BOOK REVIEW: Until the Day I Die by Emily Carpenter @EmilyDCarpenter @AmazonPub #untilthedayidie #lakeunionpublishing #bookreview

I have to say, now that I’ve read my second psychological thriller by Emily Carpenter, she is firmly cemented in my top go-to thriller authors. Until the Day I Die had so many of the qualities that I fell in love with when I read Every Single Secret, and at the same time was so unique that it felt fresh, edgy, and most importantly, THRILLING!!! From the slow build, to the immense distrust I felt, followed by the W-T-F is happening and who do I trust??? (The answer is no one) Emily Carpenter nailed the thriller genre once again, and I cannot wait to talk more about it (spoiler free)!

About the Book

From the bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls comes a riveting novel about a mother and daughter separated by grief, secrets, and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy their lives.

If there’s a healthy way to grieve, Erin Gaines hasn’t found it. After her husband’s sudden death, the runaway success of the tech company they built with their best friends has become overwhelming. Her nerves are frayed, she’s disengaged, and her frustrated daughter, Shorie, is pulling away from her. Maybe Erin’s friends and family are right. Maybe a few weeks at a spa resort in the Caribbean islands is just what she needs to hit the reset button…

Shorie is not only worried about her mother’s mental state but also for the future of her parents’ company. Especially when she begins to suspect that not all of Erin’s colleagues can be trusted. It seems someone is spinning an intricate web of deception—the foundation for a conspiracy that is putting everything, and everyone she loves, at risk. And she may be the only one who can stop it.

Now, thousands of miles away in a remote, and oftentimes menacing, tropical jungle, Erin is beginning to have similar fears. Things at the resort aren’t exactly how the brochure described, and unless she’s losing her mind, Erin’s pretty sure she wasn’t sent there to recover—she was sent to disappear.

Reflection

Grieving widow and now-single-mum Erin Gaines is handling things as best she can. But her best isn’t good enough for many of her friends and family. Erin is slipping a bit, showing a few red flags. But she is trying to do her best for her daughter, Shorie. Despite Shorie’s wishes, Erin is encouraging her to take her scholarship to Auburn and get a degree. Jax, the company Erin and her late husband Perry founded with four of their best friends, will be there when Shorie graduates. Maybe.

The thing is, Erin thinks it may be time to sell. Jax is a top-rated app. But without Perry around as the brains of it all, Erin isn’t sure it makes sense to keep it. They could all have a nice payday finally selling it off, and then work on the next thing. Shorie is devastated, because working on Jax has been such a part of her life with her parents and their friends.

I loved Erin and Shorie both in different ways. The thing about Erin is, she was hard to root for at first. She is so self-destructive. What is truly going on with her? Meanwhile, 18 year-old Shorie thinks she knows what is best for herself. But of course, the PhD in me was like “Get your degree, the rest will be there when you finish!” Shorie was honestly a bit selfish. But at the same time, I loved Shorie and Erin. They were a mix of brilliant and broken, which was so compelling for me as a reader.

When Erin’s friends suggest she go to a resort that is also a rehabilitation program, Erin will do anything she can to keep her daughter on track. So she goes. And this is where the story gets…WEIRD! In a good way! This resort is unlike anything you’ve read about. Everything from the workers, to the other guests, to the enigmatic owner Antonia were GRIPPING! I had to know more!

And perhaps the resort isn’t all that it seems. Erin’s first few hours there had me dropping my jaw in shock. Truly—I can’t say more about this because you need to read it! This is one of those delicious thrillers where you’ll have no idea who to trust. In fact, midway through I posted to Instagram that I distrusted EVERYONE. And I mean EVERYONE.

I am so thriller for readers to experience this twisty-turny story. It has all the “I can’t believe what I’m reading” from Emily Carpenter’s last book, but an entirely fresh and unique story.

I did a buddy read with Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark on this one and we absolutely loved it! Check out her blog, and make sure to get a copy immediately! Thank you to Amazon Publishing and Lake Union Publishing specifically for my copy.