As I recently mentioned I’ve read far fewer psychological thrillers than usual in 2018 but occasionally a book, or author has come across my radar that begs to be picked up. The Liar’s Wife was one such book; I’ve read previous books by this author, her earlier books being published long before this genre burst into popularity.
And The Liar’s Wife has a premise that you know is going to prove to be a gripping one if only to work out what on earth everyone’s motivation is!
Ella works on promotional films and one night after working a little later, as usual refusing to go for a drink with her colleagues, she gets on her bike to go home. On the way a van clips her bike and she hits the ground. The van driver, as she finds out later speeds off and an ambulance is called to take Ella to hospital.
Ella wakes from a coma to a nurse saying that her husband is on his way to visit her but Ella doesn’t have a husband. However unlike any normal person even when Ella is on the road to recovery she doesn’t tell the nurses who are devoted to her, who this man is. No she keeps quiet and lets him take her home to his house in a gated community. The thing is you see is Ella knows who the man is and keeping quiet is a far better option than that secret being exposed.
The story is full of suspense with the twists and turns kept to the right number, enough to allow the reader to get swept up in the story but not so many that the reader gets that travel sickness feeling as the road ahead is switched backwards and forwards before you’ve got your bearings.
Samantha Hayes knows how to write a good story, the tone is right with the dialogue perfectly pitched (one of my biggest gripes is that the villains in these stories often do little more than menace and grunt while their supposed charm would raise the red flags at an alarming rate of knots). I’d like to stress just how well the author recreated married life for Ella once she was at ‘home’ and the scenes were right up there on the creepy scale and I was absolutely on the edge of my seat for these. And then it all tipped over into the unrealistic territory which was a great shame as my enthusiasm then waned somewhat before the ending. That said, I will stress that part of my ‘problem’ with the genre is the number of books I have read within it. I know that if my brain starts flashing ‘I can’t believe that would happen’ types of warnings that no matter how good the author is, I’m unlikely to buy into anything else and of course what I find unbelievable won’t necessarily apply to the next person.
So if you really do enjoy a fast-moving and well-written psychological thriller The Liar’s Wife has a lot to offer.
I’d like to thank the publishers Bookouture for allowing me to read a copy of The Liar’s Wife before publication later this week on 22 November 2018. This unbiased review is my thanks to them.
First Published UK: 22 November 2018
Publisher: Bookouture
No of Pages: 372
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Fab review!
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Thank you 🙂
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I completely love this because I’ve felt the second too with psychological thrillers, much as I love the twists there’s a point now where I have to take a break or just read more detective series ones as I can’t handle crazy far fetched endings or the same twists due to reading so many, it definitely can get OTT. Good for you on being honest x
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Thank you – it is tough to review when you know that if I hadn’t read quite so many the feeling I had about how believable they were wouldn’t occur as regularly. It is always good to take a break and mix up the genres.
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Great review, Cleo. We have similar thoughts about this one.
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Ah Diana – that’s good to hear!
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Well written review. I needed this push to read the book I started it and somehow left it halfway
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I hope you manage to get back into it again Shalini!
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Oh, this does sound intriguing, Cleo! It sounds as though there are several surprises and plot twists, and that’s an interesting premise, too. I always do like it, as you know, when characters have those hidden relationships and pasts…
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Thank you Margot – those pasts that people lug around with them are always going to get them in trouble.
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Your review makes me want to give this one a try. Thanks for sharing.
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I really like the premise of this Cleo – I’m a sucker for stories based in gated communities!
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I get tired of any genre if I read too much of it too close together – I end up comparing all books to my favourites and that sets them up to be disappointing before I even begin! I’m sure I did read and enjoy at least one of Samantha Hayes’ books before I moved away from this genre.
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Great review Cleo! Sounds interesting.
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I love a fast paced read. 🙂 Great review.
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Thank you for the review. I’d like this one.
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This sounds very intriguing. Wonderful review. A little creepy, twisty with some questions to answer. I am definitely going to look for this one. I have not read any by this author but I think I will try this one.
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