Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,
Never Smile at Strangers is written by Jennifer Jaynes and is published by Thomas and Mercer, an Amazon imprint. In it, we are brought down to Louisiana to Grand Trespass, a troubled community in a panic after a young woman disappears after arguing with her boyfriend. Her best friend, Haley Landry was the last one to see her and she is worried foul play might be involved. Her co-worker, Erica Duvall, is a budding mystery writer that is using her surroundings to write her tale. But Erica is dealing with a missing person herself; her mother. As the days creep by and the authorities and search parties find no trace of the missing girl, Haley continues to search on her own for clues. But in a community like Grand Trespass, there are few bright spots.
Across town, the man responsible for the current wave of fear is dealing with a fright of his own: his sister. Fifteen-year-old Allie is trouble with a capital T, and she is acting out in extreme ways. As he pushes down his impulses to kill her, she is pushing all of his buttons. She is dressing in tiny outfits and using the town's older men to make money. She is out of control and he wants her dead most of the time. But it is his troubled past with his homicidal mother that drives him to kill, and Grand Trespass is about to be less than a few citizens by the end of the Summer.
Never Smile at Strangers was a mixed bag for me. I liked the mystery as to who the killer was, and Jaynes even threw in an extra reveal for good measure. I did not like Allie at all in this book, however, I did see where her life in Don't Say a Word stemmed from. Most of it was definitely because of her psychotic mother who murdered several men. Suffice it to say this family was disturbed. The killer's identity bounced around throughout the novel, making it difficult to track down who he really was. The final reveal was a surprise to me, which made this read worthwhile. I did like Haley and Erica, they were the normalcy of this book, which was greatly needed.
I read Never Smile at Strangers in part with the narration of actress, Anne Johnstonbrown. She did a good job reading the story, capturing the Louisiana accents very well. But her voices did seem to sound alike at times and I was unsure who was in the scene. As the chapters went by I noticed a change in her delivery, which helped me identify characters better. Her presentation had an irregular speed to it, which made using 1.25x not always a good choice. All-in-all she managed to drive the book forward regardless.
Never Smile at Strangers was a three-star read for me. If you are looking for a quick thriller to get through on Summer vacation, this may be for you.
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