This is a very timely story as far as what are we really putting out there on the internet and just WHO is actually following it. Very creepy story! I did mostly guess where it was going pretty early on, but it was still a fun read with a very nice twist! Laina, a therapist becomes a media sensation after talking a man down from shooting his wife. Cal, a reporter catches the whole thing, and a star is born. Footage is everywhere and Laina's patients begin receiving threatening messages. No spoilers here, just read and enjoy!

Thank you to #NetGalley, #NinaSadowsky and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

A gritty, intense, fast-paced, riveting, artful melding of stunning psychological thrills and nail-biting suspense. An edgy mystery full of dark secrets, shocking plot twists and pulse-pounding, palpable tension. A MUST for fans who thrive on superbly-written, unputdownable thrillers!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

#Privacy #NetGalley

“How much grief and pain can any of us carry before we break?”
Dr. Laina Landers patients are being watched. Each one has their own secrets and their deepest ones are being revealed. Who could possibly be targeting her patients? Laina lives a quiet life and after a devastating loss in her childhood, avoids the press and the limelight, but when one of her patients is being held at gunpoint by her husband, Laina goes to the scene to try to talk him down. Cal Murray is a new reporter in the city of San Diego and finds himself at the scene. From there he’s transfixed by Laina. What is her story? As the two become closer, Cal wants to protect Laina even as he continues to investigate. As things start to spiral out of control, Cal’s investigation finally leads him to the truth, a truth that will leave you spinning!

I enjoyed this psychological thriller. The characters were interesting and the story was filled with red herrings, making me change my mind about who the watcher was. The ending was not what I expected and really surprised me. I would recommend it. I received a free advance copy of this book from Net galley and I am voluntarily leaving my review.

Privacy is a creepy story that begins with the first chapter titled "Watching". We are not told who is doing the watching but we definitely know there is a problem. Our attention is then turned to Dr. Laina Landers is a marriage and family therapist and partner of her own practice called Better Life. Not surprising at all, but she receives a call of a patient in crisis. Soon after, more of her patients are being targeted.

We are also introduced to Cal Murray an investigative reporter. He takes an interest in one of her clients, in which their drama is unfolding with him holding a gun to his wife's head threatening to kill her. Cal tries to interview the Laina, but becomes involved with her.

The reveal about who is doing the watching was in not disclosed until the end, but it was one of the more interesting parts. Cal is an intriguing character and would love to see more books with him as the focus. On the other hand I was confused about Dr. Landers. At the beginning she seems strong and concerned about her patients, but at some point she was kind of wishy washy. I couldn't find much to like about her. The book certainly held my interest, but only to see how it ended.

This was a pretty average thriller for me. I guessed the twist pretty early but the story was still interesting.

Wow. I'm not usually a reader of psychological thrillers. But when I read the synopsis I was intrigued. I started the book and I could not put it down. I loved the dual povs. I was riveted to where and what was going to happen. I won't say anything else because I don't want to spoil the book. Just read it.

Laina Landers is a therapist and someone is targeting her patients. Cal Murray is an investigative journalist. He finds himself enraptured with Laina and tries to help discover who's targeting her patients.

PRIVACY by Nina Sadowsky is a gripping psychological thriller with a bit of romantic suspense built in. Dr. Laina Landers is a successful marriage and family therapist in San Diego. She and her partner, Harley, have big plans to expand their practice to help even more people. When one of her marriage therapy patients calls her while holding his wife at gunpoint, Laina rushes to the scene and manages to talk him down. The media coverage of her brave act thrusts her into the unwanted limelight. Cal Murray, is a an ambitious and charismatic investigative journalist who needs a blockbuster story to propel him out of San Diego and into the big time market in Los Angeles. He relentlessly pursues Laina and her story. But soon, one after another of Laina’s patients, and even Laina herself, are being targeted with disturbing packages and messages that they are being watched. Who is revealing dark secrets that could only be accessible in her patients’ private records? Does the growing relationship between Laina and Cal factor into the compelling mystery? Told from the points of view of Laina, Cal and the “Watcher”, the story moves quickly and wraps up with an intriguing twist at the end. I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller and look forward to whatever comes next from Nina Sadowsky. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

Out June 14, 2022 [Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Dr. Laina Landers is unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight when she intervenes to dissuade her patient from harming his wife during a hostage crisis. But then strange things start happening to her other patients, and even to Laina herself, and it seems someone may be watching a little too closely.

I want this to be a limited television series *so* badly. It’s creepy, dark, and has an amusing and entertaining cast of characters and some fun twists that I think would play really well on screen. And in this case I know the author is also a filmmaker so….make this happen, people!

Of course, the book is also a lot of fun, with a pretty unique premise that kept me interested. There were a few choices made by certain characters that bothered me, but after the final resolution I felt better about them because things seemed justified by context. I’m also not usually a big fan of thrillers with romance vibes, but, once again, it worked well here in the end. If the synopsis of this one draws you in, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try—and *definitely* tune in if that limited series ever happens!

Recommended if you like: thrillers with romance built in; therapist-and-patient stories; stalker-based thrillers.

CW: Domestic abuse/physical abuse; gun violence; stalking; cancer; infidelity; discussion of abortion.

Dark and twisty. Dr. Laina Landers becomes embroiled in a media scandal involving one of her patients. Cal Murray is a new reporter in town who senses Laina IS the story. Laina is an interesting character, and Cal is a dogged reporter. Romance ensues, and do more threats to Laina's patients.

"What is the cost of carrying not only your own pain and grief, but that of so many others?

Dr. Lana Landers is good at her job. She's an accomplished marriage and family therapist, dedicated and compassionate. When she is summoned by the police after one of her patients holds his wife hostage at gunpoint, she is able to intervene and dissuade him. Lana becomes a media sensation. But as her star rises, the target on her back grows larger.

