The Stranger Things season 5 trailer hints at the high chances of a huge spin in the formula of the series that the fans have become familiar with.

I gave Goodbye Stranger another chance after enjoying Stead's newest book The List of Things That Will Not Change. I managed to finish it this time and there were parts that I enjoyed (Stead writes friendships very well). Overall though I just don't think it's her best work, and I still found it less enjoyable than her other books.

Dani goes to Mexico for her first vacation where she meets Dutch (Eric) on the plane. He is not impressed with her but he cannot seem to get her out of his mind. The more time he spends with her, the more he thinks about her. Changing his opinion of her, he marries her then she discovers his profession and she knows she is not the kind to stay at home waiting for him. What will happen?

I love Diana Palmer's books. This is my second time reading this one (the first time was back in the 80's.) I remembered the basic story so it was like coming home to a friend. I liked Dani. She is just herself but she gets under Eric's skin. She asks for nothing but he finds himself ready to give her everything. Misunderstandings arise and he has to decide how far he will go to keep Dani in his life.

I loved this book and this series. I love the jaded mercenary/innocent virgin trope. This is one that is well worth the read.

What a head trippy book this was. I think that it took a while to get going, but once it did, I couldn't put this book down. I think that Coben asks some interesting questions during the course of this book. I especially loved getting into secrets, white lies, and also what makes a marriage in the end. I did think that things got a big confusing though when we get to who was murdering people and why, but Coben was able to tie things up rather well in the end.

"The Stranger" follows Adam Price, a happily married man with two boys. He and his wife Corrine have been together for years and as far as Adam is concerned, there's not one thing he doesn't know about his wife. That all changes when a man comes up to Adam and tells him something shocking about Corrine. That reveal has repercussions for Adam who is left wondering if he even knows his wife at all and is there whole life just a lie. Along with that, "The Stranger" follows the mysterious stranger who reveals other damning secrets to people. When one of those people ends up murdered, it looks like someone is doing whatever is necessary to keep their lies hidden.

I liked the character of Adam. Coben takes a while to show us all of the faces of this character. You go into this wondering what you would do if you were Adam and honestly you feel a lot of sympathy for him. But as the story goes on and more truths are revealed about Adam and Corrine's marriage I started to feel a bit sorry for her too. I honestly thought this book showed what one can give up over the course of a marriage. 

Coben also switches to other characters such as "The Stranger" and I liked the eventual reveal about this person too. We also follow a detective named Johanna Griffin who is investigating the death of a close friend that has ties to "The Stranger."

The overall mystery of Corrine going missing I thought didn't really have a sense of urgency about it. However, when the book links up to what appears to be a murder spree you start to feel more tension. 

The writing I thought was wonderful and even though the flow didn't work out that well in the beginning, by about the 30 percent mark the book got much smoother. I think Coben was trying to juggle everyone he wanted to set up in this book so it just read as "smushed" to me initially. 

The setting of this town where most people would want to live and marry which held a lot of secrets I thought was great. 

The ending leaves us with a twist and wondering how many secrets can a person hold onto. 

Wow this was really good. I liked the idea of the secrets people keep and Adam realizing that he doesn’t really know everything about his wife. With the intersecting murders going on I wondered how everything would tie together and think it all worked.