A Stranger on the Beach grabs your attention from page one, put some time aside to get into this one, but it is a very quick read. Like all good suspense novels, it ensues confusion and keeps you on your toes! Some plot points felt like a stretch, but entertaining nonetheless.

However, the characters aren't likeable, and you do wonder how someone can be so naive less they be a pure simpleton, which doesn't really add up to their actions. Who is to be believed?? Just remember that perception is everything!

Many thanks to St. Martin Press and Netgalley for the digital ARC and for the opportunity to read and give an honest review.

A Twisted Psychological Tale of Obsession

Carolyn Stark is about to have it all. She has the Manhattan apartment, great cars, a handsome husband, money and now her crowing achievement, a palatial beach house. She’s planned the housewarming party as much to showcase her fledgling decorator business as the house itself, but things are going wrong. Her husband, Jason, is lying to her. He doesn’t really want to attend the party and shows up with a surprise Russian mistress which leads to a very public fight.

Then there’s Aidan. Carolyn first spotted him on the beach watching the house. At first she was afraid he was casing the area. Then he shows up as a bartender at the housewarming party. He witnesses the fight between Carolyn and Jason. When Carolyn uses him for a night of revenge, she thinks it’s over, but Aidan has other obsessive ideas. One of them is using the other, but which one.

This is a psychological thriller with plenty of twists. It seems obvious what is happening between the lovers, but is it really. The narrative moves at fast pace with twists and turns almost leaving the reader breathless. There is always the nagging suspicion that Carolyn, the narrator, is not telling the whole truth.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, this is a good one. It will keep you enthralled from the first page. The book keeps you guessing until the author pulls everything together for a surprising ending.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

A Stranger on the Beach, by Michele Campbell, is a twisty, cinematic thriller that will pull at your emotions and without warning, turn them upside down. This story takes the reader for a wild ride that will not end until you read the last word on the last page. There were a few times that I caught myself saying, “Soooooo stereotypical!” I was wrong every single time.

I really enjoyed this book. It is not memorable classic literature, but it is so much fun. Give in. Be prepared to give up a day. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press which provided me with an opportunity to read an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.



#NetGalley
#MicheleCampbell
#StrangerOnTheBeach

The story starts off as one that everyone has heard before – wife and husband fight, husband seems to have an affair, so the wife goes out and has her own revenge affair. You may think you have read this story before, but A Stranger on the Beach is definitely not one you have read before!

The story is unique because you get the side of both Caroline (wife) and Aiden (young bartender) as they are going through their affair. Their stories don’t match up and it’s a bit confusing to understand what is really happening. I found myself flip flopping to decide who to believe.

The last 25% of the novel really picks up when Caroline’s husband goes missing. I sadly was able to see most of the twists coming, so nothing was too shocking to me by the end of the novel.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. A twisty novel that had me guessing who to believe, but sadly didn’t blow me away.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for a copy of The Stranger On The Beach by Michelle Campbell for review.

I loved the structure of this book. Written in two difference perspectives, we are given two different sides to the same story and they are completely different. Not knowing which really happened is a fun and interesting take on the unreliable narrator.

This one was amazing! I read so many psychological thrillers and these days many of them feel less than thrilling, but Stranger on the Beach grabbed me from the first page. It's a light read, one that you can tear through pretty quickly (perfect for summer reading) and the plot moves at the perfect pace. You have to be comfortable with not knowing all the answers and letting the answers come to you, because the payoff is well worth it.

This domestic thriller draws the reader in at the onset, with a hot guy staring up at a recently built elegant home on the beach. The owner, Caroline Stark is a wealthy, gorgeous and married woman, several years older than Aidan (the hot guy). He is instantly attracted to her. She thinks he may be a thief as there have been robberies in the neighborhood lately.

As the story evolves, they get to know each other a bit better. Caroline only wanted a one-night stand. He wanted more, and all of her, and would stop at nothing to have it. It all gets very complicated and strange.

I felt like I read two books in one. The first part about the relationship getting convoluted, and her domestic situation at home. The second part, or actually the last few chapters, it seemed more of a crime-legal-fiction drama which has the reader immersed in the outcome and wanting answers, but are they the ones we expected?

