Captured Secrets

by Octavia Grant

Andrea Riley prides herself on being a loving mother and devoted wife. Her life is simple and perfect. But, unbeknownst to her loving family, Andrea Riley has secrets. Andrea, formerly known as the infamous Brittany Belle, lived a life filled with debauchery. In the past, no act was too heinous when it came to getting what she wanted; except one. To escape her checkered past, she changed her name and location in hopes of having a clean start. Unfortunately, her steps to erase her wrongdoings were not enough to keep her out of harm's way.

Genres: Horror

60 pages, Paperback

Published February 19, 2024

About the author

Octavia Grant discovered her passion for creative writing in 2002 during her junior year at Georgetown High School in Georgetown, South Carolina. She began writing professionally in 2016 and, two years later, took full ownership of her literary career by becoming an independent author. A bestselling black thriller author and the bestselling author of Cutthroat, Octavia has penned more than 30 novels known for their psychological depth and gripping suspense.
Her work and voice have earned national recognition, including speaking on the Thrilling Tales Author Panel at ESSENCE Fest, Thriller Panelist at National Book Club Conference (NBCC), interview with Narrator iiKane, literary reviewer and film commentator Tamara Walker of Tam Telling Tales, and features in WYB Lifestyle, VoyageJacksonville, Canvas Rebel, and Bold Journey. She has also been honored as one of 160 Black Women in Horror and received multiple accolades for her psychological thriller novella Dear Vicky, including the Black Girls Who Write It’s Lit Award for Best Black Mystery/Suspense, the Audio in Black North Star Award, and the AAMBC Award for Mystery/Thriller Book of the Year.
In addition to these achievements, Octavia has been named Best Thriller/Suspense Horror Author by the Literary Gem Awards and Best Female Author by the Get Caught Up Podcast. Her storytelling continues to push boundaries within the thriller genre, centering bold narratives that captivate, challenge, and resonate with readers worldwide.

Reviews

[Shawnaci Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5
- This book was wiiiiiild!! Octavia Grants books are the best if you’re in a book slump and want something unhinged. Her books always leave me on the edge of my seat and this book wasn’t any different!
- The ending of this was soooo out of pocket! My jaw actually dropped! I already want to pick up another book by this author!
- This book was spicy and so unhinged. Literally have no words, but loved every second of it.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once Andrea lived a different life under another name. She was a mean bitch named Brittany. One day she went too far and killed another wife, an expecting mother, took her money, vanished. Now the past comes back to haunt her. What about her new husband? What about the husband of the killed woman? Well, if you are into revenge stories with the morale "you can't hide from what you've done in the past" this might be a quick and entertaining read for you. To me the story was a bit predictable, there was some strong language, you got some naughty sex scenes, a classic "life in the hood story". It was okay, but nothing to get enthusiastic about. Maybe something for fans of the author...

[Jahda · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing about Karma she comes around eventually

[Keith Book Korner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captured Secrets is a story about what’s done in the dark will come to light some day.. Is the best way to sum the story up.. very interesting how she can weave the characters together in her story’s.. good short read

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing Octavia is going to do is give a good ole plot twist! I did not see that coming at all, like wrecked my brain to see if there was any indication of that plot twist and there was zero. Meet Brittany Belle, a young woman with a checkered past & has done unspeakable things. She’s moved on, married with a baby girl but her past comes back to haunt her. With the mayhem & destruction she left behind, she expects her karma will be deadly!

[*Ebony I* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Octavia is the Queen of plot twists, because I didn't call this at all. This was next level REVENGE.

[Sha Sha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew chile….

Soooo this was a good short read. Cheating husband avenging his wife’s death with a twist for sure. 🤔

[Demetrius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karma is a bitch!

4.5⭐️

[Toya Davis-Stokley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Octavia ma'am? I love your creativity, and I know that I am in for some wild ish with your reads. I just need to know if you are, okay? I'm feeling like someone has you kidnapped, and you are writing these things under duress! Cause damn, where do the ideas come from? 👀 I knew karma was gone come for Andrea, but damn, I was not expecting that outcome! She done got me again! 🤯

[Myracle ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

the way my jaw is on the floor right now. wow. octavia gone do it everytime.

[Jailai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always questioning the brain that Octavia has 😂

What’s done in the dark will ALWAYS come to light. There’s no reason why Andrea thought karma would not tear her tail up full throttle lol!

