Ms. Carpenter is seriously becoming one of my favorite authors. I've now read all of her books and each one is better than the last.

Until The Day I Die follows Erin, a recently widowed mother and her daughter Shorie. Both are struggling with grief and trying to figure out how to carry on without their loving husband and father respectively. Erin wants Shorie to go on to college but Shorie wants to stay home and continue to work at Jax, the very successful app company that was developed by her parents and their best friends Ben and Sabine. Erin is grief stricken without her husband and ready to sell Jax so she can move on. The friends made a pact that when one was ready to sell, then they all would sell. We quickly find out that not everyone is ready to sell.

After an incident while moving Shorie into her dorm, Erin's 'friends' decide it's time to intervene. Erin is stretched way to thin and needs a rest, they say. They present her with this remote facility on an island in the Caribbean. It's not conventional rehab, just a place to unwind and take some time for herself. Reluctantly, Erin agrees to go.

It doesn't take long for Erin and Shorie both to realize something just isn't right. Shorie notices some unusual activity behind the scenes of Jax and Erin finds that this luxury spa is more malevolent than just a relaxing getaway. Someone wants her to stay away.

This book had so may brilliant twists along the way and I loved how the action started almost immediately. No slow build up to tension. It has a sort of Lord of the Flies feel that sets it apart from the usual who done it suspense novel. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that loves suspense.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a chance to read and review prior to release.

4 shining stars!!
“Until The Day I Die” was my first, but definitely not last, book from Emily Carpenter. At first I though I was in for another domestic fiction novel but it quickly turned into this brilliant mystery/suspense story, that I simply could not put down (thank goodness for the snow day, today!). The book was a slow burn at the beginning with a hint, here and there, of something sinister beneath the surface ☺…and finally somewhere in the middle of the story, the “sitting-at-the-edge of my seat” suspense erupted and from there on…I was sold! The mother/daughter duo, Erin and Shorie, got my attention from the beginning. Both characters were well developed and likeable, and I really rooted for both of them. I was anxious at times for their wellbeing, and I distrusted almost every single person around them. I kept switching my suspicions from one person to another and I did not know who should be trusted, which I think made this story so much more thrilling. I also loved the atmospheric, tropical island resort setting with all of its sinister going-ons, which doesn’t surprise me since “Lord of the Flies” book by William Golding is one of my all time favorites.
The author did a superb job with the alternating POVs, and her writing was engaging and never tedious. I would undeniably recommend this book to all mystery/suspense fans.
I would like to thank NetGalley, Emily Carpenter, and Lake Union Publishing for giving me an opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

UNTIL THE DAY I DIE is another winner from talented writer Emily Carpenter. Fans of domestic suspense and thrillers should love this story about a mother/daughter duo caught up in a crazy situation even while grieving the death of their husband/father. I enjoyed the chapters from both Erin's and Shorie's perspectives and they provide a nice contrast to each other, both in terms of demeanor and setting, especially once Erin goes to the island "resort." The computer/app stuff is pretty fascinating too. Also, Carpenter definitely kept me guessing as to who was responsible for what was going on.

Thank you NetGalley, Emily Carpenter and Lake Union Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Erin is struggling through her grief after her husband dies suddenly in an accident, leaving her with their teenage daughter and control of their company. Her nerves are frayed and her daughter is frustrated and pulling away from her. Maybe her friends and family are right and she could use a week away at the spa to try to reset herself. Shorie is worried about her mother’s mental state and the future of the company they all built together. She begins to notice strange things going on and wonders if there is a reason to not trust all her mother’s colleagues. Someone is pulling the strings and causing everyone in her family to be in danger and she may be the only one who can do anything about it.

YOU GUYS! Carpenter has done it again, another book that I couldn’t put down because I just needed to know who the bad guys were! I adored this novel and the atmosphere of the novel that gets more intense with every page you turn! I loved the characters and I really couldn’t stop reading from both Erin and Shorie’s points of views because they see things so differently, but yet so similarly that you really get to see what is going on in each place. I also loved seeing the story through the eyes of a mother and daughter team, it’s not one I’ve seen very often. I loved that you get little pieces of the mystery throughout the story so that you believe you know what is going on and what is going to happen next, and then you’re shocked with the next revelation. I really enjoyed the idea of a retreat on a far away island that ends up being as dangerous as it is beautiful! I can’t say enough great things about the novel, but I also don’t want to give anything away, so just READ IT! It was an amazing ride that featured an emotional rollercoaster and I can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

Out March 12th!

Great writing and characters in this one. It didn’t quickly capture my attention though, but of a slow start. After it did pick up I was completely along for the ride.

I liked Erin, but I was highly entertained by Shorie. these characters are very well developed. This has plenty of twists and surprises. The company and its work is quite detailed, almost distractingly so. A lot of side characters are introduced as well.

I didn’t see where this one was heading which is always fun. It was a bit crazy, but I’m ok with crazy. Overall an entertaining read with very good writing. I would recommend and read more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Lake Union Publishing for a copy in exchange for a review.

