult for her to know if what she is seeing in her mind is memory, hallucination or nightmare crafted by her subconscious. If all that weren’t enough, Poppy often reenacts the day Jack died, changing simple facts about it so that she can imagine how a different outcome would have been possible if she had modified her own actions. It makes for an absolutely fascinating read but it requires the reader to pay sharp attention since it would be very easy to mistake what is dream/hallucination for actual plot within the context of the story.

Adding to the sense of unreality are the characters themselves. Because of Poppy’s myriad conditions she is not a reliable narrator nor are we confident she is an accurate judge of character. The secondary characters are, as a result, as unreliable as she is. The author handles that with a deft hand, making all the confusion more intriguing than irritating. It’s a balancing act and I have to applaud that she has, for the most part, pulled it off.

There is romance here, both a present one and the exploration of Poppy’s previous love story with Jack, which is handled absolutely brilliantly. From the flashback to when they met, to the memories of their dating and marriage, I adored these two as a couple. It isn’t saccharine coated – their marriage had issues just like everyone else’s – but the author does an excellent job of convincing readers that they truly love each other. The present-day romance suffers not just as a result of how pale it is compared to the original but also because I felt it was poorly timed (Poppy is a drug addict while it’s happening), and she is too accepting of the ‘hero’s’ explanations for some problems in his past. I don’t want to say too much and give the plot away, but suffice it to say I had problems with the new romance in the tale.

I also felt Poppy stayed too long in her problematic state for me to be able to enjoy or admire her as a heroine. I grew increasingly frustrated at how she refused to follow professional advice or help and did her own thing, often to less than stellar results, which caused the book to drag a bit in the middle. It simply takes too long for Poppy to get it together sufficiently to start making progress on the mystery of what happened to Jack.

That said, Under My Skin is a fascinating mystery/thriller which deserves much acclaim for how it handles the issues of stress, grief and PTSD surrounding the violent death of a loved one. Fans of the thriller market will find a lot to enjoy in this unique, challenging tale.

This was a free book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
I have read Lisa Unger before and was excited to read and have the opportunity to review Under My Skin.
I wish I could say I loved it, but while it was well written, it just seemed to go on and on, back and forth, folding on itself, and repeating. By the end I just wanted to get it over with. It was the longest 300 + pages I have had to read in quite a while.
It must have been exhausting to write as it was to read. The story has a good premise, but thoughts and events keep colliding and clouding the story. Did I mention the repetitiveness?
I know some will love this book, but for me it just tried to hard. Cut out the endless repetitiveness and I would have enjoyed this a hole lot better.

"How much of what we know and see is colored by our mental state? All of it maybe." Wow! I have been a fan of Lisa Unger for quite awhile. This book is different. I would often forget while reading that it was hers. You know how authors usually follow a pattern? You recognize their style? Lisa has flipped the script & it is wonderful! This book begins with a woman on a first date probably drugged & about to be attacked. I was sucked in immediately. Then you follow twists & turns throughout. You think several times that you know what's up. You don't. That's what I enjoyed most. I love being wrong. It is great to have an author that is an old favorite become a new favorite!

This was a very entertaining thriller. I kept going back and forth between liking the main character and hating her. This book had me constantly wondering what was really happening. I kept trying to discover what was fake and what was real. Part two really confused me at first but then I had an aha moment and was able to continue. I loved the scattered feel of this book, I actually felt a bit like the main character Poppy ( all over the place). Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant and mesmerizing psychological thriller ! You will love this perfectly dark riveting and emotional thriller that grabs you and doesn't let go until you reach the very last sentence ! I highly recommend ! Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin , Hanover Square Press for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review ! #Netgalley #Harlequin #HanoverSquarePress #UnderMySkin

Excellent psychological thriller. When a woman loses her husband in a violent murder, she will stop at nothing to find the answers, even if it puts her in danger. Lots of twists and turns, difficult to put down. Lisa Unger is a master suspense writer and this book is another homerun.

