Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

Gail Lynn Hanson's debut novel, "The Palisades," is a masterful psychological thriller that delves into the dark side of obsession and the grotesque allure of celebrity. Set against the backdrop of Hollywood's glittering facade, Hanson weaves a claustrophobic tale of two women bound by their delusions and desires.

The story unfolds in 2006, where we meet Dorothy Anderson, an 83-year-old widow whose life has been shaped by her infatuation with the stars of old Hollywood. Living in the Pacific Palisades, she hires Ruth, a caregiver with a dubious past and a penchant for manipulation. Ruth, who is not what she seems, becomes entwined in Dorothy's life, each woman harboring secrets that threaten to unravel their peculiar relationship.

Hanson's narrative is a dance of deception and discovery. The characters are richly drawn, with Dorothy's nostalgia for a bygone era clashing with Ruth's more sinister motives. The novel's strength lies in its ability to immerse readers in the minds of these complex characters, revealing the absurdity and darkness of celebrity worship.

The twists are many, and the humor is as dark as the undercurrents of danger that run through the story. Hanson's portrayal of the Palisades is both a love letter to and a critique of the Hollywood dream. The setting becomes a character in itself, reflecting the glamour and the grim realities of chasing fame.

"The Palisades" is a hypnotic page-turner that provokes uneasiness and bouts of remorse for deeds undone. It's a brilliant peek at the ghosts of Hollywood who keep their secrets hidden.

The Palisades by Gail Lynn Hanson is an intriguing novel about what is real, misremembered, or imagined. Ruth is a hired caregiver who has a fascination with the elegant jewelry her two clients, Dorothy and Esther. When not catering to these women and pocketing their jewels from their separate homes, Ruth lives in a modest apartment where she welcomes pigeons into her kitchen by feeding them corn puffs. Dorothy, who speaks of her deceased husband Eugene in present tense, is fascinated with Judy Garland, believes she has a relationship with Angela Lansbury who she sees at the grocery store. The Palisades hooks readers into the world of these three women, waiting to see if Ruth is caught or if she is able to burrow herself deeper into Esther and Dorothy's lives. Recommended for discussion groups that want a delicious escape selection.

The Palisades by Gail Lynn Hanson

⭐️⭐️

The Palisades is about a woman with a dark past providing care for wealthy elderly people in Los Angeles.

This is a very dark book. The characters had very few redeeming qualities (if any). There are interesting moments in this novel and it does have some good twists. However for me the level of morbid content really took away from anything this author did well.

Overall I didn’t enjoy this book and if you do decide to read it please check the trigger warnings.

Thank you @netgalley and Slippery Fish Press for the ARC!

Love this time period and the history given amongst the story written. The characters are likeable and at times frustrating. Its a good read.

the settings and characters were well written . However the pacing was a little all over the place . Overall an enjoyable read .

Thank you net galley for the eArc.

*Many thanks to Gail Lynn Hanson, Slippery Fish Press, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
This title was a big disappointemnt for me, unnaturally complicated characters and their interactions did not feel real to me and left me indifferent which is what I dislike most while reading. Slow pace and descriptions of the world I could not comprehend.

This was an interesting ride. It felt a little like ping pong…one moment compelling and well-written, then slipping into mediocre writing/plot line. Despite the choppiness, I think this will draw an appreciative audience.

Psychological suspense? No. Dark comedic characters? Yes.

Follow the stories of 2 elderly characters — one of whom thinks she is famous and/or best friends with the Hollywood elite, and one of whom perhaps is a mercy killer.

This book was quirky and I enjoyed the story telling but it is a bit of a slow burn. It requires a lot of paying attention and digging through the weirdness of the characters to figure out what is true and what is their mental illnesses showing through.

I loved Ruth, the antagonist (maybe? kind of?) being the main character & hearing her tragic back story and was actually rooting for her to mercy kill the awful & insufferable Dorothy 🙃 not a spoiler. There is a twisty at the end I thoroughly enjoyed.

3 stars for the lack of promised psychological suspense. But loved the writing and the quirky characters & the old Hollywood setting.

I was drawn to this one when I read the synopsis and it being marked as psychological suspense. I would not qualify this book as such but rather a women’s fiction novel. It took me a long time to read this one as I couldn’t find myself invested in it. I did however enjoy the flawed peculiar women in the story. The story gave old Hollywood glam with some elements of mystery.


✵𝖬𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗌 𝖲𝗅𝗂𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝖥𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝖯𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌 ＆ 𝖭𝖾𝗍𝖦𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗀𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖠𝖽𝗏𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾𝖽 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋’𝗌 𝖢𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗆𝗒 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐．✵

Thank you to Slippery Fish Press and NetGalley for an eARC copy of The Palisades.

Unfortunately, I could not get into the plotline and characters of this book. I felt the alternating narration didn't flow enough to indicate proper character development, it was a super slow burn novel, and not personally for me.

The Palisades is marketed as a psychological suspense read; it is more of a women's fiction novel about flawed women in the past and present. Not what I was expecting, but a decent story.

What a great, great addition to the "old protagonist thriller" sub-genre. Gail Lynn Hanson delivers a story so far away from the cosy of Richard Osman or Robert Thorogood, way weirder.

This novel has both the best of character development, and the best of ambiance building: gothic and absurd, a kind of creepier Jessica Fletcher's Cabot Cove.
Dorothy is basically Jessica Lange in 'American Horror Story: Freak Show", and Ruth Rosamund Pike in "I Care a Lot", which makes for a very borderline duo. One profiting off of the other, they both start a routine in the shadow of Hollywood stars, losing their minds, slowly crossing the line. It is such a joy to encounter beloved female actresses in the text, the side characters being as interesting as the two protagonists. The reader easily feels empathy for the old women going mad, for their lives were so full of illusion and dismay. Their appeal can be found in them being both childish and mature, having nothing to lose and being so vividly themselves.

