This was my first mystery/thriller read of the year and I am not disappointed!

This is Jessica Payne's second novel and I will definitely be on a look out for more of her books. Her writing style is enticing that will captivate you and indulge you in this chilling tale of Norah's encounter with a serial killer. TWICE!

"......the chance of falling victim to a serial killer is .00039 percent. The chance of being the victim of a serial killer twice is so small as to be… nearly impossible."

Norah miraculously escaped the clutches of a masked serial killer, Hansel, on her prom night 10 years ago while driving back with her friend. Sadly, her friend fell prey to the horrendous predator right in front of Norah's eyes. When Norah knew her death was inevitable, the serial killer let her go. Just like that.

10 years later, Norah is now a successful MMA coach living in LA. A decade has passed but the nagging feeling of being watched never completely stopped. Her father's untimely death brings her back to Kansas City, the place she desperately escaped after the horrific prom night. The day Norah returns, another one of her friends get murdered which makes everyone wonder if Hansel is back.

Norah begins to investigate not only her friend's murder but her father's death as well. Are the deaths connected? This time Norah is adamant on capturing Hansel and revealing his identity. Read to find out!

Jessica Payne has created a dark, chilling, and gripping tale that will satisfy your thriller cravings. She has conjured several characters, each unique in their own way. I thought a few characters lacked depth. However, I absolutely loved the strong female lead, Norah. The only downside of this book was that I found the identity of the serial killer pretty obvious. Throughout the book, you will come up with numerous theories and guesses about the serial killer but eventually you'll be able to guess who Hansel is. At least, I did.

If you're looking to get out of a reading slump, this fast-paced, action-packed, nerve-wracking thriller should be on your TBR this season! I finished reading it in less than 12 hours.

Overall rating: 4/5
Taking away 1 star because I guessed who the serial killer was.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture, and Jessica Payne for giving me a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Payne has a forever fan out of me! I loved her debut, Make Me Disappear, and The Lucky One is another hit!

This book had me hooked from the very beginning, but also extremely creeped out. I binged it in one day, and the short chapters made it easy to fly through. The then and now chapters worked so well to bring what happened to light, but also add a layer of mystery throughout the book. And THAT ENDING!! I did not expect some parts of it at all!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Best thriller I’ve read this summer. The Lucky One is a must read.! To say you got it all wrong when you thought you knew was responsible is an understatement. I flew through the short, fast paced chapters..This is truly a read that you not want to put down.
Thank You to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Jessica Payne for the opportunity to devour this ARC.

Loved it, finished it in a day and what a day it was! OK so yeah, it's fairly predicted but I still really enjoyed the journey. Its well written and it just incredibly easy to read. The police investigation was sorely lacking and laid back about all these people going missing but it was still a good thriller woth plenty of twists and turns. I do have questions though...... but ignoring the loose ends, I really enjoyed this one and couldn't put it down! It's one of those light beach reads that you don't need to think too much about and you can just lose yourself in the plot.

Norah escaped a serial killer at prom night ten years ago. Her best friend didn’t. She is back in her home town again, and the mystery continues. First of all I love discovering new authors, but this book didn’t sit well with me.

Spoiler;
How didn’t she recognize Hansel? Like really?

This book had too many words and too little happened.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I struggled slightly with this book but I am clearly in the minority, I just found the twists too predictable to be honest

Many thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Jessica Payne for the opportunity to read this gripping thriller. This is my second book by Jessica. I love her writing style - suspenseful and page-turning.

Norah is an MMA coach now, but you cannot imagine what kind of history she left behind. A decade ago, Norah and her best friend August drove back home after the prom night. We were all there that prom night, but one of us didn’t make it home". August was unfortunately fell in the hand of the serial killer - Hansel. Norah is the lucky one to survive.

Years later Norah went back to Kansas city for her alcoholic father's funeral. She felt unsettled in this city...one of her other friend was killed. Too familiar to Norah. Is Hansel back? Or just a copy-cat crime? Will Norah has the second to live?

