Vi Keeland delivers a gripping psychological thriller with Someone Knows, a dark and layered tale that keeps readers on edge from start to finish. At the heart of the story is Elizabeth, a woman harboring a long-buried secret—one she thought would never resurface. But when mysterious messages begin appearing, it becomes chillingly clear: someone else knows, and they want her to know it too.

As Elizabeth is thrust into a tense game of cat and mouse, the narrative unravels with precision, peeling back layers of suspense and emotional depth. Keeland masterfully blends psychological tension with compelling character development, creating a story that is as emotionally resonant as it is thrilling. With every twist, the stakes rise, making Someone Knows an engaging and well-crafted read that fans of the genre will devour.

Writing professor Elizabeth gets a student manuscript that tells a harrowing tale of the abuse of a teenaged girl. Elizabeth not only gets disturbed by the tale but because the story is one that she knows already.

This was an interesting thriller. You have Keeland's classic mix of spicy romance and twisty thriller. The story is solid with Elizabeth trying to figure out who is telling the story that she has held so close to the chest her whole life. The story also goes into Elizabeth's strained relationship with her mother. This adds another layer to the story. I liked the twists even though a few were a little hard to track and swallow. I thing that pushed my rating down was the unlikableness of all of the characters. This is a trend in modern thrillers that I'm not always a fan of. I do think this will appeal to many thriller and romance lovers, especially those that are Keeland fans.

All in all, this was a pretty solid thriller.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

Elizabeth is an English Professor teaching creative writing at a college in New York. But when she receives one of her assignments back, it eerily details a part of her life she’s kept secret for over 20 years. The name attached is Hannah. Who is she? How does she know all the details of Elizabeth’s past?

Elizabeth needs to seek out Hannah before her entire past becomes exposed. Elizabeth’s tragic history is threatening her future and wreaking havoc on her mental stability.

This is a psychological thriller with steamy moments, and it’s full of unexpected twists. I had so many theories and guesses, but I was never fully sure of anything. Toward the end, I had no idea how things would wrap up. That final chapter? My jaw was on the floor.

The writing is sharp and tense in all the right ways.

Compelling, but pretty predictable. The audiobook kept me listening though! I think there are a lot of books with this s* abuse storyline and while I do think it brings up enough awareness, it is predictable and common in this genre. I liked The Unraveling a bit better and felt that had more originality than Someone Knows.

I’m in my dark romance era and this book dabbles in a few of the aspects of this but is definitely more of the thriller genre. I will say that my favorite thing about this book was that I felt like I was watching a movie. The imagery, the characters and the plot twist just enthralls you in the storyline and makes it so easy to picture the words you are reading. Psychological thrillers may not be for me but I will still give the writing in this book 5 stars and could see myself reading this again when the mood strikes.

I've been a fan of Vi Keeland's romance book for a while and now I'm a fan of her psychological thrillers as well. She does a great job of weaving some romantic suspense into a thriller that dives into deep emotional issues and trauma.

Elizabeth is an English professor that has always kept men at arm's length, never diving into a relationship. When she receives the start of a book from a student that resembles her life as a teenager with specific details no one would know, she immediately freaks out. As she starts looking into who this student is and why they know what happened to her, she ends up with more questions than answers. She heads home to Louisiana after being gone for 20 years and finds her mother dying from pancreatic cancer. All the memories start her down a path full of anxiety, fear, and sadness about what happened years ago.

This book has some predictable twists, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Elizabeth is a complex character with a lot of baggage. A fun, fast-paced psychological thriller that was hard to put down!

The Book:

Elizabeth, an English professor in New York, receives a submission from a student in her online creative writing class - chapters of a story Elizabeth knows. A story about a girl with an alcoholic parent who has an affair with a teacher who ends up dead. All the details of this story are too familiar to Elizabeth - it's a story about her and her friends. Someone knows - But who?

Elizabeth and her friends vowed never to talk about what happened or to stay in touch, but Elizabeth has to find out who is sending her these chapters. She returns to her hometown in Louisiana to talk to one of the friends, but cannot find the other one anywhere. Upon returning to her childhood home, she discovers that her mom is sick and she starts up a fling with a stranger she meets in a bar - Both of which keep her coming back to Louisiana.

My Thoughts:
This psychological thriller was a fast-paced page turner with an unreliable narrator (which I love) and so many possible characters that could be sending Elizabeth the chapters. Elizabeth and her mom have a very complicated relationship, which I thought was done really well, along with Elizabeth's other messy relationships. There were great twists I didn't see coming.

Vi Keeland has been on my radar since I read "The Unraveling" where she turned toward the thriller direction in her still very spicey stories!
This is the story of a college English professor, Elizabeth, who finds disturbing parallels with her own life when reading through one of her student's assignments. But for such a long time she has been trying to hide her past!
This book is just tense, well paced (not too much) and spicey for sure!!
I personally enjoy the way Vi's writing is developing and look forward to reading more of her work!
Thank you #NetGalley #Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC

Is it just a creative writing assignment from a random student, or has someone uncovered the truth about Elizabeth’s past? This book follows our main character, Elizabeth, who is a professor as a college in New York. When one of her students submits a writing assignment that is a little too similar to the life Elizabeth has been trying to keep hidden for the last 20 years, she sets out to revisit some demons from her past to determine if it’s a coincidence or if someone knows the truth she’s tried to keep buried. This book is fast-paced, easy to read, and keeps you guessing with every twist and turn. The characters are all likable, relatable, and easy to keep track of. Throw in a little bit of spice, and this is sure to keep you hooked. You might even finish this book in one setting! I’ve never read this author before, but now I’m dying (no pun intended…) to get my hands on her other work.

