The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Last Cabin Girl is a really good suspenseful mystery. It’s a good storyline, full of twists and turns that keep your attention. It’s my first time reading this author and I can say I’ll definitely be reading more of his work.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As a lover of all things thriller, I really enjoyed this book. It kept my attention and made me want to keep reading more. It had lots of twists and turns. The character development is great and helps you understand and watch the main character Josie develop throughout the book. This was my first book by this author and I am excited to find others and add them to my reading list.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to my many thriller-loving friends!
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book by this author I have read, in fact it is the first thriller I have read in a very long time and it has totally turned me around to wondering why I don’t read more of them. I know I will be reading more from this author for sure. I was totally captivated, no maybe that’s not the right word, maybe gripped and intrigued by this story would better suit, from the very start to the final word. Murder, secrets and twists you never expect will keep you on the edge of your seat right along with Josie. At times I wondered if my old heart could take it!!
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Such a great book!! This is a new author for me and I will definitely be reading more. Josie is a single mom who is just trying to do her best for her kids as a pandemic begins to spread around the world. Josie sees a dead woman in the lake but is afraid to report it because of what happened when she was younger. When a body is found down the shoreline, she knows she wasn’t dreaming up the body. This book was full of twists and turns.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book took me on a ride. In the very beginning of the book, we are met with our main character Josie. She is a mother that has fled to an old family cabin from her abusive spouse along with her two children –Tracy and Jack. Josie is doing her best to keep her kids safe and out of harms way. This is made difficult however when ex-husband Eddie has found them and is determined to destroy what Josie is trying to build for her family. To make things more complicated, Josie stumbles upon a dead body when she is on a walk. This then leads her down a rabbit whole of investigations and conspiracies. What made this book especially interesting to me is that it was set during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the book clearly portrays this with how prevalent the virus is in the story of this novel. I recommend this book for anybody that would like to see fiction at work during very relevant and recent world events.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Last Cabin Girl is a suspenseful, twisty thriller that starts a couple months before the COVID pandemic takes place. The main character, Josie, lives in a small town in New York State. Josie is a waitress, and a prospective nursing student who is trying to divorce her abusive husband. Her husband is the town doctor who is also known to be a drug dealer and do shady business. The story starts at the beginning of the pandemic and you see Josie seem very paranoid about many things in her life, the pandemic, her husband, and the secrets that surround her family. She lives in her family’s cabin that is very isolated, but also holds certain memories of her past. She had witnessed a dead body in the river the cabin lives along, but no one believed her. She finds herself in trouble when her husband and many of her husband’s associates go missing or are found dead. Did Josie have anything to do with this? Is her family secrets part of the problem?
This book had a slow start in my eyes. Reliving the first handful of months of the pandemic in this book didn’t give me the motivation to just fly through the pages and chapters. However, once you started to be given little aspects of how many secrets were floating around this town, it started to pique my interest. By half way through the book, I wanted to know the secrets and where this was all going. Well, I was not disappointed. The twists and turns of this book had me saying OMG. I had so many aspects in mind about what could be happening, some of them I figured out, but was pleasantly surprised that I would never have come up with some of the other ones presented. Worth the read if you like mysteries.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I adore novels that are not only attention grabbing, but ones that are relevant or you learn something from. This novel does just that. This author writes the contemporary suspense well and the characters are thoroughly detailed. I really enjoyed the mystery, intrigue and suspense. This book starts off a little slow but once it kicks into high gear there is no putting it down as every twist and turn will have you needing more.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am not sure what I was thinking when I choose this book, but it was totally different than I expected. I do have to say that even though this book isn’t one that I would typically read, I enjoyed it. It took me a minute to get into the book, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. It was a different read for me, but at the same time, I found myself wrapped up in the story. I was questioning the motives of everyone in the book. I definitely think this book is worth anyone’s time to read.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Josie is so brave for standing up to her creep of a husband Eddie, and protecting her two children. I also feel like she was slightly over paranoid, especially about the virus, but that’s probably a learned trait being with Eddie. I loved that the author included the virus into the storyline. It was strange to read about something I lived through during my lifetime, something that actually affected me, it allowed me to see it through different eyes. The layers of mystery that slowly unraveled through the book kept my attention through each page, especially the pink ladies. Great read!
