I prefer my endings a little messy - anything too clean feels unbelievable to me, and kind of pulls me out of the story. For a minute, I thought this book was going to fall into the “too perfect” category, but then the last twist… Got me good.

When Sam, Margaret, and Diana set off on their weekend trip out of the city, their hopes are desperately high. Having newly become friends while bonding over failed marriages, the getaway feels like the perfect way to a fresh start.

But then things start going wrong - their keys go missing at a rest stop, leaving them stranded overnight. An ex shows up seemingly out of the blue. And then Diana goes missing.

As Margaret and Sam try to discover what happened to their friend, more and more secrets keep coming uncovered. As it turns out, these three friends know even less about each other than they thought - and maybe all of these coincidences are anything but.

"New friends Sam, Margaret and Diana are thrilled to be getting out of the city for a girls’ weekend—they’ve bonded over their messy divorces, and every mile on the odometer feels like another step towards putting their exes in the past. But when car trouble halfway into their trip strands them in the most unlikely of mountain towns, they come face-to-face with the hurts and betrayals they were so desperate to leave behind."

Thank you to NetGalley, G.P. Putnams Sons and Lena Kohen for the ARC 💛

This thriller had EVERYTHING I love in a suspense story: short chapters for quick pacing, unreliable narrators, secrets unveiled throughout (the ones that make you feel like you have whiplash 😰) and a truly fantastic 11th hour twist that had my jaw on the floor. I highly recommend this to anyone who considers themselves a fan of the thriller genre!

If there's a Cabin the the Woods-style book, I'm going to read it! I'm a sucker for this troupe (I blame Sam Raimi), and I'm rarely disappointed.

The Perfect Escape provides all the necessary elements one needs for a story like this.
Three friends go for a weekend away in the mountains. Things turn south pretty quickly when they lose their keys at a gas station, meet some creepy locals and have to stay in an isolated cabin in the woods. You see where this is going? Well...you only think you do. Most of these types of stories, while enjoyable, are rather predictable. This one blew that concept out of the water in a big way! There were twists and turns and shocks. The ending was super unexpected and so good. I recommend this book if you like thrillers, if you like horror movies, if you like drama. It has it all, and it's great!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Intrigue + Suspense + Mystery + Well Defined Characters + A Smart Plot + The Intangible Factor That Only Good Authors Have
=
"The Perfect Escape"

I am beyond pleased with author, Leah Konen's sophomore release.

All the pieces involved had a great possibility of becoming convoluted. That it was all pulled together and flowed perfectly is a total credit to the author.

Sam, Margaret, and Diana have one thing in common they are all going through messy breakups. They plan a girls trip in an effort to leave their problems behind. Only half way to their destination they have car trouble in a small mountain town. Trying to make the best of a bad situation, they go for a night out. When Diane doesn’t return home the girls start to look for clues and find there was a lot about Diane they did not know. When one of the girl's ex-boyfriend randomly shows up in this small town, the women start to question if their car trouble was deliberate?!

A great mystery by Leah Konen! I really enjoyed the alternating points of view, even when they don’t always align perfectly. I would call this a quick and easy read. THE PERFECT ESCAPE was highly entertaining with plenty of twists and turns.

Many thanks to NetGalley and G. P. Putnam's Sons for my ARC in exchange for my honest review

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

This was my first read of the month and my first Netgalley read in a while. I really enjoyed this!

Mystery/thrillers can be hit or miss for me. Sometimes I find them too predictable or I figure them out relatively soon. This book was a brain teaser. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, another wrench got thrown into my theory and I had to rethink everything. There were just so many twists and turns, even all the way until the very last page.

This was almost a 5 star read, but I did not care for the males in this book. They were all trash guys. Which I think was the point, but I still couldn't get on board with them.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Perfect Escape.

This was a standard, formulaic story about three new friends Sam, Margaret and Diana who barely know each other, except for the fact they all have lousy taste in men and are on the outs with said men, who decide to go on a girls' weekend.

Naturally, things go awry.

If you enjoy unbelievable scenarios and have no problems suspending disbelief, then The Perfect Escape is perfect for you.

Read about how the women drink themselves to oblivion, whine needlessly about their perfect man (Sam, I'm looking at you) and continue to drink and keep secrets from one another.

Let's not forget the parts where the author oh so kindly omits, keeping vital information from the reader so when the secret is revealed, it sounds like a twist.

It is not a twist. It is a trick, and a lousy one at that.

If I don't know what is going on with the characters, then I can't solve the mystery alongside them. Not that it matters.

The writing is fine, but there's no suspense or urgency, and the pacing dragged. It took forever to get to the point and the author kept eking out the 'revelations,' some of which you can guess. I did.

When all is revealed, I was left wondering, "What?" and scratching my head.

The ending is Lifetime HEA for Margaret, and even for Sam, who continues to make excuses for her lover.

This wasn't for me but this is great for readers who enjoy these types of books.

Thank you to @putnam books and @net galley for the eARC of The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen.

This is the first book I've read by Leah Konen but it surely won't be my last. This one was such an addictive read and I couldn't put it down. This will will make you stop and think......how well do you really know your friends?

Three friends from New York City decide to travel to the mountains of New York for a getaway They need it. Each are dealing with broken relationships and have formed a unique bond. However, on their way they stop at a small store in the Catskills and lose their car keys. They decide to spend the night in the small town and regroup the next day. They decide to go out to a bar to unwind and things go down hill from there. Let's just say that one of them will not be found the next day. But, the husband of one of the women will be found......dead.......outside of the bar....... Just what the heck is happening.? And are these women really who they say they are?

The Perfect Escape is the "perfect" read if you fast paced suspense novels. I enjoyed this one so much!

