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kberry513's review against another edition
4.0
**Thoughts during reading**
My guess is that Mac is the killer. Maybe it's because I think he's a massive misogynistic jerk and it bothers me that Haley doesn't seem to notice that. But also, he had scratches on his neck early on. Plus, he's very judgmental about "good girls" or "wholesome girls" and I have a feeling it's him. Or I'm hoping it's him, either or.
**
Okay, as I read on it became very clear that the author wanted you to believe Mac was the killer. And I was hoping that it was a red herring, because I was going to be slightly disappointed that she made it so obvious. Luckily, it was a red herring and I only guessed the killer correctly a few pages before it was actually revealed to be Austin.
I'm still a little disappointed that Haley ended up back with Mac, because I don't take back my opinion of him - especially because he subsequently slept with a married woman (albeit one whose husband had already cheated on her with two young women). However, I understand it.
Overall, I felt this was a very well done thriller and I'm intrigued that the next book supposedly revolves around Allie Seacrest, who is, at the very least, extremely messed up and potentially a budding serial killer herself (since she's the one who tortured animals, not Austin).
My guess is that Mac is the killer. Maybe it's because I think he's a massive misogynistic jerk and it bothers me that Haley doesn't seem to notice that. But also, he had scratches on his neck early on. Plus, he's very judgmental about "good girls" or "wholesome girls" and I have a feeling it's him. Or I'm hoping it's him, either or.
**
Okay, as I read on it became very clear that the author wanted you to believe Mac was the killer. And I was hoping that it was a red herring, because I was going to be slightly disappointed that she made it so obvious. Luckily, it was a red herring and I only guessed the killer correctly a few pages before it was actually revealed to be Austin.
I'm still a little disappointed that Haley ended up back with Mac, because I don't take back my opinion of him - especially because he subsequently slept with a married woman (albeit one whose husband had already cheated on her with two young women). However, I understand it.
Overall, I felt this was a very well done thriller and I'm intrigued that the next book supposedly revolves around Allie Seacrest, who is, at the very least, extremely messed up and potentially a budding serial killer herself (since she's the one who tortured animals, not Austin).
jmj697mn's review against another edition
2.0
Just eh. I knew whodunit right away so there wasn't much of a mystery. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight because there weren't many distinctive features about any of them. Also, there was way too much intimacy between adults and teenagers for my liking. Good thing it was free!
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
NEVER SMILE AT STRANGERS, by Jennifer Jaynes, a riveting dark southern debut suspense psychological, mystery thriller of small-town secrets.
Set in a small southern town of Trespass, Louisiana, a young woman turns up missing; however, could there be more to come? The town was so small it was little more than a post office, filling station, ponds, diner, tackle shop, church, general store, and an RC Cola billboard. You could only hope to escape this small town for a better life.
Everyone has a secret; there is tragedy, evil, darkness, anger, betrayal, obsession, incest, a mysterious crush; guilt, suicide, murder. Where did it all start, as the bodies continue to go missing?
As the book opens we meet a boy, standing outside his mother’s bedroom door, but there was blood, lightning and his mother naked in the yard, eyes wild. Now an angry boy turns into a man, who has to care for his sister. Is he just a normal guy living in town hiding behind a façade, who tries to be normal?
We then jump to ten years later, we meet an array of characters (get out your score card to keep up):
Haley, Nineteen-year-old, has dreams, they all want to escape this town of Grand Trespass. Her boyfriend is Mac. Her father was killed in an accident seven months earlier. Tiffany was encouraging her to get out more. Then there is her younger fifteen-year-old sister, Becky and her friend.
Tiffany is dating a black guy, Charles, who is infatuated with her. Tiffany was also having an affair with Tom, a professor. Haley is not thrilled with the way Tiffany treats guys. Haley knows she lies and hard to keep track. Tiffany has a secret crush. Tiffany and Charles go missing. Her mother had forbidden Tiffany from dating Charles.
Erica, a loner and recluse-- nineteen-year-old aspiring writer befriends Haley. Haley finds Erica beautiful and mysterious. Ten years earlier her mom abandoned her to escape this town. She had left Erica the person who loved her most. Why hadn’t she taken her along? Now she decides to write a novel based on Tiffany’s disappearance – to connect with her novelist mother. If she made her mom proud, she would have to love her.
