Why did an 18 year old Kate flee town to parts unknown 10 years ago after a post graduation party incident? Maybe the fact she saw her best friend, Emma, murder someone and couldn’t face it? Or that her baby sister who also witnessed the incident and has since been mute from the trauma. That’s a big burden to carry so she left.
   Kate's now back in town because her mom is ill and needs help….grown sister is still mute……and this best friend is murdered while she is home. The guilt is everywhere.
   The story now includes the reuniting of her high school clique…all who have moved on to better lives and jobs except Kate. It’s while Kate is trying to find her place back in this town that she makes an interesting discovery about a series of murders that happen on the same night and the one that drove her away.
   It’s this avenue that starts the questions and discoveries that the reader did not expect to see.
   A driving storyline you can’t put down.

Kate & Emma were BFFs until one night after partying in the woods. Kate found Emma standing over the dead body of a homeless man with a blood-covered brick in her hand. Kate's younger sister, Lily, was also there that night & she hasn't spoken a word since. Kate packed up & left her old life & moved away from everyone: her family, her friends, & her boyfriend, Jeff. Now, years later, Kate receives a silent telephone call from Lily & she knows she has to return home.

When she arrives back in her hometown of Wakefield, the first person she sees whilst in a taxi home is her ex-BFF. She finds out to her dismay that her mother has had a bad fall resulting in broken bones - no wonder Lily needed her home. Kate settles in to help out but knows that she can't hide from Emma forever, however the next day, she gets the shocking news that Emma is dead. Believed to have taken her own life, Emma was found in the woods, but when Kate speaks to Emma's mother, she begins to think that perhaps there is more to Emma's death. Perhaps Emma was killed & if so, who would want to kill her & what secrets are they keeping?

Although this was an intriguing story line, the main character was rather too passive: originally she didn't stop to talk to anyone about what happened or get Emma's side of the story, just hightailed it out of town, now she is back home, Kate just drifts. To say there was a crime to be solved, there seemed to be precious little investigating happening most of the time. Kate kept saying that she really needed to find out what happened & if Emma was involved, but spent most of her time shuttling between her ex & his ex-best friend. She barely even spent any time with her sister. The pace really flagged at one point & I was thinking that this was going to be a low score read, when all of sudden, things picked up & the ending was actually quite good. It threw in some curve balls & actually lifted my rating to 3 stars. Just a pity that this didn't happen earlier in the book.

TW: references to paedophilia, sexual assault, violence.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Bookouture, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I had a hard time figuring out exactly what had happened that night in the woods. I kept thinking one thing and then another and who was involved and who wasn't. I didn't trust to many people except for 3 and I was wrong about 1.
We know Kate and Emma were best friends and they were friends along with Becca and Mel. Lily is Kates sister but we find out more as the story unfolds. The night of a party, in the woods after they graduated. since that night Lily has not talked at all from the trauma of whatever she saw.
Kate was dating Jeff at the time and something just seemed off about him. The story starts out from the party and then 10 years later. Kate comes back home to take care of her mom, who has fallen. When she comes back, Emma has died.
I had so many emotions and conflicts going on in my mind while reading this.
Thank you to NetGalley for the book to review.

Best Friends Forever by Shannon Hollinger is a thriller that mostly delivers on its promises. There are definitely requisite thrills, more than one mystery to be solved, and a couple of decent twists thrown in. In short, there is a lot going on – sometimes too much. I liked the mystery aspects of this thriller. In fact, the plot was really good. The author dropped enough red herrings and legit clues to keep me guessing. Several subplots may or may not (no spoilers here) have bearing on the overall arc. Those were also mostly handled well. And once the story reaches a climax, there is surprise after surprise. The only thing keeping this from being a five-star thriller is that the middle drags…a lot. A few of the subplots seem to be thrown in as twists that aren’t really needed. There isn’t enough character development for them to really matter (if that makes sense). However, despite all of that, Best Friends Forever is still a good, page-turning thriller. I will be looking for future books from Shannon Hollinger. For more details, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. This review was written based on a digital copy of the book from Bookouture.

Best Friends Forever by Shannon Hollinger

Published: January 12, 2023
Bookouture
Pages: 352
Genre: Psychological Thriller
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Shannon Hollinger has degrees in Crime Scene Technology & Physical Anthropology, Florida author Shannon Hollinger hasn't just seen the dark side of humanity - she's been elbow-deep inside of it! She finds writing to be a much cleaner way to spend her time than the autopsy suite. Most days it smells better, too.
Her debut novel, the psychological thriller Best Friends Forever, will be released in January 2023 and is the first of a five-book deal with publisher Bookouture.

“There are ghosts everywhere, here.”

Kate left home shortly after she graduated high school. The incident has haunted her for years. When she gets a call from her sister, she knows she has to go back. She isn’t prepared for the past to come crashing down on her, though. As both bodies and the secrets of the past start to pile up, Kate is suddenly very aware that she may not get the chance to run away again.

HOLY BUCKETS. For a debut novel, this was excellent. The build-up was intense, the reveal was bananas, and the twists and turns will give you whiplash.

