Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I really enjoyed Nathan Ripley's first book, Find You In The Dark, so I jumped at the chance to review this one. Your Life is Mine follows Blanche, the daughter of a cult leader who committed a mass shooting at a shopping mall when she was a child. 

Blanche has tried her whole life to escape the legacy her father left behind. From moving away from home and changing her name, to breaking all ties with her mother and her old life, Blanche seems to be doing a good job ignoring her past. But when her mom suddenly shows up to speak with her, then ends up dead just days later, Blanche can no longer avoid the past she fought so hard to disconnect herself from. Is the cult her father started back? Are people in danger? Is the tragic shooting that happened so long ago going to happen again?

Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same way about this book that I did about Find You In The Dark. It was not scary at all (whereas Find You in the Dark terrified me and left me with a super unsettling feeling). It really dragged and it felt like nothing happened for 98% of the book. It started off well but quickly I realized that it was going nowhere fast. I kept pushing through hoping something exciting would take place but it never did. I was expecting a twist that I never got. When I finally finished it, I was left disappointed and empty. 

Blanche was an annoying and self-centered character and I couldn't like her no matter how hard I tried. She was cold and unforgiving, which makes some sense given her past, but I couldn't care less whether or not she made it out of this story alive.

I'm very fascinated by cults, but I didn't get as much cult content as I was hoping for. And with mass shootings being front and center in our society right now, I feel like an author needs to tread lightly and do them correctly. I don't think he did. 

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Atria Books for an ARC of this read. Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley is out now!

Find You In The Dark by Nathan Ripley

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I read so many thrillers that for the most part, they don't freak me out anymore. This one did. This freaked me out so badly that when my husband went away for the weekend, I made him take this book with him so I couldn't read it while home alone. Find You In The Dark by Nathan Ripley is about a man fascinated with murders, and what happens when he gets in too deep.

Martin Reese is obsessed with murders. So obsessed, in fact, that his hobby is digging up the bodies of missing murder victims. Think of a Murderino on steriods. Using police files from a friend on the inside, he prides himself on being able to find the missing bodies that the cops could not, and after finding them he calls them in anonymously, simultaneously taunting the police and giving the families of the victims some closure. But one day Martin finds a recently deceased body in one of the graves he digs up, and he realizes that someone is onto him.

This book really gets you deep into the mind of a serial killer. It's almost a psychological profile of a killer in itself, mixed in with a mystery. All throughout the story I kept asking myself, "Could someone really be this twisted?" and the answer was always yes. Personally I've always been interested in the minds of serial killers and fascinated by murders, but I know many people are (otherwise the My Favorite Murder podcast wouldn't be so successful!). But this really does take it into uncharted territory.

The story is told from multiple points of view, but doesn't ever get confusing. Each of the characters is strongly developed and you really learn what makes them tick. The picture painted here is so clear that you can easily see yourself in the Reese residence, in Ellen's store, and in Keith's apartment. The overall ominous and creepy tone of the book was right up my alley and I was left with a very unsettling feeling. 

This book has been compared to Dexter (which I loved) and I definitely agree! It was a very slow burn book, though, which I'm never a huge fan of. There was also a little sexism in my opinion, and there were a few loose ends I would have liked to have seen tied up better.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Atria Mystery Bus for an advanced copy of this read! Find You In The Dark by Nathan Ripley was released this week, so be sure to pick up a copy!