This wasn't a bad read, but I did have much of it worked out by the halfway point. A quick, fun read that will help a reader get out of a reading slump. The Vanishing Year is still my favorite by this author.

Penelope’s life has changed drastically since her college years. She’s trying to remember the relationship she had with her husband since his finance firm became bankrupt and his midlife crisis took an unexpected turn in the form of yoga, reiki and personal grooming. You can certainly feel the tension from the very beginning, whilst Penelope dishearteningly chugs along, juggling caring for their kids, looking after the home and maintaining a full-time job, ignoring the cracks that have crept silently into the house.

At first, when one of her old college friends, Willa turns up on her doorstep unannounced after years have passed, I thought it would be good for Penelope who has struggled to maintain friendships possibly because of whatever had happened back in those days when the group of five friends lived at The Spires. But also, there was an element of control within her marriage that she was yet to admit. It certainly had me hooked and I was keen to know what had happened back then.

It’s a real page turner. The Author provides little drips of information in each chapter that makes you crave more but most importantly, was Willa really there because of an abusive marriage or was there something more sinister going on. It’s psychologically very powerful.

As the story progresses, we get the opportunity to travel back to the Spires where the group of co-dependent friends lived – Jack, Willa, Bree, Flynn and Penelope, known back then as Pip, a nickname that neither suited her nor that she felt comfortable with. Always the kind and most caring of the group, we fall into their lifestyle of each of their personalities and see what formed Willa and Penelope as the people we meet in 2020. And as the Author takes us through the back story of the five friends and their complex relationships, I was desperate to know about the fire that had led to the death of Jack’s girlfriend Grace.

I always like to think I can guess a plot twist before it happens but with this novel, I did not see it coming but wow, what a twist. After that I had to get to the end to satisfy my curiosity. And the twists kept on coming. Really very clever.

An absolute delight of a thriller.

Dark, twisted and with secrets galore, Moretti takes friendship, obsession and revenge to a whole other level in THE SPIRES. A twisted, compelling page-turner you'll devour in no time.

This is only my third [author: Kate Moretti. I really enjoyed her last book [book: Girls of Brackenhill] a gothic ghost story. I have been looking forward to this her latest story!

Story starts with Penelope receiving a letter from a college friend Willa. She suggests they get together to bring closure (Hmm~ it seems something happened that Penelope wants to forget.).
Twenty years ago Willa, Bree Jack, Flynn, and Penelope all best friends got together after college and were housemates in an old renovated church converted into a house. Since everyone had short names they decided they would give Penelope a nickname so called her Pip.
(Reading the description of the friends living together reminded me of that 80s movie
“The Big Chill” and I was ready to break into song! ~ <i>I heard it through the
Grapevine!) </i> Okay ~ Not Really!
True everyone has secrets but these characters were so unlikeable plus I am not a fan of nasty language. First part was slow but the second half did get a lot more interesting.
We do find out the secrets and the twist makes worth the read.😀

I enjoyed reading Ms. Moretti’s ‘Acknowledgements’ as well as “About the Author”. I totally agree if I lived in an old farm house with no ghosts that I know of, I too, would be hopeful of finding a secret passageway!

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 21, 2021.

First my appreciation to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC and opportunity to review The Spires. This is simply Kate Moretti’s best book yet. Written in alternating narrative that hooks us from the very first, the story centers on the complex personalities and relationships between five college friends who share an abandoned church converted into a house of sorts, post-graduation.

After a year of non-stop partying in their insular cocoon, the year is truncated by a mysterious fire destroying the house and a life whom several the five see as an interloper. Twenty-years later when the five friends have gone their own way, the story telescopes down to Willa and Penelope.

Willa, whom Penelope hasn't seen since the fire, unexpectedly shows up at Penelope’s door desperate for a place to stay, 'just for two weeks', while she sorts out her life. Compassionate, 'good wife' Penelope, a hard working mother, supporting a narcissistic, unemployed husband, welcomes Willa into their lives.

Psychological suspense oozes off the pages at a slow burn as the story heats up. Moretti’s skillful writing, draws the threads between past and present, with twists and turns, tighter and tighter. Pulling us into the renewed relationship between the two women, we're teased with sustained undercurrents of self-deprecation, boundary issues, psychological projection and surgical manipulation until the very end with a final bombshell twist we didn’t see coming.

