The Fantastic Book of Everybody's Secrets by Sophie Hannah

Book Synopsis:

A collection of ingenious suspense stories from one of today's most acclaimed novelists in the genre. Everybody has their secrets, and in Hannah's fantastic stories the curtains positively twitch with them. Who, for instance, is the hooded figure hiding in the bushes outside a young man's house? Why does the same stranger keep appearing in the background of a family's holiday photographs? What makes a woman stand mesmerized by two children in a school playground, children she's never met but whose names she knows well? And which secret results in a former literary festival director sorting soiled laundry in a shabby hotel? All will be revealed...but at a cost. As Sophia Hannah uncovers the dark obsessions and strange longings behind the most ordinary relationships, life will never be quite the same again.

My review:

These short stories are certainly unusual, like nothing I have read before. Each one is an investigation into the hidden thoughts of the main character. Thoughts are swirling in one direction while the person is saying something in a different direction. Inner imaginations and desires are hidden by outer benign behavior.

The stories are a study in character and the psychology of the human condition. One person might be passive aggressive while another is a would be murderer. Each story centers on secrets. Perhaps one character wants to keep the secret hidden but another wants to tell all. Hannah takes what has been festering inside a person and creates a story around it.

The most disconcerting aspect of these stories is the endings, or rather, the non-endings. Each story seems to end unresolved. At first I was taken aback. Then I began to wonder what each character might have done next or how the situation might ultimately be resolved. A reading group might enjoy discussing the possible story resolutions.

Note: There is one story that contains explicit sex scenes and explores pornographic thoughts. Readers who disapprove of casual sex or the use of pornography will not appreciate that story.

Readers who are interested in the hidden thoughts of characters will find much to explore in these stories. 

I am taking part of a blog tour of this book. Click here to view the 'The Fantastic Book of Everybody's Secrets by Sophie Hannah' Tour Participants.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Sophie Hannah is the New York Times-bestselling author of numerous psychological thrillers, which have been published in 27 countries and adapted for television, as well as The Monogram Murders, the first Hercule Poirot novel authorized by the estate of Agatha Christie. Catch Up with Sophie Hannah on her Website, Twitter, or Facebook

Book Details:

Genre: Short Stories, Thriller
Published by: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: October 11th 2016
Number of Pages: 120
ISBN: 0062562096 (ISBN13: 9780062562098)
Purchase Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Goodreads

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.