Just who is/was Emmy Grey? This convoluted mystery is solved only with a determined effort by Leah Stevens to find out the truth before the police do.

When Emmy disappears from their shared house, Leah sets off on a personal quest to find her friend and to figure out what happened. Is Emmy somehow connected to the severe beating of Bethany down by the lake? Does this have anything to do with Leah's stalker, a coach at the school where she now teaches. Leah had to leave Boston ahead of a journalism scandal. The girls ended up in rural Pennsylvania. Why there?

As Leah finds more about the woman who called herself Emmy, she becomes involved with one of the police officers on the case -- Kyle is somewhat perplexed by Leah's claims about Emmy and the events and relationships between other characters. There's a lot to keep track of and the elements aren't completely connected and explained by the end. I like my mysteries all clearly and neatly tied up without loose ends. This is a psychological thriller and not particularly suspenseful but kept me turning the pages.

An interesting second book by this author, and I'll continue to read her novels.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley for review.

The Perfect Stranger was hard to put down. I don't want to give anything away, but I liked it even more than All The Missing Girls. The author sucked me into the mystery right away. I needed to know if Emmy was real or not and I loved how the different mysteries kept weaving together.

I wish I could give this three and a half stars. I enjoyed it. This is a very twisty mystery, with a slow reveal. At times, I felt the reveal got a little muddled/unbelievable, which is why it's not a 4 star book for me. That said, I really liked the story. The plot revolves around Leah, our main character, who is on the run from...something. She flees big city life and is hiding out in a small Pennsylvania town, working as a teacher. Then a woman is found murdered. And Leah's roommate disappears. And as the story progresses and the past and present are slowly pieced together, a pattern and picture emerge. Some moments were a little forced and all too convenient, but that did not detract from the enjoyable twist and turns of the story. I dislike comparing books usually, but I did feel there were certain plot points that reminded me of Girl on a Train. Very fun read!

Gripping and a real,page turner. Will definitely look for this author in future.

Amazing, amazing book-- just when I thought i knew what was going on….BAM something happened that threw me for a loop!! Outstanding!

First off, I have to give a big thank you to Simon & Shuster and of course the fabulous Megan Miranda for my copy of The Perfect Stranger. This book is not released until May and I cannot contain my excitement for it to hit bookshelves.

I was nervous starting this book because of the very high expectations that her last book “All the Missing Girls” set. After reading The Perfect Stranger, I am not sure why I was worried in the first place. The last book the story was told in reverse and in this book we are told multiple story lines which all come together when you least expect it. I must admit this book had me thinking and trying to uncover what was fact and what was fiction.

I love Megan Miranda’s style of writing, not only is it easy to read, it really captivates the reader. I could honestly go on and on about this book, however, that would include spoilers. Let’s just say this is a book you don’t want to miss out reading in 2017!

I enjoyed this book. Cleverly written and exciting it kept me hooked from start to finish.

I would recommend this. An easy 5 stars.

This was much different than her first novel but still just as entertaining. I loved how the clues dribbled out and the truth was revealed.. The ending kept me guessing and I loved how justice was served..

This author has definite skills for crafting a tense, complex mystery. I look forward to future books by her.

I stayed up until 5am to finish this book. It was that good. Which is really no surprise since I loved Megan Miranda's first adult thriller, All the Missing Girls.

I would have to say that The Perfect Stranger was even better!

Leah Stevens is running from her past. Yet, part of her past is with her now. Or was. Her friend and former/current roommate, Emmy, has gone missing. Not only that, a woman that highly resembles Leah has been found nearly dead less than a mile from their home. Did Emmy suffer the same fate?

So, I really didn't know what to make of this story in the beginning. Which I have to add is a GOOD thing! I had several theories about the mysterious Emmy—my main working one being nothing more than a split personality of Leah—but none were even close. Plus, there were so many other facets to this story, putting the puzzle together completely was just impossible. At least for me. Even as things slowly were unveiled, piece by piece, I still found myself grasping at straws. I even debated reading the ending to see if there was any clue about who and where Emmy was. (Don't worry, I didn't!)

I should also add there is mild romance between Leah and the lead detective on the case. Kyle Donovan was hotness. But, I won't lie, often I didn't trust him. I've read too many of these types of books and I trust no one! I hoped his theories weren't correct, too. I didn't want Leah to be the bad guy. But really, it was almost hard to believe that all of these events taking place since she came to town were merely coincidence. Of course they weren't. And as things played out, my jaw dropped.

Megan Miranda is a plotting genius. This book is filled with so many twists and turns, I think even the most well-read thriller fan won't be able to guess EVERYTHING. She has not only solidified herself as one of my go-to names in the genre, but she also (IMO) surpassed the genius of Lianne Moriarty.

