Another captivating thriller I couldn't put down, I love this author, this was fantastic I finished in a few hours because I couldn't stop reading, plot driven, pacy and propulsive

Thank you to NetGalley for blessing me with this gem. Anytime I see a new book from Vi Keeland I know it's going to be a hell of a ride. And Someone Knows was no exception! Absolutely fantastic 👌

This was a very engaging thriller. I finished it in a few hours because I was eager to find out who the culprit was. Well written and the pace never stalled.

With her crafty prose, Vi manages to confound us readers with conniving plot twists, a nail biter psychological thriller for sure!!
I've read Vi both as collaborative writer and her solo thriller Penner, and I'm being honest, she's such a terrific author, she excels in both situations. But I'd read her solo writings seven days to Sunday. Her The Unraveling haunts me to this day. I still haven't recovered from its impact from months ago. Hence when this book became available on netgalley, I rushed to request it, not bothering to read the Blurb. I know I'd have a spine-chilling thriller on my hands and she DOES NOT DISSAPPOINT.
From get go, it sets pulse racing with anticipation. English professor Elizabeth Davis is successful in New York, but somebody is stalking her online, playing mind games.

She's sent a book anonymously chronicling her torrid past including a crime she's trying hard to escape from. All this is in the emails, few chapters at a time. The dreaded fiction is accurate to the minute details and it's definitely no coincidence. The already fragile psyche spirals out of control when she visits her hometown to fend for her dying mother. Every corner and passage screams retribution at her.
She also meets a handsome distraction - Noah Sawyer who seems to soothe her hurting soul for a bit. But past skeletons can't seem to go back in the ground, once they've been unearthed.
Since I loved the Unraveling, and it's last page twist, this book followed the same format.
This format convenience is pretty evident in her collabs as well, which had me figuring out the plot twist 40% in. And that's the sole reason why I had stopped reading her co-written books. The frame board remains the same, only character names are changed. It soon becomes predictable and boring
The third friend identity twist was what I DIDN'T see coming.
Still enjoyed every bit of it. Loved the last minute loose thread...so can I expect another book or series continuation like You?

“Gotta keep you curious so you’ll want to read book two.”

Superbly written with masterful intrigue, it'll end up living rent free in your brain absolutely.
4.5 stars for Saint Agnes

Vi Keeland nails it again with another fast paced and gripping thriller! I was so blown away by the author's debut thriller that when I saw the widget for this one in my inbox I immediately downloaded it and it did not disappoint!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Sexy, provocative, dangerous, thrilling, dark and gripping. I think fans of Freida will enjoy this one - it does have a dash more spice to offer though.

We follow our FMC, Elizabeth who's a creative writing professor at an NYC university. While going over her students work one evening, the students are composing novels, turning in one chapter at a time.

As Elizabeth reads over the first chapter of one of her students' work, it seems eerily familiar. A story she's lived already. As more chapters from this student come in, Elizabeth realized this can't be a coincidence - someone must know the truth of what happened 20 years ago. Someone must know about the murder she committed and hasn't spoken of in 20 years...

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Vi Keeland gives us the story in broad strokes allowing for a lighting fast pace. No meandering around insignificant details here. She gets us to where we want to get to as the reader and with quick punchy chapters and engaging dialogue.

Each chapter left me dying to know what happened and tearing into the next one hoping to get some crumbs lol. I truly didn't want to put the book down.

I really appreciate these sexy little thrillers that Keeland has been putting out, they're not centered around any type of romance but they're still sexy and dangerous. Perfect to read in one afternoon!

What a ride this one was! Multiple twists and turns that take you down paths you had LITERALLY no idea you were about to embark on. I had a blast with it, and it knocked me on my ass lol. Definitely recommend!


Expected Pub Date - 06/17/25

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced digital copy, all thoughts are my own. 💐

A meticulous well thought out psychological thriller with perfect pacing and excitement to keep you on the edge of your seat. Morally gray character complexes, intriguing, and addicting.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster/Emily Bestler Books for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Negalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Elizabeth, a college professor, always looks forward to teaching her creative writing seminar. That is until The Reckoning lands in her lap. She killed someone twenty years ago and someone knows.

Although I found this read to be very predictable, it was done well enough that I could not put it down and enjoyed every minute of it.

Thank you to Emily Bestler Books & NetGalley for this e-ARC.

