Not So Perfect Strangers is a suspenseful thriller based on two women from two different worlds who have one thing in common...bad men. This moving story sets you on a path of empathy and justice but throws you off course in some very twisted ways. Full of deceit and sneakiness, these characters are more than what meets the eye and could be more dangerous than you may think.

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Amazon Book Description

One fateful encounter upends the lives of two women in this tense domestic thriller, a modern spin on Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train that flips the script on race and gender politics.

“I’m a big believer that women should help each other, Tasha,” she says. “Don’t you think?”

Tasha Jenkins has finally found the courage to leave her abusive husband. Taking her teenage son with her, Tasha checks into a hotel the night before their flight out of D.C. and out of Kordell Jenkins’s life forever. But escaping isn’t so easy, and Tasha soon finds herself driving back to her own personal hell. As she is leaving, a white woman pounds on her car window, begging to be let in. Behind the woman, an angry man is in pursuit. Tasha makes a split-second decision that will alter the course of her life: she lets her in and takes off.

Tasha and Madison Gingell may have very different everyday realities, but what they have in common is marriages they need out of. The two women want to help each other, but they have very different ideas of what that means . . .

They are on a collision course that will end in the case files of the D.C. MPD homicide unit. Unraveling the truth of what really happened may be impossible—and futile. Because what has the truth ever done for women like Tasha and Madison?

Master of psychological suspense L. S. Stratton has written a gripping murder mystery about two perfect strangers whose lives become dangerously entangled, a must-read for fans of crime thriller books.

Review

This book was the first physical book I have read in 2024! Something drew me to this book while I was wondering the isles at Barnes and Noble one day. I hardly ever spend full price on a brand new book from an author I have never read before, but sometimes books have a funny way of finding us and kinda saying "pick me", so I did, and I was not disappointed.

This is the first book I read that showed so many instances of modern social issues. Stratton added a layer of complexity to the characters and the story by writing these women to be from opposite sides of the tracks. Their social differences played to their attributes, and also spoke to how others may perceive them.

Madison says "But I've been married to Phil long enough to know that wealthy people absolve their guilt of having so much money with the occasional charitable project." I felt that the disparities displayed their humanity and feminism and helped see the similarity in these women as well, that without these features we would not have otherwise seen. Truly, I felt like this was a work of art.

A good fraction of this book has the reader feeling elated that these two women met. It was fortunate that Tasha and Madison found kinship in their domestic conflicts, and it seemed as though the pair made a good match and would find a safe haven in each other. It made me so happy that Tasha felt like she could be honest with Madison and that Madison felt she could open up to Tasha better than she could people in her own circle. To be alone in situations like these would be so isolating. Tasha says "It isn't a normal stare. It's like she's looking past my clothes, past my skin, past my muscles and bones, and into my very heart."

Of course, like any good thriller would, readers are then sent on a roller coaster ride that keeps you guessing until the very last page, and it is such a fun ride. These women are unforgettable in the steps they take to protect themselves and the people they love, and the mystery hides behind their deep individuality.

I kinda wished we had heard more from the detective throughout the book, just because he was a really likeable character and figuring out "who done it" was intriguing to read. However, overall, I felt Stratton poured her heart and soul into this book to make it into the illustration of modern feminism and social politics that which she did. I wanted to clap for her when I finished it!

Although the title mocks the idea of fate, and the events that unfold in this book happen due to coincidence, this relationship assembled the destiny of all of the characters in this book. Not So Perfect Strangers portrayed women who under bad circumstances showed strength and resilience with opposing morals and desired outcomes. Everyone learned the lesson they needed to, and got the ending they deserved. 

Grab your copy here.