A stranger on the beach / Michele Campbell.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Parade's "10 Books Written by Women We Can't Wait to Read in 2019" | She Reads' "Most Anticipated Thillers of Summer 2019" | Pure Wow's "The Best Beach Reads of Summer 2019" | CrimeReads ' "The Most Anticipated Crime Books of Summer"

From bestselling author Michele Campbell comes A Stranger on the Beach , an edge-of-your seat story of passion and intrigue that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Caroline Stark's beach house was supposed to be her crowning achievement: a lavish, expensive space to showcase what she thought was her perfect family. But after a very public fight with her husband, she realizes things may not be as perfect as they seem: her husband is lying to her, the money is disappearing, and there's a stranger on the beach outside her house.

As Caroline's marriage and her carefully constructed lifestyle begin to collapse around her, she turns to Aidan, the stranger, for comfort...and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aidan's infatuation with Caroline, her family, and her house becomes more and more destructive. But who is manipulating whom in this deadly game of obsession and control? Who will take the blame when someone ends up dead...and what is Caroline hiding?

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Well-to-do New Yorker Caroline Stark, the narrator of this engrossing, if flawed, thriller from Campbell (She Was the Quiet One), loses everything starting the night her husband, Jason, arrives late for the housewarming party at their new beach house followed by a Russian woman he claims is a business associate. Caroline knows the woman is his mistress, and their marriage falls apart. Soon the bank accounts are empty, the credit cards are canceled, and Caroline's college-age daughter is siding with Jason. Drunk and despondent, Caroline has an impetuous fling with a bartender, Aiden Callahan, who has a history of violence. Aiden becomes obsessed with Caroline and her house, which is built on land that was once owned by his family. Meanwhile, Jason disappears and suspicion falls on Caroline that she murdered him. The fast pace and strong characters, especially secondary ones such as Aiden, will help the reader overlook the plot holes (some Russian mobsters show unconvincing restraint). Those looking for breezy intrigue on a hot summer day will be satisfied. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

This twisting psychological thriller features two main characters whose relationship becomes a roller coaster of fear and intrigue. In the first part of the novel, we meet Caroline Stark, a once-rich Long Islander on the brink of losing it all. Her husband appears to be having an affair, and lonely, scared and newly broke Caroline finds solace in a fling with a handsome local bartender, Aidan Callahan. She's immediately remorseful and tries to put the indiscretion behind her, but Aidan won't take no for an answer and starts stalking Caroline and her family. The chapters alternate between Aidan's and Caroline's points of view, which become frighteningly disparate (unfortunately, the differences sometimes become confusing for the reader). The second portion of the book is a murder mystery that includes some out-of-the-blue surprises that will have readers wondering whether Caroline or Aidan was the unreliable narrator earlier in the tale. While the plot here is very different from that of Campbell's last novel She Was the Quiet One (2018), set in a boarding school this believable and engrossing he-said, she-said thriller will be a hit with fans of the earlier book as well as those who enjoy Alice LaPlante.--Henrietta Verma Copyright 2019 Booklist