It was refreshing to read a psychological suspense novel presented (after the opening chapter) in chronological order from the single POV of a reliable narrator.

"The Marriage Pact" (see book description) actually reminded me a lot of "The Firm", but also has aspects of the Stanford prison experiment (which, after I had noted so, was mentioned in the book!) and "The Circle". I could see this book being adapted to film, as those stories were.

Deftly plotted and paced, it had me on pins and needles, providing a breather only when Jake Cassidy was counseling his patients or dispensing factoids on marriage — interludes that invite discussion as much as what you *think* you would do in his or Alice's circumstances.

A book club read, for sure — just have the hot chocolate handy, friend.

My supreme thanks to NetGalley, Bantam Books, and Michelle Richmond for the advanced reading copy.

Could not read, sis not care for the writing style.

I had trouble believing a lot of things in this book, and couldn't truly connect to the characters. It seemed like the story was kind of all over the place. It would get crazy intense and fail to find its way out. Not a fan, though I really wanted to be.

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond is innovative, edgy, and compelling--impossible to put down. Throughout most of the book, I kept wanting to call up all of my closest book-reading friends, ask them to read it, and then meet for a long discussion. I thought it might be one of the most intriguing books I'll read all year. The author's style is truly fabulous and I will definitely read more of her work.

One expects a few spelling errors here and there, but unfortunately my ARC contained more than I think is acceptable. I hope these are cleaned up prior to publication, as it is a shame to be bothered by these distractions.
I also felt that the wonderful pace did not hold up after the first 2/3 of the novel and thought that it dragged a bit. All plot points in this middle piece are necessary, but I think the orchestration was a little slow (although the ending was wonderfully both inevitable and surprising). And lastly, despite the obviously well researched discussions about marriage counseling, the author made a fundamental error about the difference between psychology and psychiatry. Those familiar with the fields will find that disappointing.

Nonetheless, The Marriage Pact is sure to be one of those books that contains much for readers to ponder after finishing the last page. It is a great book for book clubs and I am sure it will get a lot of attention for the provocative nature of its content. I look forward to more books by Michelle Richmond and highly recommend her writing.

If you're trying to turn someone off marriage- give them this book. It makes the institution of marriage sound terrifying. The basic premise is that this cult-like social club called The Pact will come and fine, "reeducate", and even arrest you if you are not true to your marriage vows. How do they know? Oh, because they're watching of course. And listening. It's all rather creepy and over the top. Honestly, I'd rather get a divorce then have to suffer through this group's draconian punishments. And then of course after the punishment is complete, you are invited to attend this week's cocktail party. Yay!?

Honestly I figured this wasn't going to be a very interesting book because the story line...well let's just say wasn't very realistic. I couldn't have been more wrong. This book grabbed me from the very beginning....fast reading..interesting and kept me wanting more! I literally could not put this down...every time I put it down to go to sleep i jumped back up for "Just one more chapter". I wound up staying up all night reading just to see what was going to happen next. This was a GREAT book.

Excellent book! I read it in two days, fascinated, horrified and thrilled at the same time. Jake's insights are valuable for newlyweds today and a cautionary tale for those same lovebirds to refrain from signing any contracts without reading the finer print. Will buy this book when printed for gift giving. A few typos in the book, but realize it is not quite ready for publishing.

Non-put-downable. Once I began reading The Marriage Pact, I only put it down to sleep and go to work (and work is the only reason I didn't finish it the first day). Marriage can be hard, no matter how much spouses love each other. What if there was a club of sorts that a newly-married couple could join, one which has helping couples stay married as it's entire purpose for being? You know what they say about something sounding too good to be true.... The only real drawback to this novel is that the final chapter began to feel rather surreal and the ending was too ambiguous for my taste (though of course other readers may love that). Absolutely recommended for people who enjoy conspiracy thrillers.

As with all great psychological thrillers I've read in the past I found myself immediately sucked in. From the very beginning a lot of foreshadowing was going on and most everything was explained in extreme detail. In thrillers or suspense novels I'm a huge fan of short chapters and loved that this was the case with this book. At some points I found the story to be a bit slow-paced, which I think had a lot to do with the extreme attention to detail. Once I got about half way through, the story really started to fly by.
I was finding it very difficult to get invested in the characters early on, but am happy to say that around a quarter of the way through Jake and Alice felt like family and I was rooting for them. I found myself getting really creeped out thinking a "cult" like this could actually exist and people wouldn't even know about it.
Throughout the book I got a "James Patterson" feel to it, which to me is awesome because he is one of my favorite authors. I mean this in the way of it being very easy to follow and it bein a good vacation, beach, or devour in one sitting type of read. There were a list of twists and turns I didn't see coming, even up until the very end. My only complaint is that the ending came so abruptly I was wondering where the rest of the book was, though it did finalize the story enough in my opinion.

Five stars. I'm sold. This book got me through and through. Go read it. Now.

I got ten percent into this one and thought to myself, "Wow!" I was intrigued. I needed to keep reading. It was a good thing that I was on a plane and thus able to tune out the rest of the world because this book drew me in and kept me there the whole way.

