Hi {{first_name|fellow bookworms}},

Have you read John Marrs’ latest book yet? If you have, I genuinely want to know what you thought, especially about that ending.

This week I’m reviewing two thrillers that have been everywhere lately: Dead in the Water by John Marrs and Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell. They’re both trending for a reason, they’re tense, addictive, and they hook you fast, but they deliver two very different kinds of stress.

Dead in the Water is John Marrs in his signature style: high stakes, psychological pressure, and a story that refuses to stay simple. Don’t Let Him In leans more toward slow-burn domestic suspense, where the dread builds through small moments, subtle manipulation, and red flags stacking up until you can’t ignore them anymore.

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Let’s get into it 😊

Short summary 🙂
This story follows Damon, who survives a near-drowning. During the experience, his life flashes before his eyes, but when he wakes up, he feels like he didn’t come back alone. He starts seeing a red-haired little boy who appears again and again, following him everywhere.

Damon can’t shake it, and he becomes fixated on finding out who the boy is and why he’s haunting him. But the deeper he digs, the more it feels like the truth comes with a cost, and some memories might have been buried for a reason.

The moment I got hooked
When the “near-drowning” turned into something stranger — like Damon’s mind pulled something back with him.

What I loved
• This is pure John Marrs: tense, unsettling, and built around a mystery that tightens until the truth finally snaps into place.
• The atmosphere is cold and eerie, and the memory-loss/hallucination angle makes everything feel unstable in a good way.
• Multiple POVs and short chapters keep the pace moving, even when the story gets dark.

What I didn’t love (and who cares)
I’ll be honest: I started guessing the core of Damon’s past fairly early (around the first 80 pages), and I was right. But it didn’t ruin it, the ride is still addictive, and Marrs knows how to keep the tension high even when you think you’ve figured things out.

InnerLines Notes
Twist Meter™: Sneaky (with a late shock)
Trope Tracker: memory loss, hallucinations, multiple POVs, psychological dread, dark secrets
Red Flag Roll Call (spoiler-free): gaps in memory, haunting visions, “accidents” that don’t feel accidental
Content note: This one is dark. Trigger warnings include themes of suicide and murder. Please check full triggers if you need to.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

One more thing:
If you want extra context, reading The Good Samaritan first might give you a better experience.
Also: Dead in the Water is available on Kindle Unlimited.

Discuss (reply):
Did you predict what happened early too, or did it completely catch you off guard?

Short summary 🙂
This book follows Ash, a young woman grieving her father after what appears to be an accident, until it becomes clear it may not have been. Not long after, her mother Nina receives a letter from a man named Nick, who claims he was very close to Ash’s father. Letters turn into conversations, and soon Nina is dating Nick.

From the start, Ash doesn’t trust him. The more she digs, the more inconsistencies she finds. Who is Nick Radcliffe really, and why does every question come with another excuse?

The moment I got hooked
When it became obvious Ash was the only one willing to say, “Something is wrong here.”

What I loved
• This is less “typical thriller” and more domestic suspense, and the slow-burn tension works.
• Multiple POVs make the manipulation feel even more frustrating and real, because you see how people convince themselves to ignore what’s right in front of them.
• It’s the kind of book that makes you angry… but you keep reading anyway.

What I didn’t love (but it’s part of the experience)
This starts slow, so you’ll need a bit of patience in the beginning. And I won’t lie — I’ve rarely hated a male character as much as Nick… but I was also frustrated with the women around him. I had multiple “GIRL… ARE YOU SERIOUS?” moments.

If you like these vibes
If you enjoyed Tinder Swindler, Dirty John, or that “Who TF Did I Marry?” TikTok series, you’ll absolutely get the appeal here. The scariest part is how believable it feels — men like this exist, and the story is basically a warning label about red flags and charm.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Discuss (reply)
Be honest: would you have clocked Nick immediately… or would you have given him the benefit of the doubt?

If you want something darker, colder, and psychologically unsettling: read Dead in the Water.
If you want slow-burn manipulation, domestic tension, and rage-reading energy: read Don’t Let Him In.

Reading these back to back worked really well for me. One disturbed me, the other made me uneasy, which, honestly, is exactly what I want from a good thriller.

If you’ve read either of these:

Drop your recs, I’ll feature a few reader picks in the next issues (spoiler-free, of course).