[Sigrid Boggan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing! Gory and extremely graphic but amazing. I love a good revenge plot and Octavia Grant did not disappoint

[Amber Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

WTF I'd I just read? This is all I can ask myself after reading this book. If you're looking for a quick crazy story this is the one for you.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the hell.........

Omg I'm mad this was a quick read! I need more of the craziness. I did not see that ending coming.......

[Shoda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uuuum

So her tempter is that bad she murdered because someone told her about her self? Why would her best friend snitch on her? How is he that crazy to sit in marry her for 5 years? Like this was boring and sick of him. How are you that hurt about someone you were constantly cheating on?

[Eros Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What’s done in the dark always comes to the light.”

Octavia Grant… I love you down bad.
With every novella that I read from her I am consistently:
-engaged
-enthralled
-thrilled
-shocked
-& disturbed

I don’t even read the synopsis at this point.
If she writes it, I’m reading it.
This was a wild one.
I’m not the type of reader who makes faces of disgust often but with her thrillers, it’s hard not to.
I read this guessing what could happen and in the end I was still left needing a moment to process what I read.

If you looking for a fast paced, disturbing novella about grief and revenge. This is the book for you.

[JazzReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story

This was a good story and Brittney past really caught up to her at the end. Jayce was not playing about getting his revenge for his last wife with hid cheating butt. The fact that he had a baby by Brittney was crazy.

[Crystal (Melanatedreader) Forte' · Rating 4 out of 5]

the ultimate story of revenge

This one left my mouth wide open bc baby I just wasn’t even expecting the level of get back that was orchestrated my Lawd! Some people take a wild step to make sure Karma is given no matter what the cost!

[Gina Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

K*A*R*M*A

That book was AWESOME!!!!!!! Andrea/Brittany got exactly all that she deserved and some!!! This book was well written, short and to the point.

[LaWanda Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read but it was juicy and I was able to predict some of the main things that were going to happen. A couple grammatical errors. Regardless was still a good read.

[Let Seshat Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dam O.G.

Octavia Grant is the goat!

If sleeping with the enemy had a face it would be Brittany. Karma is indeed a true b!tch.

[Jerricka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always in shock with those plot twists

[Jay Dionne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yuuup! This is the Octavia I love. I saw something coming but I didn’t see THAT coming.

[Lacy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So quick. So satisfying. I love unhinged revenge books 😝

[J.R. Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooop! Plot twist!!

That twist at the end was wild. Was NOT expecting THAT! A quick, thrilling, and entertaining read. (Let's not forget crazy)...

[Anna J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea thought she was going to out run her past, and sis almost made it out until she didn’t. If “what you put out is what you get back” was a person, her name would be Andrea. Nobody is who they appeared to be in this read.
Poor Jayce… I guess. He was a slime ball too, but I guess in comparison to Andrea his discrepancy wasn’t as bad. After he lost his wife he lost his mind and could barely hold it together.
How deep on revenge do you to be to… well, I’ll just let you read about it 😂. Let’s just say revenge was at the top of the list, he did not come to play.

A good quick read that had me like wtf just happened 🤦🏾‍♀️

Title: Captured Secrets
Author: Octavia Grant
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 59
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book #60 for 2024

[Shanelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW

This book was really good and the plot twist was excellent. What's done in the dark definitely came to light for Ms Brittany/Andrea. But the ultimate shocker was Jayce/Braxton. Now that was something I didn't suspect or expect. I like how the author put this story together. Keeps the reader engaged wanting to know how things will end especially with all the secrets and the connections these characters had to each other. This is a suspense mystery story I highly recommend reading.

[Poetik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love a good twist

I loved the twist in this story. I wasn't expecting what I read towards the end and that makes me a happy reader. I can't stand when I know what's happening before it happens. This is another short story that I'd love to see a film adaptation of because of the twist. That one reveal made the entire story for me. I would love to see Octavia, Tanisha, Linette and a couple of other women authors do a Black mirrors style film adaption of some of their short stories.

[Anissa Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really quick read.
Jayce is at his wife Anika's funeral & he's really broken up about her death. He can't even be strong.
Brittany is a bitter & vindictive person who doesn't care how she gets what she wants as long as she gets it. Later she decides to change her ways & settle down but is it too late for that?

[chiichiilynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was reallyy good and had a crazy twist at the end that literally had me sitting up in my bed because I was like “waittt whattttttt noooooooo!!!!”. It was shorter then I expected but detailed and it did have some confusion pertaining to when a character was speaking or if something was being said by the narrator.
Definitely should check this out !!