It is my first encounter with author Campbell but I expect to seek out her other works. I enjoyed this and the unexpected twists that kept me reading longer than I intended to.

My thanks to St Martin's Press, author Campbell and NetGalley for the chance to read this e-arc and post my own opinions.

Caroline sees Aiden on the beach. He is staring up at her house. He makes her nervous.

Aiden stares up at the house that now covers the beachfront property his family once owned. He sees the beautiful new owner and is instantly attracted.

What follows is a he said/she said that starts out close enough but soon splits until it is obvious there is at least one liar here. One narrator seems to gullible to believe and the other too ridiculous.

The premise was good. Unfortunately, the story left a lot to be desired. It was obvious where this was going and it too more than a third of the book to get to the obvious conclusion.

So you think maybe it will start getting interesting. But quickly you realize exactly where this is going, too. The “twist” so many authors seem to think needs to be there just fell flat. It was completely obvious. I’m beginning to get annoyed with the laziness of the twist. Just tell a good story. This could have been that. Instead it just drags on in what I can only assume was meant to be tension building.

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me the advanced copy to read. It had promise.

4 stars for a fast-paced psychological thriller. 4 stars for a bunch of unreliable narrators.
Cray Cray! What a ride! The cover made me wanna read it. The setting also contributed a great deal to that. It is summer. Beach season. The cast...

Sweet Caroline- hot, sexy housewife living in a newly built dream home on the beach. Well, her husband may be immune to her sex appeal, but it doesn't go unnoticed by Aiden, a bartender she meets and employs to work summer beach party. But, they did sort of meet before the party. On the beach. So...

Aiden is young, gorgeous Brad Pitt look alike and hot for Carolyn. However, the story is a bit more complex than that. Trust me.

Jason, Caroline's husband, is confident, ambitious, and dishonest. He is in trouble with a little work situation. He needs money and fast . He might end up dead if he doesn't deliver.

At the summer party, Jason shows up with a sexy client and things spin out of control. Caroline believes he is having an affair. She seeks comfort in Aiden. The story that develops is told in a different point of views with alternating chapters from Caroline and Aiden...their version of their affair building up to a shocking climax.

Anyone telling the truth here? I recommend you read the book to find out. It's a fast read. A clever plot with a few twists. I read this with some friends in the Traveling Sisters group and the discussion was so much fun. Most everyone loved this book and Campbell delivers a perfect summertime thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to read for review. I loved this! Highly recommended.

A perfect summer read just hit the shelves today and it is one that you will not want to miss: A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell.

Caroline literally has it all: a marvelous husband, a beautiful daughter and an amazing new beach house that has been transformed for exquisite entertaining, lavish parties and relaxing vacations on the beach. She also has a stranger who is very interested in her house. At first she is intrigued with him, when he shows up at her party as a bartender she is concerned by him, but when her life begins to disintegrate she turns to the stranger for comfort. But what if the stranger wants more?

Admittedly, I love Campbell's writing and I knew going into this book that I was going to enjoy it - which I thoroughly did. Campbell's characters also are layered, multi-dimensional versions of who you think they might be which enables her to keep you guessing throughout the story. Her plot, particularly in A Stranger on the Beach, never is quite you suspect it of being and just when you think you have the entire mystery solved, you discover that you were completely wrong. I'm not fan of plot twists for the sake of surprising the readers and that is not what Campbell does. She literally takes the reader into areas which the reader never thought to go and that makes her books very enjoyable and satisfying.

A Stranger on the Beach is not only a good summer read, it is a great mystery, thriller and suspense which I highly recommend.

Caroline has just finished construction on her dream home on the beach and she is ready to live the beach retired life when a stranger on the beach comes into her life and sets quite a bit of things in motion!

The first half of this book was really hard to read. It bounced from perspective between Caroline and Aiden - the man on the beach and their chapters conflicted with each other so the reader is left to wonder who is telling the truth or are either of them? I didn't enjoy this. I don't mind one character where I question what they were saying but to question everything I was reading was exhausting. I bounced back and forth between believing one or the other and by the time the truth came out I was tired of it all.

The second half was good but it wasn't as awesome as I wanted it to be to overcome my feelings of the first half. I more or less got through this book and that is never a feeling I enjoy.

