Boy’s Tragic Life Upended

An Unthinkable Thing excels in creating a suspenseful and emotionally charged narrative. The strengths of the book lie in its well-drawn characters, compelling plot, and seamless integration of its themes. Lundrigan's storytelling keeps readers on edge, with twists and turns that are both unexpected and satisfying. However, some readers might find the slow buildup of suspense a bit challenging, and the dark themes might not be suitable for everyone. Nonetheless, it is a highly recommended read for fans of psychological thrillers and literary suspense.
Overall, Nicole Lundrigan's An Unthinkable Thing is a masterful exploration of psychological tension, family dynamics, and the dark undercurrents of human nature.

Told through the eyes of eleven year old Tommie, this is the story of many unthinkable things, a series of tragedies. After Tommie's aunt, who had raise him, was brutally murdered, he was sent to live with his birth mother, in the lovely home in the country of a wealthy family where she worked as a maid.Set in 1958, we see that life was not as idyllic as it might have appeared to others.

Before I go any further I need to say a couple of things. The first is that I absolutely loved this book and I so regret not reading it last year when I was supposed to so that I could've talked it up prior to publication and the second thing is that I love the cover. That's George by the way.

It's 1958 and Tommie Ware is 11 years old and lives with his aunt, a nurse, in a one-bedroom apartment. They don't have a lot but they're happy until one morning his aunt doesn't return home from the night shift at the hospital and is later found murdered. Tommie must go and stay with his mother who works as a live-in housekeeper for the well-to-do Henneberry family.

The story is told from Tommie's point of view interspersed with newspaper stories, excerpts from a trial and radio news stories. He's a real sweetheart and I couldn't help but love him. The other characters are equally as fascinating but in totally different ways, not all of them lovable. The writing is absolutely top drawer. This book was a real page turner and much better than I was expecting. I highly recommend it.

Trigger Warning: Rape

My appreciation to Penguin Random House Canada via Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

I think Nicole Lundrigan is so under valued. Her writing is beautiful, she nails sinister and suspenseful while still having fully fleshed out characters. this was such page turner!

An Unthinkable Thing is heart wrenching, disturbing, and unputdownable. Lundrigan explores themes of infidelity, social class, and motherhood while depicting the post WWII era. The writing is fantastic and Tommie’s story is one that I will NEVER forget.

I would not read this at night. The characters are full of sinister undercurrent. A young boy is returned to the mother who gave him to her sister to raise. The aunt is murdered. The boy returns to his mother who is employed in a house bursting with intrigue and secrets. Everyone has a secret, it boils and spills until in one crushing moment you question your exsistance

I love when I finish a book and I'm left stunned by the conclusion. This story is so well-written the pages practically turn themselves and I couldn't stop reading till I reached the very last page. It's a dark mystery that touches on a few difficult subjects and I found it thought-provoking with a profound message.

A 1950s murder mystery, family secrets, a serial killer and a 12 year old boy portrayed as a Monster.
What's not to like? I wish I could tell you I loved this book but I just couldn't get into it. I found all the characters to be unlikable, including little Thomas. The book includes testimonies from the trial, all fingers pointing to Thomas which I enjoyed but truthfully, this book wasn't for me. I didn't feel the 1950 vibe all that much, I was honestly a little bored at times and after it was over, I didn't feel like I knew any of the characters. I did however enjoy the little twist at the end. I know a lot of people enjoyed this book so this might just be a case of '' it's not you - it's me''.

This book started out pretty good and then I got bored sadly. The story was unique but I wasn't invested in the characters at all. The ending was a surprise which helped, but this wasn't a slam dunk for me unfortunately 😕

An Unthinkable Thing is haunting, dark and creepy. The book has a sinister vibe throughout, even when the most mundane things happened. I felt so tense the entire time I was reading.

The character development is excellent, as is the writing. These are all multi-dimensional characters with flaws and feelings. No one is perfect and anyone could be capable of anything.

I loved Tommie and reading the story through his perspective. I was fully and completely transported to 1958 by Lundrigan’s writing. An Unthinkable Thing is an excellent, dark mystery that will have you glued to its pages.

Book Review…An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan

When Tommie Ware’s beloved aunt is found murdered, there is only one place left for Tommie to go: “home” to the mother who handed him over the day he was born. All is not as it seems behind the hedgerow surrounding the lavish Henneberry estate where Tommie’s mother, Esther, works as live-in housekeeper. Her employers have agreed he can stay until she sorts things out. By summer's end, the secrets and games tighten around Tommie and his mother, until a horrific crime is discovered and we are faced with an unthinkable question: could an eleven-year-old boy really have committed cold-blooded murder?

Talk about looking behind the scenes of the so-called perfect family! From start to finish this suspenseful book held my attention! There are many great twists and turns! I like the interviews and news articles between the chapters. Tommie is one of those characters you can't help but like and become invested in! As the story moves along the suspense slowly ramps up and there are plenty of suspects to point at ! It's a twisty historical thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Thank you Kate Rock Book Tours and Nicole Lundrigan for sharing this book with me!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book blew my mind! One of my favorite thrillers I've read this year!

Tommie Ware is an 11-year-old boy living with his aunt, Celia the summer of 1958. He has a best friend named Wally, and enjoys living with his aunt. One day tragedy strikes and Tommie's mother comes to take him to live with her. Tommie's mother, Esther is a live-in maid for a wealthy family the Henneberry's.l Dr. Henneberry is a prominent dentist in Greenlake, Muriel Henneberry is mostly drugged with medication due to her various "illnesses" and their son, Martin is an odd 16-year-old who loves going into the woods on their massive estate.. It's a huge adjustment for Tommie living amongst this strange, wealthy family.
"The air was different. Calmer, quieter, cleaner. A white wooden signpost read "Roundwater Heights," and we began walking down a smooth, wide road. High overhead leafy branches woven together, giving us shade. Every now and again we passed an enormous house that was set back from the road. Properties outlined by metal fences with spiked tops, or tall cedar hedges cut into sharp rectangles. Nothing was out of place. I wanted to break a branch or rip off some leaves and throw them on the ground. Everything was too perfect."

