The Intruder: A Diabolical Psychological Thriller

by Adriane Leigh

How far would you go to reclaim the life you were denied?

Shae Halston wears her lies like a second skin. The dutiful daughter. The perfect wife. The loving caregiver. After a lifetime of betrayal, abandonment, and unspeakable abuse, Shae has learned one truth—revenge is the only way to heal. When she takes a job caring for Kelly, a once-renowned therapist left helpless and disfigured after a tragic accident, Shae sees it as the perfect opportunity.

Because Kelly isn’t just her patient. She’s the woman who destroyed Shae’s life.

As secrets unravel and memories resurface, Shae’s grip on reality begins to slip. Kelly knows more than she lets on, and Shae’s carefully constructed revenge spirals into something far more dangerous. In a house filled with buried secrets and ghosts of the past, the line between victim and villain begins to blur.

How far will Shae go to punish the woman who left her? And what happens when the monster you’re hunting… is you?

Darkly twisted, chillingly intimate, and deeply unsettling, The Intruder is a psychological thriller about generational trauma, manipulation, and the darkness that festers when revenge becomes an obsession. Perfect for fans of The Locked Door by Freida McFadden, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, and The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, this story will haunt you long after you’ve turned the final page.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Book Club

270 pages, Paperback

Published January 21, 2025

About the author

is a USA Today bestselling author of multiple novels and novellas. With appearances in publications such as Vogue Magazine and The Montreal Gazette, the award-winning author, in addition to writing, founded RARE: Romance Author & Reader Events, a community of internationally-renowned book conventions that draw thousands of readers and #1 bestselling authors to events around the world each year. 

She hosts a podcast, The Rebel Artist, and her books are translated into French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

She lives on Lake Michigan with her family.

Reviews

[Jaimie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this book was so repetitive. The same adjectives used every time Shae laughed. The same “look of defiance” line used every single time Kelly narrowed her eye at Shae. I just feel like most of the book was copy and pasted changing a few words to make it seem different. It never disclosed Shae’s age but I feel like I was reading the point of view of a bratty, narcissistic teenage girl rather than (I’m assuming was) a 30ish year old woman?

[Rachel Fell · Rating 1 out of 5]

For all the Facebook hype, this book sucked. It was repetitive, poorly written and just bizarre. Not one to DNF a book, but I were, this would have been it.

[Megan The Book WHOaRdEr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Slightly disappointed that the final book in this 3 series collection fell short after the first 2 were gripping and intense.

[Shannon]

DNF at 32%— “flicker” count is already at 16 and all we’ve done is torture a physically impaired individual and launch into the same narcissistic rant for 75 pages. I’m out. ✌️

[♡Heather✩Brown♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I want to scream. I want to laugh. I want to cry. Instead, I take a shaky breath and push myself off the door. One step at a time, I tell myself. Compartmentalize. Tidy it all up in neat little boxes and deal with the fallout later. That's what I'm good at,” (p. 189).

“Because if there's one thing I've learned, it's that survival isn't about being the strongest or the smartest. It's about being the most adaptable. And I'm nothing if not adaptable,” (p. 243).

What a fabulous, yet devious, little book this was! Seriously one of the best revenge books I’ve ever read. Oof! Some of those scenes were insane but I loved every second of them.

MEMORABLE: Dog being a traitor. I can SO relate to traitor dogs - that’s my other name for my dogs. ♥️

I’m sad that this trilogy is over… maybe? I’ve loved how devious Shea has been (and still is). Her crazy actions, driven by humble motives, were what made this series shine.

Need more books like this one! Satisfied every hunger of unhinged characters than any other book I’ve ever read before.

I FKING LOVE THIS AUTHOR. Where her mind takes her - uninhibited by morals by conscious - have created character I just love but might be a little afraid of.

Love unhinged characters? Love a revenge story? Love characters trying to be someone else? Then you need to read this book! But you must read the first two books before it. You won’t know all the players or what’s happening here if you skip the first two books. Enjoy!

