In the Blood by Lisa Unger is a psychological thriller that had enough suspense to keep me reading and trying to fill in the pieces. The novel is set in The Hollows in upstate New York, a location that this author has used previously. There are some familiar characters but the story is centered around college student Lana Granger.

Lana, is full of secrets. Secrets that very few know all of, she even keeps many secrets from the reader and slowly drops clues as the book progresses. Lana is haunted by her mother’s murder and her father is sitting on death row, found guilty of that murder. Lana was a difficult child growing up in the violent dysfunction of her parent’s marriage yet she takes on a job of babysitting a disturbed young boy. Lana and this boy play cat and mouse games with each other and bond in a strange way. Meanwhile Lana’s best friend Beck goes missing. This is the second friend of Lana’s who had disappeared in a suspicious way from the college and it isn’t very long before the police are looking at Lana much more closely. Is someone using Lana as a front to cover their own misdeeds?

In The Blood hits all the right notes for a thriller as this author delivers a tightly plotted, riveting story that unsettles rather than frightens. There were a few things that I had to accept over my disbelief but overall this twisty story was a good read. ( )

Psychological

Great book. Sort of had it figured out on disc 7 (of 9) and then the ending blew me away! ( )

In the Blood by Lisa Unger is a 2014 Gallery Books publication.

Riveting! Gripping! Unputdownable!!

Lana has a closet full of secrets- secrets that she tells lies to cover-up- and she’s pretty good at keeping her lies straight and her secrets guarded…

Until she takes a job babysitting an eleven-year-old who is too unnervingly clever for his own good. It is quite possible that Lana has finally met her match!

At the same time, Lana’s friend, Beck, has disappeared. Because Lana's statements to the police aren't exactly truthful, and because this is not the first time Lana has been closely associated with a missing person, she might be a prime suspect... Again.

I really like this author, so I always make to sure to get a copy of her latest releases- then, for some reason, I tend to hoard them. I have no idea why I do that, but as a result, I have found several of her books on my reading list that have been languishing on my Kindle for years.

This summer I’m still working through all my various reading lists and Kindle devices, doing a major purge so I can be a more organized reader. Anything by Lisa Unger is obviously going to make the cut, but when I came to this book and had to decide how far up on the list it should go, I noticed it received all kinds of accolades back in 2014.

I was so intrigued, I got to work on this one right away!!

I know this is only June, and I know this book is seven/eight years old- but it might be one of my favorite reads, in the 'Thriller' category, of the year so far.

This is one of those books where the less one says the better. But, if you want a highly unsettling, tightly plotted thriller, with one whale of a twist, this is one you don’t want to miss!!

One word of caution though- you might want to clear your schedule before once you start reading this one, because it is impossible to put down!

I turned the last page long after midnight… well past my bedtime- a very rare occurrence for me.

5 stars ( )

I rarely enjoy a book featuring an unreliable narrator but this was actually really good. Layna was not always likable but was definitely a character that inspired the reader to be empathetic. The exploration of nature vs nurture regarding what creates a psychopath was an interesting bonus to the dark and twisty story. It was a good read, I definitely recommend it and I'll be checking out more of Lisa Unger's books. ( )