I’m struggling to decide if this is a 3.5 star read or 4 star. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m going to be fairly vague.

The pros: I really didn’t see anything coming; it was entirely unpredictable. I’m not usually a fan of thrillers because they just never surprise me or leave me…well, thrilled. However, this one did surprise me. All the way to the last paragraph. The novel is short (>300 pages) and I felt the pacing was great (and I’m a big stickler of pacing).

The cons: The writing lacked connection for me. I felt like I was supposed to connect with the characters after everything they went through, but I didn’t. Yes, the backstory was tragic and disgusting: a teacher taking advantage of a student. But, aside from the standard feelings towards the topic, I never connected with the main character. It needed a bit more depth. It took me until about 2/3rds into the novel before I truly cared to find out how it would end.

All in all, I think the novel succeeding with the thriller aspects of the novel would could have explored developing the characters a bit more to lock in a sentimental connection that could have upped the shock value.

This was only my second novel by Keeland, and apparently is her debut thriller after writing over a dozen romance novels? I’d definitely be interested in more books by her, especially if she combined into a romantic suspense.

When I see a book by Vi Keeland, I know it’s going to be good. This book was such a wonderful read. It was well thought out and hooked me from the beginning.

On the anniversary of one of the most traumatic days of Elizabeth’s life she receives a chapter from a student (Elizabeth is a College Professor teaching English) that hits way too close to home. She is convinced someone knows about the murder she committed 20 years prior in her hometown. This books takes you from NYC to Louisiana and has you all turned inside out as the chapters continue to arrive and we dig further into Elizabeth’s past life. I loved this book. I didn’t see the twists coming at all. Someone Knows touches on abuse but done in a way that is not obscene or upsetting but can be a trigger for some. Definitely worth reading.

Life has been good for Elizabeth. At least what she remembers of it. Elizabeth is a collegeEnglish professor. At the start of each new semester she assigns her new students a writing assignment. One student in particular sends chapters by email. These chapters seem familiar to her. The reason they were is because the chapters were about the life she lived asa high school student when a student had an affair with a teacher and she killed him. The reminder jolts Elizabeth into a paranoid state of mind. In order to get resolution she returns to her hometown.
…
Elizabeth didn’t have a good relationship with her mother. She was an absentee mother who was blamed for the bad choices Elizabeth made. Starting with the choice to kill her high school teacher who was having an affair with one of his students. As Elizabeth spends the last few days with her dying mother she reflects back on the time her friend was sneaking off with their teacher. 
…
Vi Keeland is a rising star in the writing genre of psychological thrillers. This is her second book and I’m excited for more. Fantastic ending. I love a good twist. This story kept me guessing all the way to the end.

Impressive! What a ride!

Elizabeth is an English professor who teaches a creative writing class and has a mysterious student named Hannah Greer submitting upsetting chapters about her past. They can't be a coincidence can they? Its information no one should know.

Elizabeth suspects everyone in her life as she unravels and her life spins out of control. She decides she needs to go home to Louisiana in search of answers. Unfortunately she is met with sad news about her mom and more suspects to add to her lists and confusion. You are in for a lot of twists as the truth surfaces. Very unexpected ending and so worth the read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth is a writing professor in NYC who thinks she has left her past behind in Louisiana. But then a student turns in a writing assignment and it is the beginning of the story of Elizabeth's friend Jocelyn's experience in high school, which ended with Elizabeth killing their teacher twenty years ago. After reading this she knows that someone is on to her secret so she returns to Louisiana to figure out who it could be.

This was a good read and I got through it pretty quickly. I had some issues with some of the motives of some of the characters and some of the explanations of what actually happened, but I was entertained. I really liked the previous thriller from the author, "The Unraveling", so I will read more from her.

This was a gripping thriller—dark, intense, and full of twists. Just when I thought I had it figured out, it took a completely different turn. And that ending? So good!

Note: May contain triggering content.

Another wild cannot-put-this-down thriller from Vi Keeland. I went into this completely blind only knowing that Vi was writing another commercial thriller and as a fan of her romance novels, I was interested. Not knowing much besides the premise, I think is the best way to go into it. It’s def twist after twist, and she’ll have you guessing until the very last chapter.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this. All opinions are my own.

