People say that you have to be crazy to teach middle school. According to The Good Teacher by Brian O'Rourke, you might just be right. As a former middle school teacher myself, I enjoyed this book, and it brought back a lot of memories. The meetings, making besties at work, the kids, the parents, and there is always that one colleague that you wonder about. Ha.

The main character, Nellie, recently divorced, took a job across the country at Overland Middle School to get away from her husband and her old life. On the first day, she comes across Emmett, a respected teacher at her school. The problem is that he looks exactly like the monster from her past. However, the monster wasn't named Emmett. Strange things start happening, but Nellie is new in town, and no one really believes her.

The Good Teacher moves along quickly, and I couldn't wait to get to the end to find out what happens with Nellie and Emmett. I gave this book four out of five stars. The book wrapped up a little too nicely for me, which is why it wasn't five stars. That being said, I still recommend this book. It's a fun read.

Thank you to Inkubator Books, NetGalley, and Brian O'Rourke for a free copy in order for my honest review.

"The Good Teacher" delivers a gripping psychological thriller that hooks you from the start. With its tension-filled narrative, it explores themes of identity, revenge, and the lengths people go to protect their secrets. Nelly Peak's journey is one of resilience and determination as she confronts her past and faces a dangerous adversary in the present. Packed with suspense and unexpected twists, this book keeps you guessing until the final page. If you're a fan of heart-pounding thrillers, "The Good Teacher" is a must-read that will leave you breathless.

So many things to like about this book. But the best was that this was a little different premise. It totally hooked me!

Nelly is a woman going through a rough time. She picks up and moves and starts a new job as a teacher. Her first day, she is introduced to a teacher she knows from her past. Or is it him?

Marshall is a man from her past that assaulted her. But this man goes by Emmett, and he is highly respected and people love him. Is this the same man? Of course, since this is a book you assume you know the answer to his, but this book took some crazy twists.

Nelly starts getting sabotaged, and things quickly go wrong. She knows it's Marshall/Emmett - or is it?

The first half of this book was SO good. I couldn't turn those pages fast enough. The issue is the second half started getting weirder and weirder and Nelly actually got on my nerves. I still needed to know what happened, but I was not nearly as engrossed. In fact, I might have found myself skimming here and there..

So 3 stars is average. The issue is that the first half of this was almost 5 stars.. But the second half... blah. So I will be giving it 3.5 stars -rounded to 3.

is it worth the read? For sure. But maybe on Unlimited?

Thank you to #netgalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Excellent thriller with a great twist at the end. The story follows Nelly who has just joined a new school as the history teacher. She is hoping for a fresh start on the other side of the country in a small town in Pennsylvania. When she first meets her new colleagues one of them looks familiar, and she realises he looks just like the man who attached her over 20 years ago and got away with it!
The story is well written and you can empathise with Nelly throughout. Would be recommending to fellow thriller lovers!

From the first page, the reader is drawn into a story where they wonder eho can they trust. Nelly has many reasons to be scared, or is it just her mind playing tricks on her? Follow through this maze of a story, where once you figure it out, you discover you were wrong. Great book, kept me in suspense. 4 stars because the ended was just tied up a little too much with a big shiny bow. (It just worked out a little too lovely.) Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley.

It was a story that I was got me intrigued from the start. I do feel Nelly was a bit psychotic and paranoid as well- but having a past trauma would do that to you. Couple of twists i didn’t fully see coming which was good

There’s some things that were not fully finished I feel.
Beck giving her a heads up they found things at her apartment where did that come from? Surely they wouldn’t given details just to anyone? Why did the teacher mysteriously leave so there was a spot for her?

