After running from her past for over a decade, Beatrice Wicker finally found a life to hold onto in Cape Morgan, Maine. Perhaps that is why she has kept quiet about husband's affair, even though she also knows he has a young son from the relationship. But then the boy is kidnapped and clues are left that only Beatrice understands, because they link to her hidden past. This is a dual timeline plot, jumping between the present and the events 20 or so years ago that drove Beatrice into hiding. There is some gothic moodiness when Beatrice spends nights alone on an island off the coast, an abandoned asylum she is helping turn into an artists’ retreat, and the final identity of the person connected to her past who is taunting and threatening Beatrice was unexpected. This one required a bit of "willing suspension of disbelief" to buy into all aspects of the plot, but if you are willing to do that and go along for the ride you should enjoy the book -I did!

This was my first book by Liv Andersson and probably won't be my last one! Beatrice is a wife of a successful architect and a philanthropist. She is working on a large renovation project on an island off the coast of Maine as part of their family's Foundation project. It's a quiet safe town, but when a small child is kidnapped and the kidnapper leaves a clue, only Beatrice knows it was meant for her, and that it's her troubled past coming after her.

The pace of this novel is really interesting. Slower background story alternating with high adrenalin suspense scenes create a real rollercoaster ride of a book. You truly want to keep your lights on.while reading some particularly intense sections. The secret Beatrice has been carrying with her for the post twenty years, is bizarre, yet it so strongly affected her future, that she hasn't really lived a wholesome fulfilling life having to constantly look over her shoulder.

I really felt sad that Beatrice had to abandon her project. Having made the amends with the past, did she really have to run again? I was hoping that now that she found Luke, he could back her up and serve as a witness to her story. Beatrice deserves so much more!

I would have liked to see the wild goose chase of several suspects in the story to last a little longer instead of them being dismissed pretty quickly. I think it would have added more to the suspense.

Overall, this was an original mystery/suspense novel and a quick page-turner. I really enjoyed the plot with its demons from the past and its hide-and-seek, catch me if you can kind of vibe. Great characters that make you feel all kinds of emotions

Thank you @netgalley and #crookedlanebooks for my early DRC.

This author’s last book Little Red House was a winner for me last year so I eagerly requested to read her next book. Unfortunately this didn’t have the same impact on me.

Whereas the story was rather intriguing as I honestly didn’t have a clue as what was going on, the main character was a cold fish and failed to provoke any kind of pity to what she had and was going through.

Beatrice our main characters is struggling with converting an abandoned asylum into a artists retreat. At the same time her successful husband is having an affair. When 2 year old Oliver is abducted it only takes her a minute to figure out the connection between the boy and her husband. But why are little boys abducted and then given back after a while without being harmed.

This short introduction is just scraping the surface of what goes on in this book. The main story was very far fetched and the reason for the perpetrator’s actions unlikely.

As I said not up my lane but still kept my interest till the end.

Your past is never gone. You may be able to outrun it for a while, but running doesn’t always mean you’re safe. Beatrice Wicker should know this more than anyone since she has been running from her past for years. Yet she thought she had finally escaped her tormentors, until a kid goes missing in her normally quiet town. More importantly some of the tell tell signs that her past is back start showing up in her life.
Overall, this is a decent book. It is pretty fast paced and the reflections between the past and the present tie together very nicely. They lead you to a conclusion that is not quite expected. However the final end to the book feels a bit flat. I respect the author's choice to end the book in that manner, yet as a reader I guess I was hoping for more.
Thank you to Crooked Lane books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Dreamscape Media for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Liv Andersson and perfectly narrated by Mia Barron - 3.5 stars rounded up!

From the outside, Beatrice Wicker leads a charmed life in Maine with her husband Josh. She has dreams and plans on turning an old asylum into an artist retreat, giving others a chance and a helping hand. But behind closed doors, Beatrice knows about her husband's other woman and son, keeping quiet to maintain her lifestyle. But when there is an explosion at the boy's school and he is kidnapped. the secrets have to come out. And there are lots of secrets.

