Sophia Rose Reviews: There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh

 

Today Sophia Rose is returning with her thoughts on Nalini Singh's latest stand alone thriller.
Enjoy!

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh

Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Published:  11.21.23

Pages:  384

Rating: 4.5

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

Goodreads Blurb:

They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago. They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof—but when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.

As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

A spooky old house with a dark past isolated on the edge of the wilderness, eight guests who share a painful connection, and a storm closes them in right when the disturbing incidents appear to be more.  Talk about the perfect set up for a modern gothic suspense, right? 

 

Nalini Singh had the chills running up my spine and my undivided attention once things got rolling in her latest standalone thriller, There Should Have Been Eight.

 

Acclaimed photographer and slowly going blind, Lu, is the one narrating the story from the point she returns to New Zealand to join her six surviving besties and to meet one’s fiancée.  The entire group, a diverse ethnic and socially, are conscious that they are missing one of their friend group- Beatrice.  Bea was the lively member who held them all together and they split into their various careers and lives when she was gone.  But, Bea’s older sister has opened up their old family home for the group to gather and events are set in motion.  Lu is determined to use this trip back to get answers about the circumstances of Bea’s death.

 

There Should Have Been Eight starts slowly with a blend of present and past as the group of friends are introduced along with their connection to Bea.  Meanwhile, they settle into the old rattling Victorian era house that was left empty for many years and is not modernized so generator power and fireplace heat.  Lu is sensitive to the atmosphere of the place that is a photographer’s dream if one wants gothic.  I liked how the disturbing incidents start as a trickle and then build so that they are all facing a drastic life and death situation, isolated and looking warily at each other.

 

I thought I was so clever to have figured out the who, but I only had the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, in that I got part of the truth, but there was a whole lot more that I didn’t get.  I loved that feeling of not knowing who to trust and this made for a fantastic suspense.  The denouement even had a couple extra twists just when I was starting to relax. 

 

In summary, this was superb and my favorite of Singh’s thrillers so far.  If you’re looking for an old-style spooky atmospheric slow-build suspense, look no further.

 

 

Author Bio:

I've been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There's no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.


I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated every month).

So far, I've worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer's mill.

Website:  https://nalinisingh.com/