Under My Skin by Lisa Unger – #TLCBookTours Review

Posted 16 October, 2018 by Heather in Blog, Blog Tour, Book Review, Bookworms, Heather, Heather Book Review / 4 Comments

I received this book for free from the TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger – #TLCBookTours ReviewUnder My Skin by Lisa Unger
on October 1, 2018
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Psychological Suspense, Suspense
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: TLC Book Tours
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

From New York Times bestselling author and master of suspense Lisa Unger comes an addictive psychological thriller about a woman on the hunt for her husband’s killer

What if the nightmares are actually memories?

It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan’s Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn’t recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack?

The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts—there are periods of time she can’t remember, and she’s unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she’s imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband’s death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?

Fall has been a great time for several fabulous suspense and thrillers to come out, and Lisa Unger’s latest Under My Skin is my first taste of a work by this author, and I really enjoyed her writing. When Poppy’s husband Jack was brutally murdered while on an early morning jog in a park in New York City, her world and mental being is turned upside down. She goes off the deep end and disappears right after his funeral, not showing up until a few days later–disheveled and with no memory of where she’s been or what she’s done. Diagnosed with a nervous breakdown, she’s nursed back to health with the help of her rich best friend Layla and a counselor that tries to be helpful. But the detective assigned to her husband’s case soon hits dead ends after clearing her as a suspect, and the trail goes cold. Everyone who knew Jack goes on with their lives. Except for Poppy…

Poppy sees Jack everywhere: in her fitful dreams, in the new apartment that they were to share and start a family in, at their successful business. But she also sees more than that in her sleep deprived state. Her sleeping-pill-fueled hallucinations run wild, and she’s convinced that someone in a hood has been following her. She just knows that Jack was murdered, and she needs to get to the bottom of it before she’s next. She’s wracked with guilt since she should have been running with him that day, and maybe he would have not been killed if she’d been there. She’s been living with this guilt and the what-ifs for a year, and her dependency on pills to sleep without having nightmares is taking its toll on her psyche. What if Jack indeed was murdered, and the things that Poppy needs to find out who did it are hidden away in her lost days after his death? Can she regain those memories, and does she even want to know?

Poppy’s tenuous grip on reality slips even more as she slips in and out of waking dreams, vivid memories, and nightmares. It was a roller coaster ride trying to figure out what was real sometimes, just like it was for Poppy, and that made Under My Skin much more exciting. Her relationship with best friend Layla was complex, and I enjoyed their backstory very much. The story of Jack and Poppy, as one sided as we see it from Poppy’s view, added great dimension.

 

 

I give Under My Skin a four out of five. This psychological thriller had a nice, slow pace as Poppy navigates the treacherous waters of her fragile mind. What’s reality, what’s hallucination, what’s memory? Poppy can’t tell the difference, and sometimes it was hard for me to tell the difference at first. I enjoyed the deep dive into Poppy’s mind, even though it was a murky, sad, and depressing place. Under My Skin highlights just how little we know those that are close to us and how we can never go back, no matter how badly we wish we can. Most things were wrapped up pretty nicely, which I definitely appreciate in a story like this.

Find UNDER MY SKIN

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Lisa Unger

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling, award-winning author of sixteen novels, including the new psychological thriller UNDER MY SKIN (coming Oct 2!)

Her books are published in twenty-six languages worldwide, have sold millions of copies and have been named “Best of the Year” or top picks by the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, Amazon, Indie Booksellers, Goodreads, and Sun-Sentinel to name a few.

Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR and Travel+Leisure Magazine. Lisa Unger lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida with her husband, daughter and labradoodle.

Connect with Lisa Unger

Website | Facebook | TwitterInstagram | Goodreads

 

Lisa Unger’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS for UNDER MY SKIN:

tlc

Monday, October 1st: Write Read Life

Tuesday, October 2nd: Moonlight Rendezvous

Wednesday, October 3rd: Thats What She Read on FB and @that_what_she_read

Thursday, October 4th: Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind

Friday, October 5th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, October 8th: A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, October 9th: Erica Robyn Reads

Wednesday, October 10th: @bookishmadeleine

Thursday, October 11th: Novel Gossip and @novelgossip

Thursday, October 11th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Friday, October 12th: @amberafterglowreads

Tuesday, October 16th: @booksugar

Tuesday, October 16th: Bewitched Bookworms

Wednesday, October 17th: Jessicamap Reviews and @jessicamap

Thursday, October 18th: Why Girls Are Weird

Monday, October 22nd: Openly Bookish

Monday, October 22nd: Kritter’s Ramblings

Tuesday, October 23rd: @scaredstraightreads

Wednesday, October 24th: Palmer’s Page Turners

Heather

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I'm a PhD chemist who loves sarcasm, music, and books-paranormal, mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, and romance. Most of my free time is spent at the martial arts studio these days--whether practicing Combat Hapkido or reading books while watching my son's Taekwondo classes, or even working up a sweat with Kickboxing for fun. Goodreads

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4 Responses to “Under My Skin by Lisa Unger – #TLCBookTours Review”

  1. techeditor

    If you liked this book but haven’t read her others, you have to try IN THE BLOOD by the same author. I have read a few of her others, not all, but this might be her best. Lots of people agree with me.

    I hope to read UNDER MY SKIN next. I’ve read plenty of great reviews.

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