Good all round book

A recently divorced woman, Nelly, has moved her entire life to another part of the country to start over. A teacher new to the area, she finds herself meeting her colleagues at a charity event. Everyone seems really great except one person - Emmett. While Emmett appears to have everything going for him (and everyone absolutely loves him), Nelly sees him differently; she believes he is actually a man who tried to rape her when she was a young teen but is going by a different name now. Nelly tries to figure out who the man really is, all while strange things happen at work (her lesson plan goes missing, she falls ill during end of day pick up, etc). Is Emmett really Marshall? Is someone sabotaging her and if so, why?

I enjoyed this book. It's an easy read with a few great twists. It hooked me from the start and kept me entertained the entire time. There were moments when I second guessed her thoughts on Emmett and questioned a few characters' motives. It has a few good twists and was a quick read. It reminded me of Freida McFadden with the writing style, which is a huge plus in my book.

I would recommend this for a quick read with some good "what the heck" moments.

I was lucky enough to read this for free, thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher, This was my honest review.

Brian O'Rourke creates a cat-and-mouse game played out to perfection. After a move, Nelly ends up working with an individual from her past and it isn't someone she cares to reunite with. This time he has a new name but his past is about to creep up on him and he will go to great lengths to keep it in the past. The characters and plot are well thought out and one is immensely engaged in this psychological thriller right up to the last word.

3.50 - Had potential, was interesting, more than one twist. Reminded me of Freida McFadden books (not just the name). Ending felt a little rushed. Check trigger warnings.
Unfortunately the writing style was not for me.

I believe the story could have been better. I knew 2 of the twists almost immediately, but there was another that threw me. The thought of coming face-to-face with your attacker from 25 years ago is terrible, the fact he is making your life unbearable is terrible, the fact you choose to stay employed with him is atrocious (why wouldn’t you just quit, you met him on day 1). The story was a tad slow, picking up in the middle and then just getting messy and over the top at the end. I understand this is fiction, I had hoped though that it would be a little more believable.

This book started out great but the last third really lost me. The ending didn't make sense considering the rest of the story and it was disappointing and also repetitive.

I loved this story and I didn't want to put it down. My blood was boiling for how much Emmett got away with everything by being considered this "could do no wrong" character. Everyone thinks Nelly is crazy and making things up. I felt so outraged for her, just wanted to scream at the characters...for any of them, to believe her!

I enjoyed the ending and it got quite intense. Some of it might not have been the most realistic, but it's just a book and it didn't take away from the story.

There were times that I wanted to yell at Nelly to just give up and leave, but then I remember...why should she? The whole point was for her to not give up.

Tina also upset me, but it was sad what happened to her in the end. I hated the way Tina's husband talked to Nelly but I was proud of her for defending herself. Always love when an fmc takes her power back and stops letting everyone walk all over her.

I recommend this book but I do realize this story could be triggering since this book revolves around a childhood S.A. experience.

I was hooked right from the first page I read of this book, and my goodness it was a rollercoaster of a read.

Nelly is just divorced and has moved away to start again, however soon her past comes back to haunt her as she is faced with the man who attempted to rape her (Marshall). He now goes by a different name “” and in everyone’s eyes he cannot do no wrong.

Given that she is new to the area and no one knows her, but everyone knows Emmett, Nelly keeps her cards close to her chest and doesn’t say anything to anyone. She is however aware that strange things have started to happen to her in both her personal and professional life, slashed tires and missing lesson plans to name a couple.

Nelly reports what has happened to her but the local sheriff brushes her off as Nelly is new to the area and it seems she’s making a big deal over little things. So for now it looks as though Nelly is on her own for now and she is determined to get to bottom and find whoever it is that is making her life very difficult.

