I was convinced I was going to love this book based on the synopsis but it ended up being just an okay book for me. The premise instantly grabbed my attention but it took quite a while for the plot to get off the ground and I didn’t feel compelled to pick the book up too much until things started actually happening which seemed to be past the midway point.

We begin the story with Esme returning to her hometown after leaving years ago to follow her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. When Esme’s career is cut short due to an injury, she decides she should go home to help her brother care for their ailing father. What she wasn’t expecting was her high school best friend to be found dead in her backyard…

This book is pegged as a thriller but it did not feel very thrillery at all to me, definitely more of a slow burn mystery. There is also a police procedural aspect in the form of Detective Rita Myers (and snippets of her troubled family life which didn’t feel altogether relevant to the story), who is determined to catch the killer.

Once the story picked up, I found it interesting and was keen to find out ‘whodunnit’ - a reveal I was surprised by. This is an easy read albeit with a slow start but I’m sure will appeal to many readers.

Thank you Kensington Books & Netgalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The cover and description drew me in, but I hard a hard time really getting into this story. I think part of it was that I didn’t like any of the characters and this made it more difficult to be invested in the story. The story is told from the perspectives of the detective Rita and Esme Foster who returns home the day an old friend is found dead in the woods by her house. Rita didn’t seem to do too much detecting, I mean there were some good interviews, but a lot of her story was her family or personal drama which I was not interested in. Esme’ a story had a lot to do with the friends she had in high school that she abandoned to pursue her dream of being a ballerina. There were a couple of twists that were interesting especially near the end, but overall it wasn’t as thrilling or exciting as I was hoping for. Overall I gave it 3.5 stars rounded up because I like the ending (not the epilogue, that didn’t feel necessary to me at all).

Thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for the eARC of What Waits in the Woods in exchange for my honest review!

This book had a lot of elements that I really enjoyed, I didn’t find it too predictable as there were a lot of potential suspects. I liked the characters and how they had some hidden motivations throughout. I think the writing was well done too!

It did fall a bit flat for me as I feel like the ending was a bit rushed. This also ended up being a bit more police procedural rather than straight thriller.

3.5 stars!

Esme left home to become a professional ballerina. Now she finds herself back home after an injury took her out and she failed her relationship. The timing is perfect because her father is in the end stages of struggling with alcoholism and her brother could use the help. The day she returns home, her childhood best friend is found murdered in her backyard. She’s shocked and grieving. As the story of who killed her friend unravels, she begins to wonder if it was a case of mistaken identity. Could the killer really be after her?

This book was a slow burn thriller with limited twists. Not a whole lot happened in this one until the very last quarter of the book when things were revealed. I am finding that a lot of books are being labeled thrillers right now and they are really not what I would classify as a thriller at all. This one was more of a police procedural, which does fall under the thriller adjacent umbrella. I find them to be much slower paced.

This book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I expected, especially after having read some of these author’s prior works. However, after adjusting my expectations and thinking of this more as general fiction, or suspense, I found myself enjoying it more.

I loved the atmosphere and the characters. This was a very character driven novel, and the characters were well developed. I enjoyed getting to know their back stories and learning all about them including what made them tick. I loved how descriptive the locations were as well, everything was very moody and dark which made me feel emotional while reading.

This book was rather heavy in feeling, just like there was a dark cloud hanging over everything. I have learned that this is just how this author writes, it’s her style and I enjoy it and will keep coming back to her books. It is rather interesting – just don’t expect a cheerful light book!

While this book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, it was a good read, and I would recommend it.

Thank you so much to Kensington Books, @kensingtonbooks, and Netgalley, @netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Grab a copy of this one with your Christmas money – its out December 26th!

Check out my blog, speedreadstagram.com on December 28th for a copy of this review.

#WhatWaitsInTheWoods by #TerriParlato is a story filled with uncanny suspense and the kind of family drama that sucks you in. What do you do when an old friend is found murdered in your back yard? When people start looking at your family different wondering if you are capable of murder? How do you broach the subject of the terrifying truth living within the woods you grew up in?

I want to thank #Netgalley for letting me read a eArc of #WhatWaitsInTheWoods by #TerriParlato in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What Waits in the Woods by Terri Parlato was an entertaining read.
A gripping and suspenseful thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
Parlato’s writing is atmospheric and filled with tension, creating an immersive and engrossing read. With its shocking plot twists and well-crafted suspense, "What Waits in the Woods" is a must-read for fans of chilling thrillers.