This was a bit confusing to me, with the back and forth timelines. The narrator was perfect and the story kept me listening, plus I liked the past timeline. It's hard to say too much without revealing anything, but it was a good read. Unfortunately, I thought the ending was too abrupt and left me scratching my head a bit. This is my first book from this author but I'm up for her next!

Beatrice Wicker is busy w/ her charmed life in Maine, working for her husband's foundation and renovating an old asylum into a therapeutic art space. Unfortunately, Beatrice's husband, Josh, has checked out of the marriage years ago and had another child with his mistress. And then the child gets kidnapped. And the school gets pipe-bombed. And creepy dolls start showing up all over the place. It seems Beatrice also has secrets from her past that are definitely catching up to her.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this e-arc.*

I found this to be amazing! Thrillers start to sound the same when you read so many but LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON definitely stands out. This was a very well executed plot with great characters. The story is old in dual timeliness that I found easy to follow. I loved the drama with a love child and a troubled marriage. I liked that I didn't see where this was going so the ending was unexpected.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I expected to like this more than I did. I just could not feel anything but disdain for the characters, main character especially. The entire thing felt like the author had a bunch of characters and plots in mind and them threw them into one book.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the gifted eARC. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Beatrice loves her luxurious life in Cape Morgan, Maine, so much that she turns a blind eye to her husband's infidelity. But when her husband's "love child" gets abducted, Beatrice starts to focus on her previous life. What if it's connected in some way?

"Leave the Lights On" by Liv Andersson is a highly enjoyable thriller/mystery. This story is replete with unreliable characters that will make you question whom to trust, and, to me, that makes for a superior mystery. I was captivated by Beatrice's backstory, the secrets of her past, and the inclusion of Stockholm syndrome. Every page turn left me surprised, intrigued, or in awe of the unfolding events.

The story would have been better for me if there were more to the ending and resolution. I felt like it shut down quite abruptly and left me high and dry.

I would certainly recommend this fast-paced read, especially if you enjoy morally grey and unreliable characters, as well as atmospheric and immersive storytelling.

Leave the Lights On is a solid, entertaining mystery/suspense. I enjoyed the character of Emma, and Liv Andersson crafts a few unlikable characters too. It's always fun trying to figure out if the unlikeables really are that morally reprehensible or just misunderstood. and I'm still trying to decide with a few of the Leave the Lights On personas. The plot pacing is perfect, giving just the right amount of details to keep me guessing as a reader without giving too much away at once. The dual timelines really work in Leave the Lights On, and, although I was pretty sure I had it figured out, thanks to a few "red herrings", I was wrong.

This author can write like no other! 4.5 stars.

I immediately requested this book as soon as I saw it was coming out because I loved the author's last book, Little Red House.

Emma is a young social worker who was kidnapped and brainwashed by a family who convinces her the government is after them. She manages to escape and reclaim her life, but it always on the run because they always seem to find her. Nearly 20 years later, she is settled down, married, and living her life under a different name, but once again the family finds her.

This book is extremely well written. The only complaint I can think of is that I wanted more. Since there are two timelines, we see a bit about Emma's past life and her current one. It felt too fast to me that Emma became complacent with her kidnappers. I was fascinated by that storyline and wanted an entire book on just that piece of the story, ending with Emma's escape.

I did not see the plot twist coming, but looking back, the book gave just enough tidbits of detail that it made sense. On the topic of wanting more, I would have liked to see the ending parsed out a little more with more detail on what happened.

Overall, this is a fantastic read!

An incredible implausible but page turning read about secrets caroming back to impact a family. Beatrice knows Josh's secret- that he has another family- but he doesn't know hers. What will she do when she realizes that she knows who kidnapped Josh's son and why? This moves around in time to tell her story and, to be honest, the time line felt a little confusing and the scenario, well, out there, That said, Andersson does a good job with her characters and building the tension. The twist might not surprise you. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Maine seems like the perfect setting for the creation of chaos – a beautiful storm about to take flight. On the surface Beatrice seems like she has had a charmed life: wealth, a husband, charge of a Trust to build an arts centre. Yet just under the surface, there is a whirlwind of activity threatening to topple her over in one quick breath. There is her past that seems to be trying to catch up with her. There are abductions of local children, one of whom is her husband’s child to another woman, that she hasn’t admitted she knows about.

