Member Reviews
Brilliant, gripping, unique.
An illegal and unique experiment creates problems decades later.
As the story unfolds, more information about the experiment is revealed, twists and turns lead us to a gripping and dramatic finale.
Excellent and highly recommended
Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of The Dead Girl in 2A. This book was not like anything I have read before. Two people meet on a plane and feel like they know each other. Not being able to figure out how they know each other bothers both of them and they cannot let it go. The story kept my interest throughout the book; however the pace of the story slowed down at times.
The beginning of this book really gave me the creeps. I had to keep reading just to get over that feeling. I'm glad I continued. This book was suspenseful and had twists and turns in it. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of suspense.
This was truly one of the most suspenseful books I have recently read! The storyline was extremely compeliing, as were the main characters and their search for elusive truth. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a exciting thriller/mystery.
If you are a fan of the Netflix show "The OA" I think this book will be straight up your alley. While not quite as out there as The OA I feel like there is a similar vibe to it.
This is my first book by Carter Wilson and likely won't be the last. This is a beautifully woven tale about a man who meets a woman on a plane who he swears he knows but can't remember how. During their conversation she lets the man know she's on her way to kill herself in the Rocky Mountains. Once they land she runs off and he cannot get her out of his mind.
This is an unusual thriller novel that I found very hard to put down. While I figured out some aspects of the story from early on there were still a few twists I didn't anticipate.
If you like your thrillers with a side of a wee big of woo-woo this is your next book!
Description
Jake Buchannan knows the woman sitting next to him on his business flight to Denver—he just can’t figure out how he knows her. Clara Stowe isn’t in Jake’s line of work and didn’t go to college with him. They have nearly nothing in common apart from a deep and shared certainty that they've met before. Despite their best efforts over a probing conversation, both struggle to figure out what circumstances could possibly have brought them together. Then, in a revelation that sends Jake reeling, Clara admits she's traveling to the Colorado mountains to kill herself and disappears into the crowded airport immediately after landing.
The Dead Girl in 2A is the story of what happens to Jake and Clara after they get off that plane, and the manipulative figure who has brought them together decades after they first met. Intensely creepy, beautifully written, and full of Carter Wilson's signature whom-can-you-trust paranoia, this is a psychological thriller unlike any you've read before
It was good. Not the usual book. Nor what I expected. I was finished in a day. I have never read Carter Wilson. I went in with an open mind. It was a bit of Sci-fi it seemed. I guessed the "BIGGER" villain. In the end, I was satisfied.
The Dead Girl in 2A is a unique and quirky read; utterly unpredictable and so different from much of what is out there.
Jake and Clara meet on a plane and feel an instant and strong connection. Jake is separated from his wife and tormented by the guilt he feels over a car accident that injured his child. Clara feels a strong and nearly unexplainable compulsion to commit suicide. Both have been suffering from memory loss recently and both are in anguish over their lives.
What unfolds is mind-blowing and I don't want to give anything away but the way in which the author brings the seemingly disconnected pieces of an unfolding puzzle together is seamless, brilliant and masterful. I was enthralled.
Thank you to Carter Wilson, Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of The Dead Girl in 2A.
This was my first book by the author so I had an open mind. And I'm still not sure how to review it.
I chose the book, thinking it was a mystery or thriller but its less mysterious and more about government conspiracies, memory loss and family.
Now, I like a good government conspiracy as much as the next person but the topics covered here I've actually read two years ago by an Italian author who crafted a much more intriguing and fast-paced story.
In 'The Dead Girl in 2A,' a father and ghostwriter, Jake, sits next to an intriguing woman named Clara on a flight who he finds vaguely familiar. He is struggling to save his marriage and contend with the guilt after an accident left his daughter severely scarred.
Clara is a troubled young woman who has made a momentous decision and is on her way to achieve it.
But, when the both of them speak to each other, they discover their familiarity is not contrived; they have a lot in common, including poor memory retention of their childhood.
Coincidence? Definitely not.
What follows is one part character development and two parts summary recap of what happened to Jake and Clara, their connection to each other and others and what transpired that led to their separation and their eventual reunion.
There were parts I did like, such as the bond between Jake and Clara, both likable, flawed, decent people trying to make sense of a life they feel has not been fully lived.
There are your archetype villains, easy to spot a mile away and the in between characters, not quite bad, not quite good but standing with one foot on each side, conflicted and torn between doing what is right and doing what they feel is right.
There is a lot of exposition; a crap ton and not much excitement and thrills until the end, when the action picks up.
This was a decent read, though I was expecting a more straightforward mystery.
I was so intrigued by the title and description of this book. Sadly, I just couldn't love it. It seemed to skip all over the place and just didn't make sense to me. I wanted to like it but it just didn't hold my attention.
This book is something different from the same mainstream topics I come across frequently.
Jake was losing his short-term memory; already his long-term memory had been quite gone, as well. He has been low since he was driving the car when an accident caused his daughter, Emma, to need 37 stitches to her face. This spurred on a separation between Jake and his wife, Abby, as well. Jake, mainly a ghost writer, has an opportunity for a $75,000 payout to write a memoir if he travels from Boston to Denver. On the airplane to Denver, he meets Clara. They both seem to remember each other but neither can remember where/how. Clara tells Jake that she is gong to Aspen to die. Amid protestations, Clara takes Jake's cell phone number.
Clara had been living as a hermit for awhile - at least since she met a man named Landis. Her suicidal thoughts had begun since she had become one of Landis' patients in a psychological study. Taking pills and reading of a special book was "prescribed" for her.
It seems as if Jake had also participated in Landis' study. He did not take the pills - just read (and kept reading) the book he had been given as part of the "memory restoration" study. Yet, after Em's accident, Jake began taking the pills, also.
