"I have never lied to you. I have always told you some version of the truth." (Jack Nicholson)

Michele Campbell packs a wallop of lies, deceits, untruths, and fractured distortions into a wicker picnic basket ready for unpacking at the seashore. All the condiments come in varying sizes and strengths. Some are gonna be whoppers.

Caroline Stark has it all. She stares out of the cathedral window of her newly built lavish beach house. With her background in interior design, this abode has quite the plush furnishings and fixtures. She and her husband, Jason, an investment banker, have locked down the ultimate getaway.

Her eye is drawn to a young, handsome man standing on the public beach gazing up at the house. He's still there when she comes back from her run. He introduces himself as Aidan Callahan who tends bar at the Red Anchor along the beachside. Caroline excuses herself to go inside to finish last minute details for her housewarming party that night. Aidan makes her feel a bit unsettled and excited at the same time.

That evening as the party is in full swing, Caroline receives a phone call from Jason saying that he's tied up at work and can't attend. Furious, Caroline gives him an ultimatum. Within an hour, Jason shows up at the beach house and he's not alone. To the horror of the attendees, there's a strange woman in a short skirt and spikey boots with him. Bad news travels like lightning and it's scorched the ground near the driveway. Caroline throws Jason out. Looks like she'll be ordering champagne for one from now on.

The following night, Caroline heads to the Red Anchor to drown her sorrows and meets up with a certain bartender with sand in his shoes. What will transpire from here on out will make your head spin like a Cuisinart on high speed. Campbell knows how to shift gears like a pro. The storyline will revert through the eyes of both Caroline's take and Aidan's take. As readers, we'll be sorting through sand dunes covered in lies and misgivings. It it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it may just be a platypus instead. Nothing, but nothing is written in concrete in this one.

Convoluted characters, intricate hanging threads, and a switcheroo of settings makes A Stranger on the Beach an excellent choice for a summer read. Throw in a vicious hurricane inside this one and we have all the fixings of a sizzlin' read.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Michele Campbell for the opportunity.

This was both an entertaining and a frustrating read. It's hard to stick with a book when the main characters are unlikeable, untrustworthy, and most likely lying to your face. The story is told from multiple points of view and the unreliable narrators scramble your understanding of events. As a reader you pick your villain, your nutcase and your victims in one scene only to be forced to change your place holders in the next. Talk about a rollercoaster psychological ride. Kudos to the author for thoroughly messing with my head. The twists and turns are dramatic enough that when the big reveal happens and the reader pulls themselves off the ground, the ending is anticlimactic by comparison.

If you love a twisty thriller with twisted main characters this might be a great read for you.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

Excellent thriller that left me second-guessing who the psychopath was and what was around the next corner in the twisted lives of the main characters. It was a page-turner from beginning to end and the last line made actually gasp out loud. SO GOOD!!!

Michele Campbell has a genuine skill of writing in multiple POV and this one, involving such varied perspectives of love, lust, greed, charm, danger, and protection, is outstanding!!! Destined to be a on the best seller list this summer!!!

I was hooked on this book on page 1. I’m not kidding. I read it and thought to my self, oh man, I have no idea where this is going. This book was definitely my kind of thriller. It kept me guessing the whole time, twisting and turning and making me question myself and what I had read. I couldn’t figure out who was lying, or if no one was lying, or who was delusional or who was not. Michele Campbell did a great job of sucking me in as a reader, and making me become so involved in the story that the characters even started to distract me. I loved it, and now want to go try out all of her other books.

There are two sides to every story and the truth lies somewhere in between. You think you know the story in this he said/she said but it takes a turn for the unexpected.

I enjoyed the story and I thought I knew what was going on. It keeps you guessing till the end.

Gotta admit, I had the hardest time putting this book down. Told in the alternating voices of Caroline and Aidan, I was never sure who the reliable voice was, and I honestly didn’t know until the very end. What a ride! This was a thriller in the best sense of the word and I loved every minute of it.

The writing was stellar, the story was psychological thriller through and through and the characters were delightfully confusing, I was never sure which one to like or whether I should hate both of them. It was simply fabulous.

