Very good. This was a fast paced read with great character development.

Aggie and Megs both expectant mothers, could not be any more different. Aggie is a single supermarket employee and Megs is a stay at home mom, married to a sports personality. They strike up a friendship none the less, and are due to deliver their babies at the same time. However, Megs and Jack's baby is kidnapped from the hospital shortly after his birth. The characters are well developed and the storyline shifts from Aggie to Megs with each chapter. The novel is quite suspenseful. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This novel of domestic suspense, that treads into women's fiction (think: Liane Moriarty), is a real departure from Michael Robotham's Joseph O'Loughlin series and previous standalone, and proof of his versatility as a writer.

It is certain to please fans and garner him new ones — especially, readers who liked "The Girl on the Train."

What begins as a witty, breezy story of two women's disparate but intersecting lives takes a dramatic shift as their secrets unfold, and hits with a yowza ending.

A great summer read!

Thank you, NetGalley and Scribner, for the advance reader copy.

My emotions were a whirl with this well thought out book.

Though it was a bit length for the genre, this was a really quick read because of how gripping the plot was. I felt a real connection to both of the characters and emphasized with the way each of them felt. I became quite invested in the fate of all involved.

The entire concept was incredibly well plotted and thought through. This was reflected in Agatha's character--she was precise and methodical. Meg had more going on than seemed on surface level which helped me to become quickly invested. I loved the details Robotham included and how they all tied together. The policework involved was also quite intriguing to read about.

At the beginning, Agatha gave me the creeps, but flashbacks and pointed details really drew me to her and by the end, though I also wanted to shake some sense into her, I wanted to see her growing up a bit and being happy.

The ending had a few surprises, including a relationship that I hadn't quite seen developing and a very solid finale. This was a rare book where the ending was quite satisfying in that I didn't want to read more about the characters because I knew enough to safely envision the rest of their lives.

Though this book wasn't outstanding, it was enjoyable and very easy to get lost in.

MEGHAN DOESN'T KNOW AGATHA, BUT AGATHA KNOWS MEGHAN!!
Agatha is a pregnant woman who is close to giving birth she works part time in a supermarket stacking shelves, her fiance who is away at sea with the Royal Navy. she Idolises another local mum Meghan who she thinks has the perfect life and family, Agatha does all she can to become friends with Meghan But Agatha has SECRETS!

Meghan is heavily pregnant who has a nice home two beautiful kids and a loving husband and a big house her husband works on TV and she has her own blog about motherhood that is very popular, on the outside everything about Meghan and her Family seems perfect BUT Meahan has her own SECRETS!
Agatha know's everything about Meghan and her family she knows where they live and where they work she even knows the layout of there family home, when Meghan comes into the store with her children and starts talking to Agatha they soon start talking about the new babys that are both due around the same time, and after what seems to be a chance meeting at Meghan's pregnant yoga class they soon become friends, Meghan likes Agatha because shes down to earth and not like her other friends and Agatha likes Meghan because she has the life that Agatha wants!

But then a baby goes missing and a hunt is on to find the missing baby and the person who took him! from the moment i started reading this book i loved it i couldn't stop reading because i had to find out what happened next, the plot of the story is very real with believable characters what i loved about this story is that it kept you on edge until the very last word on the page as the story was getting close the end the police and the worried mother was still hunting the person who took the baby AND THEN BANG!!! it took another turn and lots of twists this is an amazing book they you will not put down its a book that you will tell all your friends about and will want to read again!! thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for my copy

RIVETING!!! SHOCKING!!! DEVASTATING!!! UNFORGETTABLE!!! This is one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever read! I had adrenaline running through me as I quickly turned the pages. It is super suspenseful and very hard to put down! I related to all the characters and thought about how lies put our lives in jeopardy. The truth is so much easier to remember, but people so often think they can remember all their lies. This is going to be a blockbuster!

This is a great read, the story was different than the other books I've read by Mr. Robotham. Different in a good way I mean, his Joe O'Laughlin books should'nt be missed. I liked the way it was a two person narrative, it made you understand that everyone has a story and maybe a reason why they do bad things. I liked the way he ended the book.

A riveting psychological drama that is impossible to forget!

Meghan and Jack have a great life. A perfect little family with their two children, a nice house -- all the trappings of success. That's what Agatha sees from the outside. One never knows what goes on behind closed doors.

Meghan is expecting a third child, an "oops" baby and there are little hints that everything is not as great as it looks. Agatha is also heavily pregnant and the two meet and swap stories about their pregnancies and lives. Agatha is a bit unhinged and quite brittle as her life doesn't measure up compared to what Meghan has -- in fact, Agatha's "boyfriend" is not taking her calls at the moment. She's hoping the baby is going to change his mind. Both of these women harbor secrets and they are revealed in explosive fashion as their due dates come.