In this story we learn, piece by piece about Beatrice’s past and her history slowly finding its way back to her. We watch Josh, her husband, unravel as their relationship is tested for the penultimate time. The restoration of the former island sanatorium for women into a modern-day artist colony is a project that seems doomed and haunted from the start, with the memories and scars of the patients haunting every activity on the island. It was like the normalcy of livening in the sanatorium all those years ago was being reflected in the way Beatrice was, or wasn’t reacting to many of the events occurring. I think Beatrice’s inability to understand or comprehend what was happening was part of her PTSD from her own life events years before, and she was not even aware of it herself. She worked on fight-or-flight her whole life, and each time there was a sinister event, that’s where she retreated to. That’s why she seemed so restrained, hypervigilant, and ready to step in at any tenuous moment, and unaware her void of emotions kept many at arm’s length from her, including Josh.

I think that’s why I liked this book; there was just so much going o that it all seemed a little nuts and hard to believe. yet the confusion and culmination of all these crazy pieces kept the book moving at lightning speed without time to sink into some of the more detailed plot lines. It was mysterious, and even had a few horror elements thrown in, and I’m not sure it was entirely a thriller either. And that’s okay. It was a nice change to the ones I have read of late.

Beatrice knows that her husband Josh has another life. When a young boy is abducted from their local school, Josh tries to hide his connection, not realizing that Beatrice already knows that he is Josh's son. This book sounded so good. It started off really well too but around halfway, it started going off script and into so many different directions that I struggled to keep up. Will keep a lookout for more by this author though as I did enjoy her writing style.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook.

This book has me a little confused on how to feel. I had a hard time getting into. The whole storyline from the past didn’t make sense. There was not enough evidence for me to believe Gabe was charming, charismatic, manipulative enough to flip Emma and get her to believe that whole story. I was approved for the audio and ebook copy of this and after having a hard time getting into the ebook, I tried listening and it was a lot more enjoyable. While a lot of the plot was wildly absurd it was still a fun story to listen to that I wanted to keep listening for the mystery to be solved

Although the main character had me thinking “how stupid can you be?!” Often, I did enjoy the storyline of this book and it was very intriguing and fast paced.

Beatrice loves her husband, Josh, but their marriage has become a little rocky. While Beatrice is hopeful they will find their way back to each other, Josh has a girlfriend and a baby that Beatrice pretends she knows nothing about. So, it’s going to be tough if not impossible. Besides, everyone has secrets and Beatrice is no exception.

Leave the Lights On has a lot going for it, with several different angles and paths to follow. But, for me, that’s went it went off the rails. There was just too much going on and it became difficult to keep track of it all – conspiracies, kidnappings, infidelity, secrets, and even domestic terrorism. Not to mention the different timelines and an abrupt ending that wasn’t very satisfying.

This book explored a lot of good ideas, but maybe too much all at once. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and imagination but, in the end, I just didn’t enjoy the book as much as I wanted to. NetGalley provided an advance copy.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for eArc in exchange for an honest review. I was really interested in this book after reading the synopsis and the book title! Unfortunately, the storyline just wasn't very intriguing for me. I disliked all of the characters, including the main character. Although this book didn't interest me much, I enjoyed the authors writing style. She kept it fast-paced.

A really quick fast paced book with a brilliant setting, the author created both a beautiful yet eerie atmosphere.
A good plot full of suspense I just felt it fell a little short towards the end and a lot was left unanswered with the ending feeling rushed.

Beatrice has been happy with her life with her husband Josh. Sure, he has a secret family that he doesn’t know she knows about, but who doesn’t have a skeleton or two in their closet. When a boy gets abducted from their small community, Beatrice fears her own darker and deadlier secrets might begin to show.

LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON by Liv Andersson tried to do a whole lot without accomplishing anything really.

This book had so many interesting plot points (the red flag being there were way too many) and none of them actually came to fruition.

The weaving together of the timelines and various storylines also had many gaping holes and Beatrice’s actions in the end made next to no sense.

A stunning cover, but, unfortunately, a storyline littered with fragments of ideas led to this one not being a favorite for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: October 17