I recommend this book to lovers of suspense, well written characters you will love to hate and a page turner at its best. I so enjoyed this one.

Michele Campbell takes alternating and unreliable narration to the hilt in this domestic psychological suspense/thriller set in Manhattan and the Hamptons. Who to believe? Caroline who says she is being stalked, or Aidan, who says Caroline is playing criminal head games. Chances are you won't guess the ending of this twisty, turn-y wild ride until the very end.

1.5 stars rounded down.

This book was a hot mess...If I had realized that "A Stranger on the Beach" was by the same author who wrote "It's Always the Husband", which I read several years ago and disliked, I would not have requested it. Unfortunately, I did not make that connection and thus forced myself to finish this one like I did her previous book.

I was expecting so much more from this book based on the high number of positive reviews I've seen, but was greatly let down. The writing was lackluster, the characters had no redeeming qualities, and and the dual POV's were confusing and disjointed. I was hoping for some unique twist at the end to at least wrap things up in an interesting way, but the resolution was predictable and unsatisfying. Overall a disappointment and a waste of time.

This book provides the reader with two very different points of views of the two main characters. At first it felt like the story was dragging and it seemed a little far fetched but I wanted to know the ending so I kept going and was glad I did. It was not the ending I was anticipating, which made it worth the read! Makes for a great beach read!

A Stranger on the Beach was quite the page turner! It started off a little slow, but then really grabbed my attentiona dn didn't let go until the end. Recommended!

A stranger on the beach is the quintessential summer read. It is the type of book you want to curl up with when the thunder is booming and the winds are blowing. The atmosphere painted in this book is so mesmerizing and the thrilling aspects of this book pair so perfectly well. This book kept me awake well into the night and I am so glad it did! I am so impressed by the writing not to mention the background of the author. You never see the twists and turns coming in this one.

This is a story of he said/she said. The story is written with alternating perspectives with the male and female leads telling the same story, but from a wildly different point of view. The reader is left to wonder who is telling the truth and who is lying. At first, this worked for me, but as an avid reader of psychological thrillers, I could see how things would end from the beginning. Because of this, the story dragged on too long for me.

An addicting thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. Perfect for the beach or a lazy summer day.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41150430

Genre: Suspense, Domestic Crime, Fiction

Synopsis: Caroline is a woman with dreams and desires of wealth and recognition accustomed to having what she wants including a gorgeous house on the beach. Aiden is a handsome young man with dreams and hopes for love and be loved, with an attachment for the gorgeous beach house that reminds him of his grandparents and his childhood. Life coincidences or .... maybe? Opportunities for each of them to think that the other is the appropriate candidate to complete their ends and goals But their end and goals are not the same, one wants love , respect the other ambition and obsession... but both joined by one thing, by the beach house. What happens in the story you will not believe.

Review: A well written story and with good fast pace. Well described and narrated. I personally loved that Caroline character was narrated in first person and Aiden character in third person. The title is perfect for the plot, it keeps a strict relationship. The plot catches you from the beginning, the characters are well described and flow well through out the scene everything is easy to imagine and recreate . The plot not very burned in other books, lean a little predictable but unexpected. It’s my first book from the author but I would like to read more from her. I’m thinking about buying some prior this. one.

That was wild! I didn't know who or what to believe. Caroline seems so believable, maybe (sadly) because of who she is and her station in life. Whereas Aiden, does not inspire trust. He seems a bit unhinged, has a criminal past, is rough around the edges. Someone is clearly not telling the truth, or maybe both of them aren't. It is fascinating seeing the story told through both their eyes. Both looking at the same events, but recounting the facts so differently. Only goes to prove the old adage, there are three sides to every story. My side, your side, and somewhere in the middle is the truth. I did figure out the big twist, but not until almost right beforehand. This was a fascinating read that kept me glued to the pages to get to the truth. I loved it.