I think I might be speechless. Plan to block out a few hours for this one because once you start you won’t be able to stop. This was incredible. The writing, the characters, the setting, and the twists. Just incredible. Elizabeth receives a paper from a student that seems oddly familiar. It’s a thriller, based on what happened to her and her friends in high school. After not finding the answers in NY she heads down south to figure out who knows what happened 20 years ago. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a solid 3-3.5⭐️ read…until the truth of the who and the why is discovered. For that, I had to round up to 4. I mean, it was a very bittersweet discovery, but it still proved that maybe there was something redeeming about the person. Beyond that, the first twist is unexpected. I was wondering about the truth behind who Elizabeth’s mystery student was, but that sadly didn’t startle me as much as I thought it would.

I did find myself angry for Elizabeth in the end, too. I mean, I was sad for her life, upset that she had so many struggles due to her determination to have some semblance of peace, but the knowledge that she’s being played in such a cruel way by someone who wants her to know that THEY know? That made me hurt for her. Then the final twist made me angry for her because peace is definitely more than deserved. And yet, I still liked this book because it is a departure from what I used to read by this author (and I loved the older books I’ve read). So this is still worth a chance, especially if you like a little bit of mindf*cking with your morning coffee!

Elizabeth is a college English professor. In her creative writing class, a student submits a story that is eerily similar to a story that Elizabeth knows all too well - a high school senior who has an affair with their teacher. The girl in the story was Elizabeth's best friend, Jocelyn. Elizabeth knows how this story will end. Because she killed the teacher. Who knows about Elizabeth's secret? In an effort to find out, Elizabeth returns to her hometown in Louisiana, where it's clear that the past will not stay buried.

Wow, I really loved this one! It had some really crazy twists and turns that I did not see coming. The ending was also really crazy and definitely left me thinking long after I finished the final page! It's twisted, fast-paced, and intense. A clever story that will have you racing to the end. I previously read Vi Keeland's other thriller, and I think I liked this one slightly better!

Thank you Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Someone Knows" by Vi Keeland is a mystery thriller with some romance.

I received an advance reader copy of the book from Atria Books via Netgalley.
Opinions from this review are completely my own.

So far, I only read romance books from Vi Keeland and I was curious about this one.
What I can say from the start is that it kept me engaged and intrigued about the story.
Elizabeth is a college English professor, teaching a creative writing seminar. Her life is changed when she receives the first chapter of The Reckoning, a story about a high school senior who has an affair with her teacher. The story is about her friend Jocelyn and the professor that she killed to protect her.
Things get more complicated when she returns to her home town as her mother is sick and she gets involved with Noah and it turns out that he is the son of the man she killed.

The story has a fast pace, there is a major twist that I did not expect, but the ending and the identity of the person that wrote the chapters were predictable (even if I did not want to be right).
Also, the relationship between Elizabeth and Noah is pretty unhealthy. I did not mind that there are explicit scenes between them, but you can tell from the moment they met that this is not a good ideea.

I liked the atmosphere of the book, the feeling that you are in Elizabeth's mind and the fact that she is an unreliable narrator.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would recomand it.

Twenty years ago, Elizabeth Davis killed her high school English teacher.

What the world doesn't know, besides the fact that Elizabeth was the one to kill him, is that Damon Sawyer was a psychotic manipulator and an abuser. And it was Elizabeth's now-vanished best friend, Jocelyn, who was caught in his web those twenty years ago. Now, Elizabeth is an English professor herself, attempting to leave those dark pieces of her past nestled safely there. In her creative writing seminar, a student submits the first chapter of a story called "The Reckoning," and as Elizabeth reads, she not only recognizes the story, but realizes its the very same one she's kept buried for twenty years.

"Someone Knows" is a fast-paced, binge-worthy, twists-around-every-corner latest from Vi Keeland, whose novel "The Reckoning" was a surefire standout of 2024. While not posing the most unique premise, "Someone Knows" does pack a punch with some unexpected bombshells all throughout and does a decent job keeping the reader guessing. Overall, it didn't feel as polished and contained as "The Reckoning," but isn't a bad thriller to pull one out of a reading slump.

3.5 stars rounded down.

This book has it all. You have a twisty thrill and and some steamy sex scenes. I thought I knew what was going to happen and then a twist. Vi Keeland knows how to write a good book. Pick this up if you want a wild spicy thriller!!!