I was first introduced to Jason Pinter in 2020 when I received a complementary copy of Hide Away. In that book, Jason introduced a strong female protagonist in Rachel Marin…and I’m a sucker for strong female characters. As a result, I devoured Hide Away and had hopes the book would be the start of a long-running series due to Rachel’s combination of strength and resilience wrapped inside a caring mother. Thankfully, Jason recently released a sequel titled A Stranger at the Door, a worthy sequel that further develops Rachel and the key characters around her.
In A Stranger at the Door, Rachel is now a forensics consultant with the Ashby Police Department. This is a win/win as it gives her purpose and an outlet for her special set of skills while also providing the police with augmented capabilities via her expertise. In parallel, Rachel and her family are still dealing with the aftermath of tragic events from their past when a teacher from the local high school is gruesomely murdered. As Rachel gets involved in the investigation, nefarious forces behind the scenes will stop at nothing to hide the truth, putting everyone around her in mortal danger. Despite verbal and physical warnings to back off, and driven by the ideal that if she can unravel this deception then her family will finally have a shot at some semblance of normalcy, Rachel continues to push forward in a desperate attempt to solve the case and protect the people she loves.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and there are a couple of things that strongly resonated with me. First, as a parent, Rachel’s drive to do anything to protect her kids forces me to think through what I would do in these situations. Second, because a main portion of the plot involves taking advantage of susceptible and impressionable teenage boys, this book brought out a lot of emotion in me. On both these points, this story really hit home with me as the father of two boys, one of which is a teenager about the same age as Rachel’s son Eric. I found myself comparing my parenting style with hers, even though I’ve never experienced anything close to what her and her kids have gone through. It also forced me to confront my own parenting abilities and shortcomings with results I now either need to address or ignore (possibly to my peril). Lastly, it increased my level of concern for keeping my boys safe and away from those who don’t have their best interests in mind. Heavy stuff you don’t necessarily expect from a thriller book. Thanks a lot Jason Pinter! (wink, wink)
On a lighter note, A Stranger at the Door is well written. The story is compelling and moves at a rapid pace. The character development is solid, both for the returning characters from the prior book and for the bad guys introduced in this story. In summary, A Stranger at the Door is an excellent second installment in the series and one I’m excited to recommend to thriller fans of police procedurals and psychological thrillers.
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Barrington Books
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