What a warped neighborhood!!! New to the area, Camille and Will don’t really want to make new friends, but the neighbors are determined to spend time with them. When strange things start happening, no one can guess what is truly going on. This was a quick read that kept me guessing what in the world would happen next!

This is the second book on a series and I should have read the first one. This was still a very good book with lots of twists and turns. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

After reading Imaginary Strangers (Book 1 of the Dangerous Strangers thrillers), I needed more Camille because she was such a unique character and for all her flaws I couldn't help but love her! So I was so excited when this book arrived on my doorstep!

As with the previous book, I flew through this one! I loved watching Camille navigate her way around her gossipy new neighbors who all seemed to be hiding one secret or another. The twist at the end blew my mind 🤯 and I hope that there is a third book coming because once again, I need more!!

Thank you to @netgalley and @amazonpublishing for the #gifted e-arc.

Camille and Will have moved on from San Diego to a gated community in Arizona. They have intentions to start anew, but their fresh start is disrupted after Camille finds a dead body in their garage.

This is book two in the Dangerous Strangers Thrillers series. I would definitely recommend reading the first book in the series before moving on to this one. You learn about Camille’s background that contributes to her sociopathic tendencies.

While Circle of Strangers was a little twisty at the end, I missed the tension of Imaginary Strangers. I definitely preferred the first book.

It does sound like there will be a third installment in the series, and I’ll definitely stick around to find out what happens with this crew.

3.75 🌟 rounded up

This is book 2 of Minka Kent's Dangerous Strangers series. Though it could be read as a standalone, the first book (Imaginary Strangers) should be read to get a better idea of the background story. It especially helps with establishing the relationship between Camille and Will.

I did enjoy Imaginary Strangers slightly more than Circle of Strangers, but I still enjoyed this one. Camille and Will's story continues where it left off in the first book, introducing a new cul-de-sac of messy neighbors and even messier relationships to navigate. I enjoyed the storyline, and the pacing was just right; however, things do get a little muddled in the middle. I liked that the story ended with the possibility of a third book, which I would gladly read.

Recommended for fans of fast-paced, domestic thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

Camille and Will Prescott have relocated from San Diego to Phoenix. They live in a quiet gated community. However, the neighbors are full of drama, and Camille's eyes are now open to all the cracks in her own marriage.

I love Minka Kent and really enjoyed Imaginary Strangers, so I jumped at the chance to review this one! Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me. The domestic drama just wasn’t as interesting as Camille’s childhood and drama with her mother. However, it was a quick read and kept my attention. The cliffhanger left me wanting to read book 3 to find out what happens next. Overall, I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

Circle of Strangers
August 19th, 2025 publish date - OUT NOW

What a bang of a start of a book - move across the country and find a dead body in your garage then it goes missing. Whoa. This book pulls you in and grabs on - buckle up and get ready for this ride of deceit and a sticky web of lies and twist and turns.

Meet Will and Camille - who move from San Diego to Phoenix into a gated community to start fresh but this fresh is not super - dead body in the garage but wait - lets step back and find out how this dead body gets to the garage. Camille is not going for the flirty neighbors, secret ways Will is showing and everything is not adding up.

This is the second book in the Dangerous Strangers series and I strongly suggest starting with Imaginary Strangers first. Circle of Strangers will work as alone, but you will be missing some character background that will make this book just that much better and Imaginary Strangers is a great book!

In this book Camille is so paranoid and you are not really sure who to trust or who is the one to blame. She is so all over the place and just when you think you get what is happening you realize no that is not it. I love how Minka Kent keeps the reader guessing and feeling like this could happen in a neighborhood near you. This gated community is the last place you think a murder will happen and it's super well written. I read this in one setting and highly suggest it to my thriller friends.

Lots of thanks to Minka Kent and Thomas & Mercer Publishing via NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Go find your next adventure through the black and white pages.

Twisty and addictive, exactly what I expect from Minka Kent. Some of the reveals were predictable, but it was still entertaining. Love Minka Kent’s books and will always read a book that she puts out.

This is the second book in the Dangerous Strangers series. I do recommend reading the first one first. It does tie into the first one nicely. I keep going back and forth between three and four stars. I liked it to an extent. She did keep you second guessing literally everyone in the book. While I did like that I guess so much of it just seems so unbelievable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a gifted copy in exchange for a honest review.

Circle of strangers is the second book in the Dangerous Strangers Thrillers series by Minka Kent. A gated community full of secrets, lies and trouble couples is the perfect setting for a thriller. The author did a good job building tension and suspense, so much so that I couldn’t put this book down. This book had me hooked from the prologue and kept it until the last page. The twists and turns kept me guessing until the end, and on the edge of my seat. This was a fast paced read. I can’t wait for the third book. Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The second installment in the Dangerous Strangers series, Camille & her family are back in a new neighborhood. They’ve escaped the dangers that were present in their previous life in San Diego & are ready to start fresh. However, they soon discover that their quiet neighborhood has an interesting & almost concerning cast of neighbors…a new circle of strangers that they can’t trust.

I loved this book & love this series! Something about it is so addicting that you just fly right through. Another great Minka Kent read, hoping for a book 3 in this series!!

I just finished Circle of Strangers by Minka Kent and here are my musings.


This is Book 2 of Dangerous Strangers Thrillers….

Camille and Will have relocated to a gated community for a fresh start after everything they were put through. It’s not so peaceful when the neighbors drag them into neighborhood drama. Sozi is well intentioned but a meddler and the unstable next door neighbors who seem to have a toxic marriage.

Watching the cracks in the lives of those around her, Camille starts to see the cracks in her own… The monster from her past has found her and the dead body in the garage means her home isn’t as safe as she had hoped.
I completely forgot how much I loved book 1 but when I started this installment it all came flooding back.
Camille is back and in top form. I love her as a character. I really felt bad for her in book 1 and I was reaffirmed that she does her best to be a good person but she still has her moments!
We learn a lot more about Will in this book and we see a massive shift in this one. Their marriage is the focal point and the things that Camille starts to notice she didn’t before. We never quite know who to trust and that's one of the things I love about this author. She does a great job of bringing the mind F-ing.
I loved the pacing and the ending was MINDBLOWING! I literally shouted NOOOOOOOOO as it ended. It's going to be a long wait before the next ones come out but it really is worth the wait.
If you love psychological thrillers.. Grab this one! You can read as a standalone but I highly recommend starting at the beginning.


4 stars!


Thank you to @netgalley and @thomasandmercer for my gifted copy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you’re wanting a dark and twisty thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, then I highly recommend any book @minkakentauthor writes!

Circle of Strangers is the sequel to Imaginary Strangers. Imaginary Strangers left me with unanswered questions and wanting more. I’m happy to say that Circle of Strangers answered every question I had and more.

Circle of Strangers is a dark thriller that’s full of suspense, shocking twists, secrets, and lies. I was hooked from the very first page. This story starts with Camille finding a dead body in her garage and figuring out how she’s going to hide it. Not only is she hiding from her past, she’s hiding it from her husband. But when her past comes knocking, her innocent neighbors seem to be full of secrets and lies.

Ps, it’s out now and KU!

Oh, holy HOA suburb hell! Oh... my... any time I can end a book with a jaw drop and a "No. F**king. Way..." I know I've just read something amazing. Most Minka Kent books end that way.
Circle of Strangers is book 2 in this thriller series but you can read this book without reading book 1, Imaginary Strangers, because you can get the gist of a trauma that happened to this family in book 1. Imaginary Strangers ends not necessarily in a cliffhanger, but an "omg what could possibly happen to them next" ending. I highly recommend book 1 to get the whole story!
Now, in Circle of Strangers, Camille, Will & their children move to an out of state, quiet, safe suburb after what they just went thru. (This is the continuation of their story.) But it's not as quiet or as private as they hoped it would be.
Never judge a house by its curb appeal. And you never know what goes on behind those pretty closed doors.
Holy cow, I don't think I can to say too much more for fear of spoilers! Pretty much the only thing to say is that within the first few pages you have a dead body that then disappears. You'll spend the whole book constantly questioning who that could've been!
This book was an awesome jaw dropper!

CIRCLE OF STRANGERS was a quick and increasingly twisty story, starting out slow but ratcheting up in intensity and drama. The characters were all questionably reliable, leading to a lot of open questions and a surprise ending. This was a fast and fun read, and look forward to hopefully another installment.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review CIRCLE OF STRANGERS.

Thank you to Brilliance Publishing and Thomas & Mercer for the copies, here are my thoughts!

Camille and Will just escaped a psychologically scary situation and have moved to a gated community to start over and feel more protected. There are many nosy, and dramatic neighbors for Camille to get to know. But one day she finds a body in her garage, and maybe the couple didn’t run quite far enough from their spooky past.

This is the second novel in the Dangerous Strangers series. The first novel stuck with me, but I felt it was missing something. I was surprised that it would turn into a series just based on how things kind of concluded in book one. I am so happy that the author wrote a second book because I adored this one. I loved the community that the book took place in, all the side characters were so intriguing and entertaining! The main character, being a sociopath, provided a lot of interesting narration.

The audiobook was short and sweet, and the narrator used a tone of voice that was lacking emotion as I would have imagined for Camille. The production was satisfying and was easy for me to listen to while doing chores and working on my spreadsheets!

The end is so good and twisty and unexpected. I hope this series continues. As soon as I finished it I checked to see when book 3 is coming out. No news yet! I was long overdue for a 5 star book and I’m so happy to have found one!

This was such a quick, fast-paced read, owing to its short chapters. Although it’s the second book in the series, I jumped in without reading the first and had no trouble following along, the mystery stands completely on its own, so it works perfectly as a standalone.

The story follows our protagonist as they move into a new neighborhood, only to find themselves caught up in unexpected trouble. A dead body turns up in their garage, the neighbors seem to thrive on gossip, and soon suspicion, secrets, and danger begin to swirl around them.

With its brisk pace, and atmosphere of tension mixed with neighborhood drama, this turned out to be an entertaining page-turner that kept me hooked till the very end.

I finished this in one sitting! This was very fast-paced and was a page turner. Very twisty! I would definitely recommend anyone to check this out.

♡𝗖𝗜𝗥𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦
𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔯
🗓️𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟷𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻
🤩𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: 𝟜 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤! ★★★★

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...The lengths neighbors will go to protect their secrets….

🌺𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢...Minka Kent has been a hit author for me on every book I have read of hers!!🙌 The first one in this series, 𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 was one of my top thrillers 🏆from last year! I loved it so getting my copy of this one….eeeks!🥳I mean, guys it starts with a body being found dead. Talk about starting with a bang! ‼️ You can read this one as a standalone, but please don’t..the first is so flipping good you MUST start there if you haven’t read it yet.

Circle of Strangers: Minka Kent Captivates Once More with a Gripping Sequel

Minka Kent has solidified her place as a master of psychological suspense, and her latest novel, Circle of Strangers, is irrefutable proof. For long-time fans and newcomers alike, this book is an absolute triumph, showcasing Kent's unparalleled ability to hook readers from the very first page and hold them in an iron grip until the climactic end.

From the moment you dive into Circle of Strangers, you're not just reading a story; you're living it. Kent's signature writing style is so immersive and engaging that it's impossible not to be drawn into the intricate web she weaves. Her characters, a true highlight of her work, are crafted with such meticulous time and attention. Each individual possesses unique traits and a depth that makes them feel incredibly real, almost blurring the line between fiction and reality. You'll find yourself investing in their journeys, feeling their anxieties, and anticipating their every move – a testament to Kent's extraordinary character development.

As the perfect sequel to her previous hit, Imaginary Strangers, Circle of Strangers seamlessly picks up the narrative, plunging readers back into a world brimming with drama and suspense. This book is a relentless roller coaster of twists and turns, keeping you constantly on edge and wondering, "What will happen next?" Thankfully, Kent's pacing is exhilaratingly fast, ensuring that your burning curiosity is quickly satisfied, only to be replaced by another captivating development. This is precisely the kind of book that turns "just one more chapter" into an all-weekend reading binge, happily sacrificing adult responsibilities for the sheer joy of literary immersion.

As a devoted reader who has devoured every single one of Minka Kent's books, I can confidently say that Circle of Strangers not only meets but exceeds expectations. It reinforces why she is my absolute favorite author. Every page fueled my anticipation, making it impossible to put down. And, true to form, as I turned the final page, a familiar sadness washed over me – the bittersweet realization that another incredible journey with Minka Kent had concluded. I already eagerly anticipate whatever masterful story she blesses us with next.

For anyone seeking a gripping, character-rich, and utterly unforgettable psychological thriller, Circle of Strangers is an absolute must-read. Minka Kent has once again proven why she remains at the pinnacle of the genre.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.