The characters in the book were fantastic. I loved the darkness and mystery in Kate. You like her instantly, but something makes you want to know what is in her head. Lily was such a shadow of a character, which was portrayed beautifully. Every character had a part to play, and they were well done.

There is such an intense pace to this novel. I enjoyed that it kept me on the edge of my seat. Every time I thought I had figured out what was happening and who was guilty- another layer would be revealed, and I’d be back to square one.

I love when a plot is complicated and twisted, which was brilliant. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and things move quickly. The way the pieces fell into place was so insane I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

I will read the next thriller Shannon writes. This was a scary, twisted, dark thrill ride from start to finish!

Kate and Emma were inseparable, best friends so close that they considered themselves sisters. The night of their high school graduation, Kate comes into the clearing of the woods to find her friend and protector, a homeless man named Brad, bloodied and dead, and Emma standing over him with a blood-splattered rock. Emma whispers, “It was an accident,” but Kate turns, grabs her little sister Lily who had been with her that evening, and runs away, leaving Emma behind. Kate decided to not tell anyone what she saw, knowing she could never betray her best friend. However, she also knew she could never watch Emma pick herself up and live a normal life as though the murder never happened, so she left her mother and Lily (who was frightened into mutism) behind, and headed north. She eventually landed in Boston, working as a server. After ten years, she gets a silent phone call from Lily, and knows that means she must return home. She is just in time to find out her mother in the hospital with a broken hip, and Emma dying a day or two later. It appears that Emma has committed suicide or died accidentally, without her always-present EpiPen. The official cause of death was anaphylactic shock from her peanut allergy. Knowing that she never went anywhere without that EpiPen, Kate does not believe Emma would have ever killed herself, concluding that she must have been murdered. She doubts everything she believed all of those years, and a bit of research on her part shows that a homeless man had been killed every year since, in June, which was the anniversary of Brad’s murder. Kate believes Emma may have had an accomplice: “Someone else is out there. Someone who was close to us both, someone who knew the smallest details of what had happened back then. Who from our small town could have murdered not once, but twice? And who’s next…?” (“Best Friends Forever,” location 2081 of 4089)

“Best Friends Forever” is a twisted, incredible, totally engrossing thriller, with a ending I didn’t see coming (at least not the way it unfolded!) The storyline runs a bit long and wordy in parts, but is otherwise well-written and solid. The tales about high school friendships ring true, including the hidden traumas, outward snark, and the ease with which friends lose touch with each other. The book explains the characters and suspicions that were presented very well, also introducing other facts which explain characters’ behavior. Some insights have nothing to do with the plot centering around Brad’s murder, but are shocking nevertheless, and there are red herrings along the way. I truly enjoyed this novel with its premise, surprises, and plot; and I happily recommend it to all fans of psychological thrillers.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture, and Shannon Hollinger for the ability to read and review this ARC.

A very entertaining slow and sinister novel with twists galore! The plot unfoldes beautifully and the characters and dialogue and very compelling. A real page-turner!

Slow burn of a twisted and dark story. If you like this genre, then this is the book for you! It's a ten-year old murder mystery that comes to the present when the alleged murderer has died. Revelations ensue with shocking twists and an ending that will have you surprised!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

One horrific night had Kate running away from her life. Reluctantly returning after her mother’s surgery, Kate faces her past along with the aftermath of that terrible night.
Hollinger threw in some delicious twists that were right under my nose and I didn’t sniff out soon enough.
When one of the characters said something it did click in my mind about who was doing the attacks and I guessed correctly.
But the real shocker came at the end and what Kate finally remembers and then what she has to do to save herself.
Some of us can run from our pasta but we can never truly escape it.

What a twisty thriller! I read half and listening to the audio for half of this book. The experience was equally as spine tingling with both versions.

Best Friends Forever
by Shannon Hollinger
Pub Date 12 Jan 2023
Bookouture
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers


I am reviewing a copy of Best Friends Forever through Bookoture and Netgalley:



As I emerge from the trees I am drenched in sweat. I am unable to speak as I stare at the scene in front of me. The blood. The body. Emma’s eyes meet mine for a second. “It was an accident,” she whispers.



Emma and I had been childhood best friends until that horrible night in the woods.



I wasn't able to tell anyone what I had seen that night. We never discussed it but our bond was to strong to tell anyone. I could not betray my best friend even if she had killed someone. Even if she had killed someone.


But I also couldn’t stay in town and watch her live a normal life, knowing what she’d done. So I left.


Ten years later and I'm back. The guilt and the fear have stayed with me. And I have realized I need to reveal the truth if I’m ever going to move on.

But I never get the chance. Because the day I turn up, Emma is found dead, and the way she died means I start to doubt everything I thought I knew about that night all those years ago.

As my grief turns to anger at all those lost years of friendship, I realise with horror that Emma might not have been the only killer. Someone else is out there. Someone who was close to us both, someone who knew the smallest details of what had happened back then. Who from our small town could have murdered not once, but twice? And who’s next…?

have stayed with me. And I have realized I need to reveal the truth if I’m ever going to move on.

