Review: The Golden Couple (by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen)

My Rating:  4 stars

This is the fourth suspense / thriller novel by writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen that I've read.  Up to this point, I have read all the books they've written and while all were good, none have lived up to their debut novel The Wife Between Us (which was one of those rare thrillers that actually blew me away to the point that I still remember most of the story several years after having read it).  For me, what had set their debut novel apart was the fact that the "shocking twist" in the story was written in a way that truly and unexpectedly floored me — something that doesn't happen often given the number of suspense / thriller novels I read.  However, unfortunately, their subsequent novels weren't able to capture that same level of "excitement" for me (don't get me wrong though — I still enjoyed reading each one, just not to the extent that I enjoyed the first one). Given that context, I went into their newest release, The Golden Couple, already anticipating that it wasn't going to live up to the "thrill" of their first book (and I was right).  While the story definitely did have a lot of compelling moments that were unexpected (and I actually did not figure out the ending), I felt like the writing was a little less smooth this time around, which at times broke the flow of the story for me. 

On the surface, the premise of the story sounds like one that we've heard countless times before: wealthy, suburban couple Matthew and Marissa Bishop live the perfect life, with a marriage that's the envy of the town. However, their idyllic bliss is shattered when Marissa has an affair.  Desperate to repair her marriage, Marissa seeks the help of Avery Chambers, a therapist whose unorthodox methods have proven so successful that she is still highly sought after despite having lost her professional license.   As Avery embarks on her "ten sessions" therapy with the Bishops and enters deeper into their orbit, she begins to realize that there is more than meets the eye with this "golden" couple.  

Not wanting to give away the story of course, I don't want to say too much more about the plot other than what I mentioned above. I will say though, that Avery's story arc was much more interesting than Marissa's — partly because I felt there was too much repetition with Marissa's sections that ended up dragging out the plot a bit more than necessary.  

With all that said, I did enjoy this one overall and I think that those who are already familiar with Hendricks' and Pekkanen's previous works won't be disappointed.  If this is your first time reading this writing duo's books though, I would definitely recommend going with The Wife Between Us, and then moving on to their other works after that.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: You Are Not Alone (by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen)

My Rating: 4 stars

This is the third book I’ve read by what I now consider the “dynamic writing duo” of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen and I can truly say that they have now become favorite “go-to” authors for me when it comes to the thriller / suspense genre.  As is the case with most works in this genre, it’s necessary to go into this one knowing as little as possible, so I’m not going to expand too much on the plot other than to say that the story revolves around Shay Miller, who witnesses a horrific suicide (a young woman named Amanda jumps into the path of an oncoming subway train) and then subsequently finds herself pulled into the dead woman’s orbit through the Moore sisters Jane and Cassandra and the other women from their group, as they mourn the loss of their friend.  But there’s more than meets the eye here and as we learn each woman’s backstory, the web that is woven becomes more and more complex.

Just like with their previous works, Hendricks and Pekkanen do a good job creating a slow buildup of suspense while giving us a story that is captivating from beginning to end.   Structure-wise, this one fell somewhere in the middle in that it didn’t have the huge shocking twist that we saw in their first book The Wife Between Us, nor did it consist of numerous mini cliffhangers like in their second book The Anonymous Girl.  Instead, there were revelations that made their way to the surface gradually as the story progressed, yet without a whole lot of fanfare, akin to a puzzle where each piece fell into place slowly but satisfyingly, one after another.

One of the things I admire most about this writing team is their ability to create an engaging, well-crafted story of psychological suspense that manages to feel original and creatively different from one book to the next, yet still somehow feel as though they’re connected thematically.  This was an entertaining read, one that I definitely recommend.  I can’t wait to see what Hendricks and Pekkanen have in store for us next!  

  

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley

Review: An Anonymous Girl (by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen)

 My Rating:  4 stars

 

I actually finished reading this book back in December but I’ve been down with a bad case of the flu this past week and only started feeling stronger today, so didn’t get a chance to write the review on this until now.

After having read Greer Hendricks’ and Sarah Pekkanen’s debut novel The Wife Between Us last year, I was really excited to be approved for an advance copy of their sophomore work, An Anonymous Girl. As is usually the case with thriller / suspense novels, I don’t want to say too much in this review, as the “fun” in reading this genre is to go in knowing as little as possible and seeing where the story takes you.  The premise of the story — about a woman named Jess who sneaks into a paid research study on morality and ethics, then subsequently finds herself entangled in a dark web of deceit, betrayal, and obsession — is completely original and different, which is definitely refreshing given that so many psychological suspense novels nowadays seem to cover the same types of themes and characters.  The story was captivating, despite the fact that there weren’t a bunch of explosive scenes — rather than being action-packed, the story was actually a slow-burning one, with a bunch of smaller surprises at the end of each chapter rather than one huge shocking twist.  I feel this structure worked well in this case, especially with the narrative alternating between Jess and the doctor conducting the study, as we got to experience the story from two very different perspectives, which helped make the mini reveals in each chapter all the more interesting. 

In many ways, I feel that Greer and Hendricks took their storytelling to the next level with this book, as it delves much deeper into the minds of its characters while at the same time, making us as readers wonder how we would answer if posed the same questions. With that said though, there were certain points throughout the story where I couldn’t help questioning why Jess would agree to certain things or whether she truly didn’t see some of the things that went on — so yes, there were some believability issues for me but relatively minor ones given the context of the story.  I also thought the ending was anti-climactic — in this area, their first book The Wife Between Us was  way, way better in that the ending there left me stunned and shocked while the ending with this one left much to be desired.

Overall, this was a well-written psychological suspense novel, a good choice if you’re looking for something different within the genre and don’t mind the slow pace of the story.  Definitely recommended!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley

**BLOG TOUR** Review: The Wife Between Us (by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen)

My Rating: 4 stars

Don’t expect this review to be very long, as there really isn’t a whole lot I can say about this book without spoiling the story!  The Wife Between Us is one of those books that you really need to experience for yourself, but you need to go into it knowing as little as possible. 

Whenever I read a thriller / suspense novel, I usually expect the opening scene to be explosive, a scene that grabs me from the start and hurls me into the depths of the story, not letting go until the very end.  While the Prologue did start out with a relatively “explosive” scene, the opening chapters did not maintain the momentum I expected.  The first half or so of the book was actually quite slow-going, with a lot of time devoted to establishing the main characters and setting up their background story.  It made me worry that perhaps this would be another run-of-the-mill thriller, similar to so many other books from the same genre that had emerged in recent years.  It turns out I had nothing to worry about, as this book absolutely ended up delivering in the psychological thriller department with a roller coaster ride of twists and turns starting at the halfway mark all the way up through the Epilogue.  At that point, I was definitely hanging on for the ride as this roller coaster slammed into one twist after another, with most of the revelations taking me completely by surprise (there were a few I did figure out, but that’s insignificant compared to everything I didn’t figure out).   

This book was written by two different authors, but you would never know from reading it, as the narrative flowed seamlessly and the writing was consistent throughout.  With thrillers, attention to detail is so important, especially after a major plot twist, as there is oftentimes the urge to go back and re-read certain passages to see if the “clues” make sense – with this book, the writing was very meticulous and even though some parts felt slow and a bit draggy at times, the story was still compelling enough to keep reading and guessing along the way.  The authors did a good job taking what could’ve been the “same old, same old” in terms of subject matter and turn it into a unique, cleverly written story with complicated yet interesting characters.  Though I can’t say that I was “wowed” by this book as I have been with other thrillers, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read, one that I was able to breeze through pretty quickly after the first major plot twist was revealed.  Definitely recommended!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley