Confessions on the 7:45

Release Date: 2020

Everyone has a secret… now she knows yours.

Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks. She strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat, and their connection is fast and easy. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

But days later, Selena’s nanny disappears.

Soon Selena finds her once-perfect life upended. As she is pulled into the mystery of the missing nanny, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, Selena begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover.

Expertly plotted and reminiscent of the timeless classic Strangers on a Train, Confessions on the 7:45 is a stunning web of lies and deceit, and a gripping thriller about the delicate facades we create around our lives.

Awards and Honors

In development with Jessica Alba and Charise Castro Smith!
USA Today Bestseller
Toronto Star Bestseller. Six weeks on the Canadian bestseller list.
Globe and Mail Top 10 Bestseller
Apple Books Top 10 Bestseller
#1 Bestseller in Estonia
The Strand Critics Award Nominee
ITW Thriller Award Finalist for Best Hardcover Novel
Audie Awards Finalist for Best Mystery
Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Mystery
L.A. Times Best Crime Book of Fall
Booklist Top 10 Crime Fiction: 2021
Sun Sentinel Best Mystery Book of 2020
Amazon Best of the Month
Apple Books Best Book of the Month
Apple Books Must-Listens
Indie Next List Pick
LibraryReads Pick
SIBA Okra Pick
Goodreads Most Anticipated Mystery and Thriller
PopSugar Best New Thriller & Mystery Book
AudioFile Magazine Best Listen
Libro.fm Bookseller Pick
LoanStars Pick
Costco Canada Buyer's Pick
CHCH TV Morning Live: Well Read, Your Next Great Read
Glamour UK Best Book of 2020
Bella UK Must Read
The Booksellers Heatseekers Chart
Platinum Magazine Bookclub Pick
Flamingo Magazine Book Every Floridian Should Own
Deep South Magazine Recommended Reading
Bookclubbish October Recommendation
The New School Alumni Summer Reading List Pick
Crime By The Book Most Anticipated Crime Fiction
Poisoned Pen Crime Book-of-the-Month
Karin Slaughter's Killer Reads Pick for ASDA

Praise

“Lisa Unger is a well-established writer, and her attention to craft shows. Last year’s The Stranger Inside excelled at illuminating the stresses of motherhood, but all of Unger’s work is notable for its deft handling of creeping suspense, multiple points of view and rich psychology. Confessions on the 7:45, her 18th novel, is a highwire genre-bender, with debts to Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley but an intricate structure of domestic suspense all its own… on par with the best top-flight psychological suspense.”
—Los Angeles Times

“A gripping story about marriage, parenting, families and revenge… Lisa Unger delivers a masterful mystery in Confessions on the 7:45, as she skillfully builds a multi-layered plot with myriad surprising twists. Unger’s propensity for constructing complicated, realistic characters in her 18 novels ratchets up another level… The train trope has been the background for many mysteries, including Patricia Highsmith’s hate-filled Strangers on a Train and Paula Hawkins' voyeuristic Girl on the Train. Unger makes this setting all her own in her innovative Confessions on the 7:45.”
—Sun Sentinel

“Confessions on the 7:45 is Lisa Unger's master class in suspense.”
—Tampa Bay Times

“A sizzling, steamy, psychological thriller with an intricate plot that shrewd readers will relish.”
—The Columbus Dispatch

“Scintillating, sizzling success... This is psychological thriller writing of the highest order. A taut, timely and terrific tale that is exactly the kind of movie Hitchcock would be making today if he were still alive.”
—Providence Journal

“Lisa Unger is so slick at piling on the complications that the overall effect is subversive if not diabolical... Can we trust anyone in this uniquely tumultuous story? Probably not.”
—The Toronto Star

“Another brilliantly crafted psychological thriller... Reminiscent of Strangers on a Train and The Grifters, Unger’s novel provides a master class in plotting.”
—Booklist, starred review