No spoilers -- the story is told from the point of view of each woman. Seamlessly weaving between them and moving forward in time, the reader knows everything and is just biting nails waiting to see how it all turns out.

I've read every book Michael Robotham has written and I never get the feeling that he's written the same type of thriller twice. His characters are well-developed and complex, his plots are meticulously crafted, and his descriptions of unfolding events and the settings are always realistic. I love his work and can't wait for his next novel! Highly recommend this one!

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

Two pregnant ladies - one whose baby is unplanned, the other whose baby is planned down to the tiniest detail. Their paths were bound to cross, the common bond discovered.

It's probably happened to all of us at one time or another. You make an offhand comment, pay a compliment, or maybe flash a quick smile to a complete stranger. Could be someone waiting in line at the post office, or perhaps a waitress, or maybe a grocery clerk. It doesn't matter, all of a sudden you are her best friend in the world. She latches onto you, showing too much interest in your life, a life that is everything she wishes hers could be. You have no idea.

Everyone has a secret, this novel illustrates perfectly just how far one will go to protect that secret. The blame game is played, who has been damaged the most here? Who has made the biggest sacrifice? I suspect this book will go to town when it is released. The pacing is terrific, the characters well developed. The sequence in the hospital is right up there with some of the best I've read.

Phenomenal! As always, Michael Robotham delivers. He can tell a masterful story. I found this so very suspenseful and enjoyed spending the weekend with these characters. 5 star read.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

Hands up if you have an absolutely perfect life? No,thought not. Life is a roller coaster of experiences, it CAN be perfect at times, and truly awful at others. Agatha however, perceives Meghan's life to be absolutely perfect - living in a beautiful house with the handsome TV sports presenter husband, two children - a girl and a boy, no financial worries, and a wide circle of stylish friends, Meghan is expecting her third child. Agatha is expecting too, and she longs to connect with Meghan, but they have completely opposing lives, with Agatha working in a local supermarket. It's from there that she watches Meghan when she's buying her groceries.

Eventually Agatha manages to engage Meghan in conversation, and they find that their babies are due around the same time. Meghan actually likes Agatha, and they become very friendly. However, little does Meghan know that this friendship will alter the course of her life in a most devastating manner. Though they're unaware of it, the main connection that these two women have is that they can both keep a secret!

This is a brilliant phsychological thriller in a marketplace that is flooded with this particular genre. The character development was superb, the plot was gripping, a real page turner, and perfectly paced. You're in for a great read should you choose to pick this one up.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for my ARC for which I have given an honest review*

You know when you start one of those books that you know straight away you are going to like , well this was one of those for me. I really enjoy Michael Robotham books anyway but the instant I started reading this I had a good feeling and read at every opportunity. This stand alone novel is written in a similar style as 'The Girl on the Train' and yes I know we have had a few too many like that but this is written so well. Great characters, well paced and the constant build up of suspense is a little too much to take at times but so good.
This psychological thriller features on an unlikely friendship between two pregnant women, Agatha is pregnant and works part-time stocking shelves at a grocery store in a London suburb and Meghan a classy woman who appears to have everything and leads an elegant lifestyle that dazzles Agatha.
Meghan has two children, a handsome husband, a happy marriage, a stylish group of friends, and writes on her popular parenting blog, posts that Agatha reads with devotion each night as she waits for her absent boyfriend, the father of her baby, to maybe return her calls. Meghan is a customer at the shop Agatha works at and when Meghan comes to the shop, Agatha makes the effort to speak to her, thrilled that they now have the ordeal of childbearing in common. Little does Meghan know that the mundane exchange she has with a grocery store employee during a hurried afternoon shopping trip is about to change the course of her life forever.

This is an excellent psychological thriller, a real page turner that will have you reading faster and faster as the suspense builds. Excellent author with a new book that will certainly please.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Scribner for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is my very first book by Michael Robotham, I must say, I am not disappointed!! I missed a night of sleep when I started this book, I just couldn't put it down. It is brilliant & twisted, a must read.

Two women who run in different social circles are pregnant & hiding secrets that would be devastating if anyone found them out. This page turner shows you the lengths some women go to protect their secrets.

Wow, Robotham does it again! I am a long time fan of this author and love his work. This was a different kind of book for him but he pulled it off fantastically!

This book centers on both Meghan and Agatha. They meet at the grocery store where Agatha works. They are both pregnant so they bond instantly and so begins a friendship! Not sure if friendship is the accurate word as Agatha idolizes Meghan and her life with her 2 perfect children, a boy and a girl and Agatha watches them from afar. Agatha is single and lonely. What exactly is Agatha up to and why does she watch Meghan and her family from their rear garden?

