The Liar’s Chair – Rebecca Whitney

Psychological Thriller
3*’s

This is the second book I’ve read this year which opens with a car accident resulting in death, the first being Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline. Rachel Teller, our narrator, is a woman who was returning to her husband and their ‘perfect’ life in the Brighton countryside having just left the bed of another man, when she rounds a bend and hits a man. Fear of the consequences particularly as she had consumed a fair amount of alcohol in the preceding hours, she decides to continue on her journey home. As Rachel is to find, removing herself from the scene isn’t going to erase her horror when she contemplates what she has done or the fear of what will happen if anyone finds out.

Rachel’s marriage to David is the type of strange marriage that could only exist between the pages of a psychological thriller and I failed to understand why she stayed, despite being presented with various reasons with none of them feeling authentic enough to warrant putting up with that amount of misery. David is presented as one of those particularly cruel men who act only out of their own need to be superior, even to his wife and business partner. Be warned if you don’t like books where the main character isn’t likable, in this book you will struggle to find a single person you’d want to spend more than five minutes with!

Fortunately I don’t mind disliking book characters and this book starts off strongly and I wanted to understand more about the Teller’s marriage, their friends and the super successful business that they’d built from scratch and the fact that there was a twin strand of the story back to Rachel’s childhood in the 1970’s only served to pique my interest. This breath-taking start was diluted as the book continued when the marriage unravelled and the story became less taut during the centre section with seemingly bizarre actions being taken purely to progress the narrative. Despite this wobble the author soon got the story back on track to a satisfactory dénouement although my initial opinion was that both characters really needed to meet a grizzly and untimely death for being so foul.

I have a feeling this one will be popular with those readers looking for a domestic psychological thriller with the emphasis on the thriller and is a perfect read for those times when you need to remind yourself that those people you know aren’t so bad after all.

I received a copy of this book from Amazon Vine in return for my honest review. The Liar’s Chair will be published on 15 January 2015 by Macmillan.

Friday Finds (November 28)

Hosted by Should be Reading

FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

Well first up this week is a BIG thank you for all of you who voted in last weeks poll to choose a book for my empty(ish) December schedule

and the winner is….

The Missing One by Lucy Atkins

I was particularly pleased to be offered  The Liar’s Chair by Rebecca Whitney by Amazon Vine after having seen it mentioned on ‘What Got You Hooked on Crime, Anahita Mody’ on Marina Sofia’s wonderful blog, Finding Time To Write

Blurb

Rachel Teller and her husband David appear happy, prosperous and fulfilled. The big house, the successful business . . .
They have everything. However, control, not love, fuels their relationship and David has no idea his wife indulges in drunken indiscretions. When Rachel kills a man in a hit and run, the meticulously maintained veneer over their life begins to crack. Destroying all evidence of the accident, David insists they continue as normal. Rachel though is racked with guilt and as her behaviour becomes increasingly self-destructive she not only inflames David’s darker side, but also uncovers her own long-suppressed memories of shame. Can Rachel confront her past and atone for her terrible crime? Not if her husband has anything to do with it . . .
A startling, dark and audacious novel set in and around the Brighton streets, The Liar’s Chair will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the final page has been turned. A stunning psychological portrait of a woman in a toxic marriage, Rebecca Whitney’s debut will show that sometimes the darkest shadow holds the truth you have been hiding from . . . Amazon

Exercising control the next couple of books are on my Wishlist but so far I have resisted the urge to buy them… not sure how long that will last though.

My first choice was prompted by Marina Sofia about Research by Philip Kerr whose comment ‘a light-hearted holiday thriller with lots of sly digs at the publishing industry and writers’ egos’ had me rushing off to find out more.

Blurb

BESTSELLING NOVELIST JOHN HOUSTON’S WIFE FOUND MURDERED AT THEIR LUXURY APARTMENT IN MONACO.
Houston is the richest writer in the world, a book factory publishing many bestsellers a year – so many that he can’t possibly write them himself. He has a team that feeds off his talent; ghost writers, agents, publishers. So when he decides to take a year out to write something of quality, a novel that will win prizes and critical acclaim, a lot of people stand to lose their livelihoods.
Now Houston, the prime suspect in his wife’s murder, has disappeared. He owns a boat and has a pilot’s licence – he could be anywhere and there are many who’d like to find him.
First there’s the police. If he’s innocent, why did he flee? Then again, maybe he was set up by one of his enemies. The scenario reads like the plot of one of Houston’s million-copy-selling thrillers… Goodreads

And the final book to make it onto the wishlist is courtesy of another fellow book blogger Crimeworm whose review of The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes who pitches this as for anyone who enjoys a slightly unusual crime novel, with more of a psychological aspect, would love this highly accomplished debut

Blurb

When you open up, who will you let in?
Alex Morris has lost everything :her relationship, her career and her faith in the future. Moving to Edinburgh to escape her demons, Alex takes a job teaching at a Pupil Referral Unit. It’s a place for kids whose behaviour is so extreme that they cannot be taught in a normal classroom. Alex is fragile with grief and way out of her depth.
Her fourth-year students are troubled and violent. In desperation to reach them, Alex turns to the stories she knows best. Greek tragedy isn’t the most obvious way to win over such damaged children, yet these tales of fate, family and vengeance speak directly to them.
Enthralled by the bloodthirsty justice of the ancient world, the teenagers begin to weave the threads of their own tragedy – one that Alex watches, helpless to prevent. Amazon

Read Crimworm’s review to find out more.

What have you found to read this week? – please share!