“Diabolically clever... [An] exquisitely crafted psychological thriller... Unger just keeps getting better.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A powerful story of how the resentment and pain of abandonment can sweep the guilty as well as the innocent into a maelstrom of hate from which none will emerge unscathed.”
—New York Journal of Books

“Confessions on the 7:45 is a brilliant study of characters as damaged on the inside as they are perfect on the outside, populated with enigmatic female protagonists that will haunt readers long after the story is over.”
—Shelf Awareness

"Full of twists, turns, and many POVs, this page turner is perfect for those who like Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins.”
—LibraryReads

"There is a reason that Lisa Unger is widely regarded as a master of suspense... If you need more evidence (said the detective to the prosecutor), then check out this gripping tale of two women on a train."
—Barnes & Noble

"This frantic mystery puts a whole new spin on the classic warning don’t talk to strangers...Thriller veteran Lisa Unger expertly uses multiple points of view to reveal one twisted secret after another. By making Selena feel so multi-dimensional and real, Unger ratchets up the tension. We couldn’t wait to find out what happened next—even if we were terrified to learn the truth."
—Apple Books

"Captivating thriller."
—AudioFile Magazine

"If every thriller I picked up for the rest of my life was as eye-popping and indulgent as this one, I would be one happy camper... Exciting, fast-paced, and toe-curling, this book will have you reading it into the wee hours of the night."
—Manhattan Book Review

"Lisa Unger is the queen of suspense. I couldn’t put down this creepy, twisty thriller. Lisa crafts such realistic characters that the reader comes to care — and fear — for them. A shocker of a thriller."
—Meg Cabot, bestselling author of the Little Bridge Island and Princess Diaries series

"A chance meeting—or is it?—with a stranger on a train tilts Selena Murphy's tidy world upside-down in this taut, beautifully-written novel. What elevates Lisa Unger's psychological thriller to a new level are her shrewd insights into the dynamics of a seemingly ideal marriage."
—Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl

"Lisa Unger expertly unravels the layers of mystery and deceit at the heart of this chilling thriller. What begins with a missing woman and a chance encounter twists with each new discovery, taking a sharp look at the people we think we know. A gripping, haunting story that kept me guessing until the very end."
—Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author of The Last House Guest

"Confessions on the 7:45 is a masterclass in storytelling. The pacing, the characters, and the story are all pitch-perfect. This is an unforgettable novel."
–Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of My Lovely Wife and He Started It.

“Confessions on the 7:45 is a stellar work of psychological suspense—rich, deep, and full of surprises. Lisa Unger grabs you, pulls you in, and keeps you guessing. Read it!”
—Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award-winning author of The Dark Corners of the Night

"Unger takes you deep into the minds of psychopaths, and while you wouldn't want to live there, what wild, creepy places they are to visit. Unger is at the top of her game here."
—Linwood Barclay, #1 Internationally bestselling author of Elevator Pitch

"Such a pacey, engrossing psychological thriller that you won’t be able to put it down… This twisty, menacing novel assumes everyone has a secret and asks, who would you trust with yours? After reading this, my answer is a firm no one!"
—Adele Parks, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Just My Luck

“I raced through Confessions on the 7:45, completely absorbed in the mystery and intrigue of the story as it kept me guessing. I found it compelling, dark, twisty and a definite must-read!”
–Karen Hamilton, bestselling author of The Perfect Girlfriend and Truth Be Told, an Apple TV+ series

"The perfect psychological thriller for those who love to be kept guessing until the very end. Full of shocking twists, this is a novel that gets up close and personal with its characters, pulling at the threads of their deepest, darkest secrets until they totally unravel... I couldn't help but devour Confessions on the 7:45 in one sitting!"
—Karin Slaughter, #1 Internationally bestselling author of False Witness

“Lisa Unger is amazing! If you have not found her books yet, now is the time. Each one gets better and better. She is particularly good at female dynamics and relationships, as well as writing a twisted thriller that pretty much could be happening to someone you know. Confessions on the 7:45 may be my favorite one yet!”
—Laura Taylor, Oxford Exchange (Indie Next Pick)