This was my first read by this author and it was very well written. Some parts, for the life of me that I can't understand, reminded me of The Girl on the Train and I couldn't get past that while reading the book. All of the broken memories that the protagonist had and the usage of alcohol and pills to overcome her grief were eerily similar to the other book. The book was able to grasp my attention, but it is not one that I would likely read again. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this story.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unexpected twist at the end of this novel. It would make a great movie.

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger is a dark haunting read. It made my skin crawl. Imagine not remembering what happened to you…and showing up without a memory in a red tight dress. So many questions came to mind. Yet the plot held more questions than answers. I felt lost within Poppy’s mind and the writer’s words. Confusion took over and the rest just pushed me away. I was peaked enough to want to find the answers. But reading the story just became a giant fog without any light to it. Under My Skin held a promising read, but just didn’t cut it for me.

It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered in a Manhattan Park. She is spiraling and disappearing with no memory of where she has been. Her friends are really worried that she is going over the deep end.

Even though the case was never solved Poppy has finally begun to move on. But she is still haunted by those lost days and the nightmares and blackouts. She begins to sense that someone is following her. But will she be able to handle the truth about what really happened to Jack'?

Fantastic as always, Lisa Unger does not disappoint!
This book was a mix of murder mystery, paranormal and psychological thriller. All of our most popular genres twisted into one crazy story. An unreliable narrator, Poppy is grieving for her murdered husband Jack. Throughout the book we meet Jacks friends and colleagues, along with the detective who is trying to solve this random tragedy. Poppy is determined to find closure after her husband's death by seeking the truth of who could want Jack dead. Maybe that is an answer Poppy shouldn't seek out ...
Intense and kept me wanting more , reading long into the night. This story was well done and had me guessing throughout. Deep and dark and as usual for Unger, Juicy!
Recommended for fans of Psychological Thrillers and Murder mysteries. And of course Lisa Unger fans will praise her newest work of art!

Nearly a year ago, Poppy's husband, Jack, was murdered during his morning run. His murder remains unsolved, and she is still struggling to move on. During the days that followed his death and funeral, Poppy suffered a nervous breakdown and doesn't remember a few days of her life. Where did she go? What did she do? And, whom did she meet?

Consumed by grief and the life they should have had together, Poppy suffers from insomnia and when she does sleep, she has horrible nightmares. But, could the nightmares be revealing her missing memories?

Gripped from the very first pages, I felt compelled to know more about Poppy, her life with Jack, and her best friend, Layla, who was more like a sister. Poppy's immense grief was palpable, and I felt her pain while reading. Then, when their backstory was revealed, I felt their happiness and deep love for each other. Don't miss this emotional, dark, riveting tale set in New York City!

Lastly, I also would recommend my favorites by this author: Beautiful Lies (5 stars) and The Red Hunter (4 stars).

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Location: NYC

While I am a fan of Lisa Unger, this one will not be a favorite. I love an unreliable narrator, and Poppy definitely is one, but can a writer take it too far? It just felt a bit disjointed to me and hard to follow at times. The second half moved quite a bit quicker than the first as things start to line up and secrets start to unfold. More of a mystery than a thriller. While not bad, it was a book that didn’t really grab me.

A year ago, Poppy’s husband was brutally murdered while out for an early-morning jog. Poppy can’t remember what happened to her in the days following his death. She hasn’t been the same ever since.  At night, she’s having terrible nightmares, and during the day, she keeps seeing a hooded man who follows her everywhere. But how much of this is real? Are the nightmares memories? Does the hooded man even exist? But, most importantly, does Poppy have buried memories of who killed her husband, and if she does, does she even want to remember?

Poppy is a photographer, and though she hasn’t photographed anything since her husband’s death, her perspective—the way she sees the world—is coloured by her artist’s perspective. She evaluates the people around her, not just the persona that they show to the world, but who they really are. What lies Under their skin.  This unique perspective was more noticeable earlier in the book, and as the story’s events unfold, it becomes clear that Poppy isn’t quite as observant as she believed herself to be.

