A Secret Worth Keeping

by Drew Strickland

A perfect weekend. The perfect company. A perfect cabin.

The perfect place to bury a body…

For Joel and Stella, it’s the trip they’ve been dreaming about. Fresh air, quiet time in the woods, and no work to distract them from each other. Being a new couple, they don’t waste any time with their first full weekend away together.

But their perfect getaway turns into a nightmare when an accident occurs and they find a dead woman lying outside their cabin.

Clearly they have to call the police, but what Joel reveals to Stella makes her understand there’s no way they can get the authorities involved.

Stella has no other choice than to go along with Joel’s plans to hide the body, realizing now that she never really knew the man she’s sharing a bed with.

But what if there’s more that Joel isn’t telling her? And what if he figures out that she doesn’t trust him anymore?

Most of all, what if Joel finds out the secret that she’s been hiding from him?

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Fiction, Suspense

211 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2024

About the author

Drew Strickland is an Amazon #1 bestselling author of the Sheriff Elven Hallie Mysteries along with other twisted crime and psychological thrillers.

He resides in Arizona with his wife and kids. When he’s not writing, he can be found reading, exploring new cities, spending time with his family, and of course, cuddling with his many cats (for real, cats just love him and he loves them).



Connect with Drew:



➜ WEBSITE: drewstricklandbooks.com

➜ FACEBOOK: facebook.com/drewstricklandbooks

➜ INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/drewstricklandbooks

Reviews

[Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE BIGGEST SECRET in "A Secret Worth Keeping"???

The biggest secret was author Drew Strickland.

Where has this author been hiding?

Per GoodReads, he has written over 20 books!

And why was this my first Drew Strickland book?

NOT-SO-SECRET PREMISE:
What happens when a philanderer and his girlfriend find a dead woman lying outside their cabin during a weekend fling?

This pacy and twisty book was fun, unpredictable, unputdownable, and jaw-dropping.

I listened to the audiobook read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, Evan Sibley, and Kimberly M. Wetherell.

Full-cast audiobooks are always a treat and all narrators did a superb job with the narration.

THE SECRET IS OUT:
This book was a 5-star winner!

[AmBerGUR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wait, WHAT?!!! 🤔😲

[Mike Finn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend that you read 'A Secret Worth Keeping' in a single sitting if you can. It's a book to experience not to ponder over.

What is the experience? You know those rides at the big theme parks where they strap you in, drop you from a great height at scream-making speed and then throw you around corners? It's that kind of reading experience. To enjoy it to the full, you have to surrender all control and go wherever the plot takes you.

The book opens with a prologue featuring a fatal car crash. I don't know who was involved and I don't find out how it relates to anything else until almost the end of the book but it's important to the plot and it gets the story off to an action-packed, explanation-free start that should have set my expectations.

Except that the next part of the story seemed more conventional, so I dropped my guard. I watched a couple who seemed to be in the first throws of lust, when they knew little about each other except that heading to an isolated cabin in the mountains for a weekend of sex is an irresistible idea. She's still not entirely comfortable with him and is watching his reactions closely. He's willing to put up with anything, including a surprisingly dusty, ill-prepared cabin, as long as they can both get their clothes off as soon as possible. Then the story stopped being conventional and someone ended up dead. The who and how of that death changed everything and I knew that I had no idea of what was really going on.

Then I got a 'x days earlier' set of rollbacks from three different points of view that sort of got me to how the death happened. Except, even then, I knew that I was missing something and that everything would change again.

From there on the pace of the plot kept accelerating. Things kept getting worse for everyone involved, no one was who they seemed to be and everyone had secrets. I could see this wasn't going to end well but I couldn't guess at for whom or how.

There are two women in the story. Both of them come across as dangerous and occasionally as desperate yet both of them were easier to like than the main male character who had the irrepressible self-confidence of a mediocre middle-class white guy who knows he's doing something he shouldn't but expects to get away with it, who knows that he's not a very nice guy but tells himself that he's not a very bad guy either and he's just following his nature.

I loved the inventiveness of the plot and how the action was lubricated by low-key dark humour that seemed to be about veniality but might actually be hiding anger and malice.

There were times, towards the end of the story, when the plot twisted so fast and so far that it might have challenged my ability to suspend disbelief but I was having such a good time by then that I didn't care.

I had a lot of fun with this book and I'll be hitting Drew Strickland's back catalogue to see if I can find another rollicking ride like 'A Secret Worth Keeping'.

[NurseKelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️

You know those mystery/thrillers that just never pull you in? This is one of them. It was fine. The plot was fast paced. Plenty of twists. But it felt so rushed, there was zero character development & you feel dumped in the middle of a story where you end up feeling like you’re playing catch up the whole time. It wraps up & I just looked around like “Um. Okay.”

[Donna Mallery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my first by this author and was surprised that he only has two standalone books! His writing reminds me of Daniel Hurst. I read it in a short day. While I think the last chapter was unnecessary, it was a fun read with fun twists! I’ll be reading more of his work!

[LaGaryce · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

i ate this up! quick read as well
4⭐️

[Barbara Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing

More than confusing the ending felt very incomplete. So much work was put into this story and for what reason. Payback, revenge, to teach a spouse a lesson or get back at her patient. Certainly not on my list of favorites.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-4.75 rounded up

Recommended by Tina from TBR, Etc. I never would have known about this book without the recommendation. So glad I picked it up.

