Holly Sinclair, a struggling author, is dead broke. After being evicted from her New York apartment, she returns to her family’s dilapidated beach house in coastal New England with one urgent goal: write a book that sells. Fast.
Reinventing herself won’t be easy, but the old seaside town offers a few unexpected allies. Gail, a driven local Realtor, introduces her to a charming handyman who can help her get back on her feet. Serena, the town psychic, offers encouragement and an unsettling warning about danger ahead. And Jade, a teen runaway, is hiding out in Holly’s attic and desperately needs a safe place to land.
Holly takes Jade in, and soon the girl finds work with the powerful Carmichael family. Their dynasty has faded, but their connection to Holly’s past is darker than she wants to remember. Their secrets could put both women at risk.
Not everyone is glad to see Holly return. Someone in town is watching her every move. The Watcher knows something Holly doesn’t. The past may be a foggy echo, but it’s close enough to come rushing in with the tide.
This was my first Jamie Day thriller, and I was impressed overall. It’s a great summer thriller to add to your list, especially if you love twisty popcorn thrillers and intricate murder mysteries. What makes this book stand out is its clever book-within-a-book structure and unpredictable narrative. The book toggles between struggling author Holly Sinclair as she returns to a coastal town where her sister Anna died under suspicious circumstances 20 years earlier and a story within her old manuscript “Beach Thriller,” which sounds resoundingly similar to the events surrounding her sister’s death. Packed with tropes—cold case mystery, amateur protagonist, rich people behaving badly, a mysterious watcher, long-buried secrets, and a picturesque coastal setting—and you have an addictive summer read!
Told through multiple POVs, the book mostly follows Holly as she returns to Beauport to rebuild her life. She’s still haunted by her sister Anna’s death and finally wants to uncover the truth. Interspersed are chapters from the mysterious Watcher, who monitors Holly’s every move and whose identity will keep you guessing until the end. The other main POV is Jade, a resourceful 17-year-old runaway Holly finds hiding in her house who’s unpredictable and mistrustful, but you can’t help but root for her.
The atmospheric Massachusetts coastal town is vividly depicted and filled with suspicious characters—a realtor overly eager to sell Holly’s property before she’s even settled in, a shady police officer, a handyman who seems too good to be true, a town psychic, and the powerful Carmichael family—whose connection to Holly and Anna’s past is slowly revealed. The cold case of Anna’s death is more layered and intricate than I imagined and completely unpredictable—even if you manage to guess a few of the reveals, you won’t guess them all!
The short chapters, many with cliffhanger endings, make this an easy binge-read. After a dramatic, fast-paced start, the midsection does slow a bit, and the writing could have been tighter. That said, the final third ramps up dramatically with lots of action, twists, reveals, and unexpected connections between characters. And just when you think there are plot holes, the final chapters provide answers for pretty much everything, so I was satisfied. If you’re looking for a summer thriller for your TBR, I would recommend this one—and I’ll definitely be reading more from Jamie!
Narrator Performance
Beach Thriller is a multi-cast production narrated by seasoned narrators Jennifer Pickens, Megan Tusing, Jane Oppenheimer, and Emily Shaffer.
Tusing narrates a good portion of the book, portraying FMC Holly Sinclair with a determined, emotionally nuanced performance that captures her grief over her sister’s death and her relentless need to discover the truth. In Holly’s inner monologues, Tusing does a fantastic job conveying the character’s moments of anxiety and self-doubt, and her persistence in digging into the evidence found at Anna’s death scene, even when it places her in danger. She uses a sharp, unwavering tone when Holly is demanding answers and questioning suspicious characters, making you like her that much more. She also excels at bringing the town’s cast of characters to life, with dynamic voices and personalities to Gail, the aggressive real estate agent, Ethan, Holly’s suspicious love interest, and Conrad and Maeve Carmichael, who sound exactly as you’d expect for a wealthy family with dark secrets. The interactions between Holly and Jade are a highlight—at first, you can hear the mistrust, but as the story unfolds, their bond begins to feel almost like a family dynamic, and Tusing really sells Holly’s concern for Jade when dangerous events unfold.
Pickens portrays the Watcher with a mysterious, unsettling voice that constantly keeps you guessing the character’s identity. Every chapter the character appears, her dynamic performance can be interpreted in different ways—at times the voice sounds sinister and calculating, and at others regretful and protective, adding more suspense. When the character’s identity is finally revealed, the performance totally makes sense and will have you thinking how clever it was.
Shaffer portrays Jade Jensen with a youthful, defiant voice layered with vulnerability, perfectly suited for a runaway teen who’s come to town for her own answers. In dialogue between Jade and Holly, Shaffer emphasizes Jade’s enthusiasm to help Holly solve the mystery with a more excited tone and quicker pacing. The climactic high-stakes scenes involving Jade at Miramar are a highlight, narrated with lots of emotion and suspense—and they are some of the most thrilling scenes to listen to!