As the summer months go by, Tommie and his mother are thrown into a horrific crime that takes place on the estate. Tommie is charged, but did he really commit this horrific act?

I loved how dark this book was. I was captivated by tTommie and the whole Henneberry family. The ending was crazy, disturbing, and unforgettable!

I’ve read a lot of suspense novels, but not very many historical fiction and suspense! An Unthinkable Thing was definitely a good page turner that put me in right in 1958!

Young Tommie lives with his aunt, who works nights as a nurse. His mother works nearby for a wealthy family as a live-in housekeeper. One night, his aunt doesn’t return home from her shift. Tommie’s mother must come take him to her employer’s house and while she’s very busy with her work, Tommie explores the house and the woods surrounding. He’s excited to live in this big expensive house after living in an apartment with his Aunt. He gets to know all the family members even though he’s supposed to be laying low.

At the end of the summer, a heinous crime is committed and all fingers point to Tommie. Could he really have committed this terrible offense?

My heart absolutely broke for Tommie when his poor Aunt doesn’t come home. She’s the only one who really cares for him. But the rest of the book is so suspenseful and I really didn’t know where it was going to go. Martin was unhinged in some parts and then so nice to Tommie. Muriel was another well developed character I loved the use of the interviews and news reports to explain the story. It’s a very unique story that definitely made you NEED to know how this all happened.

Thank you so much @nicolejlundrigan @KateRockBookTours
@PenguinRandomCA for my gifted copy.

This one was really different from what I was expecting. I will be thinking about this for a while. Thomas is an ordinary eleven year old boy back in the 1950s. (Yes, another historical novel that doesn't feel very historical to me.) At the beginning we are alternating between chapters that show just how young and ordinary he is and chapters from the depositions and police inquiries where he stands accused of murdering three people.

The further I got in the book, the darker the story became. At first I thought there was no way this boy did any of these things, but as the events played out, I started to doubt my initial thought. The author did such a good job of setting a tone and then slightly altering it to draw me in. I was so connected with Tommie. He went through more at that age than most go through in a lifetime.

I’m always a fan of an alternate way to tell a story and slowly adding in the police investigation with increasing detail into the event, kept me wanting more.

“𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙨𝙖𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩.”

This was my first book by Nicole Lundrigan and definitely won’t be my last. This book is takes place in the 50’s and is told in 1st person from the POV of Thomas aka Tommie, an 11 year old boy. This was a great story. I absolutely loved how it showed how viscous a family can be despite their wealth and everyone looking up to them in the community. I really loved Tommie’s character as well as Esther but I couldn’t stand Martin 🤣 I loved the trial articles and interviews sprinkled in between chapters, it made for an interesting read. I couldn’t put this book down because I was so intrigued to learn the secrets of the Henneberrys as well as who actually killed them and why. Oh and the epilogue 30 years later was perfect! Definitely recommend this one and can’t wait to see what else this author has wrote.

I was pleasantly caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this book. I was hooked from the prologue and the writing and storyline were so well paced, I had to read right through to find out what happened. This book was so much more than a typical thriller. Family dynamics, difficult choices, appearances vs reality. I highly recommend checking this one out.

Tommie might be one of my favorite characters I’ve read in a long time 🤩 I loved the inclusion of snippets of court transcripts and newspaper articles that served to both reveal additional information and provide brief reprieve from some of the infuriating actions of several characters.

This book was a riiiide. It was disturbing and creepy. These characters were messed up and it was really entertaining to read. I felt for poor Tommy though. He deserved so much more than what he was dealt. I loved him as a character. I think he was the only character I actually liked in this book! An Unthinkable Thing is a page turner for sure.

An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan is a dark and riveting slow-burn thriller!

It’s the summer of 1958, and eleven-year-old Tommie Ware’s life is completely upended. Tommie was forced to live with his estranged mother after the tragic death of his aunt and guardian, and now he’s standing trial for the murder of his mother’s employers. Did this seemingly sweet boy really kill the Henneberry family?

Talk about a dysfunctional family! The Henneberrys were absolutely horrendous! You just never know what kinds of disturbing secrets and lies could be lurking under the guise of perfection. I felt like I was at the Henneberry Estate with Tommie, and it was fascinating and unique to get a child’s perspective on this wealthy and privileged family. The atmospheric writing also gave me all kinds of creepy and unsettling vibes! As a mom, I wanted to rescue Tommie from this crazy place, but at the same time, I had no idea if he truly was guilty of such heinous crimes. There were snippets of testimonies from Tommie’s trial, radio reports, and news articles interspersed throughout the book, which added another intriguing layer to this incredibly intense and twisty triller. I was guessing right up until the mind-blowing ending!

It has been a while since I have read a "really good" trial crime story. Which I was very happy to find that this book was just that. Both the storyline and the investigation/trial sections were just as intriguing. If anything, these sections just added another layer to the overall story.

I was not very far into the story when I was already trying to solve the case. To be honest, I was about 90% sure I had it figured out as well. Yet, the twist near the end of the storyline is one that I really didn't see coming. Ok, maybe I gave the notion a brief thought but still I was shocked at the reveal. If you are looking for your next book to read, then you do have to pick up a copy of this book.