Suspense fans will devour Relative Silence as Parks takes you on such a wild ride full of emotion, twists and turns.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Relative Silence by Carrie Stuart Parks is a page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The author masterfully blends mystery, suspense, and drama to create a thrilling story that will keep you engaged from beginning to end. The characters are well-developed, and the plot is both intricate and compelling. The book provides a satisfying conclusion that ties up all the loose ends, leaving readers with a feeling of closure. If you're a fan of mysteries or thrillers.


I highly recommend Relative Silence.

Thanks to net galley and the publishers for the digital arc for exchange of an honest review.

Great story that starts out with a bang and keeps on going. I love the twists and turns of the story and plot twists that you won't see coming. The setting is perfect and brings beauty to a tale that could easily go too dark but managed to keep enough light and joy to be a lovely read.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Piper Boone retreats to her family home to retreat from her personal tragedy. She meets a forensic artist, Tucker Landry. He is drawn to her, but as he uncovers more and more secrets, things take a turn as a hurricane bears down on the area. Will the hurricane destroy everything?

Piper is trying to pick up the pieces of her broken life, living in her childhood home on Curlew Island in SC after the tragic death of her 3-year-old daughter Dove, her subsequent divorce and loss of job. In current day, she is eating lunch at a cafe when a shooter comes in and opens fire. A random stranger, Tucker (a forensic artist), dives on Piper, protecting her. The police enlist Tucker's help, along with Piper, to put details together and catch the shooter and they soon become friends and confidants. Tucker comes with his own troubled past, and then when Piper's island neighbor disappears, talk of the "Boone family curse" starts up again, and Piper has to wonder if there's any truth to it. Family secrets seems to be as plentiful as shells on the beach!
This was a quick, engrossing mystery/thriller! I enjoyed the two main characters, Piper and Tucker, and loved the "I didn't see that coming" twists and turns!
Thanks to Carrie Stuart Parks, Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It was not as intense as this authors other books, but I feel like I got to know some of characters better than I could in previous books and I really liked some of the characters. I would not say that this one is a furious page-turner, but still one that I was invested and wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next and who was actually the culprit/s. The setting was fabulous and felt more like a beach mystery and that was fun. There were several issues for both of the main characters that really made them interesting and made me root for them. This book did not have as much interesting history that Carrie Stuart Parks usually adds into her books that make them fascinating for me, and I missed that. But I still recommend this book and can’t wait to see what else this author comes out with.

Piper Boone is hiding out at the family mansion on remote Curlew Island, South Carolina. She has faced tragedy many times in her life and now she is just trying to make it through each day. Tucker is dealing with his own grief and sees Piper struggling with her grief. Shortly after Tucker arrives on the island, a body is discovered. From that point, the action, suspense and mystery are nonstop. On top of all this, there is a hurricane quickly approaching the island! Enjoyed this one!

Excellent mystery story. Full of suspense and who-dun-it. Piper Boone has had a lot of tragedy in her life and then she is in the middle of a mass shooting, was the killer after her or someone else. Tucker Landry saves her life when he sees the sniper. Is this the "curse" of Curlew Island bringing more death and devastation on her family or is it a more sinister plot? Join Piper and Tucker as they race against time and a hurricane to find out the truth. I couldn't put this book down.

The author wrote a story that had well-developed characters and plenty of intrigue and family drama.

I received an ARC from Thomas Nelson FICTION, via NetGalley. This review is my personal opinion.

This is my first book of Carrie Stuart Parks, well written and from the prologue intrigue you when we first meet Piper and then we go fifth teen years later. From the chapter when we learn about the family background I start to make myself questions. I didn’t like the movie mention in moments of danger. At the beginning of the story is hard to understand what is the main focus, then we find out more about some hidden family secrets. On the other hand, we have Tucker he has to rebuild his life after a big mistake and start helping Piper on this big and complicated web of deception. One thing I do can say, this book is like a fast ride, with many unexpected turns. Not my favorite type of suspense book, but it could be a good choice.

Relative Silence by Carrie Stuart Parks is a gripping thriller from start to finish. Hold onto your seat for this one! Wow. I love suspense novels and read many. This is one of the top five I have ever written. It is superbly written with amazing characterization--- Piper is such a complex yet flawed character--- and a plot that never stops twisting. In this book, nothing is what it seems. It is a fantastic read and I recommend it wholeheartedly. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

This one was hard to put down! Piper Boone’s family, while wealthy, has had its share of hardships. Piper, who is still reeling from the loss of her young daughter, Dove, even though it has been 15 years ago, and her divorce from Ashlee, has been living on Curlew Island, owned by her family.
The only people other than family members living on the island are Mildred, the housekeeper, her husband, Joel, and Silva, who captains the various boats.
But a yearly meeting of the stockholders of their company is being held, so Piper’s brother, Tern (also a senator), her ex-husband, Ashlee, and her mother are also on the island.
When Piper goes to the mainland to have lunch with a friend, she is horrified when a gunman kills her friend as they sit on a restaurant terrace.
Tucker Landry is visiting the area, and it is only because he tackles Piper that she isn’t killed as well.
As the investigation proceeds, information old and new comes out, and with Tucker’s help, Piper finds something she never expected.
I’ll admit that I did guess who the murderer was before the end, but it was intriguing to see how the author wove her way to the reveal.