I would read another by this author in hopes that the formatting was different. The characters were fine and the plot was interesting, but this book wasn't meant for me. I could see how others would enjoy it and if you don't mind a book where you are second guessing everything then this is right up your alley.

2.5/5 stars

I love psychological thrillers. So I was very excited to read A Stranger on the Beach. This is my first book by this author.

The book is divided into two parts: before and after the storm.

There are two main narrators: Caroline (43- 1st person POV) and Aidan (27-3rd person POV).

Caroline and her husband of twenty years have just bought an expensive beach house. She has money. Aidan is a struggling bartender. They meet and we get to see what each of them is thinking.

However the author does something different. Caroline and Aidan alternate chapters. But their accounts of what is happening are completely different. So one or both of them are lying. Truthfully I really did not care for this method of storytelling. It just made the story confusing (as parts of the story were retold, but had major differences).

Also there are a lot of chapters where Caroline is talking to the reader or there is foreboding. I am not a fan of this.

There were some interesting developments in the story. But I did not like how the his and her chapters were basically telling two completely different stories. The end did have an interesting reveal. But overall I struggled with this book.

I couldn't get enough of this book!! Twists and turns to find out who you can trust, even trying to trust yourself in the process. Will recommend this book and it is on my reread pile for sure!!

I rate this as 3.5 ⭐️ and round up. This was an entertaining suspense novel which shifted between the points of views of two protagonists. The changing POVs was a plus for me in this novel because you really didn’t know who to trust or who was totally nuts-it kept you on your toes. What kept it from being a solid 4 ⭐️ were the ending chapters which I found to be rather unbelievable and knocked the book down a peg in my mind. It was still an entertaining read that kept my interest. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

3 1/2 Stars

A Stranger on the Beach was a clever psych thriller. I didn't necessarily have all the twists figured out although I had suspicions. I highly recommend going in as blind as possible.

Caroline and her husband have just purchased a new beach home. A very high end and elaborate beach home. Of course, just as it appears that they are the couple that has everything, the proverbial wheels suddenly fall off. Their marriage is on the rocks. Jason shows up late for their housewarming party with a woman who he claims is a business associate but is so obviously his mistress. He treats Caroline coldly and they fight. Later that same night, Caroline is devastated and hooks up with Aiden, the young bartender in a one-night stand. However, we are left to wonder what Aiden's motives truly are as he is the same man Caroline had seen staring at her beach house earlier the same day. Could he have nefarious reasons for attaching himself to the socialite? Ultimately this little game they are all playing will turn deadly and the reader is left wondering who's really the victim......

The book is told from different perspectives and the stories of what is happening are different. I understand why the author did this. It lends to the authenticity of not knowing who is telling the truth. but it does get confusing when you're the reader. All that said, with so many psych thrillers out there, this one differentiated itself. I thought it had a different level of creativity that you don't see all the time.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

At one point I had to put down this book because I was getting so freaked out and had literal shivers!

Caroline has it all: a beautiful daughter, a hard-working wealthy husband and now her dream beach house. That is until her seemingly perfect husband shows up at their house warming party sporting his mistresses on his arm. Caroline’s world comes crumbling down. She decides to blow off some steam at a local bar, only to end up in the arms of a much younger man, Aiden. She could have never known that her one-night stand would end in a nightmare.

A Stranger on the Beach had me guessing and then second-guessing everything I thought was true and everything I thought was a lie. Throughout this book I was torn between characters and plot holes; the ending was the only the icing on top of a rollercoaster of a read. At one point I had to put down this book because I was getting so freaked out and had literal shivers!

I truly enjoyed the short nature of the chapters and the multiple POVs; it was easy to remain hooked and stay up all night just to read one more chapter. I honestly will be shocked if this book is not made into a movie or TV series. It is made to be adapted.

While it was an enjoyable and intriguing read, I found myself confused at times and struggling to connect with the characters and keeping up with the story. Kind of a slow start for me, then it picked up but in general, struggled a lot with the writing.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the free advanced copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Check my fun Q&A Elevator Ride with the Author.