Kate Moretti seems to get better at telling a story with each novel. This by far is my favorite. It is haunting, mysterious, painful, and tugs at my heartstrings at emotion feelings of lost college friends. Her character development is spot on -- each character, though deeply flawed, is relatable, complicated, and quirky. But it is the relationship between the characters that truly drives the story. While the final twist was a surprise, I was more invested in the "whys" and "what happened," than the "who." This is a riveting read. I highly, highly recommend it.

I loved this one Moretti has a way with grabbing you at the first and not letting go till the end. I loved the pace, plot and characters. It’s so great!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book!!!

This thriller follows Penelope, who is in a rut in her life. Randomly, her old from from college Willa shows up. Willa says she is running from an abusive husband and need a place to crash. Penelope and Willa haven't spoken in twenty years, but Penelope agrees. Soon she realizes that weird things are happening.

I really loved this book. This is my first Kate Moretti book and it definitely will not be my last. Her writing sucks you in IMMEDIATELY. I was in such a reading slump before I picked this up and this took me right out of it. The chapters in this book switch between the past and the present, telling us about current Penelope, and past Penelope - the year after college and "the fire."

I really liked how the author told us there was a fire and it had a sort of ominous cloud over it, but we never really knew why. All we know is that there was a fire and that Penelope never talked about it. It definitely added to the suspense, and kept me guessing. I had my guesses, but they ended up being only slightly correct.

The cast of characters was amazing. I think they were all introduced really well and it was very easy to keep track of everyone. I especially liked reading about all of Penelope's friends from college. They were all very interesting and I felt myself getting so excited to read the flashback chapters because I just loved reading about Willa and Jack and Flynn and Bree. The Spires.

THE ENDING. I was so surprised. I thought I had the entire ending figured out. I was actually starting to get disappointed. Then Moretti threw me through a huge loop. I was audibly gasping as I read the last 20%. Now, I will say that I probably missed some clues that other people may pick up on, but I was honestly so flabbergasted.

I think my only complaint about this book was that some of the things were slightly predictable, and it did seem a little drawn out at times.

To sum it all up, I would definitely recommend this thriller! It was very fast paced, very interesting, kept me guessing, and had a really good ending.

This was a fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns, Told with dual time lines, which I loved, because it helped give insight into the characters and the formation of the "Spires" that formed this little dysfunctional family.

Penelope Cox is barely holding her life together, with two teenagers, an unemployed husband and a demanding job. So she is not thrilled when a knock at her door brings her old roommate Willa back into her life. Willa just needs a place to stay for a few weeks, not long at all. What could be the harm? Except Willa also brings back memories of a past that Penelope has long buried and hidden.

Twenty years ago, Penelope, Willa, and three friends lived togther in an old converted church. The five roommates formed their own little family. Calling themselves the "Spires", they closed themselves off to the rest of the world. Living that closely, problems occurr, tenstions mount, wild parties, unrequited loves and jealousies strain their friendships until one wild night of partying, a horrible night when a fire burns down the old church leaving someone dead, and the roommates scatter never to see each other again.

Now Willa is back, but Penelope senses something is not quite right with Willa. Years have passed, but Willa seems to forget so many things they experienced and shared. She is a stranger, and Penelope realizes that the fire may have brought down the Spires, but not everything that burned that night was forgotten,

So impressed with this author and this story!!! I truly enjoyed this book and could not it put down! Looking forward to reading more books by this author!

When Penelope Cox opened the door that day, she invited more than an old college roommate into her home. Memories of her life that she has been suppressing from 20 years ago come back to haunt her in so many ways.
   Her life isn’t in great shape at the moment: work is overwhelming and demanding, an unemployed husband who’s main focus is himself, financial woes and teenage children and all their demands have her strung out.
   Along comes Willa who needs a place to stay due a to a bad home situation and immediately makes herself invaluable to Penelope and her family. The former roommate becomes cook, cleaner, chauffeur and confidant in a heartbeat. But this woman shares a secret from their college days that is the elephant in the room.
   Strange happenings in her life since Willa’s arrival forces Pip to do some research on the rest of her housemates from college.  What happened to all of them since a fateful day 20 years ago takes the reader down a thrilling path of deceit , secrets and revenge.
   I felt this book, while a slow start, picked up momentum and became a page turner.

<I>The Spires</I> follows Penelope Cox going about her daily life of work and raising her two children with minimal help from her unemployed husband, when an old friend resurfaces with a request for help. This opens up old wounds from two decades ago, memories she would rather stay buried.