Okay, don’t get me wrong—I did enjoy this book. The writing? Super engaging. The pacing? Quick and addictive, with those short chapters that make you say, “Just one more,” until suddenly it’s 2 a.m. Vi Keeland definitely has a writing style I’d love to read more of. This book specifically gave me major Freida vibes, but dialed up with some extra spice.

The premise? Chef’s kiss. A college English professor, Elizabeth, reading a creative writing submission that eerily mirrors a deadly secret from her past? I was hooked from the first chapter. The inclusion of chapters from “The Reckoning” was a nice touch.

Now, that said… the characters? Mostly insufferable. I get it—trauma, secrets, baggage—but dang, it was rough. Only a few were bearable, and even then, barely. Still, I pushed through because I was dying to know how it all tied together.

The twist—well, the first part? Kind of predictable. A little anticlimactic. But the writing made up for it. I was still invested. And then we got to the big reveal about who’s behind the mysterious story submission and… I’m sorry, what? That choice just didn’t land for me. There were so many stronger, more satisfying options. This one felt random—like a curveball that didn’t quite make it over the plate.

And after that point? The story kind of lost its footing. Something felt off. Things stopped making sense. The momentum fizzled. And then that ending… the final chapter felt like it belonged to a different book. Shock factor? Maybe. Resolution? Not really. If anything, it left me with more questions than closure, and not in a “ooooh intriguing” way—more like, “wait, huh?”

I honestly think this story needed a bit more room to breathe. More time with the characters. More emotional depth. A few more layers to help everything click into place. A longer page count could’ve helped flesh it all out.

Still, I can’t deny that I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t stop reading. The premise alone was so clever, and I love the way Keeland built suspense through the interwoven chapters. Even if the ending didn’t work for me, the journey there was a compelling ride.

- 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 | 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦-𝘈𝘙𝘊. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.💐ᡣ𐭩

I am still coming back into focus after finishing this book. Wow! It is incredibly well written and kept me guessing until the very last page. A definite thriller with so many twists and turns and will question everyone and still not know who is harassing Elizabeth and how do they know what she did twenty years ago. I don’t normally read thrillers but I’m so glad I did this one. No spoilers. Just know it’s very well written and everything is thought out with so many details. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Someone Knows is one of those thrillers you pick up, and suddenly it’s 2 a.m. and you can't put it down. It’s fast-paced, twisty, and just the right amount of unhinged. It follows Elizabeth, a creative writing professor whose life starts spiraling when a student submits an assignment that somehow knows way too much about her past

It leans a bit more into romantic suspense than straight-up thriller, and while some twists were predictable, there’s one mid-way that had me gasping out loud. The final reveal was clever, even if it didn’t completely shock me. Still, it was such a bingeable read that I’m rounding my 3.5 stars up to 4. If you like thrillers with some spice and chaos, this one’s a good choice!

Vi Keeland's "Someone Knows" is a fast-paced, unputdownable thriller brimming with twists that will have readers guessing from the first page to the last.

Elizabeth Davis is a university English professor residing in New York City. A student in her online class submits chapters for a creative writing assignment that closely mirrors Elizabeth's past and a crime she helped cover up twenty years earlier. Feeling like her carefully constructed life is beginning to fall apart, she is forced to return to her small Louisiana hometown to try and figure out who knows her secret and what they want. The story moves quickly, with short chapters and shifting perspectives that help to build tension. Suspense is strong throughout the entirety of the novel, alternating the narrative between the present-day mystery and unsettling glimpses of the past.

Elizabeth is a flawed but compelling main character. Her struggles with guilt, addiction, and family trauma make her feel real. While there is a romance subplot that adds a bit of heat, it's minor and doesn’t overshadow the thriller at the core. While there are some truly surprising twists, experienced thriller readers may find some parts to feel predictable, although the journey is still gripping.

Overall, "Someone Knows" is a binge-worthy read full of secrets, suspense, and emotional depth. Fans of sharp psychological thrillers will find this one hard to put down.

If you love Vi Keeland’s signature romance, prepare to be shocked—in the best way. Someone Knows is a gripping and unexpected twist into suspense that I couldn’t put down. Keeland keeps you guessing from start to finish, blending mystery and emotion in a way that totally hooked me.

The story follows Elizabeth, a college English professor whose past comes back to haunt her when a student's writing begins to mirror a deadly secret she's kept buried for twenty years. What begins as a creative writing assignment quickly turns into a chilling unraveling of a murder she thought was long behind her. The suspense builds as Elizabeth returns to her Louisiana hometown, facing old ghosts and uncovering new dangers.

