Hannah Mary McKinnon
Psychological Thriller
“Fans of Daisy Jones & the Six are in for a treat with this jaw-dropping and completely cinematic thriller!”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of One Wrong Word
Becoming the star is easier when the rest of your band is dead…
All drummer Vienna Taylor ever wanted was to make music. If that came with fame, she’d take it—as long as her best friend, guitarist Madison Pierce, was sharing the spotlight and singing lead. And with their new all-female pop rock band gaining traction, soon everyone would hear their songs…
Except, on the way to an event, the Bittersweet’s van careened off an icy mountain road during a blizzard—leaving one member dead and another severely injured.
In order to survive the frigid night, the rest took shelter in a nearby abandoned cabin. But Vienna’s dreams devolved into a terrifying nightmare as, one by one, her fellow band members met a gruesome end…and Madison simply vanished in the night.
What really happened to the Bittersweet? Did Vienna’s closest friend finally decide to take center stage on her own terms?
She doesn’t want to believe it.
But guilty people run.
-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.
Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.
My Opinion
(4.5 / 5) High School best friends make a band of two with great success. To ride the success, they decide to add others to the band to add harmony and more instruments. It seems perfect! Then one night while traveling during a snow storm to a show far away, the car goes off the road and tumbles down a ravine. It kills one and leaves the others injured and freezing.
Winter or locked-in tropes are always entertaining to me. There’s no where to go because of the weather so the people usually stick it out wherever they are or make a run for it. Either way, most stories take that morbid turn. This story has just that. What was somewhat unexpected was that they were women, young and very successful. When each one slowly starts turning up dead, the mystery becomes mind-boggling!
The dual timelines gave great insight into the characters. We see the beginnings of friendships and learn their backstories. But the only thing Vienna has ever wanted to do is to be a part of music and have her friend Madison be there with her. This car crash is ruining her plans. She is doing everything she can to help the others. When I wasn’t reading, the mystery rolled around endlessly in my brain. I just couldn’t get it all to connect!
Then that twist! Ha, I was not impressed at first. But the more details I got, the more my astonishment grew. The genius complexity of each detail that went into the murders and plan was substantial. I could not read fast enough to see how it all ended. It was brilliant, cruel and startling.
I highly recommend this one to those that love faster-paced thrillers that involve best friends, unforeseen twists and will keep it ruminating in your brain for days.
General content summary: F words= 17
Car accident (details, deaths, descriptions of injuries and people/bodies, body part torn off, impalement)
Alcohol (possible alcoholism, teens)
Drugs (teens smoking a joint and buying more)
Inappropriate pictures sent to co-worker (pics of body parts)
Abandoned kitten found in plastic bag
Man inappropriately touches a teen (brief but deliberate)
Man physically abused teen (injury, blood, teen fight back)
Emotional child abuse
Alzheimer’s
Intimacy mentioned (no details)
Death and CPR and grief (injuries)
Assault (hit on head then fell unconscious)
M/M marriage
Body found (few details)
Details into how murders were done (multiple)
Arson
Body disposal (some details but not graphic)
Car accelerates and almost hits a person
Deaths (carbon monoxide)
Fall from large height
Intimacy (referred to, no details)
Thank you to Thriller Book Lovers Promotions for the copy!
The book releases July 16, 2024.
**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Be the first to comment