Thank You NetGalley and Kensington for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

What Waits in the Woods
Terri Parlato
December 26, 2023

Esme’ comes home to Graybridge, Massachusetts after the end of her twenty year career in the ballet.Her ex - Kevin wants her to stay, help set up his new restaurant but after six years of him expecting to get what he wants, she thinks it is time to go home to help out with family. Her father is ill. He is an alcoholic with no hope of recovery. Her brother, Byron works to help keep the house running and some of his father’s needs. He works at the hospital on the night shift as a nurse. Coming home he finds something totally wrong as he arrives. The police have tape surrounding the backyard. Squads are parked out front. As he heads out towards the wooded area behind the house, he finds a detective taking notes and a dead woman’s body lying in the yard.
What Waits in the Woods will be published on December 26, 2023 by Kensington Publishing. I was able to read Terri Parlato’s latest novel via NetGalley. There is a wealth of suspense as the police investigate Kara Cunningham’s death. The author leads us to believe that one of the obvious men has killed her - perhaps but that will be the struggle of the reader to work their way through evidence and much turmoil. It’s excellently written, a lengthy story that provides insight into several characters' past lives. Do Enjoy!

This book features the same detective as in the author's first book, All the Dark Places. I loved that book, so I enjoyed catching up with Detective Rita Myers. However, this new book also works perfectly as a standalone. Rita is leading the investigation of the death of a young woman found murdered at the edge of a wooded area. The crime scene is in the backyard of former ballerina, Esme Foster. Esme is one of the victim's high school friends who has just returned to Graybridge, Massachusetts after a career-ending injury. Esme had moved away years ago thinking she was in danger in her hometown and now fears she may be a target once again.

Rita and her team have many suspects to question, including Esme's brother Byron, which makes things complicated. There is more than one sketchy character in the book who is easy to picture as a potential killer. I enjoy the character of Rita and find her very relatable. I admire her intelligence and her determination to find the killer. She is an experienced detective who has a complicated personal life and I warmed to her right away.

I was sympathetic to Esme who has both current problems and past traumas to deal with, but she is a harder character to connect with. Part of that could be that we hear a lot about her past when she lived in New York with her now ex-boyfriend, but we don't see it. For this reason, I didn't feel I fully got to know her even though I liked her.

The book alternates between Rita and Esme's points-of-view, giving us a police procedural in Rita's chapters and a bit more of a thriller in Esme's. Together, seeing the case from both sides makes this an engaging, well-rounded crime fiction novel. I had a few suspects in mind, but wasn't able to anticipate the solution and was surprised when everything was revealed. I hope to see Rita Myers again in future books.

Really surprised this book is a miss for me. It sounded really intriguing and like something I’d enjoy, but I’m halfway through it and not a lot of exciting suspense has happened. Just lots of speculation, drama, and irritating characters. I’m not sure what the point was of splitting the POVs up between Esme and Rita but I can’t bring myself to continue to find out. I was really expecting more creepy suspense than this.

After years of being gone, Esme returns home to be with her dying father. She is shocked to learn though that her old best friend has been murdered. Alternating between Esme and the detective investigating, the truth is revealed.

I thought the plot was fine here, but I really didn’t like the way the author wrote dialogue. It just felt very choppy and didn’t have a good flow. I also don’t know why some events happened plot wise. Like Esme’s experience at Mr. York’s seemed unnecessary - it seems like the other women coming forward would’ve been enough.

I also kept waiting for a big twist at the end. I guess the whodunit is surprising in the sense it wasn’t one of the characters readers were led to believe could be responsible. However, in terms of thrillers, it wasn’t anything out of the normal realm of possibility. This one had potential but didn’t live up to it for me.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, but alas it just fell a bit flat for me.

The premise was fantastic and it did keep me guessing until the end. But I felt like it could’ve been about 100 pages shorter, there was A LOT of filler. I didn’t care about all the detective’s family stuff. It added nothing to the story.

Also, there were some things I wish there would be more elaboration on, like the Mr. York situation, I felt like there were some things left open there. Though I didn’t guess who the killer was, the reveal of it felt super rushed. All that to say, it was an okay read - if you like multiple POVs, and police procedural you’ll enjoy this.

After reading and loving All the Dark Places I was excited to get my hands on this one. It started off suspenseful enough with two different horrific events that happened/are happening in Esmé’s life. I was invested in trying to find out who killed her old bff, but the mysterious man threatening to kill her when she was younger at the scene of the car accident that killed her mom was also intriguing.
I didn’t figure it all out, but thinking back I should have! While this was a good read I liked All the Dark Places a lot more.

Thank you so much to Kensington Books for the gifted ARC!

I know a lot of books claim to hook you immediately, but this one REALLY did! Esme is on her way back to her hometown after ending a long-term relationship. Upon her arrival to her childhood home where her brother lives to take care of her dying father, she is greeted by police and the news that a body was discovered in the woods by her house!

This story is told in breakneck speed alternating perspectives between Esme and Rita, a detective determined to unearth the secrets of the small town of Graybridge. I love stories with an elderly person with a failing memory and deathbed confessions, so I ate this one up!

There were couple elements/scenes in this one that were super creepy and really look this one to the next level! The pacing was great, I was never bored, and didn't see the ending coming at all!

This was my second book by Terri Parlato and I can't wait to read what she writes next!

This book will be available for purchase on December 26th!