Confronted by a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit, failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston when she runs into an old friend, Emmy Grey, who has just left a troubled relationship. Emmy proposes they move to rural Pennsylvania, where Leah can get a teaching position and both women can start again. But their new start is threatened when a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is assaulted by the lake, and Emmy disappears days later.

Determined to find Emmy, Leah cooperates with Kyle Donovan, a handsome young police officer on the case. As they investigate her friend’s life for clues, Leah begins to wonder: did she ever really know Emmy at all? With no friends, family, or a digital footprint, the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Soon Leah’s credibility is at stake, and she is forced to revisit her past: the article that ruined her career. To save herself, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey—and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.

Everyone in this rural Pennsylvanian town has something to hide—including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own?

I was already reading The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda when I received this ARC from netgalley. I read the Perfect stranger in less than two days and enjoyed it quite a lot. The story kept me in suspense and constantly guessing what was going to happen next.I would definitely recommended for lovers of mystery/suspense novels.

Definitely a book to keep readers on their toes trying to figure out who is guilty, who is innocent, even who is real. Main character Leah is abandoning her previous life to start over, far from her old career and acquaintances with a former roommate from her college years. The murder of a look-a-like local woman puts her barely started new life in jeopardy. Her roommate disappears, leaving Leah trying to prove Emmy's existence, and her own innocence. Megan Miranda does a superb job leaving clues without giving up the identity of the guilty party in The Perfect Stranger.

An excellent, suspenseful thriller! I enjoyed Megan's first book and was SO excited when I got approved for this one. I just love her writing style. The characters in this one kept me guessing and I wasn't sure who to trust. I felt I was right alongside Leah on her quest to locate Emmy. I had my usual prediction, which was wrong, but man was this one addictive. A very fast paced page-turner!!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster via NetGalley for the Advanced Copy!

All The Missing Girls was such a marvel for me when I read it last year that I just have to mention it here. I tempered my expectations for The Perfect Stranger because I recognized I wouldn't be able to recapture that. The surprise when you're up all night turning pages of a book from an author you've never read before can only happen once.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, this is a very strong novel on it's own. The protagonist, Leah, moves to rural Pennsylvania with her old friend Emmy. They're both on the run/hiding. The great thing about desperate characters is that every action takes on a new meaning. Leah and Emmy have their own reasons for running away and I couldn't read this book fast enough because I had to know why. Leah may not be for every reader because she's not the perfect protagonist type. She's got her own dark ambitions.

This book also made me ask myself how far I'd go to be right. There were quite a few passages that stood out- "I had cast my life and assigned the roles, manufacturing all of them into the people I wanted them to be." I think everyone can identify with the feeling of being reminded people exist outside of your personal narrative.

As for the supporting cast, they were not as clearly drawn as the central Leah and Emmy, which was unfortunate, because they felt real just not important enough to Leah. At one pint Leah describes her relationship with Emmy perfectly:

"I can only explain it this way: that I knew her deeply, if not thoroughly; that a four-month relationship can supersede all the boyfriends, all the friendships, that came after and lasted longer, that our friendship was born from the one time I'd stepped off track, done something unexpected that did not follow the predicted steps of my life. And for that reason it shown brighter, and so did she."

All in all, the pacing was great, the characters were genuine, and I was impressed if not ultimately shocked by the ending. I'll definitely be looking forward to the next Megan Miranda novel!

I could not put this down. I loved the twists and turns. The thing is, any action can be taken out of context, analyzed from a different perspective and the action would take on a whole new meaning. It eas great to see the story evolve

So, it might not come as a surprise to you that I'm a fan of Megan Miranda. I actually read All the Missing Girls just last month, and really enjoyed it, despite hearing a lot of negative things about the book, mainly about the backwards format. So imagine my surprise when I went through Netgalley's Mystery and Thriller category and stumbled upon a new release of hers.

Of course, Megan Miranda nailed it. The pacing of this book very much reminded me of her recent best-selling novel: slow, but it still managed to quickly hook me and keep me extremely addicted. I know there are some readers out there who just can't stand slower-paced thrillers, which I totally get, but for some reason, she just completely and totally pulls me in and fails to let me go. This one takes place in a small, sleepy town, which also reminded me of All the Missing Girls and a little bit like Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, and I absolutely love thrillers/horrors that take place in creepy towns that hold interesting characters and a hell of a lot of secrets. The setting definitely helps the book and aids it in making everything creepy and suspenseful.

The premise also definitely delivered. The great thing about Miranda's books is that reading the descriptions keeps me intrigued, but never reveals too much about the plot and what's going to happen, so I usually go in completely blind. This might be my second book by her, but, again, I'm impressed. There are actually several little mysteries in this novel: the one dealing with Leah's past, one she'd rather forget; the one dealing with a teacher at school; and the strange mystery surrounding Emmy. It might seem like everything is disjointed at first and doesn't make sense, but as the reader plods along, everything comes together to make a clever, cohesive story that proved to be unpredictable.

I also really liked the characters. Personally, I'm not a huge character person. There are some people who can't enjoy the book if they can't enjoy the characters, but, for me, I see characters less as real people and more as devices that push the plot, even though that sounds a bit un-bookworm-like. We have Leah, who's a quiet sort of thing that might frustrate some readers, but who I was captivated by, Kyle, a sweet cop just trying to solve the mystery without causing trouble, and Emmy, who's basically just one big question mark. There's definitely some other characters we meet, some who readers might originally think nothing about, but end up playing a larger part of the story and showing their true colors. Yeah, the cast of characters might not be the most likeable, but they're certainly interesting.

The ending was definitely great. Reading the last few chapters kept me on the very edge of my toes, and I just couldn't stop reading. I'm definitely not going to spoil things here, but I absolutely adored the final chapter. I'm a huge fan of those types of endings that aren't too crazy, and just realistic enough that I could believe it happened in real life. That's all I'll say about that. And I'm also glad that everything wrapped up nicely, since some thrillers seem to be big on leaving some empty strands hanging here and there, which can definitely drive me crazy.

Megan Miranda has a way of writing her unreliable characters. You want to believe their innocence, and you do at first. Then things start to break down and you start to dislike them more and more and the trust erodes. She did this well in "All the Missing Girls" and she does it VERY well in "The Perfect Stranger." I doubted Leah every step of the way. I never believed there was any Emmy and all of Leah's thoughts and dialogue were so vague and noncommittal for so much of the story that I became annoyed at the (what I perceived to be) heavy handed approach. Where was the twist? Have I really figured it out so early on? This left me pleasantly surprised at the reveal. However, I think the story ran a little long and the constant breaks detracted from my immersion in the story. I also think we got way too much of Leah's internal dialogue, so much so that I started skimming over it around the 75% mark. Still, I enjoyed this almost as much as "All the Missing Girls" and Ms. Miranda has now proven herself worthy of being moved to my "read anything published by this author" list. I will update this feedback once my review, less spoilers listed here, is also posted to Amazon closer to publication. Thank you Simon & Schuster for the ARC!

How far would you go for a friend? Would you allow your integrity, your reputation, your happiness and stability to go down the drain with a swirl of secrecy? Megan Miranda uses her protagonists and antagonists to peel away the layers of the reader's conscience, using the element of surprise to keep the reader involved. This story weaves past friendships, betrayal, and the element of truth to spin a tale you cannot forget. If you would go to any length for a friend, maybe the question isn't why, but why not? Why isn't that friend who you think they are, or who you've created them to be? A great read that keeps the reader invested until the very end, waiting to see just how far Leah will go to protect the one friend she thought knew her best.

The Perfect Stranger is a compelling psychological thriller, creepy in places. The story sucked me in from the start and it only let me go when I reached the last pages. I liked how Leah investigated the case along the police. She kept things to herself but in the end, she made sure the police knew all the relevant information. At the same time, I was never quite sure how reliable she was as a narrator. The plot twists and turns, keeping me on my toes from the first page. Apart from some little things I found difficult to believe, or unnecessary for the story, The Perfect Stranger is everything I look for in a thriller.

First of all, you do not need to have read Megan Miranda's earlier novel, All the Missing Girls, in order to understand and enjoy this one. The blurb calls this a sequel but it didn't feel like that at all.

Second of all, wow! I tore through this mystery at lightning speed. Couldn't wait to get back to it. Miranda truly sucks you in with the first person narrative of Leah Stevens, a disgraced journalist who is starting a new life in a small town as a teacher. Almost as soon as she arrives, however, she becomes connected to a murder - and then two. Her absentee roommate, Emmy, seems to have disappeared and no one can find her.

Did she even exist?

We have seen many thrillers recently (lots of them with "girl" in the title) which have unreliable narrators. So throughout the story, it was entirely plausible that Leah was on the edge of sanity and Emmy never was a real person. Leah's past, after all, contains a lot of contradictions and outright lies. I wasn't sure whether to believe her.

Leah wasn't exactly likable but neither was she a toxic protagonist along the lines of a Gillian Flynn novel. She wasn't perfect, like many typical investigators are in mysteries. She had a complicated past and a questionable present, and that put everything she said or claimed in quotation marks.

Highly recommended to anyone who likes mysteries. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.