#psychologicalthriller
“We’re so excited to have you here in our home.” My boyfriend’s mother smiles at me a little too wide. His father’s eyes are hard at the edges. It’s like they’re hiding something. But of course, I already know that…
The mother: Stay-at-home mother Marta lives in her successful husband’s shadow, overlooked by him ever since her darling son Owen went to medical school. She’s not about to let the beautiful Gina take Owen away from her. Marta will play nice, get Gina to trust her. And then she has a plan of her own.
The son: Owen is already certain he wants to marry Gina. She’s perfect. They just have to get through this weekend and then he’ll propose. Sure, his mom can be overprotective. But Owen knows why. He knows what she’s hiding.
The girlfriend: Ever since purposefully running into Dr. Owen Whitlock at the hospital, Gina has been playing the doting girlfriend. She didn’t mean to fall for Owen’s charms for real… Now she’s finally meeting his parents at their sprawling, secluded home. Gina knows all about the terrible secrets this family is covering up. And she’ll do anything to make sure they never find out who she really is.
By the end of the weekend, the Whitlocks’ beautiful house will have burned to the ground. And someone won’t make it out alive…
Meet the Parents is an absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller that will keep you up reading late into the night! Fans of The Housemaid, The Girl in Seat 2A and The Perfect Marriage will be totally hooked.
Buy Meet the Parents
Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback)
Let me preface this by saying that I thought I had a bad weekend of “meet the parents”, but this takes the cake! There are twists and turns that make you gasp while simultaneously wondering all the whys and hows. The push and pull between the characters makes for an interesting thriller to sit down with.
I love that we get the POV from Marta, Owen, and Gina – it helps build the anticipation of learning the history of what brought the characters together and seeing how things play out. Owen being the only son of Marta and Grant, so I understand the hesitancy of their son moving on. But he’s successful and is happy — right?
Owen and Gina are rushing right along on the premise of “when you know, you know”. Yet we all know there has to be more behind it. And there is for each character and their motives/actions. Marta and Grant’s attachment to Owen is a bit creepy and completely overboard for the fact that he’s over 40. Gina isn’t as innocent as she seems and it doesn’t take long for her and Marta to bring the claws out.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is how truly awful everyone is as a character! Not awfully written, but their personalities are absolutely vile – and I loved it! It was fun to read a book where no one had more than a sliver of decency. Twisted, wicked, and fun!
About the Author – Emily Shiner
Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author. After spending years devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.
