Book of the Month: “It’s Not Her” — A Riveting Thriller and a Haunting Truth

If you’re the kind of reader who lives for late‑night page‑turning and that delicious moment when a plot twist makes you sit straight up in bed, then our book of the month is going to hit the spot. Mary Kubica has a knack for getting under your skin, and her latest novel, “It’s Not Her,” is the kind of thriller that grabs you by the collar from page one and doesn’t loosen its grip. Check out all the thrilling details below that will make you want to check out our book of the month!

A Vacation That Turns Into a Nightmare

In a preview from HarperCollins, Kubica drops us into a lakeside resort where everything should feel peaceful — sun on the water, kids running around, families grilling dinner. But that calm lasts about five minutes before the whole place is ripped open by a scream.

“A scream shatters the silence…
Courtney Gray’s peaceful vacation turns into a nightmare when she discovers her brother and sister-in-law dead in their lakeside cottage. Her niece Reese is missing. Her nephew Wyatt is asleep upstairs—unharmed.”

It’s the kind of moment that makes your stomach drop, and Kubica doesn’t give you a second to recover. And here’s where the story gets even more chilling: Kubica has said she drew inspiration from the real‑life 1981 Keddie cabin murders — a case still unsolved today. In an article from Publishers Weekly, Kubica stated:

“I found inspiration for It’s Not Her in the 1981 Keddie cabin murders, a true crime case that is still unsolved today. Though the novel and the real-life murders are different, they share some similarities: a cottage in a remote place where family members are murdered overnight, only for police to find a surviving son in one of the bedrooms, who seemingly slept through the brutal murders, and a daughter missing from the home.”

Characters Who Feel Like They’re Hiding Something

Courtney Gray

Courtney is raw, shaken, and barely holding it together — and honestly, who wouldn’t be? She’s thrown into the role of caretaker, detective, and emotional punching bag all at once. She’s not polished or perfect; she’s just trying to survive the worst week of her life.

Wyatt

The kid at the center of the storm. He’s quiet, traumatized, and carrying more than he can say. Kubica writes him with this eerie mix of innocence and mystery that keeps you guessing.

The Town

Everyone in this lakeside community has a story, and none of them line up neatly. Kubica leans into that small‑town vibe where everyone knows everyone — and everyone knows something they’re not saying.

Plot Points That Hit Hard

Without spoiling the big reveals, here are the beats that shape the story:

• A scream shatters the calm at a family lake resort, and Courtney Gray finds her brother and sister‑in‑law murdered in their cottage. Her niece, Reese, has vanished without a trace, and her nephew Wyatt is found asleep upstairs, untouched and eerily silent about what happened.
• From there, the weirdness piles up fast. The town is full of people acting shifty, the police can’t seem to get a straight answer from anyone, and every new detail Courtney uncovers feels like another thread in a web she didn’t know she was walking into.
• And when the truth finally claws its way out — it’s not clean, not comforting, and definitely not the kind of explanation you can wrap up with a bow. It’s darker, more tangled, and way more personal than anyone expects.

Kubica’s pacing is sharp. She knows exactly when to drop a clue, when to yank the rug, and when to let the tension simmer until you’re practically vibrating.

Release Details & Where to Get It

• Release Date: February 3, 2026
• Publisher: Park Row Books/ HarperCollins
• Where to Pick It Up: Major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop.org, and your local indie bookstore will all have it on shelves and online.

Why It Earns the “Book of the Month” Spotlight

Kubica doesn’t just write thrillers — she writes emotional gut punches wrapped in mystery. “It’s Not Her” is tense, atmospheric, and full of that creeping dread that makes you read one more chapter even when you know you shouldn’t.

It’s a story about family, trauma, and the lies people tell to keep their world from falling apart. And Kubica handles it with the kind of sharp, unsettling precision that makes her one of the best in the genre.

If you want a thriller that feels raw, human, and impossible to shake off, this one deserves a spot at the top of your stack.