Rachel is a thirty-six mother of two, whose professor husband, Tom had an affair with Tiffany and the entire town knows about it. Then there is Chris, who owns Luke’s Diner, who’s daughter Anne died two years earlier in a drowning accident. Kim, a bully and Chris’ manager, and Austin, the diner’s cook.
In a town of boredom, mistrust, rampant alcoholism and malaise, there is also evil –murder, dysfunction; possibly starting decades earlier, with multiple homicides. Who is the killer and what is his, or her next move as the count rises? How do they connect?
Never Smile at Strangers is dark, twisted, and chilling; the suspense high with twists and turns, keeping you guessing when things are not as they appear.
Looking forward to reading Ugly Young Thing, coming March 3, 2015, as we continue the saga of sixteen-year-old Allie. She has already experienced a lifetime of horror, having lost her mother and serial killer brother to mental illness- now her new life takes a devastating turn.
A special thank you to Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
Set in a small southern town of Trespass, Louisiana, a young woman turns up missing; however, could there be more to come? The town was so small it was little more than a post office, filling station, ponds, diner, tackle shop, church, general store, and an RC Cola billboard. You could only hope to escape this small town for a better life.
Everyone has a secret; there is tragedy, evil, darkness, anger, betrayal, obsession, incest, a mysterious crush; guilt, suicide, murder. Where did it all start, as the bodies continue to go missing?
As the book opens we meet a boy, standing outside his mother’s bedroom door, but there was blood, lightning and his mother naked in the yard, eyes wild. Now an angry boy turns into a man, who has to care for his sister. Is he just a normal guy living in town hiding behind a façade, who tries to be normal?
We then jump to ten years later, we meet an array of characters (get out your score card to keep up):
Haley, Nineteen-year-old, has dreams, they all want to escape this town of Grand Trespass. Her boyfriend is Mac. Her father was killed in an accident seven months earlier. Tiffany was encouraging her to get out more. Then there is her younger fifteen-year-old sister, Becky and her friend.
Tiffany is dating a black guy, Charles, who is infatuated with her. Tiffany was also having an affair with Tom, a professor. Haley is not thrilled with the way Tiffany treats guys. Haley knows she lies and hard to keep track. Tiffany has a secret crush. Tiffany and Charles go missing. Her mother had forbidden Tiffany from dating Charles.
Erica, a loner and recluse-- nineteen-year-old aspiring writer befriends Haley. Haley finds Erica beautiful and mysterious. Ten years earlier her mom abandoned her to escape this town. She had left Erica the person who loved her most. Why hadn’t she taken her along? Now she decides to write a novel based on Tiffany’s disappearance – to connect with her novelist mother. If she made her mom proud, she would have to love her.
Rachel is a thirty-six mother of two, whose professor husband, Tom had an affair with Tiffany and the entire town knows about it. Then there is Chris, who owns Luke’s Diner, who’s daughter Anne died two years earlier in a drowning accident. Kim, a bully and Chris’ manager, and Austin, the diner’s cook.
In a town of boredom, mistrust, rampant alcoholism and malaise, there is also evil –murder, dysfunction; possibly starting decades earlier, with multiple homicides. Who is the killer and what is his, or her next move as the count rises? How do they connect?
Never Smile at Strangers is dark, twisted, and chilling; the suspense high with twists and turns, keeping you guessing when things are not as they appear.
Looking forward to reading Ugly Young Thing, coming March 3, 2015, as we continue the saga of sixteen-year-old Allie. She has already experienced a lifetime of horror, having lost her mother and serial killer brother to mental illness- now her new life takes a devastating turn.
A special thank you to Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
JDCMustReadBooks
sometimesrenn's review against another edition
4.0
When a small town girl goes missing, the town thinks she’s run away. When another girl disappears, the town calls in the FBI. But what they dig up is more than anyone in rural Louisiana ever expected. Never Smile at Strangers by Jennifer Jaynes is a thriller, that keeps the reader hooked until the last page. Sometimes the people closest to you are the ones with the biggest secrets.
This book had me hooked. The alternating points of views gave the reader great insight into how each person could be a suspect, but also how they are also victims themselves. There are many hints dropped leading up to the finish, but I only predicted one detail. I was almost disappointed I suspected the wrong man as the murderer (and feel bad I suspected him, in the end. oops) I thoroughly enjoyed how it kept me captivated, and each character was deeply developed. By the end, the reader knows so much about every character, but without any info drops. There is a lot of alcohol, pornographic references, sexual abuse, mental illness, and straight evil intent in this book. Do not read before bedtime, or at least make sure you’ve locked your doors, and windows too.