Oppenheimer portrays Maeve later in the story with a confident, distinguished-sounding voice that fits an older wealthy woman. As Maeve explains some shocking hard truths, Oppenheimer layers her voice with a tinge of sadness and regret that makes the character more complex and a bit more likable.
Overall, this talented cast of narrators makes the story very immersive, and following the multiple POVs is easy and entertaining—don’t hesitate!
Narrator Performance
Beach Thriller is a multi-cast production narrated by seasoned narrators Jennifer Pickens, Megan Tusing, Jane Oppenheimer, and Emily Shaffer.
Tusing narrates a good portion of the book, portraying FMC Holly Sinclair with a determined, emotionally nuanced performance that captures her grief over her sister’s death and her relentless need to discover the truth. In Holly’s inner monologues, Tusing does a fantastic job conveying the character’s moments of anxiety and self-doubt, and her persistence in digging into the evidence found at Anna’s death scene, even when it places her in danger. She uses a sharp, unwavering tone when Holly is demanding answers and questioning suspicious characters, making you like her that much more. She also excels at bringing the town’s cast of characters to life, with dynamic voices and personalities to Gail, the aggressive real estate agent, Ethan, Holly’s suspicious love interest, and Conrad and Maeve Carmichael, who sound exactly as you’d expect for a wealthy family with dark secrets. The interactions between Holly and Jade are a highlight—at first, you can hear the mistrust, but as the story unfolds, their bond begins to feel almost like a family dynamic, and Tusing really sells Holly’s concern for Jade when dangerous events unfold.
Pickens portrays the Watcher with a mysterious, unsettling voice that constantly keeps you guessing the character’s identity. Every chapter the character appears, her dynamic performance can be interpreted in different ways—at times the voice sounds sinister and calculating, and at others regretful and protective, adding more suspense. When the character’s identity is finally revealed, the performance totally makes sense and will have you thinking how clever it was.
Shaffer portrays Jade Jensen with a youthful, defiant voice layered with vulnerability, perfectly suited for a runaway teen who’s come to town for her own answers. In dialogue between Jade and Holly, Shaffer emphasizes Jade’s enthusiasm to help Holly solve the mystery with a more excited tone and quicker pacing. The climactic high-stakes scenes involving Jade at Miramar are a highlight, narrated with lots of emotion and suspense—and they are some of the most thrilling scenes to listen to!
Oppenheimer portrays Maeve later in the story with a confident, distinguished-sounding voice that fits an older wealthy woman. As Maeve explains some shocking hard truths, Oppenheimer layers her voice with a tinge of sadness and regret that makes the character more complex and a bit more likable.
Overall, this talented cast of narrators makes the story very immersive, and following the multiple POVs is easy and entertaining—don’t hesitate!
Beach Thriller is a multi-cast production narrated by seasoned narrators Jennifer Pickens, Megan Tusing, Jane Oppenheimer, and Emily Shaffer.
Tusing narrates a good portion of the book, portraying FMC Holly Sinclair with a determined, emotionally nuanced performance that captures her grief over her sister’s death and her relentless need to discover the truth. In Holly’s inner monologues, Tusing does a fantastic job conveying the character’s moments of anxiety and self-doubt, and her persistence in digging into the evidence found at Anna’s death scene, even when it places her in danger. She uses a sharp, unwavering tone when Holly is demanding answers and questioning suspicious characters, making you like her that much more. She also excels at bringing the town’s cast of characters to life, with dynamic voices and personalities to Gail, the aggressive real estate agent, Ethan, Holly’s suspicious love interest, and Conrad and Maeve Carmichael, who sound exactly as you’d expect for a wealthy family with dark secrets. The interactions between Holly and Jade are a highlight—at first, you can hear the mistrust, but as the story unfolds, their bond begins to feel almost like a family dynamic, and Tusing really sells Holly’s concern for Jade when dangerous events unfold.
Pickens portrays the Watcher with a mysterious, unsettling voice that constantly keeps you guessing the character’s identity. Every chapter the character appears, her dynamic performance can be interpreted in different ways—at times the voice sounds sinister and calculating, and at others regretful and protective, adding more suspense. When the character’s identity is finally revealed, the performance totally makes sense and will have you thinking how clever it was.
Shaffer portrays Jade Jensen with a youthful, defiant voice layered with vulnerability, perfectly suited for a runaway teen who’s come to town for her own answers. In dialogue between Jade and Holly, Shaffer emphasizes Jade’s enthusiasm to help Holly solve the mystery with a more excited tone and quicker pacing. The climactic high-stakes scenes involving Jade at Miramar are a highlight, narrated with lots of emotion and suspense—and they are some of the most thrilling scenes to listen to!
Oppenheimer portrays Maeve later in the story with a confident, distinguished-sounding voice that fits an older wealthy woman. As Maeve explains some shocking hard truths, Oppenheimer layers her voice with a tinge of sadness and regret that makes the character more complex and a bit more likable.
Overall, this talented cast of narrators makes the story very immersive, and following the multiple POVs is easy and entertaining—don’t hesitate!
