BLOG TOUR --- Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus [Review + Giveaway]

Title: Two Can Keep a Secret

Authors(s): Karen M. McManus
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
Edition: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook; 336 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Buy: Amazon - Audible - Barnes & 
Noble - iBooks - The Book Depository
Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Tour Schedule

Week One:

1/1/2019- Lifestyle of Me- Review

1/2/2019- Paper Reader- Review

1/3/2019- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review

1/4/2019- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

Week Two:

1/7/2019- Pink Polka Dot Books- Review

1/8/2019- Do You Dog-ear?- Review

1/9/2019- Adventures and Reading- Review

1/10/2019- The Phantom Paragrapher- Review

1/11/2019- Book Dragon Lair- Review

Week Three:

1/14/2019- A Gingerly Review- Review

1/15/2019- Confessions of a YA Reader- Review

1/16/2019- Sweet Southern Home- Review

1/17/2019- Simply Daniel Radcliffe- Review

1/18/2019- The Hermit Librarian- Review

Week Four:

1/21/2019- Smada's Book Smack- Review

1/22/2019- Owl always Be Reading- Review

1/23/2019- BookHounds YA- Review

1/24/2019- Popthebutterfly Reads- Review

1/25/2019- Eli to the nth- Review

Week Five:

1/28/2019- The Clever Reader- Review

1/29/2019- All the Ups and Downs- Review

1/30/2019- Two Points of Interest- Review
1/31/2019- EatingbetweenthelinesINC- Review

The Summary

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.

(Goodreads)

My Review

I was beyond excited to get a chance to be on the tour for Karen M. McManus's sophomore book, Two Can Keep a Secret!  I was a part of the tour for her debut novel, One of Us is Lying (check my review here), and I loved it, even though I'm not a huge thriller fan.  So, I had high expectations going into TCKS, and I was not disappointed!

For her sophomore novel, McManus, instead of an assemble of characters, writes the story from the point of view of the two leads: Ellery Corcoran and Malcolm Kelly.  Each, in their own way, are directly involved in the horrible things happening in Echo Ridge; Ellery, as her aunt went missing 23 years earlier, and Malcolm because his older brother, Declan, is the main suspect in the murder of his girlfriend five years prior.  With each main character involved in the opposites side of the situation, victim and (possible) murderer, the reader expects them to be at odds, but it only brings them closer together.

McManus does characters right.  Ellery and Malcolm are wholly believable, as they react to the suspicious and dangerous events haunting their town.  Ellery, while a self-proclaimed "True Crime" buff, isn't able to crack the case wide open without the help of real investigators, which I found super refreshing.  The one thing that annoys me about "thrillers" is when the main characters are the ones who solved the whole mystery when trained professionals weren't able to.  That can't be more far from the truth of what happens.  But this gave us a good mix because obviously you want the heroine to succeed.  

Of course, there is some romance between Ellery and Malcolm, but it is not full blown, because again, realistically, there's murder going down, and who has time for romance!  But it is there, in all it's simmering potential.  And, while the spotlight is mostly on Ellery and Malcolm, there is a great supporting cast.  Ezra, Ellery's twin brother, and Mia, Malcolm's best friend, aren't used to their full potential, but they do add to the roundness of the cast.

With the characters well-crafted comes the plot.  And oh boy, is it an intricate one.  Because this town is involved in crimes that spans two decades, it is a little confusing to keep everything straight at first, but once the reader gets a lock on the different plots then it all comes together.  From there, the plot revs up and the reader is off, sleuthing along with Ellery and Malcolm to get to the bottom of the previous crimes and the threats against Ellery herself.

I can't really go into more detail than that, or I could spoil something!  All I can say is the last words of the book (like for many other reviewers) were intense and creeptastic.  Definitely a worthwhile thriller, and a strong sophomore debut from a new auto-buy author for me.  Readers won't go wrong picking up a copy of Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus!

Final Rating

About the Author

As a kid, Karen used to write books when she was supposed to be playing outside, and not much has changed. Karen's a marketing and communications professional who also writes Young Adult contemporary and fantasy fiction in Cambridge, MA.

When not writing or working, Karen loves to travel, and, along with her nine-year old son, she's ridden horses in Colombia and bicycles through Paris. A member of SCBWI, she holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northeastern University. Which she has never, ever used professionally.

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Giveaway

3 Winners will receive a finished copy of Two Can Keep a Secret, US Only.

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