Topical sebject with echoes of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. This novel pulls you right in and keeps you guessing. I enjoyed the way the revelations unfolded and the character insight.

Carol Goodman is excellent at thrillers that keep you guessing and this is no exception.
Joan is attacked in her home after a party celebrating her reporting on a powerful man who sexually harasses and attacks women. With no idea who her attacker is, Joan takes up residence in an exclusive building known as the Refuge. Shortly after her piece is published, the subject commits suicide leaving behind a grieving and angry wife who blames Joan. Told in alternating voices, both women struggle to make sense of what really happened. Weaving in a back story of a woman in the forties adds an interesting element to the story. The conclusion wraps things up in a very satisfactory manner.

Carol Goodman at its best as always! I love the thrill, the suspense and the darkness of it. Thanks for the advance e-copy!

Going into this book the story ended up being much different then I had expected from reading the synopsis, but I still really enjoyed it. I had thought it was gonna be creepy, but I didn’t find this one creepy. It was more of a slow burn mystery to me.

Part of the story was not fitting in until the very end. I was struggling with that storyline, but when the mystery was revealed I really liked it. This book was also inspired by the recent me too movement, as a big storyline in this book was centered on that.

“Reporting—good reporting—takes at least a passing acquaintance with the truth. When you’ve spent as long as you have living a lie you may find it hard to recognize the truth.”

That quote though.

Samantha Desz is the narrator of the book and their voice is so soothing. I fell asleep while listening (in the BEST way) because their voice is basically another sleepy podcast for me. I’m glad I did listen on audio to The Stranger Behind You because her accents for the different characters were top notch.

I really didn’t care for Melissa or Joan’s storyline. I felt like Goodman did a great job showing the readers how people truly are blind to their own privilege. I think they both finally had a good character arc, but I really just didn’t care for them or their story.

The best part was Lillian for sure. I loved her story and I wanted more of that. I clung to the stories of Lillian & Rose, hoping for a happy ending. I kept thinking of Lily Tomlin.

I’m still a bit confused about Cass & the Hi-Line Club. I have more questions than answers.

Overall, this fell a bit flat for me. The side story of Lillian & Rose was more intriguing to me as a reader. I wish that could have been the focal point. The resolution of that story had me in absolute tears. I do think Goodman does a great job of making it know that age or social status is irrelevant as a woman. You still have to be cautious of those around you. Maybe we should stop telling women to be on alert 24/7 and just tell men to stop thinking a woman is theirs because they want to stake claim. Thank you so much @HarperAudio for the gifted copy. The Stranger Behind You is out now!

Thank you to publisher William Morrow and to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this compelling book. As the description indicated, the novel explores the complexities of the MeToo movement, by focusing on its effects upon characters involved in various ways: a journalist, an unaware wife, a witness, and a victim from many decades ago. Certainly complex, the story was nonetheless well-organized and unfolded fairly smoothly. At times though, this reader felt too many details, too much backstory was given, often by way of a character’s summary of discoveries. In spite of some unlikely coincidences, I enjoyed the book.

I really enjoyed this book--lots of twists I didn't see coming! The chapters alternate between Joan, a journalist who's recent article has exposed a sexual predator, and Melissa, the predator's wife who is in denial when it comes to the accusations against her husband. This story is part mystery and part revenge and maybe a ghost story too!

This thriller set in Manhattan explores today’s Me Too movement as well as mysterious event from 80 years ago. Journalist Joan Lurie has written an article exposing a famous newspaper publisher as a sexual predator. After a party celebrating the article’s publication, she is followed home and brutally attacked causing a concussion. Traumatized, she moves to a secure building in northern Manhattan that had been a Magdalen Laundry that confined wayward girls. She attempts to work on a book expanding the article’s contents, but the attack has left her with severe balance, vision, and memory problems. She meets 96 year old Lillian who lives across the hall and shares her experiences of 80 years ago when she hid out in the building because she had been witness to a crime and was sought by the perpetrators. Joan begins to research the events of Lillian’s past. The publisher’s wife attempts to seek revenge for what the article has done to her family’s reputation, complicating things for Joan. The book was a fast read and did provide suspense, but there were too many coincidences and implausible events to make it completely satisfying.

It felt to me like this book was having an identity crisis. Halfway through the book I thought to myself, "No one else has seen this character. If this were a different book I'd assume she was a ghost." Well, she was a ghost, I just think she stumbled into the wrong book. Chose this wanting to read a murder thriller that also unpacked the Me Too movement. Very little unpacking, and the resolution to the murder mystery was a disappointment.

Joan Lurie has finally had the big break that will take her career to the next level. After three years of investigating and interviews, Joan's article is finally published. Latching on to the tail of the #MeToo movement, Joan's article exposes a wealthy newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. The fall out from the article happens immediately. The accused's family starts plotting their revenge, methodically hunting her down. The only place she feels safe is at her high security apartment building, Refuge.
Hiding from the world while writing a book based on the article, Joan meets her elderly neighbor, Lillian. Her stories of her life in the 1940s , and how she ended up hiding from mobsters, is a welcomed distraction from the chaos in her own life. But as she learns more about Lillian's past, Joan begins to see a connection between their stories. There may be more to the story then Lillian is telling her, and more to her own.

While I love stories that have come from the #MeToo movement, this was not one of them. The story starts off with the demise of a sexual predator, but quickly makes the main character the victim. Most of the book is spent with Joan in hiding, becoming a hermit. Her response to the article's fall out is unrealistic. Anyone that writes a story calling out the rich and famous for being predators has to have a strong back bone to support herself and stand tall. Yes she was attacked, but I felt the writer could have used that as an empowering plot point. I had a very hard time with it.
I liked the bit of historical fiction thrown into the story. I found Lillian's story more fascinating then Joan's. If the whole book was Lillian's story, I would have loved it more. The connection, or twist, between the two stories seemed a little forced at the end. Too much packed in to explain everything away.

This was the first book I have read by Goodman and I really enjoyed it! When Joan writes an article exposing a famous newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator, she is attacked in her home after a party one night. She then moves to an apartment building known for helping to hide women. Slowly secrets are revealed. This one was a page turner for me. I will definitely be reading more Goodman books.

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman was an interesting suspense story. Unfortunately, I kind of guessed the mystery part of the story as it was developing. I still kept reading and wanted to find out how it all came together.

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman.

Tw: sexual harrassment/abuse.

Joan Lurie is a young journalist on a path to exposing a newspaper tycoon in NYC.
After 3 years of interviews and following leads she finally does it and after the party celebrating the article publication...Joan walks home a bit wobbly. Before opening her apartment door, she feels a hand grab her from behind, a sweetish smell and the world beginning to fade.
She wakes up having no recollection of the previous night. Had she been attacked? Raped? There is a sharp pain on her head and she can't see very well.
Carol did a great job at keeping me guessing the whole time and had me looking behind me while reading.
Stories from the past and the present mix together and will have you wanting to keep on reading.
But who can she trust when she feels like she can't even go out and feel safe after she was attacked and her door step.

Thanks yo the publisher for this book. Cant wait for the next one of Carol's.

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman is an excellent suspense novel! Most of the action takes place in NYC, specifically at The Refuge apartment building. Joan, a feature writer, publishes an expose that affects the life of a wealthy power couple, Cass and Melissa. The rest of the mystery spins off of this pivotal event. Without revealing the plot, I can say the suspense is taut, with plenty of action, shadowy characters and unreliable friends. Joan is a strong, resourceful woman, while Melissa is portrayed as arrogant and entitled. Both show growth throughout the book. The story winds to a satisfyingly exciting conclusion, and the final twist is actually sweetly triste’.
I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a well-written mystery story with persistent plot tension and complex female characters.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my unbiased opinion

Young journalist Joan Lurie has done the impossible by uncovering the unwanted and forced advances to young women by a powerful newspaper tycoon. With a possible book deal in the works, her excitement and glory is short-lived when she is viciously attacked in her home later that night. Not wanting to expose herself even more in the public eye, she doesn't tell anyone and decides to move into a high security building called The Refuge. Joan thinks it's perfect and hopes to feel safe and secure again. What she doesn't realize is that the attacker knows her every move and isn't finished with her yet.

There were many things going on and multiple storylines. Her elderly neighbor Lillian's story threw me off and I didn't know where that would lead to. It seemed like another past mystery that Joan was invested in. I like everything with Joan and Melissa and it would probably have been enough without adding Lillian in to the mix. The ending had an interesting twist I didn't see coming. Overall an okay-good read. Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book.

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman was my first novel by this author and won’t be the last. Goodman has written a fast paced and entertaining story that will grab you from page one and send you on a twisty ride. It is written in multiple POV’s that will bring the storylines together and fall into place. She even combines modern thriller with a little bit of historical fiction. The compelling characters makes this one book you don’t want to put down. Goodman takes you on a thrilling ride you are not gonna want to get off of until you reach the very shocking ending! I highly recommend you read this suspenseful novel.

