Member Reviews
Oh My God. I've been seeing this book everywhere's so obviously I had to request it. I was seriously hooked from the very first page. This book is the definition of a psychological thriller. The story was told through the eyes of Caroline, a wealthy woman who appears to have it all and Aiden, a not so wealthy local who has a bad rap sheet. It was such a fun read because the same story was being told only through each of their perspectives and man, oh man, could their perspectives be any different from one another. I found myself constantly confused because I didn't know which story to believe. How can two people see the same events so different ? Who's telling the truth? Who's manipulating who? Who is the dangerous one? I was glued to this book because I didnt know what was going to happen. Literally nothing appeared as it first seemed and I loved every second of it. I highly recommend "A stranger on the Beach" and now I can't wait to dive into "It's always the husband"
Thank you St.Martins Press for accepting my request on Netgalley to read this wonderful book !
Caroline finds Aidan staring at her beach house one morning after a run. It is the first time she meet Aidan but it won’t be the last. Caroline is married and finds out her husband is cheating on her during her housewarming party in front of all of her friends. She is humiliated and goes to a bar to drown her sorrows. Aidan is the bartender and Caroline ends up having a one night stand with him. This is where the book gets interesting. Each chapter changes from Aidan’s voice to Caroline’s voice and the versions of events as they see them are different. Caroline thinks Aidan on stalking her and is afraid for her safety. Aidan thinks Caroline is in love with him and they have a future together. What is the truth?
I struggled with the beginning of the book because it started a little slow. This did not last very long and soon I was hooked. Each chapter I was looking for clues to determine who was telling the REAL story. The ending was completely unexpected. This book will keep you guessing. Is Aidan in a relationship with Caroline or a stalker? Caroline’s cheating husband, Jason, is throughout the story also as Aidan feels Jason is a threat to Caroline. Aidan must do what he needs to in order to protect Caroline. There are so many twists in this book it made my head spin!
This book was another amazing read by Michele Campbell! This book was told by two viewpoints, which I felt gave you perspective from both sides, but it was clear early on that the viewpoints would leave you wondering who was really telling the truth! I figured things out at about 75% through but had to keep reading to see how it ended! It was such a good book and definitely a great beach read.
I found myself early on very frustrated with Caroline, the main female character, as she continued to return to Aiden to continually be abused or taken advantage of. The. About halfway through the book I started to question the character herself, then started thinking maybe it wasn’t her after all! In the end, I had figured everything out, except the roles the sister and her husband played in all this...definitely one that kept me reading until the end!
This is a story chock full of lies, deceit, and violence along with "hot sex" mixed in for good measure.
Simply put, if you enjoy reading great thrillers, then I highly recommend you get yourself a copy of this book, it does not disappoint.
Thanks very much to Jordan Hanley & the entire marketing / publicity team at St. Martin’s Press & also NetGalley for kindly providing me with a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book kept me guessing until the end. The book alternates between the perspective of two different characters, Caroline and Aiden, and each tell a very different version of the same event. Part way through the book I realized that I couldn't tell which character to believe - the one I thought was trustworthy turned out to be the one to trust the least. I didn't particularly care for any of the characters, but I don't think the author intended for them to be lovable or relatable.
Thank you to St.Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing a copy for review
The twists and turns of this thriller kept me interested throughout the entire book. And the ending was fantastic! This was a great book!
What a roller coaster ride! The twists and turns had my head spinning!
As Caroline Stark’s marriage and carefully constructed lifestyle begin to collapse, she turns to Aidan. After a brief fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aidan’s infatuation with Caroline, her family, and her house becomes more and more destructive.
Scene One – Aidan describes an encounter with Caroline. Scene Two – Caroline describes the same encounter. But they’re totally different! Leaving this reader to try and figure out which version was the truth. It left me wondering who was right and who was off their rocker. I don’t want to say much more for fear of spoilers. You have to hop on this roller coaster ride yourself to find out! This book is full of twists and turns with an ending, that I partly saw coming, but was still excellent. If you’re after your next heart stopping adventure, grab this book!
