Karen Perry Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Karen Perry
Karen Perry is the pseudonym of two authors based in Dublin named Karen Gillece and Paul Perry.

Paul Perry has written some critically acclaimed novels, and won The Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award. He is a course director in poetry at the Faber Academy in Dublin, and is a lecturer in a creative writing at Kingston University, London.

In the year 2009, Karen has also written some critically acclaimed books and won the European Union Prize for Literature (Ireland).

Karen’s debut novel, called “The Boy That Never Was”, saw a release in the year 2014. They write mystery and suspense novels together.

“The Boy That Never Was” is the first stand alone novel and was released in the year 2014. Dillon, age three, vanishes during the night. Harry, his dad, cannot forgive himself for not keeping his only kid safe. Yet Harry is not blamed by Robin, his wife. She bears her own secret guilt.

Five years go by, Harry, who is thousands of miles away, spots an eight-year-old kid in a crowd, a boy that he is sure is Dillon. Desperate to locate his missing child, this obsession of Harry’s wrecks his marriage, exposing some shameful secrets and it shatters the only thing that he and Robin still had. Trust.

Why won’t she believe Harry? What could she be hiding? How far would Harry go in order to locate their lost son? Could this boy truly be Dillon?

This is an intricate and action packed story that makes you believe you can tell who the good guys and bad guys are just to be proven wrong. Karen Perry pens a novel with some nice and tight writing. This one has a sharp psychological edge to it, which makes for a rather riveting read. Here is a composite of suspicions, guilt, secrets, resentment, the loss of trust, and some unspoken blame, all of which help to keep many readers turning the pages.

“Only We Know” is the second stand alone novel and was released in the year 2015. In the year 1982, one idyllic summer gets shattered when three children play a game that ends in a tragedy.

Thirty years later, Luke, Katie, and Nick are still bound together by what actually happened that day. Some secrets, however, are unwilling to remain buried.

When Luke goes missing and some threatening messages pop up, it starts becoming clear that somebody else is aware of the truth, and is intent on justice. No matter what the cost is.

This is a breathtaking novel that is quite easy to get into and flows really well. You can see that there is something about to happen, and it is pretty mind blowing when it finally does. This has some great characterization, a fantastic story, is fast paced, quite addictive, with a plot that has plenty of twists and turns. These two writers have done a great job of creating such a gripping and moving read.

“Girl Unknown” is the third stand alone novel and was released in the year 2016. Caroline and David Connolly swim successfully through the middle years of their marriage, raising two kids, overseeing car for David’s ailing mom, leaning into both of their careers, both at the university teaching post David has, where he is up for some important promotion, and at the ad agency that Caroline has just returned to work after many years away as the kids were young. The current stresses from home renovation and of one small romantic betrayal on Caroline’s part are well behind them, now. The Connollys both know and care for one another deeply.

One early fall afternoon, one student of waiflike, sublime beauty appears in the university office and says that he might be her dad. The memory of one youthful passion that David once had attempted to forget all comes rushing back to him. In the person of this rather intriguing young woman, the Connollys now have a chance to expand just who they are and how much they are able to love, or might be making themselves vulnerable to some menace. They face either a threat or an opportunity, but which is really which? What happens when this hard-won family happiness meets this hard-luck gorgeous girl?

The novel has some disbelief, some shocking moments, and there is an overall uneasy feeling readers feel as they read this book. This uneasy feeling comes from the fact that with Zoe, there just doesn’t seem to be quite right about her. It makes you wonder what is truly going on with her. It has some twists, home truths, and its ending isn’t nearly as predictable as some may think it would be. Readers couldn’t wait to find out to see where things were going and just what would happen next in the novel.

“Can You Keep a Secret” is the fourth stand alone novel and was released in the year 2017. Making it through the weekend depends on whether or not you are able to keep a secret.

Lindsey has not spoken to Rachel in about twenty years, not since her brother’s eighteenth birthday party that took place at their parents’ isolated country house. It was a night that shattered so many friendships and left Rachel’s dad dead.

Now Thornbury Hall is being sold, and the old gang has gone back there, together once more. One weekend to say their goodbyes to this old place, and to talk about the past. However, twenty years of secrets are not given up lightly. Some will not talk about what happened that night, and some look to ensure that nobody ever does.

Readers found this to be a highly entertaining and enjoyable story with plenty of details, suspense, and plot twists. This well written and tense narrative is sure to hold your attention the entire way through. This is a very atmospheric novel, making you feel the air of menace and eeriness that pervades Thornbury Hall. Karen Perry deftly and sharply capture a certain that lies a world of wealth, privilege, and power, under which run some strong, unsettling, and disturbing currents.