Five months after Perry's accident, his wife Erin and 18 year old daughter Shorie, are struggling to cope with his loss. Perry and Erin created an app/company called Jax, with their best friends Ben and Sabine and although their plans had been to sell the company after five years, with Perry's death, Erin wants to sell it now. Just mentioning this starts some sinister behind the scenes events that lead to trouble for Erin.

The night Erin and Ben help Shorie move into her freshman dorm room, Erin has some type of mental break that leads to driving while intoxicated and causing a scene at a frat house where Shorie was partying. Erin has already been overworking and not properly dealing with the death of her husband so there is an intervention and Erin is sent off to a mysterious island for "restoration". Things turn dangerous there very quickly and it's a matter of survival for Erin.

At the same time, Shorie notices some strange glitches with the Jax app and attempts to investigate what is going on without losing access to the information she's not even supposed to be accessing. She's met Rhys, a 20 year old computer expert who she suspects could be spying on her but who she also likes a lot. Pretty much everyone is suspect and Shorie has no idea who she can trust.

It's hard to believe half the things that take place in the book but still, setting aside my skepticism, I enjoyed the twist and turns as Erin and Shorie each deal with their struggles to figure out what is going on and who is behind what is happening. I felt that the characters were well written although I do think that the book could have done without the prologue, which just seemed tacked without adding anything to the book. I would rate the book 3.5 stars, which I rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book is described as a mystery/thriller, but it takes forever for any real mystery to get underway. It reads like women’s fiction until halfway through the book.

Erin is adrift since her husband died five months ago. She sees her daughter, Shorie, off to college, but then seems to drive drunk and behave erratically, so her family ships her off to a remote island to rest and regroup—she’s been either working constantly or sleeping, and her family and friends claim they are concerned. Shorie doesn’t want to go to school; she wants to keep working at the company her parents founded. Once Shorie is at school and Erin is on the island, strange things happen.

The thing about suspense novels is that you usually feel anxious about the characters’ well being almost right away. A little backstory, and then you should be thinking, uh-oh, how is she going to prevail from this dilemma? In Until the Day I Die, you don’t feel that until the halfway point, so it’s an OK novel, but it’s not nearly as well done as the other books by Emily Carpenter that I’ve read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book, which RELEASES MARCH 12, 2019.

** spoiler alert ** Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 stars rounding up

Erin Gaines and her daughter, Shorie, are struggling with the death of husband/father, Perry.
Erin and Perry along with their friends Ben and Sabine started a budget app called Jax that is very popular. Erin decides she wants to sell now that her husband is gone. She hasn't been herself since his death and everyone has noticed.
After an incident at the college Shorie has just moved to, Erin's friends and family hold an intervention and decide to send Erin away to a resort for rest and relaxation. It's not your normal resort, though, and Erin must fight for survival.

I enjoyed this book--the alternating chapters between Shorie and Erin, each showing their strengths. I loved how Shorie was portrayed as a smart, young woman. She knew she couldn't trust everyone and was very cautious.
What I didn't enjoy was the ending--especially the prologue. I felt it was unnecessary and unbelievable. I think the author was going for shock factor, but it left me confused. I had to go back into my kindle and search for what I was missing. An insignificant character that I couldn't even remember!
My first Emily Carpenter read and I enjoyed it, but just not the ending.

This book grabbed my attention from the very beginning! I really liked that the author alternated between Erin's perspective and her daughter, Shorie's (with a smattering of Erin's deceased husband's journal entries mixed in). The back-and-forth really kept my attention as mother and daughter were each dealing with their own issues and coping with the loss of their husband and father.

I also really liked how the author set the scene for the tropical island "resort" where Erin was sent to rest and rehabilitate. The island was only one of the MANY things in this book that were not as they seemed on the surface - the island is gorgeous...and pretty much cut off from the rest of the world.

I had many "didn't see THAT coming" moments while reading this book, which I loved. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

This book started out a little slow but soon picked up and towards the end I could not put it down. This was the first book I have read by Emily Carpenter and hope to read more. Highly recommend!

This book was good. Great concept, good writing. Nice twists. Definitely kept me entertained. I’d recommend it for sure.

This book started a bit slow for me but that soon changed! Wow! What a fast paced story! It kept me guessing to the end and was hard to put down! Loved it!!

This story was utterly gripping and fascinating from the very beginning. I found the writing very easy to read with two alternate points of view and additional, unique journal entries from a third perspective. The plot was also very compelling, in fact, I had a really hard time putting it down. I was completely invested in the characters, the friendships, and the intrigue. Although the climatic last third was rather far-fetched and implausible, in my opinion, that only served to make it all the more entertaining. Until the Day I die was a mystery and an adventure, as well as a tale of friendship. It was original and creative, and great fun to read.

This was a DNF for me. I gave this book 30% and found the story to be so implausible and the characters unappealing and unbelievable.