Don't you just love when a book keeps you guessing and by the end of the book your feelings for each character have drastically changed?! A Stranger on the Beach was not at all what I was expecting, but in the best possible way. This book definitely lived up to the hype that I've been seeing all over Instagram and I can't wait for the release this summer so others can enjoy this book. This was a very fast paced psychological thriller that had alternated pov's between Caroline Stark and her one night stand, Aidan. As much as I saw this on Instagram, I hadn't read any reviews or synopsis on it before starting and I think that was for the best. Going into thrillers blind is so great since you don't have any presumptions or expectations.
I love Campbell's writing style and how with each book the ending is completely different than what you thought it'd be. Looking forward to many more novels from her!!


Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the authors for the opportunity to read this suspenseful novel in exchange for an honest review.

I was given a copy of this book to give an honest review. I had a really hard time getting into this book and finishing it. It took me almost 3 weeks but I was determined to see it thru. I was confused by the story line and too many different point of views. The ending didn't make sense compared to the plot. I wanted to like it but I didn't. #AStrangerOnTheBeach #NetGalley

I hated this book. The writing is just awful and the plot issues are so big I don’t understand how this got published. Caroline is a very uninteresting character that cannot carry a reader’s interest. She is a put upon wife who feels neglected and finds herself in the arms of a lover, Aidan, who she has no interest in turning into more than a one night stand. Aidan is supposed to be young and very handsome and yet finds himself unable to resist the charms of an older woman, so much so that he becomes obsessed with her. Unfortunately Aidan’s POV chapters are very difficult to get through. He is juvenile and his obsession defies belief.

It becomes apparent very quickly that their versions of reality don’t match. As we are following them in real time and not in flashbacks or through a story told to someone else the perception issues go beyond what you’d expect in the new popular unreliable narrator genre. These issues are never addressed. They only work if one character is very mentally unstable in order to imagine things that did not happen. The fact that we were in their head during certain events does not ever get explained. There’s only a few possibilities to explain how the story is going to turn out and they are not difficult to figure out.

I put this book down a lot and read entire other books before managing to finish this book. I thought many times about giving up on it entirely but I hate leaving books unfinished. I can say that I should have quit it sooner and for good. There’s no benefit to sticking with it. About two thirds of the way into the book we add a detective character and some POV chapters for her. Ironically I liked her character and felt her chapters were much better than the rest of the book. It actually felt like it must have been written by another author because it was that much better and different from the rest of the book. If the author is capable of writing she apparently chose not to bother with most of this book. This book is not worth your time. The ending wasn’t clever and is not worth wading through the rest of the book for.

I LOVE me a good Psychological Thriller, and this is a GREAT one!
You will not see all the twists and turns coming in this one.

This gripping thriller leaves you on the edge of your seat anxiously flipping the pages.
This novel is fast paced and suspense filled.

The character development is perfectly thought out.

Several words come to mind: Clever, Suspenseful, Engrossing, Unputdownable!

This is A MUST READ for 2019!

A Stranger on the Beach started innocently enough. Caroline, a wealthy NYC woman who has just built her dream house on a beach as all those fancy New York types do, returns homes from a jog along the beach to find a gorgeous, albeit slightly creepy man just standing on the beach, staring intently at her house.

This is where the trouble begins. Campbell then switches back and forth between Caroline and Aiden’s perspectives and they both tell very different stories–in the style of The Affair.

Have you watched The Affair? Where the story is told from the point of view of two or more different characters and the circumstances never match up? Because they both have very different ideas of how the same day went down?

Love that show, BTW, but I kind of found it to be a little unbelievable at times. Some of the events would not be THAT wildly different. Unless these people are suffering from early onset Alzheimers.

For the most part, I enjoyed A Stranger on the Beach, but it becomes clear at some point that not only are both accounts very different, but someone is actually lying. And that didn’t quite work for me. Because as I saw it, the story was being told by that person, not to someone. So the lying didn’t fit. And it made the twist in the story less satisfying.

Still, just my opinion. I’ve noticed a lot of other reviewers totally loved it. So you’ll just have to read it to form your own opinion.

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for an e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one releases July 23, 2019. This review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog on June 26, 2019.