The setting, vibes and characters immediately pulled me in and I was hooked since the first chapter! I finished this in one sitting because I just had to know how it was going to end! This was my first book by Tess Mackey and I'd love to check out more!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an ARC of The After Party.

I absolutely LOVED everything about this book, couldn’t put it down! Mega fast paced, something happening all the time.

I could see the whole layout of the club in my head, feel the crush of people rammed onto the dance floor, hear the pounding of the music as a murderer is on the loose and the only door out is locked.

Brilliant twist at the end where everything is not exactly as it seems! Highly recommended in every way. 5 stars!!

Although she's a podium dancer at an upscale night club, Cara no longer wants this job. The combination of workplace politics (and egos) and dealing with obnoxious clients on a regular basis have left her feeling burnt out.

But when she finds Lottie, one of her fellow dancers, dead in the club one night, Cara soon discovers that she doesn't have much of a choice about staying at her job. Because the doors won't open and they are all locked in! And, as it turns out, at the mercy of an apex predator...

This is a gripping piece of storytelling, and well worth a thriller reader's time.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

The After Party is what happens when a glamorous night out collides headfirst with a locked-room nightmare, and honestly, I was completely along for the ride.
Cara is a fantastic heroine: relatable, sharp, and just trying to survive one last stretch in a job she's already halfway out the door from. So naturally, that's when she finds her friend Lottie covered in blood and discovers there's a killer trapped inside the nightclub with everyone else. Talk about the worst shift imaginable.
What I loved most was the atmosphere. The combination of flashing lights, loud music, exhausted staff, panicked partygoers, and a mysterious note demanding that "the party must go on" created a tense, claustrophobic vibe that kept me turning pages. Every character felt like a suspect at some point, and I spent most of the book confidently accusing the wrong person.
Beyond the suspense, there was an emotional core that surprised me. Cara's determination to find the truth and protect the people around her gave the story real heart amidst all the chaos and danger.
The reason this wasn't quite a five-star read for me is that a few twists required a little suspension of disbelief. But honestly, the tension and entertainment factor more than made up for it.
Dark, gripping, and packed with drama, The After Party is a fun thriller that had me suspicious of everyone and trusting absolutely no one. I came for the nightclub mystery and stayed for the chaos. Just don't expect to relax once the doors lock.

This is my second Tess Mackey and it will not be my last. I love a locked room mystery but there have been a lot of them in recent years; however, Mackey managed to infuse a crackling intensity into this one and I couldn't lay it down for long.

A pregnant protagonist, a dead VIP cocktail server, a room full of inebriated revelers, and staff at a club with issues galore...

This is how Tess Mackey set the stage for this to be the banger it was!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review.

This is my second Tess Mackey book, and after reading the first, I knew I needed to get my hands on this one!

Tess has a way of writing her stories that makes you feel all of the emotions. Everything that Cara went through was so awful, but I love how she persisted. Her character was so easy to root for, albeit being a little naive, she was fierce. Once the killer was revealed, this person was straight up terrifying. The fear coming off of the pages was palpable. I kept putting myself in the situation of being locked in a basement club with loud music, insane crowd and a murderer on the loose. HARD PASS. The claustrophobia feeling was hard to shake off!

Definitely recommend this book, I was hooked! I loved immersing myself in this story’s world.

“The After Party” by Tess Mackey was a solid 4 star read! It’s intense, suspenseful, and has an interesting plot that kept me wanting to know what would happen next. I enjoyed this one!

I really enjoyed this thriller that left me speechless and wondering what I'd just read! Chock full of twists and turns, every page revealed something more, I loved it.

This one was an utterly addicting, pulse-pounding mystery that had me completely hooked and reading late into the night! It’s such a slick, twist-laden story packed with razor-sharp secrets, high-society drama, and a suffocating web of lies following a night where everything goes wrong, delivering heart-in-throat tension and jaw-dropping turns that will leave you absolutely breathless until the very last page!

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC to read and give my honest opinion on for Tess new book!

This is the 3rd book in the Bad Places series which can also be read as a stand alone.

I really enjoyed the MFC and the storyline this book followed about being trapped in a secret exclusive nightclub. I was highly anticipating what would be happening next after each chapter and that kept me reading. The conclusion was very good and I really enjoyed this book.