I enjoyed the majority of this book, it was fast paced, had me hooked from the start with plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested, however at times I did find it a little predictable, and occasionally far fetched. I also had a few unanswered questions left after I had finished the book, but all in all a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

This was a solid, middle-of-the-road thriller, not a great literary work of art but, then again, that was not what I was looking for when I picked it up to read while on vacation. Here is what I wanted: a fast paced book that kept me reading that did not require a level of energy that I didn't have and this fit the bill, as did the previous novel of his that I read. I do admit that I am a sucker for any book that is about a teacher, because I am one, that this didn't hurt either. It was a world I was familiar with, although admittedly, the school in this book was in a small town where everyone knew everyone else, which made it easier to write a suspense thriller about it.
Nelly, a teacher from a big city school, comes to this school in a small town with a checkered past. This establishes her as, quite possibly, an unreliable narrator, which I think is absolutely necessary. Nelly meets Emmett Moore, the Assistant Principal, who bears an uncanny resemblance to a man that tried to sexually assault her as a teenager. She quickly comes to believe that Emmett Moore, who is much beloved in this town, is that young man. Meanwhile, things start to seriously go south for Nelly and she believes she is being gaslighted because Emmett or Marshall, whomever he is, is afraid of being discovered as the almost rapist she believes him to be and threatens to disrupt his life.
Is he actually Marshall, the man who attacked her as a teenager or Emmett Moore, the Assistant Principal, or both or neither? The book, establishes the narrator as one who may not be worthy of belief, but gives us enough details to wonder whether her story is actually true. You will need to read the book itself to determine this because I am no spoiler.
Thanks to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for providing me with an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Good Teacher... Nelly knows in her heart that she is a good teacher, but when her life is upended and she has to start over, her life becomes a wild ride. Is she paranoid or delusional or is someone messing with her head?

This story is filled with gaslight, manipulation, crime, and uncertainty. As a teacher myself, I was on the edge of my seat as this story unfolded, knowing how things can be twisted unfairly against a teacher. Nelly is a strong character, who has faced adversity and has a determination about her that has the reader rooting for her to the very end.

After my last read, I couldn't give this one 5 stars. This is a very good read and absolutely worth the read, but I found the ending slightly rushed and anti-climactic. It would have been nice to have some backstory from the other characters, even secretly, which would've made it more thrilling in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator books for this ARC!

Thank you Netgalley, Brian O'Rourke, and Inkubator Books for the ebook! This was a fast paced read that had me feeling like I was going crazy! I just couldn't believe the scenario but at the end it all came together and made more sense as to how they got there!!

I loved this book, a bit of a slow start and felt the end was rushed however I would still recommend nonetheless. Gripping mystery!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Oh My Gosh!! I could not put “The Teacher” down! Every time I said one more chapter, it ended on a cliff-hanger and I just had to find out what was going on. I started it earlier tonight and finished it at two o’clock am reading it in one sitting. I’m totally exhausted today but it was so worth it.
This was my first book by Brian O’Rourke but it won't be my last. Many thanks to the author, Inkubator Books and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

WOW! I finished this book in a few hours. I devoured these pages! This book wrecked my nerves! My anxiety was through the roof wanting to know2 what was going to happen. I was engrossed and on the edge of my seat the entire time. If manipulation and gaslighting were a person! I wasn’t sure what to think. Was Nelly delusional or was she correct in her thoughts? I flip flopped on the answer to that question so many times while reading this book.

The characters were well developed and I felt that I got to know them throughout the story, especially Nelly, the female main character. The writing flowed in away that kept you flipping the pages. I just had to know what was going to happen. There was action and drama the whole way through, and I loved the short chapters. There were unexpected twists and turns throughout the story, and I liked the flashbacks to the past sprinkled in along the way. It helped me understand the characters better and gave depth to who Nelly was as a person. Theo Baxter has quickly moved to my “auto-buy authors” list!

Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This is the first book I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it. Nelly begins a new teaching jobs and immediately recognizes another teacher as the boy who tried to rape her when she was 13. Even though he goes by the name Emmett instead of Marshall, Nelly is positive it is him. Emmett is popular with everyone in the small town and comes across as an awesome guy. When Nelly starts accusing him of making her life miserable as a teacher by strange things happening and going to the police and accusing Emmett of these things, you start to wonder is all of this true or is she just unstable?