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I didn’t know what I was getting into when I picked this book up but what a ride!! I feel like the author has created his own genre of must-reads and I am now picking up all his other books. I couldn’t thumb through it fast enough yet I wanted more when it was over. This book is a thriller at its core and I did NOT see some of the twists and turns. This story being told in the age of COVID-19 made it even more relatable since everyone has had some sort of experience with it. The family secrets always tugging at the story along with crazy Eddie keep you wondering what’s really happening.
Josie is painted in different colors throughout the story and it’s interesting to see each shade of her. Of course, her being a mama bear pulls on my heartstrings because that’s such a strong connection. Will she do anything for her kids no matter the cost?
Highly recommend this psychological thriller, you won’t regret it!
Reviewed by @shannlynn
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh my lanta! Where do I start with this book? I was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end. It was a hard read with the emphasis on the pandemic, as we’ve gone through that. I know I tend to read to go somewhere else and not worry about the real world. Throughout the entire story though, even as I could relate to some of the events – such as the pandemic – I still needed to know what came next. Josie’s story is so well-written and wonderful, through all the twists and turns. The rendering of her family and the truly genuine relationships they shared were just done so well. I like to think that I would get along with her, and would love to meet her in the real world. However, I know and appreciate that her story was told in a way to showcase parts of her life and how she reacted. The emphasis she placed on protecting her kids was amazing, and honestly, I think there’s a little bit of Josie in everyone. Thank you for this fabulous story!
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is my type of book. It drew me in from the beginning and I just loved it. There is just so many twists and turns. You wouldn’t expect it to end the way it did. I love reading books where you can’t predict the end and this story does an amazing job of that. Josie the main character was my absolute favorite. She goes through things that are related to real life and that’s what made me love her and made her my favorite.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This story is twisty and turny and wracked with suspense. From her obsession with being prepared for the virus to horrible taste in men, Josie is an amazing character. She is strong and resilient. Josie won’t stay down when she is fighting for her family. I can’t wait to see where she goes in the next chapter.
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a new author to me and I am glad I decided to dive right in. This book is full of twists and turns, suspense, danger, and great characters all while a pandemic is starting. This story pulled me in from the start and kept me entertained throughout. I was surprised many times during my reading. Josie is trying to raise her 2 children while trying to get divorced from her husband, who has been into some pretty bad stuff. Josie has been through quite a bit in her life and it doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. I enjoyed the writing style and flow of this story. I recommend this book.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Josie is a mother of two that is trying to get away from her abusive ex-husband and the small town she lives in. However, before she can get away from everything, she finds herself charged with murder as bodies are being discovered near the isolated cabin that she is staying in.
Out on bail, she is determined to clear her name. However, with her past, family secrets, a psychotic ex-husband, and a pandemic…it is not going to be easy. Can she clear her name before it’s too late?!?
To say there are some twists and turns in this book is putting it lightly. It pulled me in from the first page and I was never quite certain which way it was going to go…and I sure didn’t see the end coming.
I enjoyed Josie’s character. Trying to protect her children while figuring out what is really going on, and who she can trust, tugged on my maternal heartstrings. She is complex character with real-life problems that are compounded with a ticking clock that is running out of time. I went into this book with just reading the blurb…and I think everyone else should. It is such a good story that just diving in is the way to go…you won’t be disappointed!
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really ended up loving this twisted story. For the first half I was not a fan as I struggled with the story and characters. I did not care for Josie for a multitude of reasons. The story turns around and get very exciting in the second half. I am glad I hung on and did not quit reading.
The second half is explosive. All of the characters come alive and the action gets intense. I could hardly out this down at that point. I felt sorry for Josie as she seemed to be backed into a corner.
Overall its an okay read. I wish the beginning would have been more lively and rounded the book out more. The second half was exciting and hard to stop reading.
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a psychological thriller set in the weeks and months leading up to and the very beginning of the COVID pandemic in a small New York town. My best advice for any reader of this book is this: TRUST NOBODY, AND REMEMBER, NOTHING AND NOBODY IS QUITE WHAT THEY SEEM. This was a great book, with surprising twists you won’t necessarily see coming, and if you do, you still won’t know it all until the end. I would highly recommend this book if you like to be surprised and enjoy books with some real world situations mixed in with the fictional world the characters inhabit.