The serial killer is coming right after you...

This thriller story combines with 89 short chapters intervein the current and the past, taking myself to reveal more secrets..

I highly recommend The Lucky One to you all my bookwormer friends. Let's see who is THE LUCKY ONE!

Pub date: Sep 14, 2022

Yay, serial killers!

This serial killer tale was written by author Jessica Payne. Ten years ago, at the high school prom Norah and August were walking home from prom when they got abducted by a serial killer. August was killed but Norah was able to trick the killer by flirting and making him believe there was real romantic interest to the point where he ended up letting her go. Smart!

Fast forward to the present and Norah finds out her father has died so she heads home and ends up once again in the crosshairs of a serial killer. (Jeez, can I catch a break here??) This time she is better equipped for it as instead of following her friends to college she becomes a MMA fighter and ultimately a MMA coach. Which is both very fascinating and terrifying for her love interest. My wife is a third grade elementary teacher which is almost the same. Fascinating and terrifying......

The good: Short chapters. The killer contacts Norah through her social media and they play a cat and mouse game through the last third of the book which is pretty exciting. This one is dubbed the breadcrumb killer by leaving breadcrumbs around his victims. Super strong female character who can beat me up.

The bad: Holy predictable! The killer is so predictable that it is eyerolling. And the characters lacked a little depth.

But still entertaining book and I was engaged through out. You can leave the lights off for this one though. This one is published September 22, 2022.

Manually added to goodreads.

Advance reader copy given free for honest review.

I finished another great thriller you can easily read in a day! It's The Lucky One by Jessica Payne which I got from Bookouture via Netgalley. It will be out next month, on 14 September to be precise.

We follow Norah who escaped a killer 10 years ago. Now, she returns to Kansas City because of her father and because her friend is getting married soon and they are supposed to prepare for the wedding. Then, it looks like it all starts again. Another person is murdered. She receives messages via Instagram and she feels being watched. But now, she is no longer the shy, scared teenager, but an MMA trainer. She is determined to see it through to the end.

This is a real psychological thriller which you can't put away. You really feel for the main character Norah and that is the strength of this book - although she is a trained fighter, she gets scared and feels frightened. The story itself is a great one too - I had to get over the fact that it was so easy to escape from a killer (which actually happened in real life - author explains at the end of the book). The explanation is a great idea so readers are truly more gripped by it because it really happened.

This is a definite recommendation!

4,75/5 ⭐

This is my first book by this author. I have her previous book somewhere on my Kindle too and if that one is as good as this one, I have a great treat waiting for me.

How can you escape a very dangerous and difficult situation? Fight your way out? That’s one possibility, but if you are the underdog, you will have to come up with something else, hoping this will work.

Norah finds herself in this kind of predicament and because she does not have the brawn, she has to use her brain.

She is the lucky one, because she is free. But are you ever really free when you went through this? I am convinced you never are, reliving it over and over again.

After a decade you start to breath a bit more freely. Until an event takes you back to where it all began. Norah has come prepared now.

The first time the best option was flight. Now you are prepared to fight.

Woweredoo! This was a fantastic book.

I was constantly looking over my shoulder too. I felt there was a suspenseful atmosphere hanging over the whole story and I really suspected everybody. I kept switching between the characters, thinking ‘it must be him’, changing my mind a few minutes later, being convinced it could as well be her.

One person though….

I loved Norah. She was scared, but she was determined, fierce and feisty at the same time. You know when, often, you watch a movie or read a book and you see what the heroin is up to, you want to yell at her. Tell her to stop and go back.

In this case I felt confident, because Norah knew what she had to deal with and knew what she was doing.

This is a perfect read. One of my favourites of the year. 5+ stars. 😊

Thank you

Name of Book: The Lucky One
Author: Jessica Payne
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: September 14, 2022
My Rating: 3.5 ~ rounded up Stars

I read "Make Me Disappear" by author, Jessica Payne and have gave it 4 stars. ~ I am stingy with stars ~ so 4 from me certainly means it was better than good!!