Full review blog: https://symonsayssmile.com/book-review-never-smile-at-strangers-by-jennifer-jaynes/
This book had me hooked. The alternating points of views gave the reader great insight into how each person could be a suspect, but also how they are also victims themselves. There are many hints dropped leading up to the finish, but I only predicted one detail. I was almost disappointed I suspected the wrong man as the murderer (and feel bad I suspected him, in the end. oops) I thoroughly enjoyed how it kept me captivated, and each character was deeply developed. By the end, the reader knows so much about every character, but without any info drops. There is a lot of alcohol, pornographic references, sexual abuse, mental illness, and straight evil intent in this book. Do not read before bedtime, or at least make sure you’ve locked your doors, and windows too.
Full review blog: https://symonsayssmile.com/book-review-never-smile-at-strangers-by-jennifer-jaynes/
whaney's review against another edition
5.0
Couldn't put it down. Thought I had figured out who it was... But nope, I was wrong.
sjj169's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
This book is set in a small southern town. Full of closet drinkers and adultery. The author does a great job of describing small town life. You can almost smell the bayou coming from this books pages.
Tiffany Perron goes missing. Everyone should be spooked a bit, but teenage girls in this town may be a tad on the dull side. They still wander in the woods and hitch rides. I'm sorry. Someone goes missing in my town and my ass is packing my gun, and the cops-they virtually do nothing. Wait, this may be my town.
The characters are pretty well done in the book. There is one that I just felt the evil vibrating off of and she wasn't even the killer. (She is in the next book-woot!)
You also follow the killer's point of view in some of the chapters, I thought I had who he was figured out but I was wrong! I like when that happens. The book touches on his personal history of abuse but I would have liked more to see why he is the way he is.
Anyways, this book is not bad at all. It spooked me at several points in the story and made me lock my door.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
This book is set in a small southern town. Full of closet drinkers and adultery. The author does a great job of describing small town life. You can almost smell the bayou coming from this books pages.
Tiffany Perron goes missing. Everyone should be spooked a bit, but teenage girls in this town may be a tad on the dull side. They still wander in the woods and hitch rides. I'm sorry. Someone goes missing in my town and my ass is packing my gun, and the cops-they virtually do nothing. Wait, this may be my town.
The characters are pretty well done in the book. There is one that I just felt the evil vibrating off of and she wasn't even the killer. (She is in the next book-woot!)
You also follow the killer's point of view in some of the chapters, I thought I had who he was figured out but I was wrong! I like when that happens. The book touches on his personal history of abuse but I would have liked more to see why he is the way he is.
Anyways, this book is not bad at all. It spooked me at several points in the story and made me lock my door.
I received an arc copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
evrydyrncss's review against another edition
5.0
Kept me guessing and at the edge of my seat. Really well written.
kylieeason's review against another edition
5.0
Literary evil genius is the only way to describe Jennifer Jaynes. Never Smile at Strangers is magnificent, and deserves far more than 5 stars.
You find out what happened to missing teen Tiffany Perron pretty quick, (whether she's dead or alive) but that's about all the info you find out. Throughout the story you start to piece together what happened, who's involved, and maybe a little insight as to why this happened in this little town.
You'll never see it coming. By the end of the book your mouth will be hanging open and you may find yourself screaming "how?!".
I was absolutely thrilled with this entire novel. The characters are wonderfully written and diverse.
If you love a good mystery/thriller, this is top of the line. I finished this book in about two days (finished 1/25/15) and I'm STILL reeling from everything that happened.
You find out what happened to missing teen Tiffany Perron pretty quick, (whether she's dead or alive) but that's about all the info you find out. Throughout the story you start to piece together what happened, who's involved, and maybe a little insight as to why this happened in this little town.
You'll never see it coming. By the end of the book your mouth will be hanging open and you may find yourself screaming "how?!".
I was absolutely thrilled with this entire novel. The characters are wonderfully written and diverse.
If you love a good mystery/thriller, this is top of the line. I finished this book in about two days (finished 1/25/15) and I'm STILL reeling from everything that happened.