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love thrillers! The same can be said for this book. This author is new to me, but now I want to read everything written by him. The details are amazing. I felt like this could have been a true story. I was instantly hooked, and I read this in less than a day. I could not put it down. I highly recommend! I can’t wait to see what else this author has to offer!
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Great read! The Last Cabin Girl is set in the not so distant past of 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. I’ll admit, I was a little weary at first because it’s still happening, but I was intrigued. It was definitely an out-of-body experience to see a character in a novel behave in ways that were common practice just 2 years ago. I remember thinking to myself, if I didn’t know better, I’d think it was weird to be wiping down your groceries with a disinfecting wipe…but that was the norm at the beginning of the pandemic. It was definitely eye opening and a bit disconcerting LOL.
I really liked the pace of the book. Swyers keeps his readers interested and hooked from the beginning. There are twists and turns throughout the entirety of the novel. Some I saw coming and others I didn’t. At first, I really didn’t like Josie, the protagonist, because I found her to be heavily unreliable; however, all-in-all, it was her unreliability that came through in the end. I really admire her tenacity throughout the novel even when she was faced with what seem to be very truthful facts. I really liked the underlying theme of family that Swyers addresses and I think that it can resonate with many people, especially during the pandemic. Overall, the book was really well done and I would definitely recommend!
Reviewed by – @meggs1717
Hush, My Darling by Winter Austin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It has been a while since I picked up mystery novel but the cover and title caught my attention.
This focuses on Elizabeth Benoit, who is the sheriff of a small town. She has had hardships of her own to overcome.
With the arrival of new recruit. Lila Dayne, her past may be coming back.
Two bodies surface, with similarities, a serial killer may be the culprit.
I don’t want to give too much away but I recommend this novel.
I hope there is more in this series and I will be reading the first book.
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4 Stars
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers is a twisty thriller with plenty of mystery, intrigue, dramatic development, murder, secrets, and more. This is the first book that I have read by Mr. Swyers, so I really didn’t know what to expect from one of his books. I discovered a tense thriller, that for the most part, had me guessing the whole way through. It twists and turns, things are not as they seen, and you don’t know who to trust.
Josie has escaped an abusive marriage, relocating to her parent’s cabin in the woods with her two children. Ever watchful for her psycho ex-husband, Josie is hypervigilant, noticing everything around her. Strange things begin to happen, not the least of which, floating bodies in the nearby river. When the FBI become involved and Josie is suspected to be a serial killer, things get tense- queue the intrigue. Josie will need to face her past, as well as the dark secrets that surround her, in order to get to the bottom of things in an endeavour to clear her name.
The story is woven around the pandemic and set in a small town- which adds to the overall feel of the story. The characters are well-crafted into fully developed individuals with their own quirks and flaws. We definitely see Josie develop and grow over the course of the story.
I felt that the story was a little slow to get going, and Josie’s journal entries didn’t help matters. Whist they did add to the backstory and storyline development, as well as building some tension- they were quite long-winded and, in some cases, ran off on tangents. I felt that they really slowed down the whole flow of the story. I do understand what the author was trying to achieve, but to be honest, I just felt frustrated with most of the journal entries, especially in the beginning.
Overall, I did enjoy the story. It has certainly left an impression- so I will be going back to explore more of Mr. Swyers soon.
Happy Reading!
Thank you, Tom Swyers!
Reviewed by @angelahayes
Hush, My Darling by Winter Austin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I should preface with this is the second book in the Benoit and Dayne Mystery series and I once again didn’t read the first book first because I was so impatient that once I had this book I immediately devoured it! This book was a thrilling rollercoaster that had my wheels turning over and over. The two main ladies were well thought out and brought an edge to this story that made it over the top in the best way! I was biting my nails like a kid held in suspense and I was drinking it in like a fine wine! I honestly couldn’t say enough good things about the author and how well written she is. She truly spun a web that I was stuck in immediately and when I began to unravel it I was just blown away more and more! Definitely a book that will make its way onto my physical shelf to enjoy over and over!!
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Josie has found the perfect place to ditch her soon-to-be ex-husband, Eddie, and protect herself and their children from his abusive ways. Josie is finally feeling content with her life and even has a new love interest. Then things start to go awry and quickly! The ‘pink lady’ from her past comes back and brings a friend and paranoia.