*coughs embarrassedly* Do you know what 2020 has done?!

It has ruined many, any, and all suspense novels for me, okay, nearly all. But I have found that I can't do suspense lately (except tried and true authors plus only one new favorite suspense author.)

I want to read this book. So. Stickin. Badly. Do. I. Want. To. Read. This. Book. But every time I want to read this? I just can't and I am so sad about this, it breaks my heart because I love the blurb, it makes me think it is a perfect book for me and I can't get past page one due to the craziness that is my life.

I haven't been able to read books that I normally devour and I am so hopeful that soon I will be able to LOVE, READ, and FINISH this book.

Thank you, Netgalley, for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion! I am so glad I was able to read this book I would otherwise most likely not have found and read!

What a twisted tale!!!! The character building and setting were fantastic! The twisted tale had a ton of layers of both evil and family secrets/tension. The suspense built up and left me guessing! This book had so many unresolved issues that I wasn't able to guess what actually happened until the secrets were finally revealed. A really compelling read with a gothic vibe (I just finished Mexican Gothic not too long ago and this book reminded me of that without all the goo and being in a contemporary setting). Great book!

This is a really good book. Piper Boone comes from a rich family but has not had a charmed life. She has lived in the family's island compound for the last 15 years trying to keep the world at arm's length. Her backstory includes many life events including the death of her daughter, the defining event that sent her into seclusion. Piper is still trying to make some contributions to the community, just at a lower visibility than the rest of her celebrity family. Carrie Stuart Parks has developed Piper's character into a woman who is strong but has had many hits to her heart and mind. As the main character in this book, she could very well be the center of a series.

Piper is witness to a mass shooting that leaves 3 dead and several injured. She herself was saved by the quick action of a young man sitting at a table close to hers. The young man, Tucker Landry, is a forensic artist so he and Piper join to generate a composite photo of the shooter. These two become a team, investigating the shooting which will lead them to other crimes. This team is written very skillfully. Their interactions and investigations seem real and their characters work very well together. They could easily become a team in a series....but I said that before, didn't I?

The back stories are great, setting the characters up to become a team that produces results. The island community could be any place, even with that mansion on the hill. The mystery/ thriller plot is great, it pulls a lot of threads together to get a surprise ending that will leave you shaking your head that you really should have seen that coming. Overall, this is a really good book.

Fifteen years ago, Piper Boone lost her only child, possibly a kidnapping gone awry or an attempt to steal the family's expensive yacht. It hastened the demise of Piper's marriage and led her to her current life of isolation on the family's private island estate. A request to reconnect by a former classmate ends in tragedy and suddenly Piper, her senator brother and the whole family is in the limelight again. Some people talk of an island curse, and when Piper's neighbor disappears, even Piper wonders if it is true. Tucker Landry, a forensic investigator, just happens to be at the right place at the right time, and he becomes involved with helping Piper unravel what's happening around her.
But Tucker has his own troubled past and it may prevent him from doing any good. Christian suspense fiction has not been on my reading pile for a few months, partly because I've been disappointed in some titles I've read, but this book is a winner. First, Carrie Stuart Parks has experience in forensics and law enforcement so her novels are believable. Second, this story mixes family drama with the suspense, creating a more compelling story. Plus there are enough red herring characters to keep readers guessing. Add in a hurricane and a hero who is afraid of the water and RELATIVE SILENCE is a stormy, good read. I received an e-copy of this title from Netgalley. All opinions are mine.

I LOVED this book! This was an unusual storyline, and even with the unexpectedly suspenseful beginning, the tension kept rising all throughout the story. There are several different storylines from the last and present that collide in the last chapters of the book, and the way the author tied every little detail together in a believable way was nothing short of amazing. I had instant sympathy with Piper Boone, and became invested in her finding the answers to her questions. Tucker Laundry was the perfect partner for her to work with to solve the mystery of why someone was trying to harm her family. This was one of the best Christian suspense books I’ve read this year.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

All families have secrets, but in most cases, the immediate family shares the knowledge of those secrets.

In Relative Silence, Piper Boone learns there are so many secrets kept from her, she wonders if she ever really knew her family.

Though she attended school and worked for a while, Piper has only existed for the last fifteen years. The death of Dove, her three-year-old daughter, destroyed her marriage, her faith in God, and for a time, her will to live. She’s “hiding out” at her wealthy family’s island compound in South Carolina, trying to decide “what comes next.” Accepting a lunch invitation from a former classmate lands Piper in the crossfire of a mass shooting that leaves three people dead, including her friend. But it also brings Tucker Landry into her life. However, the forensic artist who risked his life to save Piper’s has demons of his own.