The fact that one of the heads of a successful company could be forced to take a month at a rehab center after one questionable act at her daughter's college is just flimsy writing. There is no way a strong woman as this character is portrayed would accept that, nor her daughter.

Since I did not finish this I will not post on public websites.

Thank you for the opportunity

4- exhilarated stars!

This book had everything you want/need in a mystery thriller. And a little modern technology lingo and a bit of an eww gross factor added in to the mix.

It’s impossible for me to go into any more detail as each part of this story is so intricately woven together. But I will say that it was compelling and surprising. There were some great strong characters partially the mother-daughter duo of Erin (I love books with characters that have the same name as me!) and Shorie.

The only negative is that some parts moved a little slowly and I found myself resorting to skimming through these to get back to the suspense.

Thank you Emily Carpenter, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When her computer engineer husband dies in a car crash, 48-year-old Erin Gaines finds herself completely unmoored. She's not sure how to proceed with day-to-day living, let alone how to manage her role as CEO of Jax, the lucrative startup tech company the Gaines' own with several of their friends. Erin knows that, after five months, her paralyzing, zombie-like grief is wearing thin. Everyone—her friends, family, and co-workers—have expressed grave concern about her ability to function at all, especially as the head of a powerful company at the peak of its performance. After a particularly telling incident, Erin's loved ones stage an intervention, gently forcing her to enroll in a program at a luxurious "restoration" facility on a remote Caribbean island. Reluctant though she is to admit it, Erin knows a few weeks at Hidden Sands might be exactly what she needs to come back to herself.

Shorie Gaines, Erin's 18-year-old daughter, is thrilled her mother's finally getting some help. She's worried about Erin's emotional state, but she's also concerned over some weird error messages on Jax's operating system. Something isn't quite right and with the company's CEO conveniently out of the way, it's up to Shorie to figure out what. The more she digs, however, the more distressed she becomes. When she receives a cryptic S.O.S. from her mother, Shorie realizes what Erin's already discovered—Erin has been sent to Hidden Sands not to heal, but to disappear ...

I discovered Emily Carpenter's mesmerizing thrillers last year and was absolutely thrilled to discover she'd be releasing a new one in 2019. The premise and setting of her newest, Until the Day I Die (available March 12), is a bit different from her others. It's got a less Gothic, more modern spin, which I ended up liking even though I wasn't sure I would. Like Carpenter's previous novels, this one features a sympathetic heroine who becomes entangled in a unique, intriguing situation. As the story stakes rise, the action ramps up until the reader is frantically whipping through pages to find out what will happen next. Although the climax does come to a confusingly abrupt end (at least in the ARC), Until the Day I Die remains a propulsive, engrossing thriller from which you will not be able to look away. It's far-fetched, sure, but who cares? This is the kind of tense, nail-biting suspense that will leave fans thirsty for more. I thoroughly enjoyed Until the Day I Die and can't wait to see what the incomparable Emily Carpenter will do next.

(Readalikes: Reminds me of Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty and Every Single Secret by Emily Carpenter)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for language, violence, mild sexual content, and references to illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of Until the Day I Die from the generous folks at Lake Union Publishing vi

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked having the 2 different POV's of Erin and her daughter Shorie, it was like having two different stories going on that meet up at the end. Although it did take me till about 25% before I really got into the book. Once I got into it I didn't want to put it down. I thought that this was pretty fast paced with mystery, action, coming of age, with a little bit of romance mixed in.

I have heard amazing things about Emily Carpenter and was super excited to get my hands on her newest book!

This was my first read by Emily Carpenter and I can see why she has so many fans!!

The beginning of this one started off very very slow... I was worried to be honest that this was going to be a DNF for me! But, it slowly started to creep up like a boogie man with twists and turns that you don't see coming!

I really loved Emily Carpenter's writing! It's superb and utterly addicting to the max. She weaves her readers into the Carpenter web and won't let you go ;). The way that she describes the island... boy can you feel that tropical breeze, see the beautiful ocean, and smell that sweet scent of ocean.

I really liked the dual characters of going back and forth between mother and daughter. It was addicting and very enertaining.

The only issues that had with this one was the ending. It was a tad unbelievable in my opinion and was a bit disappointed.

Overall, definitely enjoyed this one and will be looking out for more by Emily Carpenter!

3.5 stars for Until The Day I Die

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Published to Goodreads: 2/3/19
Publication date: 3/12/19

This is a suspenseful psychological thriller with real characters and some interesting food for thought including issues of the sense of loss grieving and the psychological impact of lies and manipulation.

The pace is swift with lots of twists and a surprise ending that I didn't figure out which is usual for me and a positive sign for the author. I enjoyed this book very much and would difinetely recommend.

I voluntarily reviewed this novel via Netgalley.

This was a fast paced thriller. I found myself trying to figure out who did what and to be surprised at the end is a testament to the author's skill. I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.