Of course neither knew that the other was a part of this study until much later.
Was this study merely science fiction?
Did this study really plan to unleash all of the superior qualities that human beings already possess?
Or... was there something much darker going on?
Thanks to Sourcebooks, Inc. / Poison Pen and NetGalley for a truly different and enjoyable read!
I have not finished this book yet.. but oh my goodness this is good! You definitely want to clear
Your schedule and cuddle up with this one.
This is a strange tale. Great title and it was for that reason I was so looking forward to reading this book.
Having just finished it, I'm honestly not sure what I think! It's a weird read, with a very different subject matter and once I'd got to the end and reflected, I actually quite enjoyed it. However, for a large part of the reading, it felt slow and not easy.
Jake meets Clara on a plane, both of them have been suffering from memory loss and yet, they feel a strange connection. What follows is a series of chapters from both characters, along with black-outs, memories (real and imagined) and flashbacks.
It really is a book with a difference and it's well structured and thought through.
Stick with it!
Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and author for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review.
What a great page turner....this is the first Carter Wilson book I have read. Apparently, I have been missing out! Definitely won’t be the last.
Clara and Jake are strangers who meet on a plane. But there is something familiar to each of them that they can’t quite figure out. The story is told from each characters perspective, alternating, until it is revealed why they have been brought together.
I enjoyed this book because the narrative flows well without throwing out false clues. The Dead Girl in 2A is a unique, well written mystery.
Jake Buchannan knows the woman sitting next to him on his business flight to Denver—he just can’t figure out how he knows her. Clara Stowe isn’t in Jake’s line of work and didn’t go to college with him. They have nearly nothing in common apart from a deep and shared certainty that they've met before. Despite their best efforts over a probing conversation, both struggle to figure out what circumstances could possibly have brought them together. Then, in a revelation that sends Jake reeling, Clara admits she's traveling to the Colorado mountains to kill herself, and disappears into the crowded airport immediately after landing.
I loved the puzzling effect of this one. It really made me think and try to piece everything together, little by little. There was a lot of trauma and manipulation amongst family in this book. Very well written and a refreshing twist compared to the many other thrillers I've read.
Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheDeadGirlIn2a
Pub Date: 02 Jul 2019
THE DEAD GIRL IN 2A is an intricately woven and thoroughly brilliant psych suspense thriller. Taut, dark, twisty perfection.
Five Stars. Highly recommended.
Definitely not your average murder mystery! Hints of fantasy, certainly Twilight Zone-ish elements are present as Jake and Clara struggle to come to terms with their lack of early childhood memories and a bizarre man who has brought them together. Jake and Clara meet as strangers on a plane, yet they feel there is some connection they just can’t quite grasp... Fascinating, riveting, and totally intriguing!
There is truly no better thriller than the one where the author artfully hands you one tiny puzzle piece after another, until finally, and only then, as the last piece is placed, there is that perfect revelation - you may have guessed, but you won’t be prepared for it.
The individual first person narratives, specifically Jake and Clara, fully express the character’s personality, their hopes, and fears. They are tormented souls, carrying sorrow, guilt, and so many unanswered questions!
THE DEAD GIRL IN 2A is definitely a page turner - be sure to block off a bit of time for this one, you’re going to want to ignore the rest of the world once you start.
As this is the first Carter Wilson novel I’ve read, I realize I’ve been missing out, and am off the read the rest.
My gratitude to NetGalley, Carter Wilson, and the publisher, for the ARC, in exchange for my honest opinion....which is: Read THE DEAD GIRL IN 2A!
4.5 stars for this powerful psychological thriller. This novel grabbed me from the first page, kept me hooked to the end, and evoked surprising emotion throughout. It is still resonating with me now that I have finished. Lines such as: "A responsibility to life, to complete whatever journey this is with more joy and less resignation. To be better today than what I was yesterday, and better still tomorrow." It is a quite rare treat to take away such life lessons from a fictional crime story. This book is about Jake and Clara who meet on a plane, apparently by accident, and are struck by an undeniable familiarity and connection. It is about what happens to them both after they get off that plane, and are confronted by the manipulative figure who has orchestrated their meeting and so much more. It is twisty, lively and worth a read.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of this book. I found the title really intriguing and the description just as, if not more intriguing.
The concept of this book is truly unique, imaginative and interesting. A lot of thought and creativity has clearly been put into it.
I loved the aspects of repressed memories, trauma, family and manipulation that is explored within the novel.
As a psychological thriller it definitely ticks my boxes. It wasn’t too predictable and it wasn’t too outlandish that it became fantasy.
The only down point is that there are some areas of the book that I would have liked to have been explored a little bit more.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!
I loved this story. I loved that the plot summary didn’t give too much away. Oftentimes I get impatient when books just spit out the summary for the first 50 pages, but Dead Girl offered new information right away. When it’s revealed that Jake and Clara somehow know each other, I kept trying to come up with different theories - and I was wrong every time! The story alternates perspectives and we hear from Jake (both past and present) and from Clara via her memoir. I thought the memoir idea was unique and it added an interesting voice to the book. I also liked how there weren’t too many red herrings with the author trying to throw off the reader but he also didn’t give too much away. The plot was thoughtful and well-structured. I was literally biting my nails the whole time! If you like psychological thrillers, you need to add this to your list!
“Stop messin’ with my head” could be the theme of this psychological thriller for the reader as well as the characters. The author does an excellent job of keeping the readers guessing and the characters distraught, depressed, generally confused. Flashbacks, blackouts, real and imagined memories are all used to keep everyone guessing.
Really enjoyed this book. Well written & refreshingly different would recommend this book to anyone really enjoyed it.