Published in the Sunday Times
The Wife Between Us
***
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, Macmillan, R285
There’s something fun and soapy about the new wave of domestic thrillers – or, actually, they’re more telenovela-like.
They have such an unrealistic glamorous feel and improbable storylines to feed the insatiable thriller market, those who have gobbled up the Girls books – Gone Girl, Girl on a Train etc – and want more.
More drama, more angst, more guessing games.
These feature impossibly beautiful and fragile yet strong women who could be mentally unstable or not, a rich, handsome, dapper man with piercing eyes who could be bad or not, a marriage that has many secrets – old family skeletons, murder, abuse … and the twists, yoh, they just keep on coming.
Set in New York, The Wife Between Us is one such roller-coaster ride. Vanessa now lives in a trendy flat with her aunt after she and her husband Richard have divorced. She is the jealous ex-wife, seemingly stalking his new fiancée. She wants to do everything to stop the wedding from happening.
Nellie, Richard’s fiancée, is suitably skittish. There are no-caller ID phone calls, her wedding photographer is inexplicably cancelled, and Richard is quite demanding. So demanding that her best friend, Sam, is worried that he might not be the Prince Charming that Nellie thinks he is. But Nellie is smitten and will do anything for Richard.
It’s clever and addictive reading but be prepared for over-the-top machinations. There’s already a twist in the first third of the book. Jennifer Platt @Jenniferdplatt
Book details
- The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
EAN: 9781509842827
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