Book Summary and Reviews of A Stranger at the Door by Jason Pinter

A Stranger at the Door by Jason Pinter

A Stranger at the Door

Rachel Marin #2

by Jason Pinter

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2021, 362 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

From the Amazon bestselling author of Hide Away comes the gripping second installment of the Rachel Marin Thriller series.

Rachel Marin is in a good place. After years of struggle, the single mother has found both a stable, loving relationship and a new purpose: putting her investigative skills to work solving crimes for the local PD. But just as the pieces of her life are finally starting to fall into place, her teenaged son's teacher is gruesomely murdered, starting a domino effect that shatters her peaceful existence.

When Rachel discovers an ominous email the teacher sent to her just before his death, she knows she must help bring his killer to justice. But soon a figure from her past reappears, threatening to expose Rachel's darkest secrets if she doesn't tread lightly. And when her son is recruited by a shadowy businessman who may be connected to the murder, Rachel knows this has just gotten very, very personal.

Someone out there is dead set on keeping this grisly cover-up good and buried, which means if Rachel's not careful, it's only a matter of time before her dream life becomes her worst nightmare.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"[O]utstanding... Rachel's no female Jack Reacher, but she's tough physically and morally...Readers will cheer her every step of the way. This powerful family-values thriller is a convincing, moving performance." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This second in the Rachel Marin series maintains the promise of the first, with full-bodied characters in a compelling plot and graphic elements leavened by doses of humanity." - Booklist (starred review)

"Beneath the brutality in this suspenseful thriller lie bone-deep fear and a genuine concern for justice." - Kirkus Reviews

"Pinter's second 'Rachel Marin' thriller builds on the success of Hide Away, reinforcing the grit and tenacity of his determined single-mom protagonist...Pinter's strong depictions of diverse types of love, respect, and loyalty resonate loudly in this nail-biter novel." - Library Journal

"A Stranger at the Door is a worthy successor to Hide Away in the Rachel Marin series. Chilling and suspenseful, a page turner in the best sense." - William Landay, New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob

This information about A Stranger at the Door 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

Click here and be the first to review this book!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Jason Pinter

Jason Pinter is the bestselling author of seven novels for adults—Hide Away,, the first Rachel Marin Thriller, the acclaimed Henry Parker series (The Mark, The Guilty, The Stolen, The Fury, and The Darkness), and the stand-alone thriller The Castle, as well as the middle-grade adventure novel Zeke Bartholomew: SuperSpy! and the children's book Miracle. His books have over one million copies in print worldwide. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Thriller Award, Strand Critics Award, Barry Award, and Shamus Award, and The Mark was optioned to be a feature film.

Pinter is the founder of Polis Books, an independent press, and was honored by Publishers Weekly's Star Watch, which "recognizes young publishing professionals who have distinguished themselves as future leaders of the industry." He has written for the New Republic, Entrepreneur, the Daily Beast, Esquire, and more. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and their two daughters.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked A Stranger at the Door, try these:

  • The Sicilian Inheritance jacket

    The Sicilian Inheritance

    by Jo Piazza

    Published 2025

    About this book

    From bestselling author and award-winning journalist Jo Piazza, comes a transporting novel rooted in the author's own family history about a long-awaited trip to Sicily, a disputed inheritance, and a family secret that some will kill to protect ...

  • Long Black Veil jacket

    Long Black Veil

    by Jennifer Finney Boylan

    Published 2018

    About this book

    For fans of The Secret History and The Poison Tree, a novel about a woman whose family and identity are threatened by the secrets of her past, from the New York Times bestselling author of She's Not There.

  • How to Set a Fire and Why jacket

    How to Set a Fire and Why

    by Jesse Ball

    Published 2017

    About this book

    A singular, blistering novel about a teenage girl who has lost everything - and will burn anything.

We have 10 read-alikes for A Stranger at the Door, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!
Book Club Giveaway!
Win L.A. Women

L.A. Women by Ella Berman

Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.

Enter

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Merry-Go-Round Broke Down
    by David Woo, Margalit Shinar
    Nine linked stories reveal how globalization sparks life-changing consequences across continents.
  • Book Jacket
    Chelsea Girls
    by Catherine Lloyd
    A glamorous biographical novel on Mary Quant, whose daring design of the miniskirt revolutionized fashion.
  • Book Jacket
    Days of Sun and Shadow
    by India Hayford
    A young woman’s coming-of-age story set in the early American frontier, shaped by tragedy, nature, and resilience.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    Summer of Love
    by Kerri Maher
    Three women reshape their family's Napa Valley winery after the 1967 Summer of Love.
  • Book Jacket
    An Infinite Love Story
    by Chanel Cleeton
    “A tender, romantic drama that soars as high as it’s astronauts.” —Kate Quinn
Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

The C is A R

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.