The Revenge List

By: Hannah Mary McKinnon

Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo

“This twisty, original thriller through the dark side of self-help is a breath of fresh air that ends with a jaw-dropping gasp.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest

“The Revenge List checks all the boxes of what a thriller should be. Brilliant premise? Check. Mounting tension? Check. Jaw-dropping twist? Double-check. I couldn't put it down!”
— Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of The House Across the Lake


They say life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die. But all she could see was regret.

The people in Frankie Morgan’s life say she’s angry. Emotionally stunted. Combative. But really, who can blame her? It’s hard being nice when your clients are insufferable, your next-door neighbor is a miserable woman and the cowardly driver who killed your mother is still out living it up somewhere.

Somehow, though, she finds herself at her very first anger-management group session—drinking terrible coffee and learning all about how “forgiveness is a process.”

One that starts with a list.

Frankie is skeptical. A list of everyone who’s wronged her in some way over the years? More paper, please. Still, she makes the pointless list—with her own name in a prominent spot—and promptly forgets about it…until it goes missing. And one by one, the people she’s named start getting hurt in freak accidents, each deadlier than the last.

Could it be coincidence giving her the revenge she never dared to seek…or something more sinister?

If Frankie doesn’t find out who’s behind it all, she might be next.

Such a plot twist! Jaw dropping!

The Revenge List by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Why is it that women can’t get angry? Why does it seem to be an exclusive man’s prerogative?

Frankie is forced to go to anger management sessions. Her father talks to her vehemently about it and she has no way out. Of course, Frankie doesn’t enjoy a bit of her sessions but agrees to do her first task: a forgiveness list.

There, all the names of the people who have hurt her all through her life are listed, together with a score of how difficult would it be for her to forgive each one of them.

Frankie works for her father in construction, she’s used to dealing with man, of making a place for her own but she’s about to hit rock bottom when it come to her anger.

Compartmentalization is one of the defense mechanics most human being possess and Frankie is not the exception. Forgiving is such a long journey! Especially when the person who hurt us doesn’t acknowledge the deed.

It’s a very cold place to be, there’s loneliness and a lot of thoughts dancing in our minds. Guilt is also associated to this process and Frankie will go through every step of the way trying to heal what is eating her alive, but for that she will have to find her missing list…Because her list, has magically disappeared!

I found this story thrilling and full of twists as it’s written in layers and once you start pealing one after the other, you really get to understand why Frankie was so angry. There are situations in our lives that take us to the braking point and recovering from them may take a lifetime.

Favorite quote:
🗣️“Whoever perceived anger as a negative thing was wrong. For me, it was fuel, and I had a ton of it.”

I was floored!

I was so sure I had this figured out a few times, but I was wrong. I'll be honest, Frankie's rage had my teeth on edge in the first couple hours of the book, but I realize that's just the genius writing and Lauren Ezzo's impeccable narration. Really brought her character to life!

Honestly, I loved it

I thought it was great! Not five stars, but definitely four. Probably some thing I will listen to again in the future.

Frankie

Many of Frankie’s decisions were reck-less and far fetched, which had me not believing anyone would act that way.will there be a 2?

Slow Start but I'm really glad I stuck with it

It was really hard to like Frankie, the main character initially. She's very flawed and super angry. I considered bailing but stayed with it and I'm glad I did. Lots of good twists and turns - I truly had no idea until the end whodunnit. The narrator also did a good job. And I enjoyed the setting in Portland ME, an area I know. I hope we'll be able to see more of Frankie!