But I never get the chance. Because the day I turn up, Emma is found dead, and the way she died means I start to doubt everything I thought I knew about that night all those years ago.

As my grief turns to anger at all those lost years of friendship, I realise with horror that Emma might not have been the only killer. Someone else is out there. Someone who was close to us both, someone who knew the smallest details of what had happened back then. Who from our small town could have murdered not once, but twice? And who’s next?

An utterly gripping and compelling psychological thriller with twists and turns to die for. If you love Karin Slaughter, Paula Hawkins and Freida McFadden, you’ll love Best Friends Forever.An utterly gripping and compelling psychological thriller with twists and turns to die for. If you love Karin Slaughter, Paula Hawkins and Freida McFadden, you’ll love Best Friends Forever.


I give Best Friends Forever five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

This is the first book I've read from Shannon Hollinger, and I feel I'd be back to read more books from her!
I'll admit the first part of the book was a bit slow for me, but things took a quick turn and soon I was flipping through the pages, wondering what would happen next!
I love how descriptive and detailed the writing was! The plot was also very well-written and there were so many suspects and when I was sure one of them was the one, it proved me wrong! I definitely wasn't expecting the ending!
Highly recommend it if you're looking for a gripping mystery to read!

Thanks a lot to Netgalley and Shannon Hollinger for allowing me to read this chilling thriller in exchange for an honest review. It's Kate's story and her courage to discover the truth of the horrible crime that happened ten years ago, which changed her and her friend's and little sister's life forever. Now, her best friend is murdered and she can't trust anyone so she started to find answers on her own. Shocking secrets and twists, one after another start to spill out. A serial killer is on the loose and everyone is a suspect. Totally a page turner thriller and superbly written. The end is unexpected. Highly recommended for mystery thriller fans..

Im not even exaggerating when i say that this was the best book that i have read this year.It was excellent especially because it was the authors debut.I was hooked from the very first page and i couldnt stop reading -i think i finished it in a day.It was fast paced and it was a unique story,ive never read anything like it.Im so sure that it will be selling out in 2023 because it is that good.There are so many plot twists with so many suspects in the last 30 pages that you definitely wont guess them all(speaking from experience).
I cant wait to see what shannon hollinger does next

This was my first book by this author and I was very impressed.

I did find it a little slow in places but not so much that I didn’t want to keep reading. The story was solid, interesting and it kept me guessing. I ran through a few scenario’s in my head as to what the final twists might be and I did get some of it right but that was basically just luck. The twists are good ones.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

#Netgalley

⭐️Rating: 3/5
✍🏼Author: Shannon Hollinger
📖Genre: Psychological Thriller

Fast paced mystery thriller about two best friends Kate and Emma. They are both holding onto a secret from the past, then suddenly.. one of them ends up mysteriously passing away and the other is left to unfold what really happened to her best friend. As she starts investigating she revisits the secret from the past and comes across a bunch of other deaths surrounding her best friend. Along the way, there are plenty of twists and turns that you don’t expect.

The story is fast paced and follows a dual timeline so would advise to pay attention to the details so you don’t miss anything. I recommend this book for a good murder mystery / thriller

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Trust No-one 🥸

Told both in present time and ten years earlier where it all began for Kate, the reason she ran. Hoping to get some answers from best friend Emma, no longer possible due to her untimely death. Searching for clues, who can she trust?…

Great read with plenty of twists and turns, some questionable meetings with childhood friends.

When Kate left Florida she was running from all the things that scared her like not knowing who her best friend was and not knowing how to fix her sister Lily but when she gets a silent phone call she knows who it is and knows she must go back. Which Shirah‘s back in Florida after 10 years of being going she’s confronted with all the things she ran from but when her best friend is found dead Police are calling it accidental but she knows that her best friend was murdered not only that she thinks her best friend was a serial killer that’s not the only strange thing why is her ex Jeff so obsessed with her talking to her sister Lily Kate doesn’t know who to trust but what she doesn’t know if she’s going to get to the bottom of this that is if she lives long enough to. The story is told in present and past and I really enjoyed the parallel stories and was not prepared for where the book was going in although there were a few times I rolled my eyes I would definitely still read another book by this author. I think the readers we get caught up reading the same trope from the same authors and it was refreshing getting into a new writing style with the new take on a thriller note really thoroughly enjoyed it. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I really enjoyed Best Friends Forever - I originally was interested based on the really amazing cover, but I found the story to be thrilling and engaging. I was hooked right away and could not put it down.

First of all, thank you so much to the publishers for the opportunity to read this e-galley in exchange for my honest review.

Kate comes home to find her mother has fallen, her sister still not speaking and her best friend Emma dead. But what happened all those years ago, causing Kate to run away? A secret she shared with Emma continues to haunt Kate now in her late 20s. During her return home she begins to uncover more secrets about the night she would like to forget along with more secrets she never knew about.

I loved Hollinger's style of writing and found myself fully immersed. This was such a page turner for me. Deeply metaphoric and enthralling. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I had the rug pulled right from underneath me.

With hints of pretty little liars meets sharp objects meets i know what you did last summer, this book is sure to be a hit.

5/5 stars!