Kansas City ~Ten years ago ~ Norah Silverton and her friend August Taylor were driving home from the Junior/Senior Prom when Norah’s car breaks down. A man walks toward the car and before Norah is able to react, they are attacked by a serial killer named Hansel. August was not lucky enough to escape, but Norah was given a second chance.
She is now living in L.A. and works at a sports gym as a MMA coach.
She gets news of her father's death and has to travel back to Kansas. It is rumored that he has been murdered. Additionally, one of Norah’s good friends was killed, Hansel style. Norah believes her past is haunting her and she just might be the next victim

Story is told in the two time periods ~ Ten Years Ago and Present day.

Did love the analogy of the leaving behind breadcrumbs!! Story has me curious ~ I did have my suspicions.
I was curious but struggled with the idea that Norah saved herself by fooling Hansel, the serial killer.

However, when I read the author’s acknowledgements and in this case “A Letter from Jessica” where she tells us that she got her inspiration for this book when she listened to a true crime podcast here a woman survived a serial killer by tricking him. ~( Well! There goes my thoughts that Norah wasn’t believable!!)
BTW: I always enjoyed reading the ‘Author’s Notes’ and/or ‘Acknowledgements’ as it gives the inside scoop to the author’s motivation for writing the story.
In Ms. Payne ~ ‘Letter from Jessica’ ~ at the end of "Make me Disappear' she tells us that the thriller genre is meant to entertain but she believes should include important human truths.
Hmm . . . . This in only my second story by Ms. Payne but I am a fan!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 14, 2022

What an incredible book! Well written and really enjoyed this story. I love the shock factor and this had it!

Norah was abducted by a serial killer 10 yrs prior and witnessed him murder her best friend, but for some reason, he lets Norah go. Over time she leaves home and starts a new life elsewhere. She now has to head back to her hometown when her father passes away. Now she has to relive her past, while dealing with her father's funeral.

When a friend ends up murdered, the police think it's a copy cat but can it be the serial killer from a decade ago?

Must read this book, to find out!

We were all there that prom night, but one of us didn’t make it home…

Ten years ago Norah and her best friend August were captured by a serial killer, August was murdered but Norah escaped. This trauma has stayed with Norah all her life and to try to deal with the pain she needed to become strong, not only physically but mentally as well, she has worked hard and is now an MMA coach, in other words she kicks plenty of but and this has helped her deal with that terrible night.

Norah returns back to the place it all happens, her father has passed away and her best friends twin Janie sister is getting married. As hard as this is for Norah to return, things are about to get a whole lot worse. Not only will she have past demons to contend with, events will occur that leave her feeling as vulnerable as she did all those years ago.

I thought this was a great book, I really identified with the characters and the story moves a long at a fast pace, keeping you engaged throughout. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for a copy of this book.

Ohhh this was a pacey and clever little thriller. I really liked the basic setup here, especially that Norah was able to trick a serial killer back when she was in high school into letting her go. Obviously I immediately needed to know how because I just knew anyone who could manage that was someone that would be interesting to read about. Norah was definitely fascinating, she took all her fear and anger surrounding her past trauma and channeled it into a career for herself as she’s now a famous MMA fighter and coach. Seriously badass! So I was definitely rooting for Norah and then you have this exciting and fast paced storyline that really kept me engaged. The chapters were short and many ended on a small cliffhanger which really made me want to keep reading. The author did a pretty good job at misdirecting the reader and I had fun trying to figure out who the killer was. My first by the author but definitely not my last, definitely a fun binge read with good tension and thrills.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒓? .𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟗 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆? 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚'𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆.

This may only be her second book, but Jessica Payne has established herself as an auto-buy author for me! She creates the most dynamic characters and engaging storylines, which can be tough to do with thrillers.

THE LUCKY ONE centers around Norah. She, along with her friend August, were driving home from prom when their car broke down and they were accosted by the serial killer the media dubbed "Hansel" because he left breadcrumbs of sorts to his victims. August was murdered, but Norah was able to appeal to the last shreds of humanity left in Hansel by saying she needed to care for her ailing father. Her captor willingly released her with the understanding that she would return.