Unger’s writing style is very candid, which makes this book not only an easy read, but an enveloping one. Poppy’s perspective, the way she talked, the introspection, was all very engrossing and it was easy for me to get lost in the words on the pages.  That said, I found that Under My Skin has a little too much character development. In my notes, I wrote that at 10%, while the book is engaging and the characters interesting, not much had happened yet.  This changes, but I noticed that the book slowed again significantly at 80%. It felt like the story was wrapping up when the climax had yet to happen.

This book has a little too much detail. It has a little too much introspection. It’s a little too repetitive.  Sometimes Unger repeats events and comments and observations, which may be for effect, but it was at the expense of pacing and plot.

There are numerous flashbacks and nightmarish hallucinations throughout Under My Skin.  The transitions between were sometimes quite clear.  For example, Poppy would say “I time travel” and at that point it’s clear that she’s remember Jack from when he was alive. Other times, the transitions were not clear, which nicely mimicked in me, as a reader, the experiences that Poppy was going through. Poppy couldn’t tell the past and nightmares from reality, so why should the reader be able to distinguish between the two? This was well done, but at times it felt overdone.

Finally, I want to mention that there were a few loose ends that were left undealt with at the end of the novel. One or two of them were addressed in that aggravatingly common “we may never know” type of conversation between two characters. Others were not addressed at all.  This, unfortunately, bumped the rating down a complete star. I decided not to include spoilers here, but if you're curious or want to discuss the plot holes, leave a comment down below!

Under My Skin, while heavy in characterization, is a quick read with an intriguing concept.  Unger takes a trope that’s been seen time and time again (the main character with partial-to-total amnesia) and gives it a fresh take.  While this book doesn’t have the strongest plot, the main character is interesting, and Unger expertly weaves flashbacks and present-day events into a story that delves into themes of insanity, grief, and good, old-fashioned mystery solving.

I recommend this book to those who are looking for a character-driven psychological thriller that is well-written and engaging.  There are just enough plot twists and turns to keep the story interesting until its last pages.

This review will appear on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/ on September 27, 2018. It will appear on Goodreads two days before the publication date.

Great read. Have read this author before and liked her books, this one is the best story yet. Page after page thus woman is chasing something, someone, remembering things. A best friend who is there for her no matter what. Slowly, ever so slowly she works through things in her mind and finds out that that life is not always what it seems, especially with those closest to her.. A stunning and very surprising ending.

A year after her husband was brutally murdered while jogging in Central Park, and after suffering a mental breakdown, Poppy has started seeing fragments of what happened to her in the weeks before and after Jack's death. The problem is that she doesn't know what's real and what isn't, what's a dream and what's reality. And who is the mysterious hooded man that's started following her?

Told in two parts, Part One of Under My Skin focuses on Poppy's unreliability, the dreams, and frankly, some risky and ill-advised behavior. We aren't really sure what's going on and we can't trust Poppy to know either. Her dreams flutter between the macabre and the heartbreaking as she conjures up alternate versions of the day Jack died. The drugs she's being fed by a well-meaning friend, often downed with a fair bit of alcohol, lend to the uncertainty. Blackouts mean that even when we think Poppy is out and about and not dreaming, we can't be entirely sure. It can be a little repetitive, and you want to reach through the page and shake the living heck out of both Poppy and her best friend, Layla, but it works. We're given plenty of reason to disbelieve Poppy and plenty of reasons to suspect other players.

Part Two focuses on Poppy's decision to take control. Even though she's still engaging in risky behavior, she becomes a lot more reliable and everything starts to come into focus, leaving the reader less confused. The tables definitely turn, throwing everything we thought in Part One into doubt.

