The Only One Who Knows
- Judith D Collins
- Apr 17
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 17
By: Lisa M. Matlin
Narrator: Nikki Thomas
ISBN: 9780593599983
Publisher: Ballantine | Bantam
Publication Date: 03/03/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 4.5 Stars (ARC)
A disgraced TV news reporter returns to her violent hometown to investigate a series of deadly shark attacks in this nail-biting suspense novel from the author of The Stranger Upstairs.
“A gothic coastal noir about generational violence and the cyclical nature of predation, The Only One Who Knows is visceral, haunting, and impossible to look away from.”—Carter Wilson, USA Today bestselling author of Tell Me What You Did
Something is lurking below the surface . . . and it’s hungry.
With her polished persona as a morning show co-host, Minnow Greenwood seems to have it all. But behind the camera, something’s about to break. When a public meltdown shatters her facade, Minnow flees back to Kangaroo Bay—a grimy fishing town on Australia’s southern coast, where locals vanish and something deadly hunts in the water.
On her first night back, a horrifying shark attack rocks the town, adding another body to the unsettling list of deaths and disappearances. Then a former colleague arrives to investigate, so she reluctantly teams up with him to find answers for herself and keep her own dark secrets buried.
But with danger closing in, Minnow must unearth her town’s deadly past—and face the darkness festering inside her—before she becomes the next to disappear.
My Review
Lisa M. Matlin cements her status as the queen of Australian psychological grit. In Kangaroo Bay, the air is salt-thick, and the secrets are even heavier. THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS follows Minnow Greenwood as she returns to a home that never wanted her back, only to witness a horror that unspools forty years of local lies.
It’s a dark, messy, and deeply atmospheric look at what happens when a community’s silence becomes more dangerous than the predators in the surf.
In a town where the tide hides forty years of blood, and the residents are more dangerous than the sharks, knowing the truth is the only thing more terrifying than being frozen by it.
Thematic Elements...
~Cycles of Abuse
~Toxic Masculinity
~Fight, Flight, or Freeze
My thoughts...
Lisa M. Matlin delivers a high-octane thriller that is as much a study of a broken psyche as it is a hunt for a killer. While the propulsive mystery of the Kangaroo Bay 'shark attacks' keeps the pages turning, it’s the haunting exploration of Minnow’s generational trauma that gives the story its teeth. THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS is a visceral blend of coastal noir and psychological depth.
A jagged, salt-soaked triumph! The author proves that she is the master of the "uncomfortable" thriller—writing stories that are as much about the bruises on the soul as the blood in the water. If you want a mystery that makes your heart race and your skin crawl for all the right reasons, pick this up. Just don’t expect to feel safe going back into the ocean.
The Hook:
The secrets are deeper than the ocean, and the trauma bites harder than the sharks.
The Tension:
A hunt for a killer. A reckoning with the past.
The Vibe:
Where the 'freeze' response meets a town’s coldest secrets.
Dual Timelines:
The narrative jumps between the present and Minnow’s childhood at age ten, gradually revealing how her parents' fates are tied to the current violence.
The Title’s Evolution: From Burden to Power...
At the beginning of the book, the title feels like a burden. Minnow is "the only one who knows" the details of a horrific event, and that knowledge isolates her, haunting her with guilt and the weight of her "freeze" response. It’s a title that implies a heavy, lonely silence. However, as the ending approaches, the significance of the title flips.
The Verdict:
Matlin succeeds in doing something very difficult: she treats a high-concept "shark thriller" with the gravity of a literary character study. The mystery of who is killing the residents of Kangaroo Bay provides the momentum, but the exploration of Minnow’s "freeze" response provides the heart. It’s a haunting look at how we survive the predators in our lives—both the ones with fins and the ones with familiar faces. A must-read for fans of gritty coastal noir and psychological realism.
Takeaway...
The ultimate message of the novel is that the truth doesn't set you free—it forces you to move. Matlin leaves the reader with a chilling reminder: The most dangerous thing in the water isn't what has teeth—it’s the secrets we've spent forty years trying to drown.
The Bottom Line:
~Read this if: You love Gillian Flynn, Karin Slaughter, Riley Sager, Robyn Harding, Lisa Jewell, or Jane Harper, you’re a fan of "small town with a dark secret" tropes, or you want a thriller that doesn't shy away from the reality of trauma.
~Skip this if: You’re looking for a light beach read or are particularly sensitive to themes of domestic abuse and animal attacks.
Final Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫4.5/5 Stars — A visceral, unflinching masterpiece of Australian noir.
Special thanks to Ballantine | Bantam and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Pub Date: Mar 03, 2026
Praise
“Lisa Matlin’s prose is as beautiful as it is brutal, cutting straight to the bone as Minnow unravels the secrets her family and her town have spent decades trying to bury. Minnow is a deeply flawed but fiercely resilient protagonist, so real she feels like she might bleed through the page. A gothic coastal noir about generational violence and the cyclical nature of predation, The Only One Who Knows is visceral, haunting, and impossible to look away from.”
—Carter Wilson, USA Today bestselling author of Tell Me What You Did
“An exquisitely dark story about what lurks beneath the surface and the weight of secrets and lies—original and unexpected. Lisa Matlin knows how spin a tale. Just when you thought it was safe to crack open one of the summer’s top beach reads, Matlin will leave you reeling—and eager to turn the page.”
—Alex Finlay, bestselling author of Parents Weekend
“A story as visceral as a shark bite, The Only One Who Knows is an utterly compelling family saga wrapped in a tantalizing, impossible-to-put-down mystery that makes it clear the monsters to fear most aren’t the ones swimming in the ocean but those on land who are closest to us. Deep character work makes this a must-read for any fan of high-caliber suspense. Highly recommended!”
—Jamie Day, bestselling author of The Block Party
“As a lover of shark movies and dogs, I loved this book. I spent the whole time trying to guess who the real predators were, the sharks, the men, or the narrator herself. It’s a great vacation read, just be careful when you go in the water.”
—Tasha Coryell, author of Matchmaking for Psychopaths
About the Author
Lisa M. Matlin is the author of The Only One Who Knows and The Stranger Upstairs. She was a guitarist in a rock band before switching from songwriting to story writing. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her dogs. She’s probably rewatching The Walking Dead right now and trying not to laugh at her own jokes. Matlin is a passionate mental health advocate and your dog’s number-one fan.
