Hey!

Verity by Colleen Hoover is at the top of all the charts this week in its run-up to the movie premiere on October 2.

So I decided to read it, as I hadn’t yet.

This is one disturbing thriller; check the trigger warnings.

Below are other disturbing thrillers I’ve also enjoyed in the past.

Disturbing Thrillers

Keep It In The Family by John Marrs

Keep It in the Family by John Marrs introduces us to Mia and Finn, a couple who buy a fixer-upper to create their dream home. However, their plans take a sinister turn when they discover something in the attic that reveals a horrifying legacy connected to the house.

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica takes us to a peaceful suburb near Chicago, where the disappearance of a woman sends shockwaves through the tight-knit community. Not long after, another local woman and her young daughter vanish without a trace. The town is thrown into chaos, and neighbors start to wonder if these cases are connected.

And the newest addition to the list:

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Lowen is a struggling writer who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she’s hired to complete a bestselling book series after an accident leaves its original author, Verity Crawford, comatose following a car accident. As part of research for the new books, she comes to live temporarily at the Crawfords’ house along with Verity, her husband, and child. In her office, Lowen finds an unpublished memoir in which Verity recounts her dark past, full of unsettling details that threaten everyone in the house.

Verity by Colleen Hoover domestic thriller set in a remote lake house.

Hoover’s writing is functional: Dialogue flows naturally, descriptions are short and precise, rendering it invisible, making the story the protagonist.

We follow two points of view: Lowen in the present, and Verity through an unfinished manuscript where she recounts her version of events. When Lowen reads a chapter of the manuscript, we get it too so we can see what she reads. Although the plot takes some time to pick up, it doesn’t feel like it because I was thrown directly into the midst of a death and a new relationship, and then the mystery of the house and Verity hooked me. As such, I read it in a short time.

Lowen and Verity are proactive leads. They both set out to get what they want, and each one does it their own way. They are opposites, so the story unfolds in an interesting way. There is no mystery they are chasing, though, so most of the book is filled with thrills (and sex).
 
There is romance and a ton of explicit sexual scenes. There is a lot of swearing, too. And there is graphic violence depicted as well. The tone therefore is dark and heavy.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

The ending landed. I question what the writer was trying to say thematically when it was all said and done, but it works for the story. The denouement was short and paints a picture of where the characters will land after the story ends.
 
Verity by Colleen Hoover is a quick read if you are into dark and heavy-themed thrillers with romantic plots. Doubly so if you either enjoy or are able to endure explicit sexual scenes.

Latest Updates

• Verity is coming out October 2. So if you don’t have time to pick it up in book form, you’ll be able to watch it in cinemas soon.

• I’ve been rewatching The Mentalist on Netflix these past few weeks. It’s as good as I remember it.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— D.E. Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email, and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!