The writer traps Dorothy in her own head, which, alongside the odd atmosphere of the house, makes the reader feel claustrophobic. The tone is very peculiar, humorous yet unsettling, which gives "The Palisades" its special quality.
In short, everything points to the book having a special place in the mystery literary world, and a well deserved one.

The Palisades is promoted as a suspense story, I actually found it as fiction with the story of two quirky, thoroughly flawed women. Ruth was abandoned as a child and grew up in a foster home where she was terrorized by her "brother". She goes on to live a lower-class life as a maid and then an elder caregiver. Dorothy has a very different upbringing, having been raised by very religious parents. She moves to LA where she is enamored by Hollywood and the stars, but is never in their world. She does marry a man from a very wealthy family who pampers her with jewelry.

The lives of these two women intersect when Ruth becomes Dorothy's companion after Dorothy is widowed and living on her own. There is a lot to digest with the psyches of these women. Mental illness and living in a fantasy world are only two of the many issues they have to deal with.

The author does a great job of taking us into their minds, I'm just not sure I was ever comfortable being there. It was truly a bizarre place to be and sometimes hard to follow because of the jumping around in time and between reality and apparitions.

I did love the "feel" of the book. I can picture Dorothy's home clearly along with the movies described and the Dickens village. Parts of the book were an homage to old cinema and the earlier times in Dorothy's life.

As I was getting closer to the end of the book I really wondered how it would conclude, I'm not sure I was completely satisfied with the ending. It was bizarre, which I guess goes along with the rest of the book and to be honest I don't know what I would have wanted to happen to end it. I really didn't like either character and and wasn't rooting for either. I think I prefer fiction rooted in reality.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

While reading and visualizing this book, I kept thinking this would make a great movie. Black and whites for the old time movie stars that are mentioned in it and color for the present day. It is a very different kind of book, but a captivating one that kept me invested right to the very end. I’d call it a psychological thriller, mainly because most of the characters had deep psychological flaws, and you never knew what was going to happen next. I’d say that none of the characters are what you would call likable, however, that seems to have been by design and works well, given the story. I would recommend this book and give a big thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

In this overstuffed horror novel, two delusional ladies of a certain age (one wealthy, one poor) interact in strange ways, their roles in relation to each other changing as new secrets come to light. There is a surprising amount going on here in terms of natural history, theology, and psychology, not to mention Hollywood lore. The novel starts off slow, but I found that it grew more compelling as the pages turned.

I received an electronic pre-publication copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

This one interested me from the start since I love character driven psychological thrillers and the cover is gorgeous. The Palisades is an excellent character study about Dorothy who is 83 and Ruth who is 66. Dorothy is a shallow woman who married into money and lived a glamorous old Hollywood lifestyle while Ruth had a horrific childhood and grew into a disturbed con artist who preys on the elderly. Dorothy hires Ruth as a kind of personal assistant and that’s when the games begin…

I loved the tense cat and mouse game these two played in this pitch black and clever debut. The author is a wonderful storyteller and I enjoyed all of the old Hollywood references. I also enjoyed the dark humor throughout the novel. These two women were both fascinating and horrifying at the same time. If you love a dark character driven story, this one is not to be missed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an advance reader copy.

I found this a very interesting and twisty read. There is a dark lonely sadness to be felt for these characters that encompasses you while reading this. It really produces a few different emotions while reading this from beginning until the very end.

The characters swing between, will we say, evil and mentally disturbed but also desperate, lonely and kind. The story itself takes us down a twisted path where not everything is as it seems.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and i would read something else by this author.

Many thanks to the Author and Publisher through Netgalley for the DRC.

Good stuff. This has a lot packed in it, and includes well developed characters, and a solid plot with some complexity. This author writes well and I'll look for her next book.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

"Delusion was her drug, and maybe that was okay."

The Palisades by Gail Lynn Hanson serves as a testament to a begotten mind built upon rampant jealousy and petty dislike of those in a more fortunate life than you. Following Ruth as our protagonist, she is an outcast of her own right and struggles to find friendships in people her own age, social class, or even in humanity as a whole. Her closest friendships are with the pigeons of her apartment and even those end in struggle and strife.

The Palisades as a novel manages complicated feelings about aging, body image, loneliness, and revenge built upon through ill-conceived and petty hate. It deals with the conflicting emotions that comes with family ties and wanting to know your place in the world. And finally, the concept and realism of cycles of abuse are weaved throughout the novel in such a way that each act of abuse comes full circle, promising yet more turns of the wheel of abuse.

The Palisades is not for a reader who is more faint at heart, but can be an enjoyable, even enlightening read for those who can handle the turbulent emotions of loneliness and ill-managed depression.

I was drawn to request this book because I so often read books with main characters who are in their 20s and 30s and I thought it could be interesting to jump into a different POV-- someone at the end of their life. Plus, I love dark humor and a little cat & mouse psychological action so I thought I'd go for it. Plus, the cover is amazing.

What I liked about this book:
-deep character study: Dorothy and Ruth and very alive to the reader
-dangerous, complicated and intense female friendship always does it for me
-pop culture references that are intelligent and aptly built into the story (pop culture reference can go so wrong so fast but I liked this one!)

My only feedback and what possibly could allowed me to give more stars is that I was not hooked right from the beginning. It was a bit slow to start and I was a good amount of the way through before I really found a flow.