The Perfect Escape, the latest thriller by Leah Konen.
Review + Book & Author Info
The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen
The perfect girls’ weekend turns deadly in this twisty unforgettable thriller that is perfect for fans of Shari Lapena and Riley Sager.
A girls’ weekend to die for.
New friends Sam, Margaret and Diana are thrilled to be getting out of the city for a girls’ weekend–they’ve bonded over their messy divorces, and every mile on the odometer feels like another step towards putting their exes in the past. But when car trouble halfway into their trip strands them in the most unlikely of mountain towns, they come face-to-face with the hurts and betrayals they were so desperate to leave behind.
When Diana doesn’t return home after a night out, Sam and Margaret’s search for her reveals just how little they know about their friend. As eerie coincidences and secrets begin to pile up, and an ex-boyfriend arrives in the tiny town, the women realize that their detour may not have been a mistake…and that someone wants to guarantee that they never make it out.
To purchase The Perfect Escape, click on any of the following links: Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble & IndieBound
“The Perfect Escape is the type of captivating, masterfully-constructed thriller you’ll consume in a breathless rush—and then flip right back to the beginning to figure out how the author pulled it all off. Konen keeps the shocking twists coming while wringing nail-biting tension out of even the smallest moments. I couldn’t put it down!”
— Layne Fargo, author of They Never Learn
My Thoughts on The Perfect Escape
Leah Konen knows how to write tight, twisty thrillers filled with dark and flawed characters.
Sam, Margaret, Diane—and several bottles of wine—head out of New York City for Sarasota Springs in the Adirondacks. It’s meant to be a girls-only weekend, drowning their relationship sorrows in booze and gossip, but not long into the car trip, things begin to go awry.
Stopping in Catskill, a town barely halfway to their destination, the women plan to get gas and snacks and be on their way, only to have the car key go missing.
What to do?
They find a rental house for the night, have the car towed, and hope for the best.
But as with all good thrillers, nothing goes as planned. Soon one of their party vanishes, hookups with strange men ensue, and awkward communications from romantic partners keep readers guessing about who is doing what to whom and why.
Not long after they arrive at the rental house, secrets about the three women begin to come to light and their relationships start to unravel. Konen deftly weaves her reveals into fast-paced, tight chapters. Less about character development and more about character revelations, The Perfect Escape is one of those stories that make readers think, just one more chapter before I go to sleep.
While the characters may not be likable, they are relatable. Readers will be invested in the page-turning plot, which is complex enough to keep most people guessing. The combination of unreliable narrators and everyone behaving badly makes this a delicious read, perfect for finishing out the holiday season and a great start to the new year.
Leah Konen
Leah Konen is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied journalism and English literature. She is the author of the forthcoming thriller, The Perfect Escape.
Her debut thriller, All the Broken People was a Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, She Reads and Charlotte Observer best summer book pick.
She’s also the author of several young adult novels, including “Love and Other Train Wrecks” and “The Romantics.”
She lives in Brooklyn and Saugerties, NY, with her husband, their daughter, Eleanor, and their dog, Farley.
To learn more about Leah, click on her name, photo, or any of the following links: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook & Goodreads
Elena Taylor is the author of All We Buried, available now in print, e-book, and audio book format at all your favorite bookstores and on-line retailers.
For more information on All We Buried, click on the link here to visit the home page.
Silver Falchion Award Finalist, Best Investigator 2020
Foreword INDIE Award Finalist, Best Mystery 2020
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