What a riveting book! A great "who-done-it" that had me captivated from the beginning. Fast-paced and hard to put down, it had me guessing until the shocking ending. This is hands down a great psychological thriller! I highly recommend it.

A super fast paced and entertaining whodunnit!

I seriously read this one in less than 24 hours. The page count is relatively short, the pace is fast, and you will want to know what happened ASAP.

It starts with a dinner party at Nate’s house where you get a bit of a background on the characters, and afterwards one of the guests is found dead. What happened? Was it an accident or a murder? Who knows something? These are all questions you will as yourself over and over as you read this book.

The main character, Marissa, suspects every single character of foul play at some point in the story and you will too. No one is to be trusted!

Definitely an entertaining whodunnit - I didn’t guess the culprit once again! 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for my advance copy. This book is available tomorrow!

This book was a quick, easy read that kept me interested because I wanted to follow the clues and figure out whodunit. Marissa and Lauren have been friends since childhood, until Lauren’s ultimate betrayal during their days at university. When the book’s action opens, Marissa and Lauren are neighbors on cliff side property at a beach and Marissa is having a big dinner party to which she has invited Lauren and her husband Jensen. During the dinner, Lauren flirts outrageously with Nathan, Marissa’s new fiancée, and then Lauren ends the evening by telling Marissa that she needs to talk to her about Nathan. This promised conversation never takes place since Lauren’s broken body is discovered by Marissa on the beach early the next morning. The rest of the book is told like its being whispered; the reader can catch part of the conversation but not the whole thing, so there is a lot of guess work involved in trying to solve the murder. All of the characters are suspects and none are very likeable. The character who is best developed is Marissa, but even this one has so many secrets that the reader only comes to know slowly. I did not find the author’s style very interesting for me, although I did want to keep reading to find out who really killed Lauren and what all of the secrets were about. Readers of psycholgical suspense will enjoy this book, but you probably will not be “wowed” by it. There is a mild twist at the end which was somewhat surprising, but for me it was a h0-hum moment.

Thanks to A.J. Banner & Netgalley for the advanced copy. This book was a quick read, but there were parts I didn’t love. I liked the variety of suspects, and I was kep guessing. The main character, Marissa, annoyed me. It just seemed unrealistic how she was basically “investigating” her friend’s death.

I had to read this one after reading some rave reviews. I am so glad that I did!

Marissa finds the lifeless body of her old friend on the beach, having seemingly fallen from a cliff. Did she jump? Or was she pushed? Marissa is plagued with guilt and anger over events long ago, and makes it her mission to discover what happened to Lauren. However, the truth gives her more than what she bargained for.

What a stunner of a little novel! It was almost perfect! A fabulously creepy and tense story that gave me goose bumps, and short enough that it didn't drag on AT ALL! Straight to the good stuff! Fantastic!

I LOVED how this was written! It gradually got creepier and creepier and then you were literally at the edge of your seat! I was so annoyed with real world distractions that kept me away from this story! I just wanted to keep reading!

The characters were absolutely awesome, I just loved how they were all intertwined. You didn't know who you could trust. Everyone had secrets and it was done so cleverly!

So many twists and turns! It had me completely guessing right up until the very end and it is rare for me to have no idea and be so surprised! I read way too many psychological thrillers and have become too good at guessing the twists! I love it when I get it wrong!

Would I recommend After Nightfall?

Absolutely! A fantastic psychological thriller that will have you guessing right up until the end! Absolutely fantastic!

Many thanks to the publisher via netgalley for a copy of After Nightfall for me to read and review.

This was a well written thriller- and yet I wanted more (yes, I'm a greedy, greedy reader). I wanted the twists to be a little more twisted and turns to take slightly different paths. There were too many times when I thought, nope, that's nothing, just a distraction- and it was. When I finished I thought, yep, that's more or less how I thought it would end, with just few variances. Overall, a solid read, but I think there could still have been more.

After Nightfall is a fast-paced mystery/thrilled. I was quickly pulled in from the very first chapter. I enjoyed the twists and turns and the other small plot twists that had me guessing until the very end. I loved the web of characters and how everyone played a part in the murder of Lauren.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Marissa is betrayed by her BFF Lauren. Then Lauren is found dead and Marissa digs deep to find out who killed her.

It was a quick read, an okay book.

3☆

I am thankful to Lake Union for an early release of After Nightfall. I was anxious to read this book because I loved The Good Neighbor, it kept me very interested. The characters were very real, they could have been friends of mine. I have to admit I was very disappointed in the ending. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I felt there was more to be said after the ending.

This was an enjoyable book. Lots of twists and turns. Just when you thought you knew who the villain was you turned the page and changed your mind. Not Until the end did you figure it out.

I liked this book,but I’m not super crazy about it. It was an interesting story but some parts really dragged. Thank u to netgalley for a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. 3.5/5 stars

Marissa is finally getting her happy ending, or so she thinks when her boyfriend purposes to her and they announce it to friends over dinner. Only problem is that everyone at that dinner has secrets and by the next morning one of the dinner guests is found dead at the bottom of a cliff.