Thank you NetGalley, Carol Goodman, Scene of the Crime and William Morrow for a copy of this exhilarating novel in exchange for an honest review.
#thestrangerbehindyou #carolgoodman #williammorrowpaperbacks #sceneofthecrimegroup

Pages: 336
Pace: fast
Genre: thriller
Star rating: 4 ⭐️

Themes: Me Too movement, history repeating itself, David versus Goliath, believing the woman, old money, paranormal/unexplained activities

My thoughts: NYC setting with two narrators— the wife of the man facing countless accusations of assault, and the journalist who exposed him. Sounds good, right? Now, make it a thriller and add in some paranormal activity. You sold? I was. I was constantly on the edge of my seat and looked forward to reading it every morning. It was a little predictable in terms of the reveals, but the story was so good, I still really enjoyed it. The narrators were both a little gray, which I really like in my thrillers, and I was really happy with their resolution. Overall, definitely one to look out for this summer!

Who should read: fans of Death of Mrs. Westaway, the Last Mrs. Parish, Night Swim

Thank you @harpercollins for the advanced readers copy!

After exposing Caspar Osgood, a newspaper tycoon, as a sexual predator, Joan Lurie is attacked and left with a concussion that causes lasting problems with her vision and concentration. Selling her story to a publisher, she uses her advance to find a secure place in The Refuge. This was once a Magdalen home for fallen women and it is here that Joan meets 93 year old Lillian, who has been living there since 1941. Joan isn’t aware that one of the other residents of The Refuge is Melissa Osgood.

Joan’s story destroyed the life that Cass and Melissa once had. When Cass commits suicide, Melissa discovers that he had gone through most of their money and mortgaged their properties, leaving little behind for the family. Selling most of her possessions she is able to rent a place at The Refuge to spy on Joan and prove that her story hounded an innocent man to his death. What she learns, however, is that there are events from his past that would put both her and Joan in danger if they were revealed.

Carol Goodman’s story follows two timelines. Melissa’s story begins with a #MeToo tale and follows the results of the revelations. How well did Melissa really know her husband? As she reads through Joan’s files she discovers a man who was influential, entitled, ruthless and threatening and she is finally able to see the real Cass. There is also Lillian’s story from the early 1900s that involves murder and betrayal. Goodman ties Lillian’s story to Joan in a way that comes as a complete surprise that is sentimental, leaves you with a sense of completion and makes The Stranger Behind You highly recommended.

It should have been a time of great triumph for Joan, whose expose of media mogul Cass Osgood for abuse of young women but she's attacked at her apartment the night the story is published, leaving her frightened and coping with vision problems. A book contract allows her to flee to a secure building in upper Manhattan that was once a home for wayward women but not all is well there either. She tells her story, alternating with Melissa, the wife of Cass in this implausible but compulsively readable topical gothic novel. And so does Lillian, Joan's elderly neighbor, who lived - or did she- a very dramatic life. Who is stalking Joan? Well, for a bit it's Melissa but that doesn't explain it all. There are multiple twists (including at the end) that the reader won't see coming (well, you might but I didn't). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

This book has a fascinating premise, and certain parts of the plot I didn’t see coming.

That being said, many of the events I did loosely predict, which isn’t a bad thing – but I know it matters for some of you.

I think the thing that stuck with me most about this book was how much I hated one of the characters. I know I’m supposed to hate her, so that helps, but she seemed to feed into every rich white woman stereotype in regards to how she saw the world, saw herself, and thought about others beneath her. There were racist and privileged comments in nearly each of her chapters (alternating narrations) and while it was to prove a point and I know these people exist, it wasn’t necessarily what I enjoy reading about. But this is just a personal preference.

This book follows a journalist who is out to “take down” a sexual predator. Someone with power, who believes he cannot be stopped, and doesn’t care whom he hurts in the process. And yet this young journalist, Joan, is not afraid of him. Not until she gets assaulted, though, and doesn’t know who she can trust.

As she struggles to figure out her life with impaired vision and a potential brain injury, Joan continues to feel as though someone is watching her and messing with her – but she no longer knows if it’s just her. But it’s not. Not completely, anyway. The predator’s wife doesn’t believe the articles and is angry that her entire life has come down around her – and she wants revenge.

This book was captivating. It highlighted the #MeToo movement and showed it from all sides (reporters, perpetrators, victims, and those who don’t believe). It also, as mentioned previously, challenges other close-minded mindsets by demonstrating how absurd they can be in the moment.

TW: sexual abuse, sexual harassment, physical abuse, stalking, memory loss