Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
Published June 12th 2018 by Minotaur Books
320 Pages | Goodreads
Description: “This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who’s been searching for the truth all these years . . .
When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.
But fourteen years later, Angela Wong’s remains are discovered in the woods near Geo’s childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.
To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he’s something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo’s first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.
For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela’s death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.
While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.
How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?”
RATING: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
REVIEW
This was a great psychological thriller. It follows Georgina Shaw, a young and successful executive who was convicted because of her involvement with her best friend’s disappearance 14 years ago. Days before completing her sentence, Geo is released and new bodies start piling up, an investigations is reopened and Geo finds herself in the eye of the storm once again.
I enjoyed reading this novel, the plot and writing kept me captivated. The author did a great job of keeping the story suspenseful while at the same time creating interesting and well-developed characters.
I also liked that the book had a good number of characters with diverse backgrounds, although diversity is not one of the elements of the novel, I still liked that there were a few characters with diverse backgrounds.
This is the first book I’ve read from this author and I’m looking forward to reading more. Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it to readers of thrillers, mysteries, and contemporary fiction.
Received ARC from the publisher via Netgalley