Stranger On the Beach by Michele Campbell is an intriguing story filled with romance and mystery. It is the story of a couple with a seemingly troubled marriage and a lonely, good looking bartender who has an affair with the wife. From there the romance., domination, and secrets begin. This is not your typical romantic affair. however. There is also the story of the bartender’s past that includes a conviction on manslaughter charges and subsequent time in jail. Abuse, infidelity, secrets, and possible money laundering and illegal deals at work circle around this well written plot. You will be reading it until the wee hours of the morning to find out exactly what is happening. I completed this novel in two days. It was that good . I received this book from the publisher and netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Before reading this book I was really intrigued by the title and the cover. When I imagined a stranger on the beach I was curious about the stranger, I wondered if the story would be dark, mysterious, and thrilling. I also wondered if the beach would be a part of the mystery surrounding this stranger. Let’s just say, the description on this book was more interesting than the book itself. None of what I expected to occur actually happened and I just wasn’t satisfied overall. There was an overall slowness that made it difficult to connect to the characters and their problems. I read it very quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen, But once I got to the end I just felt meh about the entire book. Overall it was an easy summer read, but not for me. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin Press for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! It has been an amazing adventure! This book has so many twists and turns my head was spinning!
Told from two different points of view, you are finding yourself going through the story not sure which point of view to believe.
This is a very thrilling story and I loved the suspense and many surprises..and I dont surprise easy. Good job Michelle Cambelle. I loved your book. 5 stars!
This was such a great read!!! Read quick, and I didn't want to put it down.
Caroline and Jason Stark spent their lives creating the perfect life. Great daughter, career, beautiful apartment, and now a luxurious house on the east end of Long Island. The night of their housewarming party, Jason shows up late with another woman, and things unravel quickly for Caroline from there. Depressed, she seeks comfort at a local bar where she meets and sleeps with the local bartender, Aidan. He becomes infatuated with Caroline, who claims she wants nothing to do with him.
The story then continues to be told from the point of view of both Caroline and Aidan, and as it unfolds the reader is able to see events that happen and the reasons from each of the characters.
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a great psychological thriller. There were many twists and turns and the ending was perfect.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I loved this book! A Stranger on the Beach is the perfect book to read this summer. This is my first book to read by Michele Campbell. I must say I will be reading everything she writes. I love her writing style. This book is very fast-paced with lots of twists. I couldn’t guess how the book would end.
Going into this I had no idea what to expect, I thought this would be the usual thriller about a man obsessed with a woman he can't have and I was wrong, my god was I wrong. Caroline is a rich middle aged woman whose only daughter has just left for college and whose husband isn't home as often as she would like. Her pride is her beach house and one day she comes upon a strange, beautiful man staring up at the house like an apparition. She's scared but attracted to him at the same time. She regrets that encounter immediately because it is the reason for the domino effect in her life.
This book was woooow. I was taken aback in so many ways and never bored. You jump between the character perspectives of Caroline and Aidan and it is very interesting to see the viewpoint of both...Things aren't what they seem at all and it makes for a splashy beach thriller of a read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title.
I enjoyed this book. It absolutely held my interest. A lot of twist and turns but in a better way than most! Some sexual adventures but nothing deviant. Just a good story that does make sense. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to review this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This book is a mix of Fatal Obsession and extreme possession! It is very hard to put down and it does stay exciting till the end.
Michele Campbell does it again! I was hooked on this book after the first few pages. I truly enjoyed this read. For quite a while I wasn't sure what was going on or who was telling the truth, but as I got closer to the end I was able to put it all together and mad the correct assumption on how it was going to end.
I loved this book! Thrilling, addictive, and fast paced. You won’t know who to believe and you will second and third guess yourself. Add this to the beach bag. It’s one heck of a ride.
I'm not one for summarizing as you can read that on the book summary itself as I don't like to give too much away. This being a first time Michele Campbell read I was a little confused but not disappointed! I don't know if it was because I had to read this book in bits and pieces but it started out good and then I started getting confused when the narrative was done from the two main characters, Caroline and Aidan's point of view, but were they totally distorted from each other. As the book went on it started to make more sense as to why it was done this way and really had me guessing as to who was telling the truth. First I was leaning one way and started leaning the other way wondering what was going on. With all the twists and turns, I was totally caught up in the web of deceit. I would pick this up as a great summer beach read or just out on your deck!!
I am grateful to Net Galley and St Martin's Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy for my honest review.
