Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I look at a fun upcoming thriller from a rising Australian author with While You Were Screaming by Shailee Thompson.
Those familiar with my blog know that I’m a massive fan of weird and unique thrillers, especially those that take established genre elements and flip them on their head. It’s thanks to this love of unusual books that I was lucky enough to read the fantastic 2026 debut, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson. A hilarious novel that served as a combined parody of romance and slasher films, How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates was an extremely compelling read, and it ended up being one of my favourite debuts and Australian releases from the first half of 2026.
Based on how much I enjoyed How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates, I’ve been eager to see what Thompson would write next, which is why I discovered the focus for this week’s post, While You Were Screaming.
Set for release in February 2027, While You Were Screaming is another amazing sounding thriller that will a protagonist find love in all the wrong places. This time combining the romance genre with a gritty thriller narrative involving murderous cults, While You Were Screaming has an awesome plot behind it, and I’m already curious to see how it’s fun, if deadly, narrative goes. Sure to be one of the distinctive thrillers of 2027, I’m very eager to read While You Were Screaming and it should be an early entertaining read for me next year.
Plot Synopsis:
From the #1 bestselling author of How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates comes a swoony killer romance in which a sinister couples retreat results in cult chaos – for fans of Grady Hendrix and Brynne Weaver.
Filmmaker Laurie Hamilton knows a red flag when she sees one, and Kindred Souls sets off every alarm. The organisation claims to counsel couples for a steep price, but what’s their real deal? Is it a scam … or a cult?
On a hunch that might get her killed, Laurie heads undercover with Connor Kincaid – a dangerously handsome podcaster and the one man she swore she’d never see again. Posing as the perfect match, they infiltrate a Kindred Souls retreat run by Cardinal, the enigmatic leader whose eerie charisma and devoted followers suggest there’s far more going on than relationship counselling.
Once inside, there’s no leaving. Surrounded by couples desperate to prove they’re soulmates, Laurie and Connor quickly realise the retreat isn’t about finding love – it’s about deciding who deserves it.
When things go from creepy to deadly, Laurie must decide who she can trust. Getting out alive is one thing, but what if she starts to grow feelings for the man she’s pretending to love? Urgh.