This book was a breath of fresh air for me. I love the mystery/suspense genre but after so many books they all just start to seem the same and it's easy to figure out the ending. This book had all the twists and turns and smoke screens that made me fall in love with this genre in the first place. AJ Banner is most definitely going to be a go to author for me and I will highly recommend this book to everyone I know.

Loved the book!! Throughout the story I didn't know who to believe and I kept changing my mind on who killed Lauren. I didn't want to stop reading because I needed to know who was behind it all and why. I never guessed the ending and was taken by surprise. A good surprise because I was shocked at who was the killer.

Marissa and Nathan are throwing an engagement party for a few close friends and family. No one seemed to really enjoy themselves at the dinner. Nathan's daughter was upset. Hedra, Nathan's sister-in-law, was also upset and became flustered when questioned about a bruise on her wrist. Then there was Lauren. She continuously flirted with Nathan and left early with the excuse of picking up her daughter. Lauren was once Marissa's best friend and they have recently become reacquainted. Before Lauren leaves she tells Marissa she needs to tell her something important. Marissa never gets to find out what Lauren was going to tell her. Early the next morning, Marissa finds Lauren dead on the beach, below a steep cliff. She immediately suspects murder and starts investigating on her own. Marissa keeps finding clues and always seems to be there to call 911 when someone is injured. The detective starts to suspect Marissa is involved in Lauren's death.

Loved the story, writing style and characters. Marissa was my favorite by far, most of the others I would never want as friends. I'm not sure how Marissa could be friends with Lauren and Jensen again, especially with what happened in college. Lauren seemed like an awful friend. I wanted to feel bad for Hedra, but I just couldn't. The book was definitely full of twists and turns. It was a great mystery.

I definitely recommend the book and can't wait to read more from the author.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author, A.J. Banner, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Now this is a thriller. Marissa should be celebrating this high point in her life. She just got engaged to Nathan. However, her life is about to turn completely upside down. She is no longer certain who to trust. This story unfolds brilliantly and keeps you guessing. A great read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and AJ Banner for the opportunity to read her latest thriller. Definitely a good one! 4.5 stars from me!

Marissa is newly engaged to the man of her dreams, Nathan, and they are announcing their engagement at a dinner party. Nathan's young daughter, Anna, is there, along with neighbors and Nathan's brother and his wife. Lauren, Marissa's old friend, betrayed her in college but Marissa is trying to reconcile with Lauren, who now lives near Nathan with her family. The dinner party doesn't go well - Lauren flirts with Nathan, Anna seems upset, and Nathan's brother and his wife seem to be having issues. But that nigh, Marissa finds Lauren's body at the bottom of a cliff near their home.

What happened? There are many suspects in this book and it will keep you reading until you finish it. This is a great mystery to tuck in your beach bag. AJ Banner has done it again!

After Nightfall had me hooked from the very beginning! It was quick read that had me wanting to turn pages to find out what happened next. And I did not pick where the story was going which makes it even better - love it when I am surprised.

Marissa and Lauren were childhood best friends - until Lauren betrayed her. Now they are starting to mend their friendship. And then Marissa finds Lauren dead on the beach the morning after a dinner party and she needs to know why. It is assumed that it was suicide but Marissa is not convinced. This story goes in so many directions and twists so many times. In her quest to find her friends killer her life begins to unravel - is there anybody in her life that she can trust? A great book that I highly recommend.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

A quick read with several twists! I liked that this thriller didn’t automatically make us think the main character (a woman) was crazy for her theories about what was happening. A lot of books make us distrust the main character, and I liked that this one didn’t. Finally, a thriller with a reliable narrator!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

4 Suspense Filled, Trust No One Stars for After Nightfall

Lauren and Marissa were childhood friends who have been estranged since a falling out in college. They are tenuously trying to rekindle their friendship, years later, when circumstances bring Lauren and her husband back into Marissa's life as her fiancé Nathan's neighbors. On the night of Marissa and Nathan's engagement party Lauren winds up dead. Did she jump? Did she slip? Was she pushed?

This was a suspenseful psychological thriller packed full of secrets. Banner did an amazing job of layering the clues, building on the tension between characters and just messing with my head. I literally doubted everyone and trusted no one while reading this book! I changed my mind about "whodunnit" so many times. There were numerous plausible suspects, all with their own secrets. The story was undeniably engrossing and kept me swiftly turning the pages. I simply had to know who did it!

As for the actual mystery - it was a twist that left me blinking at the page, trying to gather my thoughts for a moment. Not because it was an "out of left field" twist. It was more of an "Ah, yes! Why didn't I see that coming?" twist.

This was an entertaining summer read that kept me guessing right to the end!

This short, fast paced book packs major tension, making it a perfect book to tear through quickly. The author did an amazing job casting doubt on almost every single character in this book, and following along as main character Marissa suspects some of the people closest to her of murdering a childhood friend is captivating. At under 250 pages, this book is a quick read- which is perfect because you might not want to put it down.

I seem to be in the minority here. It's not a bad book and started strong. Unfortunately, it then became too constructed to hold my interest, every player in the game had their foreseeable place. And I'm sorry to say that but the writing was not adding to my interest, as it was somehow without big highs or intensity, it just stayed on the same level and didn't make me care very much for the characters or the story. But obviously it's a case of "that's just me", and I'm sure the book will find many fans.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!