Vacation Reading Review! All These Perfect Strangers and The Bone Garden

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

I love mysteries and thrillers set in schools, particularly The Secret History, one of my all-time favorite books, and a novel All These Perfect Strangers is itself compared to.

And All These Perfect Strangers more than holds its own in the tradition of on-campus mysteries.

Taking the readers on a twisting journey back and forth in time, All These Perfect Strangers tells the story of Pen. She has fled her past to enroll in university, but now three of her friends are dead.

Through flashbacks, journal entries, and therapy sessions, readers learn the tale of Pen's past and present. But Pen is our only narrator, and one must constantly question just how much we can trust her.

Clifford builds suspense until it is almost unbearable. This is a book you won't be able to put down.

I will admit, I wasn't completely sold on this book at first. There was a time during the first few chapters I thought about putting it down. But The Bone Garden was one of the top vote getters during the Make It Read Readathon, and I trust all of your judgement wholeheartedly. 

I am so glad I did, because you guys did not steer me wrong. This ended up being an excellent read.

Part historical mystery, part modern day investigation, The Bone Garden begins with the discovery of a skeleton, and takes off from there. Gerritsen spins the tale of The West End Reaper, and caught in its web are a young woman trying desperately to survive the streets and protect her infant niece, and a young medical student just trying to stay afloat.

Once I got into the story, the book absolutely flew by, despite being hundreds of pages. This has me wanting to pick up more of Gerritsen's work.