Perfect Stranger
Author: Gregg Dunnett
Genre: Psychological Thriller | Mystery | Suspense
Format: eARC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½ — 3.5/5
Synopsis
Years ago, Em went camping with her parents and younger brother, Ben.
Only three members of the family came home.
Ben disappeared during the trip and was never seen again. Although the man believed responsible is now in prison, he has never revealed where Ben's body is. Instead, he's spent years cruelly taunting the family with clues and games.
Now Em wants answers.
She and her boyfriend, James, are setting off on a European road trip in the camper van they've renovated themselves, documenting their travels online along the way. But Em has another reason for wanting to make the journey: she's determined to uncover the truth about what happened to Ben.
Then a stranger in a black van starts appearing wherever they go.
At first, it could be coincidence. But as he gets closer to James and continues turning up at their stops, Em begins to wonder whether they're being followed, and whether this stranger knows exactly what she's looking for.
My Thoughts
Perfect Stranger had me suspicious of basically everyone by the end.
Years ago, Em went on a family camping trip with her parents and younger brother, Ben.
Only three of them came home.
Ben disappeared during the trip and was never seen again. A man believed to be responsible is now in prison, but Ben's body has never been found. Instead of giving the family answers, he's spent years cruelly taunting them and playing games about where Ben might be buried.
Eventually, Em had enough.
She wants answers, and if nobody else can give them to her, she's going to look for them herself.
Conveniently, Em and her boyfriend James are about to embark on a road trip around Europe in the camper van they've lovingly renovated themselves. They're also vlogging the journey, hoping followers and views might bring in enough money to make traveling a little easier.
Cute camper van.
European road trip.
Surfing.
Vlogging.
Secret investigation into your missing brother's murder.
You know.
Normal holiday activities...
Things become considerably less cute when a stranger driving a black van starts appearing at several of their stops.
At first, there are reasonable explanations. He and James get along particularly well because they both love surfing, and since Em is still learning, James and their new friend sometimes tackle the bigger waves together.
Except he keeps appearing.
Again.
And again.
And eventually, the coincidences stop feeling particularly coincidental.
The stranger becomes increasingly unsettling, Em begins questioning exactly who this man is and why he keeps following them, and what started as a fun European road trip becomes something considerably more dangerous.
And then Em's parents enter the picture.
Well.
Things take A TURN.
This was where Perfect Stranger really started throwing revelations at me. We learn more about James, more about our increasingly concerning Stranger Danger™, and the story definitely didn't evolve in the direction I expected.
I enjoyed the suspense and mystery, particularly once I realized there was much more happening underneath the road-trip story than I'd originally assumed. There were several developments I genuinely didn't see coming.
Unfortunately, I never formed as strong an emotional connection with the characters as I wanted to.
And I REALLY wanted to.
The European road-trip setting was one of the things that originally made me excited about this book, and with a mystery involving a missing younger brother, I expected to become very emotionally invested in Em's search for answers.
Instead, I often felt like I was watching everything happen from a slight distance.
I also struggled with the parallel storyline set in the past involving the military. It does eventually connect to the present-day story and serves a purpose, but for quite a while it felt strangely separate from everything else, almost like I'd temporarily wandered into another book.
Even once I understood why it was there, I couldn't help thinking there might have been another way to establish that history and reach a similar outcome while making the two sides of the story feel more naturally connected.
Still, the mystery itself kept me curious, the stranger added a wonderfully uncomfortable layer to the road trip, and some of the later revelations definitely caught me off guard.
Final Thoughts
Perfect Stranger was an interesting and suspenseful thriller with plenty of secrets hiding underneath what initially looks like a European camper-van adventure.
The mystery kept me curious, the increasingly creepy presence of the stranger worked well, and several revelations surprised me. I just wish I'd connected more strongly with the characters and that the past and present storylines had felt a little more cohesive.
And perhaps the most important lesson here:
If you're traveling around Europe and the same mysterious black van keeps appearing everywhere you go...
Maybe don't invite the driver to become your new surfing buddy.
Just a thought...
Rating: 3.5⭐
ARC Disclaimer
Thank you to the Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
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