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Book Summary and Reviews of Under My Skin by Lisa Unger

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger

Under My Skin

by Lisa Unger

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2018, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

An addictive psychological thriller about a woman on the hunt for her husband's killer.

What if the nightmares are actually memories?

It's been a year since Poppy's husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan's Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn't recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack?

The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts - there are periods of time she can't remember, and she's unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she's imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband's death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. As Unger builds suspense, blurring the lines between dreams and reality, she considers how well one person can ever know another, as secrets abound. Another fine psychological thriller from a master of the genre." - Booklist

"Starred Review. Unger brings the reader along as her narrator's grip on reality is tested and keeps the twists coming in this standout thriller." - Kirkus

"Though Poppy's visions and flashbacks to the Langs' life together occasionally become repetitious, the fully realized characters keep the plot from lagging. Readers will feel both empathy and sympathy for the driven Poppy." - Publishers Weekly

"Lisa Unger's deliciously intense and addictive thriller got under my skin. I picked it up, was drawn into this dark, tangled tale, and couldn't pull away until it was done. Gripping suspense at its best." - Karin Slaughter, #1 International and New York Times bestselling author of The Good Daughter

"Under My Skin is a twisting labyrinth of a book where nothing is as it seems, dreams bleed into reality, and the past is the future. Lisa Unger is one of my favorite writers. And in this tilt-a-whirl of a psychological thriller, she's at the top of her game." - Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Look For Me

"Under My Skin is a perfectly dark and unsettling, spellbinding thriller. Told with both eloquence and urgency, Unger knows just how to hook her readers and reel them in. This book is not to be missed." - Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

How do we know the difference between memories and nightmares? Under My Skin is a twisty, captivating psychological thriller that explores the lingering toll of grief and the enduring power of love and loyalty. This is Lisa Unger at the top of her game." - Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Wife

This information about Under My Skin was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Techeditor

Romantic suspense
Lisa Unger has it in her to write a really great book, and I have read several. But UNDER MY SKIN isn’t one of them. It’s not bad, though. So, although I didn’t enjoy it, you may.

UNDER MY SKIN irritated me right away because its main character’s name is Poppy, which I think is a silly name but which is not a good reason to dislike a book. And it didn’t make me dislike it. It’s just a warning that my irritation may have contributed to my estimation of it.

Poppy’s husband, Jack, was murdered. Other reviews will tell you that UNDER MY SKIN is about her search for the murderer. Wrong. Part 1 of the book, that is, approximately the first half of it, is constant repetition of her love for and memories about Jack and her drug–induced dreams/memories. Unger also manages to tell you several times that Poppy dislikes her mother and loves her lifelong friend Layla.

Because of all the repetition in Part 1, I could easily skip paragraphs here and there. I got it already. Part 1 could have and should have been half as long.

Part 2 is where Poppy searches for her husband‘s murderer, but this part was mostly silly. I often felt like I was reading a romance novel. And it was so, so predictable.

UNDER MY SKIN could be called romantic suspense. That’s a genre many readers like. But not me.

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Author Information

Lisa Unger Author Biography

Photo: Tanya Sharkey

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-two novels, including Close Your Eyes and Count to 10. With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.

Unger's critically acclaimed novels have been featured on "Best Book" lists from the Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short ...

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