The Perfect Escape releases on January 4, 2022

Another exciting, thrilling, addictive wild ride for the fans of mind blowing thrillers!

A relaxing vacation in the Adirondack where three women who suffered from relationships with men find their escape way from reality ! What could go wrong?

Cons: those women are perfectly punchable! You keep asking yourself why those thirty something women get a backbone to make better choices for their lives instead of sticking around those very irritating losers! And why they insist to talk like teenagers?

Pros: smart plot line, fast-riveting pacing, unforeseeable twists( especially the last one gives you the final scene of Usual Suspects vibes. I just dropped down my coffee mug and kept looking at my house walls for a few minutes after reading the final words) Cabin in the woods theme never gets old. It gives those creepy, unputdownable vibes and keeps you hooked up!

This quick, easy to read, heart pounding, extremely interesting, popcorn& IPA or nachos&margarita read ( I take the latter) You keep jumping up and down from your seat, screaming when you read those delicious twists and turns of the plot you never see them coming!

Summary of plot: Sam, Margaret and Diana are three close friends with relationship problems. Sam’s marriage is about to end. Diana is finally divorced and Margaret is close to break up!
Their visit to Adirondack takes awkward turn when they lose their car keys at the gas station and decide to stay at the cabin in the woods on their way.

They want to celebrate their new freedom at the bar with couple of margaritas just like I’m doing during my reading journey! Salute!

But when Sam’s ex decides to show up and Margaret hooks up with a stranger during their bizarre celebration night. Guess what happened next day? They realize Diane never came home. What the hell happened to their dear friend?

From that point things get escalated a little more than we expected! This the exact point : I have to shut my mouth and let the readers enjoy their own wild ride!

Did I enjoy this wild, smart, complex journey? Hell yeah I did! I absolutely recommend you to read it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM / G. P. Putnam’s Sons for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Girls weekend takes a turn for the worse in this thrilling novel. Three friends, Diana, Margaret, and Sam, go on a weekend trip but everything changes when Diana goes missing. This book was a rollercoaster. And trust me, if you think you know how it will ends, you won’t know until it ends.

⭐️⭐️💫 We begin with three main characters, Margaret, Sam (female), and Diana, Are all sketchy as hell. One has a husband who walks out on her without explanation, another has an alcoholic/needy husband, and the third has a super abusive husband meaning she can’t be on any social media. They are not long-standing friends, having only recently met at an NYC bar to get self-pity drunk and commiserate over their failed relationships. The ladies know very little about one another, have no pictures taken together, & all personal information has not been shared (phone numbers, addresses, etc.), so they don’t know each other. And yet…they decide to take a girl's weekend away to an unknown cabin with one of the girls determined to be the only driver of the rental car. Stopping for gas, the designated driver loses the keys to the vehicle, and chaos ensues. Since they can’t get the car fixed till morning, they decide to get black-out drunk (why not?), at which point one of the girls goes missing, which becomes girls gone wild sh*t-show except its only two girls because they can’t find one of their new BFF's. It’s pretty easy to see the story unfold, and there’s a dead giveaway that I can’t share because then you’ll see it too. To compare this story to anything written by Riley Sager is an insult to Sager. However, it’s an easy read, and it’s an easy read. That’s about the best compliment I can give the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free ARC, but my thoughts and review are my own and without bias.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful without being overly scary. And the mystery was easy to follow but still managed to through me for a loop at times. The book did start a little slow, but it soon picked up and kept me wanting to read more.

Three girlfriends, all in the midst of divorces, take a trip to upstate NY. Their car breaks down halfway to their destination, and one of the friends disappears after a night at the local bar. That sets the scene for The Perfect Escape, a true page turner that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. Plenty of twists and turns, this is a fast read that will hold your interest right to the end. Pleasantly surprised by this one, well worth a read. Five stars! I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three new friends embark on a girls’ getaway to the mountains. At their first stop for gas, they lose the keys to their rental car, so they have to find lodging close by. That night they decide to go out to a local bar, which is the turning point of this novel.

I had a really hard time with the characters. They quickly jumped to incorrect conclusions and never asked the obvious questions. Two of the women, Margaret and Sam, also took no time at all to have sex as quick as bunnies. One of them did so in a very public place. I didn’t care for these characters – in fact, thought they were kind of stupid.

The author’s use of metaphors often fell flat. One example is, “I had a terrifying sense of standing on a knife’s edge and not wanting to fall off.”

I can’t recommend it, but would give Konen another try on another book.

Konen is quickly becoming a favorite in the genre. She can almost do no wrong.

Smart, well plotted, and suspenseful, I was glued to my screen.

I look forward to what she writes next.

Three friends set out for a girls weekend, but when car trouble lands them in a random town for the night, trouble ensures. Sam, Margaret, and Diana are all getting over their relationships, so they decide a night at the local bar will help them forget about their men and their car problems, but instead one of them goes missing and a dead body is found. There are so many twists in this book that readers will be left delightfully dizzy. As soon as the mystery seems solved the author throws another detail into the mix. This is a must read for mystery fans.

While I didn’t like any of the characters and the story had a slower start than I typically like, once it started I did find it interest as some of the turns weren’t predictable.

I found the characters a bit confusing in this book. The story took a while to catch my attention. It never seemed to fit together.

Three friends start out on a weekend getaway to Sarasota Springs, but half way there things start to go horrible wrong. Keys go missing from the rental car, finding a place to stay overnight and then margaritas at the local bar. By the next morning, one of the three is missing, and there is a lot of blood found behind the bar they enjoyed the night before. Why are all three friends hiding secrets from each other and the police. Twists and turns in this fast paced story keep the reader wanting more. A Girl's Weekend Whodunnit.

Loved this book. I honestly had no idea what direction this story was going until the very end. Great mystery!