A Stranger on the Beach
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- £3.49
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- £3.49
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of It's Always the Husband comes a novel about a love triangle that begins on a fateful night…
‘Rides its rising tide of terror to a finale that blanched my knuckles. An exceptionally suspenseful thriller’ – A J Finn, Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
There is a stranger outside Caroline's house.
Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she'd have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aidan, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she's built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aidan for comfort… and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aidan's obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline's husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her own husband's murder.
A Stranger on the Beach is Strangers on a Train meets Fatal Attraction in Michele Campbell's edge-of your-seat story of passion and intrigue.
Praise for A Stranger on the Beach:
‘A Stranger on the Beach rides its rising tide of terror to a finale that blanched my knuckles. An exceptionally suspenseful thriller’ A J Finn
‘The latest release from bestseller Michele Campbell is darkly intriguing and speaks volumes about how keeping up appearances and burying secrets can lead to disastrous consequences’ Woman’s Own
‘After all the twists and turns, you’ll want to start this book all over again, it’s that good!’ Woman’s Weekly
‘Gripping … a genuinely suspenseful thrill ride. It’s a whole lot of fun’ Heat
Perfect for fans of Mark Edwards, TM Logan and Lisa Jewell!
About the author
Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School. She worked at a prestigious Manhattan law firm before spending eight years fighting crime in NYC as a federal prosecutor. Her debut novel It’s Always The Husband was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Well-to-do New Yorker Caroline Stark, the narrator of this engrossing, if flawed, thriller from Campbell (She Was the Quiet One), loses everything starting the night her husband, Jason, arrives late for the housewarming party at their new beach house followed by a Russian woman he claims is a business associate. Caroline knows the woman is his mistress, and their marriage falls apart. Soon the bank accounts are empty, the credit cards are canceled, and Caroline's college-age daughter is siding with Jason. Drunk and despondent, Caroline has an impetuous fling with a bartender, Aiden Callahan, who has a history of violence. Aiden becomes obsessed with Caroline and her house, which is built on land that was once owned by his family. Meanwhile, Jason disappears and suspicion falls on Caroline that she murdered him. The fast pace and strong characters, especially secondary ones such as Aiden, will help the reader overlook the plot holes (some Russian mobsters show unconvincing restraint). Those looking for breezy intrigue on a hot summer day will be satisfied.
Customer Reviews
A little disappointed.....
After awarding Michele Campbell’s “She was the Quiet One” five well deserved stars, I couldn’t wait to read her latest novel “A Stranger on the Beach”.
Sadly, I was initially very disappointed, the writing style and the unnecessary smutty scenes - which in my opinion lowered the tone of what could have been a cleverly plotted and intelligently written book.
Told from two different perspectives, Caroline in the first person and Aidan in the third person, both are unreliable narrators and you’re unsure of which are to be believed. The premise of the plot involving a marriage breakdown, a one night stand and a murder does sound intriguing but for me the story didn’t get going until ‘after the storm’. This was definitely a book of two halves regarding my enjoyment, as the latter part of the story involving the police investigation did redeem itself in pace and content. I didn’t like Aidan’s lawyer and found her unrealistic and rather silly considering her reputation and the charge she was defending. All the characters were very wooden and could maybe even be described as tacky. Although this book may make a cheesy afternoon TV movie (minus the graphic love scenes), as a book, it just didn’t cut it for me.
As a whole, it was just ok and I did eventually get into it, even if near the end, hence my 3 stars award and not 2. I’ve seen lots of raving reviews from fellow reviewers, maybe it just wasn’t to my taste but I won’t give up on this author yet, as I have enjoyed her work in the past and hope she returns in the future to the writing style I liked.
3 stars