Is Josie seeking vindication as a wronged ex-wife or is she being framed for murdering women around town? Who can she trust to help her without giving away too many details.
Set during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s a perfect contemporary thriller. You’ll think you have it figured out, but second-guess yourself at every turn.
Hush, My Darling by Winter Austin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is my first read from this author but it won’t be the last. This book is suspenseful, mysterious, and will keep you guessing until the end. Although a second in the series, it could be read as a standalone. Highly recommend!
The Last Cabin Girl: A totally gripping thriller full of twists by Tom Swyers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the first book I have read by this author. It won’t be the last. This story was unpredictable and left me guessing to the end. A body shows up near Josie’s cabin, she is the first to be suspected. She is trying to protect her children by divorcing her abusive husband and clearing her name of a murder she didn’t commit. Who can she trust? Is everyone who they seem to be? I enjoyed that it was set in current times with the start of Covid-19 and the fear and confusion we all felt.
Hush, My Darling by Winter Austin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A gripping crime thriller full of plot twists and turns that kept me both hooked and guessing until the last page. This is book two in a series featuring, Eckardt County Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit, and Deputy Lila Dayne, however I read it easily as a standalone story. Two years ago Lila survived an attack by a serial killer, but is haunted by dark memories following her many surgeries and rehab. Even as Lila begins to get back to normal, she can still sense him watching her. Meanwhile Sheriff Elizabeth Benoit is determined to bring down Eckardt County’s corruption, but then two bodies are discovered, bearing striking similarities to the serial killer’s victims.
One has a very personal message for her department, and sadly the pressure gets too much for Lila and she pushes everyone away. As Elizabeth tries to stay connected to Lila, the killer is closing in on his next victim and he seems to want to finish what he started. Lila must overcome her fear and trust those around her, as Elizabeth and her deputies desperately try to catch the killer. This is a tense and immersive read, and you can feel the suspense mounting with each chapter. An engaging read which I recommend, and I am keen to read book one in the series now, and hoping for a book three!
Hush, My Darling by Winter Austin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a gripping Book. From the moment instarted reading this book really caught my attention. I found myself on the edge of my seat, reding quicker and quicker to try and see what was going to happen. I had to read the book in one sitting.
This book carries on from the events in book one so I would highly recommend reading them in order. This is clearly the start of an exciting series.
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
While I liked The Last Cabin Girl and the overall storyline, I struggled to remain immersed in the mystery surrounding Josie. The author was very descriptive but at times, I felt distracted from the main suspense I was supposed to be engaged with. The author has us focused on Josie, mom of two who has left her abusive husband at the beginning of 2020. Josie is suddenly dealt with murder charges, family secrets and a scary soon to be ex-husband getting too close for comfort. The tangled web of secrets that unfold is fantastic, even if a bit unrealistic. I would definitely recommend for a quick and twisty read.
Hush, My Darling by Winter Austin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite things about reading mystery/thriller books is trying to solve it as I go along. Boy- this one was a toughie! The characters are so raw and brilliantly written. I couldn’t decide if Sheriff Benoit was my favorite or Lila Dayne. They were both written so vividly- it was easy to empathize with them. The storyline was fleshed out and had so many twists and turns I had a difficult time putting this book down- even to sleep! I finished this book earlier and I still can’t get it out of my mind. I am officially obsessed with this author and the way they write such haunting stories- I have GOT to read more. This was gripping and definitely worth a read!
Review by @jthomson14
The Last Cabin Girl by Tom Swyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I haven’t read anything by this author before stumbling across this novel. While I wasn’t sure what to expect from the author’s writing style, I was optimistic as the synopsis intrigued me and the book fit my “preferred genre”. I am pleased to say the book did NOT disappoint and I look forward to reading more from this author in the near future. There are so many aspects of this story that I loved. I was drawn into the storyline from the very start and not once would I say my interest wavered. I really appreciated that the pandemic was a part of the storyline, especially since this is the first book I’ve read that incorporates it. I liked the writing style very much. I usually enjoy when books flash back or use letters to give us a bigger picture, so I really appreciated that the author included journal entries throughout. The writing was really strong with just enough of that element of suspense throughout. I would give this book 4 stars, from the well written plot to the depth of characters.