[Stacey Crampton · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not a good end to the trilogy. Whilst the first two were well written, despite being chaotically mental, this one was not. It actually felt like it wasn’t written by the same person.

I get that some elements were not mistakes but deliberate “errors” when characters referred to Shae and Kelly by their real names, but that bugged me. It also bugged me that about 90% of this book is dialogue being repeated over and over again. I was so glad it was such a quick read, because at least the torture was over fast.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok read

I’ve read all 3 in this series and they declined as it went on. There are just too many holes in the story. A bit too unrealistic and unbelievable.

[Danielle Ramey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I was the one being tortured by Shae by having to read this book

[Brittany Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pretty boring. Not like the first two books, it continues the story but it’s like the writing is repetitive to draw the book out longer. The book only gets somewhat interesting after the first half.

[Danielle Goddard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The hook for picking up this book, was you will love it if you were a fan of the book verity or Freida McFadden books. Sadly wasn’t the case for me. I really struggled reading what was happening to Kelly. It just seemed so evil and I felt it wasn’t deserved as such. Also found the book very repetitive, I get it the reasoning for revenge but felt it didn’t need to keep being reenforced in nearly every chapter. Then it was the repetition of words, especially ‘grotesque’

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

DNF
This kills me to do especially since it is a 3rd book of the series but this isn’t good writing or plot. The crazy Shae in the first 2 was entertaining and this book she is just repetitive and horrible.

The way she is torturing Kelly isn’t at all interesting to read. I can’t go on and don’t care anymore.

[Simone · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's the same thing over and over and over and over... It's not well written. I skipped some of the middle and didn't miss a thing!

[Amber LaRussa · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's just no way to prepare you for this series...you're immediately hooked on the main character, Shae and her unraveling. 3 books later and I'm speechless with the ending. I still want more...would love to see more books in this series. To me there's a lot left to be told of the other characters. Especially Kelly and also Dean. Fingers crossed there will be more!

[Janelle Callaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but I feel like it would’ve been better to stop it after the second book. This one felt a bit more forced.

[Elizabeth Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Binged this series in a weekend. It was interesting how the author continued the storyline flawlessly from book to book. This is a series you could read book 1 wait a while before picking up book 2 and not felt like you missed something.
There were a couple of foreshadowing instances, when she remembers Sophie’s death being her fault, and the first time she sees Taylor while at her mothers, he calls her Shae and nothing else is spoken about that…she didn’t even acknowledge it.
Then there are other things I wanted more details about. How did Kelly contact Robert? Why bother throwing in a group of girls from high school when they really didn’t add to the plot.
Overall it was a great series, I’d recommend it to others, but it’s not as psychological thriller as much as it is just psycho-drama.

[Susan Gaines · Rating 3 out of 5]

3rd in the series but too over the top!

The 1st was good as was the 2nd. But the 3rd was just too much! Also some very obvious mis edits. Taylor called her Shae when she was supposed to Kelly. A few chapters in, she’s walking down the hall with her heels making noise on the hardwood but then down to page 130, same hall she’s walking down but her steps are covered by the carpet! I notice stuff like that. Her brutality was too over the top I think.
I was tired of it and had to force myself to finish it.

[Gadde Fig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good End to the Series But….

Loved the series, the only thing about book 3 is that I feel the author could have gone in a different direction for the ending (at about 80% of the book) it would have been one heck of a shocker had it gone the way I thought it was going. Overall great reads!!!

[Zoe Koza · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had so much hype online, so I went in with high expectations—but it just never hit for me. I kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. I almost DNF’d it but stuck it out, hoping something would change. Honestly, just not for me.

[Lauren Konicki Grasser · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hate, double hate, loathe entirely.

I started this book as a member of a book club and felt obligated to finish it, but it was a struggle.

The writing is awful, descriptors are repetitive, and candidly, it’s just unlikeable and difficult to read.

I have not read her other two books so I can’t speak for them, but after this one I’m not sure I’d be willing to read something else by this author.