Keeland absolutely nails the psychological twists and turns in this one—it's smart, sexy, and full of surprises. A must-read if you enjoy thrillers with a side of scandal and heart.

This is my 2nd thriller by Vi Keeland and you can tell her style and plot lines have improved with experience. Known for her bodice ripper romance series, this is her 2nd foray into the thriller genre and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Elizabeth is a college English professor teaching a creative writing class in NY when she starts getting chapter submissions that eerily mimic her past, with excrutiating detail. Who could know what happened in high school, and about her involvement with a certain teachers death in the small Louisiana town she grew up in? Only herself, and her friend Ivy were there.

As she becomes more and more tortured with each submission, she decides to go back to her childhood home and find out what's really going on. Upon arriving, she finds her mom dying, and starts hooking up with the son of a former teacher. There are 2 surprising twists in the book, the first was a big surprise, but the second I saw coming. This kept me interested even though there were not that many likeable characters in the book, and the pacing, especially in the middle, could have used some tightening up. There are long sections of the book of her just being hyped up on caffeine and paranoid that her stalker is always around the corner. There are detailed descriptions of abuse, and grooming by older men, which clearly affect the outcome and actions of the main character, so some may be disturbed or triggered by this. I also was a bit unsure about the perpetrator's motive, so that could have been clearer. The end does leave you wanting more, and I could easily see a sequel being spun up from this.

Thank you Atria Books @atriabooks and VI Keeland @vi_keeland for this free ebook!
“Someone Knows: A Novel” by VI Keeland⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Genre: Psychological Thriller. Location: New York City, NY and Louisiana, USA.
TRIGGERS: child abuse & neglect, child sexual abuse, mental health disorders, rough intimacy, psychological torture.

Elizabeth Davis (37) is a New York City English professor who teaches creative writing, including an online fiction writing class. On May 20 (anniversary of the day she’ll never forget) she reads chapter 1 of “The Reckoning”, a tale of a high school senior who has an abusive affair with her teacher. But Elizabeth lived this story 20 years ago. The girl in the story was her best friend Jocelyn, and Elizabeth knows the story ends with the teacher dead. Because she killed him. She can’t escape her past so she returns to her Louisiana hometown to find out who knows, and which student is submitting the chapters.

Author Keeland has written a shocking book about ongoing trauma from abuse. Narrated by Elizabeth, with interspersed chapters telling Jocelyn’s 20 year old story, it’s full of intricate, emotional twists. Her writing is authentic: (“And my line of thinking is as erratic as my surroundings.”) And evocative:(“Damp soil and decaying leaves yield an earthy scent unique to the bayou.”) Keeland’s book is not for the faint of heart. As a retired child development specialist, I was taken to the edge of my comfort zone. If you like reading psychological terror verging on horror, this is your book. Keeland is known as a romance writer, so for her to make such a dramatic genre change is impressive! It’s 4 stars from me for highlighting the issue of child abuse trauma, and for the emotional, no-holding-back plot.📚👩🏼‍🦳#vikeeland#someoneknowsanovel

Very anticlimactic. I feel like every revelation was seen coming from a mile away and if you're into that, then this book is for you but if you don't like to be thrown answers before they get revealed to the characters then maybe not.
Even without all that, I keep telling myself that I'm reading for the vibes this year and the vibes were not all there.
The setting was good, the characters had no real depth and the plot was ok.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy.

The premise of this one was very much up my alley. And while it was very readable, it felt a bit predictable and flat. Unfortunately, not for me

5 stars!

Thank you Atria Books for the advanced reading copy!

I have now read three of Vi Keeland's books in the last year, and I have loved all of them. This and her last thriller -- THE UNRAVELING -- have been some of my favorites. I love the perspective that these books take, and the way that no one seems to be reliable or trustworthy. The erotic thriller is a genre that I haven’t really gotten in to much, but I have been enjoying these immensely.

This book had me absolutely hooked from the start, and up until the very end. I was so sure that I knew where this was going and was even thinking "what a letdown it's going to be if I’m right." WOW was I wrong! Keeland does a great job creating red herrings throughout the book, and had me strongly suspecting every single character at different points, including our main character.

AND THOSE TWISTS!

The way the twists in the story were revealed was perplexing to me while they were happening, and made so much sense as the information kept coming in. There were a few things revealed earlier in the book that had me confused as to why they weren’t held until later in the story. However, as more and more truth, chaos, and shock comes out, I realize that these just had to be early on to make space for the crazy things coming later.

I loved this book! Tore through it in a way I haven’t done in a while, and loved every second of it. So excited to see what she comes up with next!

Someone Knows by Vi Keeland ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This one was a short, fast-paced book that kept me on my toes. Keeland gave the readers just what they needed to get swept into this sexy, dark, and provocative thriller. I appreciated the short chapters, quick dialogue, and the lack of extraneous details. While some of the twists were predictable, I was intrigued enough to keep turning pages. And the ending made the book for me.

Check trigger warnings before diving into this one. Fans of short, punchy thrillers, intense romantic relationships in thrillers, and books that push boundaries will enjoy this one.