Under My Skin is a wonderful addition to the genre. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea, I found the unreliability, the questionable memories and the confusion between dreams and reality a refreshing take. With plenty of unreliability and some skillful misdirects, we're kept guessing from beginning to end. Just when I thought I'd figured it out, something else happened to throw me off my game - for the record, my guess was slightly off, so that's a definite plus!

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

*** 3.5 - 4 stars***

Poppy's husband Jack was brutally beaten and murdered with no suspects or details one year later. Poppy has no recollection of what happened immediately following the murder and is trying to remember the details she can to find who did this to her husband. This book was a little confusing because there's a lot of dreams/nightmares she has and it begins blur together where I couldn't tell what was real and what was a dream. All in all the book was dark and twisted, a good psychological thriller that I did enjoy. I didn't see the twist or ending coming which always makes a book better in my opinion. This was my first Lisa Unger and after reading this I will definitely be looking for more of her books as I really enjoyed her writing style and thinking.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Park Row for allowing me an advance read copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about Poppy and her journey after her husband Jack is brutally beaten to death while out for an early morning run. A run that they usually do together,except that morning, Poppy was ill and opted to stay in bed. Think how guilty you would feel that you weren't there with Jack. That maybe your extra presence could have prevented it. Is that what is going on with Poppy?

We are taken for a wild ride inside Poppy's head a year after the murder of Jack. Her entire life has unraveled. She literally can't tell what is a dream and what is reality. So much so, that she has started to take pictures of herself with others to prove to herself later that these things really occurred. She is desperately trying to find out the truth of what happened the day she lost Jack forever. Made even more difficult by the fact that she feels like she is literally losing her mind. The killer is still on the loose and there are no leads. She is searching for the truth but is spiraling out of control by self medicating with pills and alcohol to escape. Thank goodness she has her BFF since 8th grade, Layla and her husband Mac who take her in and care for her.

This book had a very interesting premise. It was suggested that Poppy is suffering from a condition called hypnagogia. Which I am a nurse and I have never even heard of this. I looked it up and it states it can be brought on by anxiety, insomnia, stress, drug and alcohol use. Looks like we have the poster child for this condition with Poppy. So Unger really put a very unique story line out there and researched it well.

Even though this was a very interesting concept, I had trouble keeping track of what was going on. I know this was done on purpose so that we could experience what Poppy was. Even so, it became a bit difficult to truly be lost in the story when you were struggling to follow along. I still did in fact enjoy reading this ARC and this is where I am going to struggle to rate it because I feel it is not quite a 4 but not a 3 star. So that leaves 3.5 stars from me.

Thank you so much to Lisa Unger, Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC.

A year after her husband, Jack, was beaten to death in an apparently random street crime, Poppy still doesn’t have any answers. She doesn’t know if Jack was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time or purposely targeted. She also doesn’t know if her frightening dreams are merely a figment of her imagination or suppressed memories. In fact, fueled by a dangerous combination of alcohol and drugs, she can no longer tell her dreams from reality.
Under My Skin is the first book I’ve read by Lisa Unger and she is now definitely going on my list of favorite writers. This was a true blue dark and twisty psychological thriller from start to finish. You cannot trust any of the characters – from Poppy to Layla to Alvero to Noah – all of them have secrets. The ending was brilliant. Definitely a thrilling read!!

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger

Once again Lisa Unger does not disappoint her readers. She has written a story that drew me in from the start. The characters are so real, their personalities very interesting and the relationships are true.

Following her husband's murder, Poppy Lang suffers a nervous breakdown. Poppy receives treatment and tries to resume a "normal" life. However, she is haunted by the murder and the missing memories she cannot seem to recover.

The need that drives Poppy is what drives the story. Is everything as it seems? Is everyone who they seem to be be? What is real memory and what is a dream?

This is a psychological thriller that loops and turns and the reader is unsure what is real and what is imagined, just as Poppy struggles. It is well written and the anxiety and tension mounts and ebbs through the story.

I highly recommend this book to psychological mystery thriller fans. Thank you to #Netgalley and #Harlequin Publishing for approving my request for an ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.