This book features the same detective as in the author's first book, All the Dark Places. I loved that book, so I enjoyed catching up with Detective Rita Myers. However, this new book also works perfectly as a standalone. Rita is leading the investigation of the death of a young woman found murdered at the edge of a wooded area. The crime scene is in the backyard of former ballerina, Esme Foster. Esme is one of the victim's high school friends who has just returned to Graybridge, Massachusetts after a career-ending injury. Esme had moved away years ago thinking she was in danger in her hometown and now fears she may be a target once again.

Rita and her team have many suspects to question, including Esme's brother Byron, which makes things complicated. There is more than one sketchy character in the book who is easy to picture as a potential killer. I enjoy the character of Rita and find her very relatable. I admire her intelligence and her determination to find the killer. She is an experienced detective who has a complicated personal life and I warmed to her right away.

I was sympathetic to Esme who has both current problems and past traumas to deal with, but she is a harder character to connect with. Part of that could be that we hear a lot about her past when she lived in New York with her now ex-boyfriend, but we don't see it. For this reason, I didn't feel I fully got to know her even though I liked her.

The book alternates between Rita and Esme's points-of-view, giving us a police procedural in Rita's chapters and a bit more of a thriller in Esme's. Together, seeing the case from both sides makes this an engaging, well-rounded crime fiction novel. I had a few suspects in mind, but wasn't able to anticipate the solution and was surprised when everything was revealed. I hope to see Rita Myers again in future books.

I received an advance copy of this ebook from NetGalley and Kensington Books at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Esme, a former ballerina has recently broken up with her longtime boyfriend so returns unannounced back to her hometown of Graybridge. Upon her arrival at her childhood home, she discovers that her good friend, Kara has been murdered in or near Esme’s father’s backyard and her father is dying as a result of his heavy drinking. As Esme settles into her new life of helping her brother, Byron care for their father and working at the local bakery, Rita, a veteran detective works to solve Kara’s murder. Rita’s investigation begins to uncover sinister and illegal activities amongst the neighbors who live in the wooded neighborhood but struggles to find a motive for Kara’s murder.
Overall, I enjoyed this thriller and was as perplexed as the detectives. The book was entertaining and engaging. However, I did find it somewhat disjointed and “all over the place” as far as storyline. I believe the author was using multiple plot lines to add unexpected twists but it just seemed like too much. For instance (no spoilers), the sub plots of Mr. York enlisting young women to model for him and one of Esme believing a mysterious man is following her seemed to be unnecessary distractions . I definitely would have liked to see better development of Esme’s friendships because the ending seemed to “come out of nowhere”. Also, I really liked Rita’s character and wished that there had been more focus on her relationship with Joe.
#NetGalley #KensingtonBooks

Esme returns home after being away for years after following her dream to be a ballerina. Upon returning home, she finds out her friend from high school was found dead in her backyard. Detective Rita Myers is put on the case. The story toggles between the points of view of these two women.

I want to note that while this was not part of a series, it is the second book that has Rita Myers as a character. This isn't completely transparent in the synopsis of the book, but it explains why it reads more like series. There is a lot of background put into Rita Myers that I felt wasn't necessary and slowed down the pace of the book. I also wondered why we got both Esme and Rita's first-person perspectives on every other chapter. That was a little confusing at first. Despite all that, it can be read as a stand-alone without much confusion.

Overall, this was a decent detective novel with interesting characters and a lot of possible suspects, which made it engaging. While there were a lot of characters to keep track of, it made it more challenging to figure out who the murderer was. It's a little longer than it needed to be, and there was some "filler" information on the characters I didn't think was necessary. I would still recommend reading this, though!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This story is told through DPV, my favorite. Esme who is a ballerina and comes back home to take care of her sick father, and Rita a detective investigating a murder.

An entertaining atmospheric thriller that is easy to read. Although the personal lives of the main characters often receive more attention than the murder investigation. I would have preferred a better balance. I don't mind insight into the characters' lives; it makes the story more interesting. However, a bit more focus on the case would have been nice, especially since the twist at the end came out of nowhere for me.

I got this arc in exhange for an honest review.

I had a hard time getting into the book. The dual viewpoints threw me off at times and I found the pace to be a bit slow. The overall story is a good one but this wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in advance of publcation.

Esmé returns home after her career as a ballerina is cut short due to injury. Her best friend from high school is found dead in her backyard. It definitely wasn’t the homecoming she was expecting but things never go as expected..

This was a very fast paced and intriguing thriller! I really enjoyed reading from Esmé’s and Detective Rita’s POV. There was a bunch of suspects which made for an entertaining read. I definitely wasn’t expecting that ending! The only thing I didn’t enjoy about this book which is totally a me thing is the alcoholism and her father’s death. It hit very very close to home to me and I wasn’t prepared for it.

If you’re looking for a thriller to keep you up late at night guessing then I highly recommend picking this one up. Releases on December 26th!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington for the e-arc!