[Megan Oiler · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.

This one fell flat for me, a little repetitive and I felt like it could have been a very short book without the repetition.

It was cool to see her mind legit go delulu though. I’m glad I read this series though, was a nice little cleanser between fantasy reads.

[Deniese Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the 1st 2

Started off strong but the last book i struggled to finish....was a little long and I lost interest halfway thru...could just be a me thing tho

[Hannah Plassins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just okay. Not as good or interesting as the first 2 books in the series. I agree with all the other reviews, a lot of repetitive and redundant sayings and phrases. Drove me a little crazy.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Didn't think the story nor writing was as good as the first two, but will still read the 4th installment.
Ms. Leigh needs a new proof reader. On page 109, I started counting the use of the following words: flicker, whisper, mock, dripping, sarcasm.
In the following 134 pages the count was as follows.
Flicker- 10
Dripping - 4 (probably more as I stopped counting
Mock - 6 ( I know higher, but stopped counting)
Whisper - 14
Sarcasm-3 and stopped counting
Punch to the gurl used well over 4 times
Tasting like ash - 2
In the last three chapters she used the term "Spoiler Alert"- cute once, not 3x

I know the proofed has a thesaurus somewhere.
8 other possible words for flicker
8 other words for dripping
At least 7 other words for mock
At least 7 other words for whisper

Next book I will start my count sooner.

Good story, though.

[Alyssa Beachum · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a terrible ending to a mediocre series. The first book was pretty good, the 2nd had some serious plot holes and moments requiring suspension of disbelief, but this 3rd one was so absurd and poorly written it was a real struggle to finish. It was just so unrealistic, and there were serious continuity and plot issues (Kelly’s in a vegetative state but also can coordinate with her ex to arrange for law force intervention?). If you read the first two, save yourself the trouble of slogging through this one and just know she gets caught in the end and is still an insufferable narcissist with a very loose grip on reality.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first two books of this series were decent and intriguing despite it being a darker plot and pretty unlikable character it kept me guessing, until this last book. It was bad, the character was horrible and I held out hope it would turn around but was disappointed. Made me mad I read them all with how This turned out.
Quick read but want my few hours back.

[Ag · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sub-title for this one is “A Diabolical Psychological Thriller”, but I’m not entirely sure about that “diabolical” part. I’d say it’s more of a FAFO, and the FO part is not for the main character Shae, but for everyone else involved in the story who has been running rampant doing their FA part.
First, let me start by saying that this is book THREE in the series. You most definitely want to read the first two books, this will not work as a standalone book. You must know Shae's back story. Otherwise, this book will just seem… weird and off. Read the first two books. You will not be disappointed.
Ok, Adriane, do you know who your target audience is? Do you know that anyone who is NORMAL, will label your Shae books utterly vile, gory, and filled with so much evil no human can ever think of? I hope you do. Because those who read for therapy (whatever, I hope the term makes no sense to most) will never say stuff like that. Watch me.
I know that *most* normal readers (lol lol lol) will say this book is just gory, vile, evil. Me? no. not me. Our darling Shae here is the most rational, the most reasonable, and the most relatable. Everything she does makes sense. To me.
When I was at 63%, I wrote down in my paper notebook – I’m #teamshae. I see her. I understand her. I could be her. or I might have my inner Shae.
It’s not Shae anyone who reads the book should hate or fear, or say they hope they never meet anyone like her. It’s the people who created her (and I don’t mean Adriane here!).
The book is the ultimate FAFO, as I mentioned above. Unhinged? Maybe. The first two books were more unhinged. This one? Just pure rational revenge. And even in Shae’s revenge those who failed her all her life somehow managed to fail her. Yet the world makes Shae the villain. Yet the world makes Shae the crazy one. Me? Nope, I’m still #teamshae.

