Karen Perry round up: What happens when you let messed up people into your life

I've read seven of the nine books written to date by Karen Perry. The 'author' is actually the Dublin-based writing due of Paul Perry and Karen Gillece. I have found their books to be cleverly written and well-paced with fascinating yet flawed characters. I love compelling reads that keep me guessing as the story unfolds, exploring the consequences of ordinary and believable yet compelling characters. Most of Karen Perry's novels have a similar theme and format: ordinary people's lives interrupted by the entry into their world of an unexpected person who changes things irrevocably, revealing the bleak and rather disturbing side of human nature.

I originally wrote this post as a review of Stranger, Karen Perry's 2021 novel. Since writing that post, I have added my thoughts on the other five books I have read. You can also check out my review of their 2023 novel, The worst thing you ever did, sadly not up to the standard of their earlier works.

Stranger | Published May 2021 | Read January 2022

Stranger (also titled The guest) follows the story of a Dublin family who host a French exchange student for a few weeks. The watchful and provocative student creates a huge impact on the family, largely because the terrible things that lie beneath the surface of their outwardly perfect existence are revealed. I liked the way it was clear from the beginning that one of the characters has died tragically, but the reader is kept guessing until near the end as to this person's identity, who killed them, and why.

I've read other reviews where people commented on how unlikeable the characters are in this book and how that detracted from their enjoyment of the novel. I agree that the characters are imperfect but that makes the story all the more interesting to me.

I couldn't put Stranger down. After an horrific event is hinted at early in the novel, I kept reading to find out how the family unravelled. If you love a good psychological thriller, then give Stranger and Karen Perry's other works a go.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Earlier works by Karen Perry

The theme running through most of Karen Perry's novels is the infiltration of messed up people into ordinary people's lives, exposing the darker side of human nature. The authors also deftly explore the consequences of past actions through well-crafted character-focussed stories. See below for my thoughts on Karen Perry's books published between 2015 and 2019.

Come a little closer (2019)

Leah is the protagonist in Come a little closer. She's in a relationship with Jake, but feels lonely in their new basement flat as Jake has to divide his attention between Leah and his ex-wife and young son. Enter Anton, Leah's upstairs neighbour, lending a sympathetic ear when Jake is absent. Anton has moved back to the street after a long absence, yet the other neighbours seems hostile towards him. What Leah doesn't know is that Anton was accused of killing his wife 19 years earlier, and she bears a striking resemblance to the murdered woman.

That's the basic premise for the book. Karen Perry makes a gripping and chilling story out of that premise, told from three points of view: Leah, Anton, and Hilary, one half of a couple who live across the street who once lived in Jake and Leah's basement flat. The story takes the reader deeply into the small community where Jake and Leah live and to the intensity of living at such close quarters with others. The characters are all well fleshed out, even if not all likeable, and the story takes the reader on a chilling journey to the final reveal. I kept wavering about Anton's guilt! The ending is surprising, if a little rushed.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Your closest friend (2018)

Your closest friend has an intriguing premise: Cara is out in London one evening and finds herself caught up in a lone gunman's rampage. She takes shelter with Amy, and in the hours they are hunkered down in the dark, Cara shares her most intimate secrets with her new companion, assuming she'll never see Amy again. A short time later, Cara starts to receive creepy text messages from someone claiming to be her closest friend who knows all her secrets. Amy then suddenly reappears in her life and seems to be the one friend Cara can count on as things spiral out of control.

This book is classic Karen Perry, exploring the obsessive behaviour of messed up strangers infiltrating people's lives. The story is less about working its way to the end and revealing the perpetrator, and more a chilling ride through Amy's obsession. The reader is continually asked to consider what is real and what is fantasy. There's lots of suspense through the story, and the fear and panic that Cara experiences is palpable. Amy's chapters are compelling, clearly showing her disintegrating state of mind, even though it is clear that she is pretty messed up from the get go. The reading journey is tense, and I was desperately hoping that Cara would figure everything out before it became too late.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Can you keep a secret? (2017)

Can you keep a secret? is a departure in premise from the other Karen Perry novels I have read, but still has ordinary people with terrible secrets at its core. The book centres on a reunion at Thornbury Hall, now up for sale, where a group of friends reunite after twenty years. Lindsey, the main protagonist, hasn't spoken to Rachael in all that time, not since her brother's 18th birthday at the Hall owned by Rachael's family that shattered the friendship group and left Rachael's father dead.

The book is a slow-burn character study of all the players in the friendship group, told from Lindsey's perspective, both in the past and present. As the two timelines converge, secrets are revealed. I like stories like this, where there are a bunch of characters to get to know and a past story that slowly lets the reader into the secret. As one would expect, not all the characters are likeable, family and friendship dynamics are messed up, lies and betrayals abound, and there's a storm brewing as the book moves to its conclusion. The old-friends-reunite-shocking-aftermath plot device has been done many times before in thrillers, but I still found Can you keep a secret? a compelling read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Girl unknown (2016)

Girl unknown is another classic Karen Perry: a messed up person entangled in others' lives with dark consequences. The book opens with first-year student, Zoe Barry, entering Professor David Connolly's office, claiming to be his daughter. This simple premise sets off a chain of chilling events as Zoe insinuates herself into the life of David and his family.

This is a tense, tightly-wound thriller, in a similar vein to Your closest friend. Zoe's presence takes David back to a time when he was in love with Zoe's mother and to his present marriage difficulties. His now wife, Caroline, doesn't trust Zoe, and she is right not to! Caroline can see what David cannot, and the story takes the reader on a journey of their alternating points of view. The book navigates the consequences of actions in the past and present, allowing for Karen Perry to explore what happens when we try to rewrite our personal histories. I felt uneasy the whole way through. Even though the ending is somewhat ambiguous, the journey to get there is dark and compelling.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Only we know (2015)

Only we know is another dual timeline story. The past story takes place in 1982, on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Kenya. Luke and Nick and their friend, Katie, are playing at a river near their cottage, even though Luke and Nick's mother does not think it is safe. As one would expect in a book of this nature, their game ends in tragedy. Now, thirty years later, the three are estranged, yet still bound together by the dark truth of what happened at the river that day. Luke suddenly vanishes and as the threatening messages begin, it seems that someone else knows what they did and is intent on seeking justice and retribution, at any cost.

This is one of my favourites by Karen Perry. The Kenyan setting and the set up for the reveal were super interesting and I kept reading, wondering where the authors would take the story. The story in Only we know is well-crafted and compelling, with strong characterisation and a fascinating journey to its conclusion. The authors' exploration of tragic events, guilt and consequences creates a thought-provoking story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