This is a great suspenseful psychological thriller that had me tearing through the pages. As the book unfolds, you find out more and more about Agatha's life story and it is very sad. I felt for both Agatha and Meghan. I liked Cyrus, the psychologist in this book but oh how I missed Joseph O'Loughlin! I really wish he made an appearance in this book! I love all of the Joseph O'Loughlin books and highly recommend them all and Robotham in general as a great author. This was an excellent read that I very much enjoyed. A huge thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this fantastic book!

Hmm yet another psychological thriller featuring unlikable characters, a missing baby, and yeah..the normal recipe for this type of genre. This is my first book by this author and it didn't disappoint, yet it didn't wow either. I think I have OD'd on the genre.

Agatha works at a supermarket and is finally pregnant after several losses. She also aspires to be like Meghan, another pregnant mom who has it all, good looking husband, nice house, blog followers and two kids already.

After a "chance" meeting of the two, they become mommy to be friends and share the details of their lives. Little does Meghan know, that Agatha also has secrets.

Now let's get down to the good of this book. While the plot has been done before, this one really made me think. I never knew what to feel about Agatha. I thought she was crazy, then I felt sorry for her, then she go crazy, then I felt sorry for her. And so it went on like this. This was a more depressing take on child loss and it did have me in tears at points. Not for someone who doesn't handle this plot well.

Give it a chance though and get ready to feel a roller coaster of emotions!

Excellent book. Great main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.

I've read the Joe O' Loughlin series by Michael Robotham so I was excited to receive a copy of his new book to review. It is a stand alone novel about two women who have very different backgrounds and it is told by each of them in the first person in alternate chapters. Both women are preganant and this is what they obviously have in common.
Agatha works in a supermarket doing menial jobs whilst her boyfriend is away at sea in the Navy . He does not even know she is expecting his child. Meg on the other hand, lives with her sports journalist husband Jack and Lucy and Lachlan her young children. She is expecting her third child. She seems excited although it becomes apparent that the pregnancy was an accident; Jack is a bit unsure about it all. At first Meg seems to live a wonderful and charmed life but as in all novels of this kind things are not as they seem.
Both women have secrets and therein lies the main theme of the book. Agatha is extremely interested in Meg's life, admiring her from afar and trying to meet up with her accidentally so they can become friends. However this becomes increasingly creepy as the book progresses. Meg also has a lot to hide from Jack and this is slowly revealed over the course of the novel.
Aggie is an extremely unreliable narrator and as the reader learns more about her the tale becomes more and more chilling and dark.
I will not reveal too much of the plot as this would spoil the book. The alternate chapters narrated by each woman serve to make the story very fast moving. The characters are well drawn and their backgrounds gradually revealed. Aggie in particular has had a difficult life which goes someway to explaining how she acts.
It is extraordinary that this book is written by a man as he manages to get into the female psyche very well and both main characters behave realistically.
Because of the events in the plot I found this a very compelling read and I was keen to get to the end to see what the author had in mind for the denouement.
I would recommend The Secrets She Keeps to fans of psychological thrillers with lots of twists. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham

This is a hard book to review. In my opinion the book is suspenseful in the beginning and has some realism. I couldn't put the book down until I got to the last third of the book. Then the story became to be far fetched and I did not take it seriously. The book succeeds on some levels.
Megan and Jack are expecting their third baby which was an unplanned pregnancy. Meg carries some inner hostility towards Jack because he isn't as thrilled about having another baby and he lets Meg know that. After giving birth the kidnapper wears a disguise as a nurse and tells Jack that she is taking the baby for a blood test. Jack like any other trusting parent hands the baby to the kidnapper and Meg feels resentful and is holding in feelings of resentment towards Jack because she thinks he didn't want the baby to begin with.

Megan and Jack do not have the picture perfect marriage that they appear to have on the surface. Yes, they are blessed with a beautiful girl named Lucy and a boy named Lachlan. But they both are deceiving each other in each doing something that could destroy a marriage. They both have secret's that they don't want the other to find out that they keep hidden from each other. Then to have their newborn baby to be ripped from their lives puts a further strain on the marriage.

Agatha is disillusioned thinking that Jack and Meg have the perfect marriage. She is a grocery clerk that has been stalking Megan often watching Jack and Megan's family from a tree in their back yard. Agatha wants what she thinks Megan has. They are both pregnant and their due dates are around the same time. Not everything is as it seems with Agatha as she has even bigger secrets to keep. If her secret's are discovered her whole life could unravel and she could lose everything including her freedom.

Thank you to Net Galley, Michael Robotham and Scribner Publishing for my digital copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is an amazingly thrilling read and I couldn't put it down for a second! WOW!!!!!! I found myself with a myriad of emotions while reading this one (and this doesn't usually happen unless I am reading a romance novel) and had a hard time NOT thinking about it once I was finished. If your a reader who is looking for a page turner with a unique plot, and intriguing characters than this is your next must read!