So excited! Latest 🎬 Movie News!!! "Anonymous Content Wins Film Rights to Michele Campbell’s ‘A Stranger on the Beach’" (EXCLUSIVE) by VARIETY By Matt Donnelly July 22, 2019. Read More

Clever, Manipulative, Engrossing!

Michele Campbell returns following She Was The Quiet One , landing on my Top Books of 2018 with A STRANGER ON THE BEACH. —A "knock-out" addictive and gripping psychological thriller! Her best yet.

If you are looking for an edge-of-your-seat well-written thriller, this is it! You will not be able to put down (trust me), a "must-read!" On my Top Books of 2019.

Talking about a complex and a deadly love triangle! Mix in greed, revenge, mystery, sizzle, domestic suspense, psychological, legal, cop procedural, moral ethics, strong family bonds . . . and you have one killer thriller!

There was a stranger on the beach. Good-looking, smoking-hot, Brad Pitt looks. Aidan Callahan, the local bartender in his late twenties. He has a past. His past is about to come back to haunt him.

Caroline and Jason Stark somewhat of a power couple. They own the city Manhattan apartment, the cars, and now they have built a palatial beachfront home with an infinity-edge pool, and a killer view. Their daughter Hannah is away at college.

Jason is an investment banker who travels often. Caroline is beautiful and enjoys the lifestyle and is attempting to get her interior design business off the ground. Appearances are important. She did not come from money and prestige. There was always someone richer, but they moved in the right circles.

It all started with a party at their home. Things do not go as anticipated. Jason is acting weird, and Caroline thinks he is up to no good. Pretty much confirmed when he walks into the party late with a Russian mistress and an argument breaks out. No explanation. Very mysterious.

Caroline feels sorry for herself and turns to Aidan for revenge. However, a one-night fling turns into an obsession. The first night Caroline sees Aidan on the beach, her twenty-year marriage will fall apart.

However, things are not as they appear. Which character is manipulating the other?

The author holds your attention (captivating) with twists and turns, and yes, Caroline is an unreliable narrator. One minute you feel sorry for her and the next, you have no clue what she is up to. She goes back and forth with her husband, and at the same time, Aiden is persistent (hand it to him, he will not give up).

Talk about "Fatal Attraction!" Deep, intriguing, and disturbing. You will be turning the pages quickly to see how gripping thriller will end.

Cleverly crafted, this cat and mouse game turns deadly. However, the author masterfully retains details until the explosive ending. The intensity and suspense are high to the shocking final twist. An intelligent page-turner that makes you question everything ... I particularly "enjoyed" the last two sentences.

Trust me; you will want to clear out the time, it is worth every minute of your time! A top beach read. Pre-Order this one now! For fans of Kaira Rouda, Kimberly Belle, Mary Kubica, and BA Paris.

For fans of movie/series: YOU, Unfaithful, Dirty John, and The Affair.

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for an early reading copy.

#JDCMustReadBooks @judithdcollins

Check out her other books and my reviews:
She Was The Quiet One
It's Always the Husband

2.5 stars rounded up. After seeing so many great reviews for this book I was so excited to receive an ARC from Net Galley but sadly I was utterly disappointed. 😢

The first 50% of the book had me questioning what was going to happen and I was waiting for this huge plot twist and unfortunately it never happened. I had it all figured out by the half way point so the rest of the book lacked any excitement for me. When I read a suspense or thriller I want those OMG & WTF moments and this gave me none of those. I did like the way it was written from 2 perspectives telling 2 sides of the story I just wish it had more suspense and wasn’t so predictable.

Thank you Net Galley and St.Martens Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Caroline Stark’s storybook life began to fall apart the night after she met a Stranger on the Beach.

Caroline’s daughter, Hannah, is off to college leaving her alone at their swanky beach house. Jason, her husband of twenty years, is cheating on her and asks for a divorce. To get even, Caroline goes to bed with local bartender Aidan, who is sixteen years her junior.

Aidan is gorgeous but has been in trouble earlier in his life. His family once owned a bungalow on the land where Caroline’s house now stands. He is obsessed with getting it back in his family. Can he achieve his dream by wooing Caroline?

Personal relationships and family drama drive Stranger on the Beach down its twisty path to a surprising conclusion. This book is a good domestic thriller with a few sexy moments thrown in. Most thriller readers will enjoy it. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.