Fast paced, lies, deception; this was a smart psychological thriller. The story is told from 2 POVs and it is so interesting to see how perspective really is very different for the same events. So many twists & turns that I had no idea how the story was going to wrap up. I wouldn’t put it in the top 10 list of must-reads but would recommend; good book!
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
Four my head is spinning and my grey cells started to give me “S.O.S” because of too much usage, feel like I got too many slaps on my face, the author definitely played too many mind games and she’s the winner stars!
There are three sides of this book’s story. Caroline’s, Aiden’s and the truth.( it’s out there! Ready to be found by Scully and Mulder)
Caroline tells us she’s the victim. Her husband is cheater. He vacuums all their bank accounts and shows up at their beach house party with his Russian mistress. He wants divorce and plans to flee the country. So Caroline gets drunk and has one night stand with Aiden and guess what happened as soon as their sex is over, he told her “I LOVE YOU” ( whattttt?) HE WANTS MORE. He turns into Sting who sings “ Every Breath You Take” meets You’s Joe Goldberg but the hottest Irish version !
He is determined enough to get rid of the husband, get the woman, get the house (Yes, he’s also obsessed with her house, we’re gonna understand why at the end of the book) ride his horse into the sunset!( or instead of that he got his horses to the old town road paved with prison stones )
And let’s hear out Aiden! There’s so much negativity on his side: Is he an ex felony of manslaughter (We can call it crime of passion, her girlfriend cheats on him and he fights with the other guy and bang! He accidentally kills him. That’s his statement, I’m not judging!), he’s 16 years younger than her (I’m not sure this is bad thing! It might be a big winning for Caroline who defines herself as a cougar), he’s broke, aimless, not having a proper job and he’s so blindly in love with her and he thinks she loves him back! I hear some kind of ominous music at the background ! Nananaa !
Okay, our cute psycho ( we’re not sure but his obsessive attitudes towards Caroline makes us think there’s something wrong with our guy or he’s ultra-Alpha male who has real control issues) He joined Caroline’s spinning class and appeared as a waiter at the restaurant where she had a family dinner( you guess right, he wasn’t even working there)
And facts: Husband dies! Aiden gets convicted, Caroline is nowhere to be found!
I like the other’s writing style and technique to tell the same parts with two different POVS. I always adored “he said she said” kind of story-telling.
So whodunit, who tells the truth, whose side of story is more real?
It’s really complex book! But some parts made me alerted and I already found the truth at the beginning. But not worry because it’s not so foreseeable. I just concentrated so hard to find the answer on this one! The author might fool me so easily! Because she designed her twists so smartly, they’re impeccable !
And of course I like the ending! I’m so happy karma won and whatever went around came around! Hell yeah to the poetic justice!
I only cut the points because I had some hard times to empathize the characters. But this is not author’s flaw , this is all about my nature, I’m always dubious about the persons’ motives at first so this pushed me to be suspicious and alert about each word the characters say and in this case, it served me very well to catch the details and fill the blanks!
It was amazing, riveting and energizing book! I highly recommend it to the twisty, edgy, mind bending books lovers!
The first half of this book is a riveting, fast-paced psychological thriller that I’d easily rate five stars. Strangely, a bit past the midpoint, it abruptly shifts into what seems almost like another book. The tone alters, the perspectives change and the main characters are quite different.
As Caroline prepares a housewarming party that will allow her socialite friends to view her and her husband’s new multi-million dollar mansion on the coast of the Hamptons, she encounters a strange man standing on the beach, peering in at her. As Caroline’s marriage publicly dissolves and the money in her bank accounts disappears, she turns to this young, handsome stranger for comfort. But after a careless fling with him, it soon becomes apparent that he has an unhealthy infatuation with her that is putting her family – and her life – in danger.
In terms of commercial fiction, the first part of this book was brilliant. It had two strong, unreliable narrators, and it deftly shifted perspective between the two of them, including inconsistencies and diverging viewpoints that made you question what was actually happening. I was totally on its ride and couldn’t stop reading. Truth be told, I was blown away by the writing until I reached a place in the book a little past the midpoint.
I wished that the strong storytelling would have continued until the end, it was THAT GOOD. Regardless, it’s clear Michele Campbell is a gifted writer. This book is definitely worth a read, if only for the amazing set up and suspense build. Even if – like me – you feel a bit let down that the last part of the book isn’t as tight and compelling as the beginning.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of the wonderful book, coming out July 23!