The garden of dead thoughts

by Natasha A. Salnikova

Margo needs only one thing from men - money. She does anything to get what she wants: manipulates, lies, even kills. She killed her first husband and made it look like an accident to get his money. Unfortunately for her, his will left almost everything to his sons from his first marriage, leaving Margo with not even half of what she expected. Margo is frustrated, but she’s still young and beautiful and men fall at her feet. She has no doubt she will find another sucker. After all, she always has men in her pocket.

There’s only one problem. Actually two. In fact, much more than Margo ever expected.

330 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2017

About the author

Writing was Natasha A. Salnikova's passion since she was fourteen. She worked as a writer and a host on various TV shows and published two books in Russia. Her early obsession with psychology naturally lead her to write psychological thrillers. Natasha enjoys researching different psychological disorders for her books. She's also an author of supernatural thrillers and science fiction novels. She's a huge pet lover, yoga practitioner, vegetarian, and immature photographer. She currently lives in sunny Florida with her family.

Reviews

[Chandra Claypool (WhereTheReaderGrows) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margo is quite the character and men seem to come easy to her. Being inside her head was being reminded at every turn why she's so good at what she does, how good looking she is, how crappy anyone is that can't do anything for her and she may be the only person I've ever heard of who could pull off 7" heels. WOAH!

The synopsis had me intrigued about this book. There were just a few issues that I had. The interactions felt a bit forced throughout the first half of the book. Lots of exclamation points made it feel they were screaming at each other and everything felt very formal - very little use of any type of contractions in speaking until closer to the end of the book. Everything came too easy to these characters and WOW - let me just say... I wish I had the confidence and self esteem that they did.

Once I just let any perception I was trying to have go and just went with the flow I found myself enjoying it more. The flip side of the story that we see through another character seemed a bit repetitive and I felt like I was reading the same story... again. So, I think some extra editing may have been needed to really round the edges.

Here's the thing though - I still couldn't stop reading. While there were things that were definitely obvious, at least to me - someone who reads a ton of thrillers, I still wanted to see how it was going to play out. I couldn't relate to the characters, yet somehow I was invested in the story. And boy am I glad that I did. I certainly did NOT see that ending coming. I felt like SOMETHING was up but definitely did not think it would be THAT. You'll have to read the book to find out. 😉

A big thank you to the author for this copy in return for my honest review. <3

[Harleigh Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an ending! I definitely didn't see that coming! This book is full of twists and turns and it's quite an enjoyable read with an interesting story line that had me guessing what would happen next! Great for lovers of psychological thrillers. I will say however that it's in need of editing, because of this I rated it 3,5/5

[Mandi Schneck · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Natasha reached out to me and asked if I would read her latest work, I jumped at the chance after seeing the plot of this novel. The Garden of Dead Thoughts follows manipulative Margo, a beautiful woman set on living a luxurious and wealthy life, who will stop at nothing to achieve it. Even if that something is murder.

Jilted in the will of her first lover, Margo vows to be more cautious and calculating with her next, using her beauty as a trap to lure in the perfect man. As she schemes and calculates, settling on her next husband/victim Michael, she starts to learn that people are not always as easy to manipulate as they seem, and that she's not the only one hiding ulterior motives. Soon, Margo finds herself in a game of cat and mouse where it appears that only one individual can come out on top. But can combining their unusual skills and forming an alliance help both parties achieve what they set out to accomplish?

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was written in 3 points of view: Margo, Michael, and a third POV that combines both of them. There is a lot of deception, and there are a lot of murders. I loved Margo's character and thought she was developed fantastically. And the plot twist is something like I've never seen! It came totally out of left field and I loved not being able to guess the ending for once. This was a fast read that I devoured in just a few hours. My biggest complaint is that I feel like it was edited carelessly, as I found more errors than I like to see in a finished book.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Thanks Natasha for honoring me with the chance to read your work!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was given to me for a honest review. My apologies to Mrs. Salnikova for not finishing it back in November but real life kept me busy and all.

SPOILER ALERT:

I liked the characters in the book and the 2 way stories if each character. Margo is one of the characters. Pretty, smart, murderer and she's full of it to. However, you get sucked into her story and want to learn more. Her first husband, whom was mysteriously was killed and then she met Frank (a.k.a. Michael). Once these 2 get married they had no idea of each other's true backgrounds and then Michael (a.k.a Frank) comes out to tell his story and background on how he planned on murdering Margo. Than they met Mason down the road, you have no idea this man had twisted this couple. It had a very interesting twist to the end. I was thinking the whole time is that Karma is a real bitch for the couple.

This was a " out of the zone" read for me. I really enjoyed the twist at the end, glad I kept up with the book. I thought Franks story was more interesting than Margo's.

Would I recommend this book to someone? Yes, especially if they are into thrillers.

[Maitreyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a thoroughly entertaining read! I did almost DNF the book because I couldn't relate to the protagonist but I realised that I wasn't meant to! So once I gave up on the quest to relate, I enjoyed it immensely.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost dnf'd this one. The last 5% is the best part of this one, IMO.

I think the one thing I can say is that this book is in need of editing. Not for typos/grammar (although it's strange that no one uses contractions when they talk), but for content and development.

[Lindsay V. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Margo has spent her life scheming for money - and getting away with it. She thinks she’s in complete control, until it's uncovered that her late husband changed his will and she’s left with nothing. What does Margo do now? And how many more surprises are there?

This book is one with a main character that's easy to hate; but a story line that's easy to fall into. Though I felt that some parts were extra wordy, and some aspects were underdeveloped, overall this was an entertaining read.