Ten years later, Norah has made a name for herself in the MMA world and has carefully insulated herself from the dangers of the outside world. She has moved out of state and only returns home when she gets a call that her father has died. There was never any "ailing father" to take care of a decade before, so Norah is taken aback by her father's death, and ever the dutiful daughter, returns home to put his affairs in order. 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. What follows is more bodies, a suspicious detective, and some smarmy outliers trying to capitalize on Norah's tragedy. All of that adds up to one tense game of cat and mouse that will have you flipping pages well into the night. Many thanks to the author for having me on her review team. THE LUCKY ONE will publish by Bookouture September 14, 2022.

After reading Payne's first novel, Make me Disappear, I knew this would be on my TBR list right away and she did NOT disappoint..

Norah fled her home state of Kansas after a traumatic experience she endured on prom night with her best friend. Norah had no desire to ever go back. Unfortunately, she has business to attend to and she needs to face the demons she left behind. Norah had been kidnapped years ago and nearly killed. Her experience was her drive to become an MMA fighter and has been quite successful.

Once she arrives home, things are happening to her again. What are the chances the never before caught killer will find her?

I really enjoyed Norah's character. She was strong. I had a pretty good idea who was behind the stalking of Norah and the tragic killing of her best friend, but it did not take away from the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for my copy of The Lucky One,

After reading Make Me Disappear I knew I had to read The Lucky One! I loved this book just as much as Make Me Disappear! Jessica Payne is a twisty genius!

Norah survived a serial killer when she was in high school, so what are the chances that she would be the target of a serial killer again?

I loved that Norah is a strong independent protagonist! I mean she is an MMA coach 🥊. This was such a thrilling and exciting cat and mouse chase that will leave you hoping for the best! While I guessed who the serial killer was prior to its reveal, it was a great plot that will leave you on the edge of your seat!

You definitely need to add this psychological thriller to your TBR!

***** Many thanks to Bookouture, Jessica Payne, and NetGalley for the gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

Rating 4.5 stars but rounding up to 5 stars on Goodreads

Will be posting review to instagram (thriller_book_sisters) prior to pub date

they say she’s the lucky one but she doesn’t feel so lucky.

Norah escaped a killer ten years ago, convinced them she cared, that she could love them.

they let her go and she goes on living her life. Ten years later she finds herself back where she started, on the run from a killer.

Is is really Hansel this time or merely a copycat in disguise?

As Norah struggles to discover the truth she finds solace with her friends and a small bit of romance on the side.

bodies drop, people disappearing and all that’s left is Norah and Hansel, and the sick twisted games he plays.

How will this end? Will he believe Norah this time or will it finally the truth finally come forward?

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookoture, and Of course the lovely Jessica Payne. I will absolutely be reading more of her work after this thrilling, page-turning novel!

Jessica Payne, author of Make Me Disappear, is back with another hit!

“What was that statistic of being attacked by a serial killer? .00039 percent. And the odds of it happening a second time? They’d assured me it wouldn’t.

They called me the lucky one.”

The Lucky One is told in dual timeline which I absolutely loved. I thought it was done so well with the pacing and steady reveal of the story!

Our leading lady Norah was such a fiercely loyal and protective, just overall bad ass character. Really enjoyed her character and being able to live the story through her perspective.

Although I did have an inkling about the main twist a little early on, there were still red herrings that made me question myself. There were also a few little twists thrown in I didn’t anticipate. Plus, even with figuring it out I still really enjoyed the story, it read like a movie and kept me reading on!

Thank you so much to @netgalley, @jessicapayne.writer, and @bookouture for the eARC!

Wow this was amazing! My second novel by Jessica Payne and definitely won’t be my last. Loved the layout and delivery of this story and plenty of creep factors! So well done.
Hooked me from page one and didn’t let go!
Highly recommend.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book