It wasn’t lost on me how quickly Tucker and Piper bonded over their brokenness. But while Tucker has support to reclaim his life, Piper is the pathetic daughter and sister, who spends too much money rescuing animals who are just as pathetic. Her weakness is tolerated as long as she stays in line and does nothing to upset her brother Tern’s career as a U.S. senator. Even the gift he gives Piper is to keep a secret.

When the mass shooter is found dead, supposedly by his own hand, police suspect Piper was the intended victim. James Vincent Cave was a disgruntled employee who’d lost everything after being fired from Boone Industries. The facts don’t add up though, and Piper is distracted as she searches for Joyce, the neighbor who left a message for her the day before the shooting. Trying to find Joyce, the island’s only other resident, will lead Piper to the truth of her own life and decades of family secrets.

Piper realizes she can’t trust her family, but she also doesn’t trust herself. Facing down her demons isn’t enough. She must battle genuine fears and phobias. She has to battle her loss of faith in God because what loving God would allow a child to die so violently? She makes deals with God to get her through, to give her this or that, with the answer always being silence. It isn’t until she prays for intercession on the behalf of others that Piper feels a peace inside her… and a new resolve.

And it will take all of that resolve when Piper faces down the family member who fed the “Curlew Island Curse” and spent decades killing.

The plot is complicated but not fantastical. The rules are different for the rich. What money won’t buy; power will stifle. Investigations never go too deep or last too long. Certain questions are never asked. Murders get called accidents.

While I still have questions—because I’m me—the climax of the story is like WHOA, and I was finally able to take a deep breath at the end.

This is my first read by Parks, but I will look for more.

Enjoy!

This book was awesome! An engaging and thrilling read from start to finish. I loved the character of Piper and related to her and her grief of losing a child. I've been there too.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for a complimentary copy of this book! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Relative Silence by Carrie Stuart Parks

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Story Notes

Carrie Stuart Parks brings readers a chilling thriller that will have you feeling like you can’t stop reading until you find out what happens.

I love a good, creepy thriller that keeps you guessing until the end. This book was one such book and I really enjoyed the tension and build up throughout the story. And, how apropos that this review is being written the same week a massive hurricane is bearing down on the Gulf and we will see much of the same destruction and carnage as was described in the book. The story begins fifteen years ago with a young woman named Piper who is making a dessert for her family’s annual get-together on their private island. Although things have not been the best recently in her marriage, she is happy they have come and that her daughter will get a chance to play at the beach. But tragedy comes knocking soon after their arrival when her husband is attacked and the boat he was on with their daughter is stolen. What follows over the next few days and weeks is something Piper only imagined happened in movies – the boat is never found and the body of her beautiful four year old is found washed up on the far side of their island. Fast forward to present day and Piper finds herself in the middle of another tragedy; the random shooting of a cafe she is at with her best friend. When the hail of bullets finishes, Piper sees she has been bodily covered by the man who had been sitting near them in the cafe. That man is now badly injured and her best friend Ami has been killed by the gunman. Piper is struggling to understand the senseless act and keep herself from spiraling off into her own thoughts. A trip to the ER takes care of the scrapes and cuts but leaves Piper feeling lost in the bustle of it all. The appearance of her mother and brother will give her much needed grounding but their smothering soon begins to grate. Plus she still needs to find out the name of her rescuer and thank him for saving her life. But there is much more going on that Piper has ever realized and the danger is just beginning to show itself once more. With the help of a local marine patrol officer as well as the now known rescuer, Tucker Landry, Piper will delve deeper in the shooting as well as further tragedies that seem to happen right around her. Can they solve the mystery of what happened to Dove all those year ago? And what is the reason for all the crimes being committed now? Piper and Tucker will have to work fast to save not only their own lives but the lives of Piper’s family before the “curse” that’s hanging over the Boone family claims another victim. I truly enjoyed the plot, tension, characters and the pacing of this chilling story. It was so well done that I felt real terror for Piper and the others by the end. And as Ms. Parks kept the identity of the culprit a mystery until the very end, the fear was palpable. Adding a massive hurricane to all this just made everything that much better as you weren’t sure if they would make it after all. The characters were written as real, hurting people looking for peace and forgiveness. You could easily identify with their losses and with their desire to move beyond their tragedies into a better life. And their brokenness allowed for them to experience some major breakthroughs in their journey of faith. I will most certainly be recommending this book to others with the great hope they will love it as I did. Looking forward to Ms. Park’s next story that I hope will be coming out soon!

I received this temporary complimentary E-book from Thomas Nelson Fiction via NetGalley in order to provide a fair and honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.