Listed to the audio and this had all the elements that work for me in an audio book. Short, fast paced, fantastic setting, takes place over a short time period, multiple narrators (I often struggle with the same narrator voicing multiple characters) and plenty of twists and action.

Stella thinks she has met a great guy and that they have a good relationship. But when she takes a weekend trip to an isolated cabin, she discovers she might be wrong about Joel. From the first moment, the cabin seems a little sketchy and Joel’s behavior starts to change. After an encounter with an unexpected visitor goes awry, things unravel for Stella and Joel. Plenty of twists that I could not predict. This was a fun, thrilling page-turner. If you enjoy popcorn thrillers, this might work for you.
I think readers of Freida McFadden’s books might enjoy. It had similar vibes for me.

Highly Recommend!

[Susan Christ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Wiseask · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Secret Worth Keeping, if not the best psych-thriller ever written, is at least the best I’ve ever read. My only problem is that there aren’t enough superlatives to do it justice.

Joel is about ten years older than Stella who’s in her twenties. After dating for a month they decide to spend a romantic weekend together in a remote cabin until they discover what looks like a dead body outside.

But it’s not just any dead body.

Written with clarity, humor, suspense, more suspense and surprise after surprise, the ingenious plot is perfectly constructed from the first chapter to the last delicious sentence where everyone gets exactly what they deserve.

And I mean everyone.

[Demitria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted a quick audiobook to listen to while cleaning and picked this. To my surprise, I recognized the small towns (Payson and Heber/Overgaard, AZ) this book took place in since they are not only local, but I lived in them and visit them frequently. So this added a little fun to listening since I could literally picture the places and landmarks mentioned.

I will say, my attention was grabbed from the beginning. It’s very fast paced and just when you think you know who to suspect, something else is thrown at you and you’re confused again.

Because it’s fast paced, I feel like there wasn’t a ton a character development. There wasn’t a ton of history or background to judge the characters on. Which is okay in this instance. I think this book is meant to be read in one sitting and you’re only supposed to see the characters at face value until the end for added suspense.

The characters end up dealing with Murphy’s law while trying to clean up an accidental murder. And it’s like the blind leading the blind. They try to be so inconspicuous and yet somehow end up in so many predicaments that you just have to laugh.

So yes, I did enjoy it. There’s plenty a plot twist in this little book (only 203 pages). It’s a fun, fast paced and an easy lil read.

[Lyndsey Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was sooooo bad but the ending/epilogue made up for it a TINY bit. everything was so far fetched, and i can't stand when a book is written in first-person and the narrator straight up lies to me. it would have been much better in single (Joel's) POV.

Listened on Audio and the narrators were great.

[henry smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. Kinda lame. No rhyme or reason. Just strange. Left question in my mind. Why?

[Alicia Krage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I love a short little popcorn thriller. This captivated me from the very beginning. Also, the twist/big reveal is confusing and I'm lost but I don't even mind.

[Emily Redenshek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one! It felt kinda long and drug out a bit, but I definitely wasn’t expecting the last quarter of it and what happened. Think I’ll read more of Drew’s work!

[Kerri · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story line would have been a lot better and you keep waiting for it to improve and sadly it does.

A disappointing read with an obvious end

[Marissa (holdme.thrillme) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a quick, twisty, and thrilling adventure! I literally read it in a day because I was so into it and because it’s on the short side at just 211 pages. I really never saw this ending coming and audibly gasped at times! You’re definitely going to want this one on your thriller wishlist!

[Ssmit524 Sarah smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book with a twist

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cripes, man. What a bunch of twits.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel disappointed. First, the good. I liked the audio narration, and the plot moved quickly. Now, the bad. I dislike unreliable narrators anyway, but lies and/or deliberate reader misdirection from multiple POV's? That's even worse. I didn't see a compelling reason or an end goal for the elaborate, implausible hoax, and the ending was resolved by an obvious loose end. Overall, while this was an easy, quick read, it left me too annoyed to pick up other books by this author.

[Jackie Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept reading this story because the reviews were so good. I was hopeful that the writing and character development would get better. It didn't. I didn't like any of the characters and the plot wandered around at times. The ending was unbelievable and not in a good way. I'm struggling to understand why so may reviewers gave it 4 and 5 stars.

[Mona Wing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fasten your seatbelt!

You're in for a wild ride! While I won't spoil any part of this book with details, I've got to say I haven't read such a bizarre, twisting story like this. Ever.

[Meghan McClendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Drew Strickland book was not a disappointment! A thriller with secrets, turns, and twists you never see coming!

I received this book as an ARC.

[✨Shay✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This boook had the potential for greatness but failed extremly flat. The story was tired and unrealistic.

[Jennifer Bendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, short read. I used it as my car book and it was really hard to put down. I guessed part of the big twist but I still enjoyed it. I love how the end leaves you like “oh sh*t” 3.5 stars for me!

[Georgette Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good short psychological thriller read! It reads like a Freida McFadden book! I did figure out the first half of the mystery right away but the second part I was like ohhhhhh haha. Def similar to Frieda McFadden Never Lie I believe it is. Def check it out

[Tana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, full of twists, and the narrators of the audiobook were superb! This could easily be read in one day, it’s perfect for a long car ride or day at the beach. 4.75 stars, rounded up. I’m not sure where this author has been hiding, but I’m glad to have found him!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 and rounded up. Short and sneaky and a aolid wrap up.

[mia’s reads 🎀 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️! read in one sitting
-was a little confusing
-kept me interested
-very twisty