[Sandy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25stars—THE INTRUDER is the third and final instalment in Adriane Leigh’s contemporary, adult, dark, psychological thriller focusing on Mia Starr aka Shae Halston aka Kelly Fraser. THE INTRUDER should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up after the events and cliff hanger of book two THE IMPOSTER


SOME BACKGROUND: Shae Halston is the former social media influencer known as Mia Starr but the unreality of Mia’s online presence was in complete opposition to the reality of Shae’s own life. As Shae succumbed to the demons that were controlling her mind, she takes aim at anyone and everyone she blames for destroying her life

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person perspective (Shae)THE INTRUDER follows Shae Halston as she continues to exact revenge on the people in her life. Real or imagined, Shae targets friends and family, in the name of vengeance, for sins of the past. A psychotic break pushes Shae over the edge, as she spirals with the memories of what happened to set her on a journey of darkness, a journey that reveals a family history of secrets and lies.


THE INTRUDER is a dark and dramatic story of murder and vengeance, mental illness and abuse, obsession and madness, and dysfunctional family dynamics. The premise is tragic and intriguing; the characters are desperate and dogged.


copy supplied for review

[Becka 🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

🤍𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓭𝓮𝓻 🤍

Stars: 3⭐️

Genre: psychological suspense

Publication Date: January 21 2025


Blurb: Shae has fled from her job as a therapist and has decided to leave behind Kelly Fraser LLP as well. With a new identity she found the real Kelly and decides to become her caregiver, there’s only one problem… Taylor has also followed her to her new location. Will her plan finally unravel or will Shae complete her long overdue plan?

Opinion: This final novel in the series took my mind for a spin.. the amount of chaos happening in the last 40% of the book was insane and I cannot believe Adriane was able to fit all that into the end of a series without leaving any questions I had unanswered.

I really enjoyed how Adriane was able to finally allow us to understand Shaw and her past and what really happened when she was little that triggered her to become the way she is.

Taylor played a huge role in the second novel and I had my suspicions so I am very glad that I got the answers that I needed for his character role as well.

Adriane this series was defiantly one that I needed to read one after another because of the way that they leave off and immediately continue on in the next book, I will definitely miss Shae and her chaos but I am so happy with the way you ended this series. Nothing left unanswered all the characters story lines wrapped up in a bow and tucked into the closet.

Read if you like:

🌸mind games
🌸past/present timeline
🌸 suspense

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mistakenly read The Intruder before its sequel (Imposter) and spent a solid portion of this book blinking in confusion like, “Wait, should I know these people? Did I miss a memo?!” Turns out, yes—I missed an entire book. Whoops.

But let’s talk The Intruder. This book is like stepping into a gothic funhouse: mirrors everywhere, identities shifting, and you’re never quite sure who’s telling the truth—or who even knows the truth. Shae wears her lies better than most people wear sweatpants, and honestly? Respect. She’s been through the wringer and decided revenge is a personality trait.

She takes a job caring for Kelly, a once-famous therapist who now lives in a state of disrepair (mentally, physically, and emotionally). But plot twist! Kelly isn’t just a patient—she’s the patient—the one who ruined Shae’s life. Dun dun dunnnn.

Things spiral fast. There are secrets, gaslighting, long-buried trauma, and enough psychological tension to make your brain itch. But reading it out of order made me feel like I was putting together IKEA furniture with someone else’s instruction manual.

Still, it was a wild ride. A little over-the-top? Yes. Slightly confusing if you start in the wrong place? Definitely. But if you like your thrillers with messy revenge, unreliable narrators, and a strong “Wait, what just happened?” energy, this one’s worth the trip—just maybe check the reading order first 😅

[Amanda Lacroix · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to try to find a new author I enjoyed as much as my go-to ones. This book was recommended to me on good reads, so I gave it a shot. The only reason I finished the book was because I hate to start something and not complete it. I was honestly irritated reading it. Usually, you get sucked into the plot and the story keeps your attention. I was so distracted by the repetitive descriptions and statements. The dialogue between characters seemed so lazy and repetitive or just not believable. I feel terrible writing a response like this, I literally never have. But, my goodness I’m a mom of little kids and my spare time is limited and precious and this was a definite disappointment.