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I received a copy of The Perfect Stranger through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Shuster and to Megan Miranda for the opportunity.

Trouble seems to find you like a stray dog on the run.

Leah Stevens needs to find the Exit sign immediately if not sooner. Her short career as a Boston journalist, newly crossing the threshold, is soon to hit the skids. Leah was following a story in which multiple female suicides had happened at the local university. Suspicion wafted in the air and Leah followed through with her story. Although she never fully divulged the name of the perpetrator in her article, the damage was done and the newspaper would likely face libel charges. Even her boyfriend convinced her to quit and leave town. Noah was not welcoming guilt by association.

So Leah hits a neighborhood bar and bumps into an old friend. Emmy goes back to Leah's apartment and they drown their sorrow in a vodka marathon. They arrive at a plan. With Western Pennsylvania in their sites, they rent a house together in a small town. Leah uses her degree to teach at the local high school and Emmy works at odd jobs at the night shift.

Ah, the idyllic life and an opportunity to start fresh. But one morning Emmy doesn't come home after her shift. Leah leaves notes for her since Emmy doesn't have a cell phone. Hours turn into days......no Emmy. It's time to call the police.

But here's where it gets good. Everything has been in Leah's name. There are no receipts or mail or anything tangible to prove that Emmy actually exists. All attempts to blaze a trail to find Emmy end up hitting the wall. And eyes turn on Leah.

Megan Miranda presents a storyline with plenty of zig and zag. Just when you think that you've figured it all out, she places you in another slip knot. Miranda implements the first person voice of Leah to tell the story. She has an easy flow to her writing style as the words fly across the page. You find yourself saying "just a few more pages".

Megan Miranda's first book received high praise. This one follows suit but in a different vein. She doesn't serve tension by the spoonful. It's more like the heavy mugs of the aforementioned vodka marathon. It's one gulp after another. One heck of a buzz!