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Tara Laskowski

Goodreads Author

Website

http://taralaskowski.com/

Twitter

TaraLWrites

Genre

Suspense, Thriller, Fiction

Member Since

January 2010

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TARA LASKOWSKI is the author of the suspense novels The Weekend Retreat, The Mother Next Door, and One Night Gone, which won the Agatha Award, Macavity Award, and the Anthony Award. She also wrote two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders. She has won the Agatha Award and Thriller Award for her short fiction and was the longtime editor of the online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly. Follow her on Instagram, @TaraLWrites.

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Combine Editions
Tara Laskowski’s books

Average rating: 3.53 · 20,928 ratings · 2,550 reviews · 23 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Weekend Retreat 3.44 avg rating — 8,959 ratings — published 2023 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mother Next Door 3.51 avg rating — 5,994 ratings — published 2021 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Night Gone 3.59 avg rating — 4,862 ratings — published 2019 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Flash Fiction International: Very Short Stories from Around the World by James Thomas (Editor), Robert Shapard (Editor), Christopher Merrill (Editor) 3.78 avg rating — 436 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The New Black by Richard Thomas (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Laird Barron (Goodreads Author) (Foreword), Brian Evenson (Contributor) 4.10 avg rating — 353 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best Small Fictions 2017 by Amy Hempel (Guest Editor), Tara Lynn Masih (Goodreads Author) (Series Editor), Maria Calabretta Cancio-Bella (Contributor) 4.22 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2017 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons 4.01 avg rating — 93 ratings — published 2012 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bystanders 4.09 avg rating — 74 ratings — published 2016 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	SmokeLong Quarterly: The Best of the First Ten Years, 2003-2013 by Tara Laskowski (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Elaine Chiew (Goodreads Author), Bob Arter (Contributor) 4.80 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cold Read 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — expected publication 2026 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Tara Laskowski's Blog

What Scares You, Deborah Lacy?

Deborah Lacy’s short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Fault Lines, Shhhh…Murder! , Mystery Weekly Magazine, Murder Most International, and the Anthony Award Winning Anthology Blood on the Bayou She is the editor of the new short story anthology, The Most Dangerous Games, which includes stories from Heather Graham, JD Allen, Alan Orloff, K.C. Selby, P.M. Raymond, and

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Tara rated a book it was amazing The Vanishing Kind (Alex Carter, #4) by Alice Henderson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 30, 2025 06:33PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Tara Laskowski (?)

“But I know family can bring out the worst in people.”
― Tara Laskowski, The Weekend Retreat

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“This weekend has hardly begun and already I’m nauseated. When can we start stabbing each other in the backs and rewarding ourselves with long naps?”
― Tara Laskowski, The Weekend Retreat

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“She shrugs, like she’s talking about the breakfast menu and not a childhood trauma.”
― Tara Laskowski, The Weekend Retreat

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Polls

February 2022 Poll

We ask that you only vote if you are planning on participating in our discussion should your choice win.

Which Crime, Mystery or Thriller would you like to read in February?

He Was A Liar: A twisty psychological thriller with a shock ending by Daniel Hurst

30 votes, 23.1%

The Mother Next Door by Tara Laskowski

27 votes, 20.8%

The Body on the Beach (Fethering Mystery #1) by Simon Brett

17 votes, 13.1%

The Naturalist (The Naturalist #1) by Andrew Mayne

17 votes, 13.1%

The Butcher's Boy (Butcher's Boy #1) by Thomas Perry

15 votes, 11.5%

The Wicked Bible by Sharon L. Dean

13 votes, 10.0%

The Ritual Bath (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus #1) by Faye Kellerman

11 votes, 8.5%

130 total votes

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