How much can a person bear before breaking?

Not everyone is impressed by Lana's achievements. In fact, someone is after her. And to get to her, they are targeting what matters most to her: her patients. One by one, Lana's patients begin to spiral out of control after the receipt of unsettling "gifts." An embezzler and his wife receive "dirty money," bills soaked in rancid oil; a cuckold receives an audio file of his wife with her lover; a young woman receives a jar of formaldehyde that reminds her of a dreadful mistake from her past. Then Lana herself is the target of a home invasion, and when the perpetrators flee, they leave behind a message: I'm watching you.

Aided by Cal Murray, the ambitious and charismatic investigative journalist with whom she has an explosive attraction, Lana discovers that someone has it in for her. Someone with access to her patient records. Someone who wants to end her stellar reputation, her newfound success, and even, perhaps, her life."

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed herein are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballantine/Bantam Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Nina Sadowsky - 4 stars!

Dr Lania Landers is a therapist in practice with another therapist at their company, Better Life. When one of her marriage therapy patients holds his wife hostage and threatens to shoot her, she is able to talk him down. A journalist, Cal Murray, is on hand and records the scene, thrusting her into the limelight as well as Cal's own personal interest. But then several of Lania's patients receive threatening notes and packages with the words "Watching You."

Don't read too much about this one before starting it - it's more fun to figure it out on your own. The story plays out with interspersed passages from The Watcher, giving all kinds of creepy vibes. This is a cautionary tale of how much of our life is public and how much of our privacy we willingly sign away to all our apps, the internet, and our smart technology. In the wrong hands, any part of our privacy can be exploited. A fast, intriguing read!

. This was a good psychological romance thriller. Dr. Laina Landers is a successful therapist and someone is watching all her patients. You will enjoy the twist, turns and romance as you discover who the watcher is.

Privacy started off strong, wandered all over the place in the middle and just annoyed me by the end. I was definitely intrigued to find out who was watching people and why. But there were so many characters, so many subplots and everything felt choppy. Not my favorite read but good premise.

A stellar mystery with a surprising reveal.
Dr. Laina Landers is a successful therapist branching out into couples therapy. When one of her patients is held hostage by their husband, the Dr. gets called to try to diffuse the situation. Ultimately she's successful with her negotiations but the whole thing was caught on tape by a hungry journalist getting the scoop. When following up on his story with the Dr. the tension and sparks fly and an unexpected relationship develops taking them both by surprise. When some of the Dr's patients start getting strange gifts with a note that says 'watching you' the Dr. has to figure out who is sending the messages before they're able to destroy not only her patients lives but hers as well. At least she has an investigative journalist by her side. From here the secrets, lies and betrayals come fast and furious as you're left to ponder who the culprit is.

This was a very fast read that held my attention from start to finish. I found the characters to be fascinating and realistic. There were a few things that left me scratching my head trying to figure out why they were included though as they felt unnecessary to the plot but with that said, those issues did nothing to keep me from enjoying the story.

Dr. Lana Landers is a therapist and she has a plethora of patients who have come to her with a wide range of issues to work through. She has been working with them to hopefully get them through whatever life circumstance that is keeping them from living a happy life and she is trying all sorts of ways. Cal Murray, an up and coming journalist enters her life and is helping investigate what is happening to her patients and hopefully will figure out all the clues.

With a sporadic reading life, the pacing of books really matters to me right now and for some reason this book moved so slow for me. I felt as though it took a long time for some things to happen and for the balls to start rolling.

The other thing that I use to base my thoughts on is the actual culprit and for me I didn't love who dun it. I will not spoil it for you, but I wasn't satisfied by the outcome. There is for sure someone else I wish had been the culprit and I was ready for the twist to come and sadly it didn't.

To end on a positive note, I loved Cal Murray and I loved having a journalist as the investigator. As a journalist he definitely has some professional skills to investigate, but he isn't the police, so he can maybe make some questionable moves. Whenever the story went to Cal Murray, I loved those moments and wanted more of him.

This was my first Nina Sadowsky read, but for sure won't be my last. I like to read a few books of an author before I make an overarching decision on them.

Privacy will make you stop and think twice if you haven't already in this camera driven, social media world we live in. Watching and being watched is what drives this story along, as well as how much pain and grief can befall a person before it might cause them to break.

This was a gripping story with an ending I did not see coming! If you like psychological thrillers, make sure you don't miss this one.

Privacy will push the boundaries of proprietary, social and professional. Someone is watching a woman. Alternating chapters are in the voyeur’s voice. Who is it and why the stake out? I had the wrong person the entire time.
Therapists are supposed to help patients. Laina Landers is a much sought after professional. She has secrets to hide. Just how far she’ll go to keep them hidden re aims to be seen.
Get some reading therapy with this book.

This thriller has different POVs but in 3rd person. The first chapter starts off with someone whose watching. It gets you from the beginning. So much suspense and it was a fast read, exciting plot twist. I haven’t read a thriller in a while so this fast thriller was what I needed. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc

“How much grief and pain can any of us carry before we break”? That is the motivating drive behind our main character, Laina, who works as a therapist helping people resolve their sufferings. But someone is WATCHING and it is creepy and invasive and destructive. This is my first read with this author and I’m curious about her other books now. This book was a languorous page turner for me, kind of easy going but shocking events and cliff hanging chapters kept my interest. And of course, I was anxious to discover who “Watcher” turned out to be. The ending was an unexpected twist. I had my suspicions but really hoped I was wrong. And I’ll say no more to avoid spoiling anything but do check this one out, it’s available June 14, 2022. Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an enjoyable, quick read. Great characters, well paced plot, and the ending was a complete surprise. Strongly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.