But at the same time that I'm telling you to read this, please don't. It's chilling. It's frightful. It's dreadful. It made me physically uncomfortable. (It definitely did not help the plane seat.) I felt so uncomfortable reading this because I dreaded what was to come--it was scary, though in a psychological sense, and I found myself fearing. I definitely shuddered out loud because of this book. I definitely closed it and told myself I'd stop, just to pick it up a few minutes later.

The plot is fabulous. I was still thinking about this book a few days later, and have already detailed it enthusiastically to two non-readers. I'm disappointed that I have to wait until it's released to go and tell everyone to read it. The ending did get a little bit hard to believe, but never realistic because the entire book had set it up to be so. It wasn't until after finishing this that I actually realised that it was so.

The detailing of this was very real. As someone who grew up in San Francisco, I fully vouch for this book. The details it provided were all believable and it contributed to how real this book was--I could see it taking place in the streets I used to walk down, which was a lot of fun. Jake and Alice additionally were interesting and real characters. Jake's job working as a therapist really made his outlooks interesting and I enjoyed all his thoughts about what made a good marriage and in relation to both kids and adults.

It was so clear how much he loved and respected Alice, too. I think everyone in a successful relationship has wondered why their partner is with them or questioned if the other person actually loves them back. Though Jake's tone could be clinical, I really believed his passion for multi-faceted Alice.

This is a must-read.

This was one of the those books that had me completely hooked in from the beginning. For the first half of the book, I was truly enthralled and couldn't stop reading. However, the middle of the book really, really dragged. I found myself skim reading because I got bored with Jake & Alice always doing something wrong. The end picked up again and reengaged me, which is why it ultimately earned a 3 star rating.

If this book was about 75 pages less and didn't get so "into the weeds" in the middle of the story, it would have been a 4 star read for me.

I really liked the concept of the story and it is certainly different than a lot of the "domestic thrillers" that are out there today.

This book is insane! Although a bit over the top at times, I found myself hooked and eager to see what happened next.

Couldn't put this book down. Fast paced and well written. Highly recommend this book.

You will not believe this book! It starts out a little strange, it seems someone has beaten someone up, and then they awaken in a plane, disoriented and beat up, and it moves from there to kind of a back story that leads up to the present... just a really great book that I could not put down, finished in one sitting!!!

The perfect combination of bizarre, strange and just down-right creepy!

Alice and Jake receive a very strange gift for their wedding. A locked box, compliments of their new friend Finnegan and Alice's new client. The box as well holds a cryptic note to be revealed upon their return from their honeymoon.

Warning bells! Of course this would have been the opportunity to have just walked away. Strike that… run away, and agree never to open the box. Oh no you don’t! Curiosity killed the cat...

"The pact is a group of like-minded individuals’ intent on achieving a similar goal"

Newly wed Jake seems to be questioning Alice's level of love and commitment right from the start. Maybe this marriage pact would be a good thing to help hold onto his new wife.

But now the Pact is controlling every aspect of their lives. Can they just leave? If in fact the Pact will even let them leave?
This book had me hooked from the start and I absolutely could not put it down! I kept thinking, where can this go? There is part of you that is going to shake your head and say "Oh come on! This is just crazy!" Then that little inner voice says... “But what if?”

It does go a bit off the deep end in the last third of the book, and the relentless pace slowed. But come on, that fast and furious pace couldn't continue nonstop! Something had to give. The ending for me was, well… You’ll just have to decide for yourself.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group and Michelle Richmond for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Great book with an unique story line! I definitely recommend this!

I received this book from NetGalley free of charge in exchange for my honest review of the book.

Alice and Jake are newlyweds. A guest at their wedding invited them to join a "club" to help strengthen their marriage and interact with like minded couples. It sounds wonderful.. or is it? There are rules to this club and if you break them, the penalty can be severe.

I enjoyed this book and it kept me interested the entire time, as it only took me 3 days to read a 400+ page book. I felt invested in the characters and what happened to them. I liked that the author kept me guessing on what was really going on and how there were a couple of threads in the story that played into it. I certainly didn't see the twist near the end.

This book takes you on a fast moving suspenseful l ride. I was hooked from the first paragraph. I liked Alice and Jake and wanted them to triumph. It is not hard to image the marriage pact existing, and how a little power can corrupt. I like having the story told from Jake’s point of view.

Alice a successful lawyer and Jake a successful psychologist get an unexpected gift for their wedding. This gift sets into motion a marriage pact. Once they sign it they are bound to its laws. As they begin to unravel the secrets of this society it takes you on this psychological ride. A twisted membership they they cannot escape.

Absolutely loved this story! I was compelled to keep reading, especially with the short chapters. The main characters were well developed, and because there were a limited number of them, I didn't have to flip back to previous chapters to reacquaint myself with them. I could not have predicted the end, which turned out to be quite satisfying. My only "con" was the little bit of violence, about 3/4 of the way through the book. I would have preferred that to have been softened a little. Otherwise, The Marriage Pact was probably the best book I've read this year!