I adored the characters, especially Penelope. I thought this was the best feature of the novel as I loved reading about Penelope and he daily struggles. In some ways I feel this novel could be classified as literature as Penelope was such a deep and moving character. Any woman who has struggled with work, life, children and contentment with ones life can relate to Penelope. Although I don’t have children I could really emphasize with Penelope as she tries to find happiness while ensuring her loved ones are taken care of.

The mystery was amazing and the gradual unfolding of what occurred and why was good. Initially I wasn’t sure why so many pages were devoted to the past and the mystery that caused The Spires (the group of friends living in the church after college) to split. I thought it might have been filler but at the end I realized without the time devoted to character development the reader wouldn’t have truly understood the motive.

Overall a great mystery novel with amazing characters, an interesting location and a mystery that had me stumped. The pacing was a little slower, until the end when everything fell perfectly into place. The characters were amazing and I could really emphasize with the main character. I would strongly recommend this novel to mystery fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Publishing for the ARC.

I could not turn the pages fast enough on this book, although I was very confused the first half of the book I am so glad I stuck with it because it all came together halfway through and just wow.

What a great twisty read. I loved books about old college friends and what happened and what is currently happening!
Kate Moretti has another great hit with The Spires!

Wow!!!! There’s something unique about the time after you leave home and you live with roommates (at college or after). You’re all playing house in a way, figuring out what you’re going to do and who you’re going to be. The mystery of this story is what happened twenty years ago that caused Penelope to ghost everyone in her life and start over? In the present, we meet Willa who’s suddenly appeared on Penelope’s doorstep and she becomes this fixture in their life immediately.

I was ready to give this one only 3 stars BUT then the second half of the book happend and it really took off! So, with that being said when you read it, stick with it because it's a good one!!

Penelope is shocked when her old roommate shows up at her family home, well over 20 years since they’ve seen one another. Given that the group fell apart in the year they all lived together, Penelope seems to have her reasons for being suspicious. And when things start to get more and more “coincidental,” Penelope decides she needs to do her own background work and find out what’s going on before it becomes too late. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am very glad I got the opportunity to read an ARC. Just enough suspicion without being overly-dramatic---another good one!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Spires’ is a contemporary psych thriller.
Penelope’s predictable suburban life is disrupted when her former college roommate, Willa, shows up on her doorstep running from an abusive husband.
Penelope has done her best to put the past behind her; she welcomes her old friend even though Willa’s presence forces Pen to remember things she’d rather forget.
20 years ago, Penelope, Willa, and 3 other friends (‘the spires’) lived together in a converted church. They isolated themselves by choice and spent their days/evenings philosophizing, drinking, and celebrating adulthood- until a party ended in a fire and the 5 friends severed ties. The story is told alternating from past to present.
In the present Willa is the perfect houseguest, but Penelope is unsettled. She begins to question her own perceptions, Willa’s motivations, and even her own family. Throughout the flashbacks information about the personalities and interrelationships of the 5 roommates is slowly doled out (building tension as is a cornerstone of the pysch thriller!). We learn a little more about what happened 20 years ago before jumping back to the present.
This book is a great ‘slow burn’; the questions and tension building up and the clues/twists revealed at exactly the right moments. A good tea for fans of the psychological, rather than gory, thriller.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The protagonist, Penelope, is trying to stay afloat at work, dealing with her husband who has been laid off and is burning through money, and parenting two teenagers. Her life becomes even more complicated when an old roommate from college shows up at her door in need of help. Her old roommate also opens the door to memories of a traumatic past that Penelope would prefer to keep closed.

The Spires is described as a psychological thriller, but it also has emotional depth to the story, which I really enjoyed. The Spires smoothly transitions from past to present time with a host of memorable characters. I really enjoy Moretti’s writing, and this book was no exception. I really enjoyed the twist as well the conclusion of this novel.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Moretti is one of those authors that seem to always write fun, chilling, and unputdownable thrillers and this just shows she’s continuing that path! It’s well written, fast paced, and unique, kept me hooked throughout the riveting story! Characters developed in a flawless manner, which just kept me more engaged in this story! A must read for Moretti fans, thriller lovers, and those new to both, as I’m sure it’ll bring you some great thrills, chills, twisty turns, and shocks!

Will buzz around platforms and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I enjoyed this book, it was an interesting read and I didn't manage to predict the twist that happened I was kept guessing the entire time. I also really enjoyed the flashback sections, but it felt like some of them could have went a bit faster. I still would recommend this book to others.