Genre: Mystery, Romance, Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Love Inspired Trade
Publication Date: April 2024
In his youth, Tiberius Granger escaped a cult. The girl he loved wasn’t so fortunate. Now an FBI agent, he hunts monsters, unravels the macabre, and seeks justice for the victims. His latest case has him on the trail of The Artist, a deranged serial killer who kidnaps women, tattooing them with flowers that match their names and posing them in front of lighthouses. A shocking connection to his past brings him face to face with Bexley Hemmingway, the woman he had loved and believed dead, and a teenaged son he never knew existed. But to find Bex’s missing sister, Ty must push beyond the hurt, anger, and betrayal, and return to a place he’d hoped never to revisit.
Wow, wow, WOW! A psychological thriller through and through, reading The Garden Girls feels likes stepping into an episode of Criminal Minds. This adrenaline-pumping tale snatches the reader’s breath from the first page as a twisted villain, broken protagonists, and mind-bending plot comes to life, all filtered through a lens of hope.
A gifted wordsmith, Jessica R. Patch painted the setting with such vibrant strokes, it became its own entity. The images rose around me as vividly as any of the characters. And no, the lighthouse didn’t bias this beacon-loving reader, though I reveled in that addition. Patch penned the Outer Banks, the storm, everything so expertly that I was transported into their midst. Even now, long after finishing the book, I still feel the rain drenching my clothes and the wind whipping my face.
The ending wrecked me as it depicted a beautiful reflection of God’s love. Have a box of tissues and your heart ready to go through the wringer.
I only discovered Patch a year ago, but she immediately skyrocketed to one of my favorite psychological thriller authors. While this story could potentially stand alone, I recommend starting with Her Darkest Secret and A Cry in the Dark, not only to fully understand the characters but because this series is too good to miss any part of it.
Review copy provided by publisher via NetGalley. Thanks!
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