After Nightfall by A. J. Banner

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

Beware of friends with secrets…

Imagine your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.

Newly engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping, the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.

Bestselling author A. J. Banner keeps readers on a razor-sharp edge in this intricately plotted novel of psychological suspense…in which nothing is as it seems.

“Gripping and arresting! After Nightfall is a stellar psychological thriller. Banner had me second-guessing every character throughout the entire novel. I literally couldn’t figure out who’d done it until the reveal. And it was shocking. Love that!” –Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal bestselling author

“Moody and beautifully atmospheric, After Nightfall is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the final page, the final sentence even, a heart-stopping revelation. I highly recommend it!” –Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of Faultlines and The Truth We Bury

my thoughts:

Wow! What a book! I absolutely LOVED it!! Banner has written a fast-paced mystery-thriller that is chock full of drama, suspense and unreliable characters.  It is seriously a great book to get sucked into on a rainy summer night.  You will find yourself turning pages faster and faster, second-guessing characters' motives, and unable to stop reading until you get to the very end.  After Nightfall is such a treat to read!

Marissa and Lauren were besties whose friendship had suffered a huge betrayal.  So, when Lauren reaches out, Marissa invites her to her engagement party.  Except, the past seems to rear its ugly head and drama ensues.  Of course, it all takes a turn for the worse when Lauren's body is found dead on the beach.  Apparently, she fell over a nearby cliff. Marissa is shocked and horrified.  She can't believe that Lauren is dead.  And she can't believe that Lauren would be anywhere near a cliff, given that she was terrified of heights.  So, what happened? Who killed her? Marissa sets out to uncover the truth about her best friend's death.

Talk about a page-turner! This book sucked me right in. I found myself playing detective alongside Marissa and enjoyed every minute of it. The writing was top notch and the mystery was so much fun to try and unravel.  As for the characters - I just loved how much I didn't trust any of them (they all seemed like they had something to hide).  After Nightfall was a thrill to read.

I would happily recommend this book to fans of A. J. Banner and anyone looking for their next great read - you will LOVE this book!

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: After Nightfall

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!