This story did keep my attention, but I had some issues with this one as well. To name these would spoil the book, but I will say they were more personal beliefs than the author/plot. The ending was also just there - BAM, done. No warning. I also had quite a few unanswered questions. Overall just OK. 2.5/5

This was a great, fast read. It felt very fast-paced and I couldn't put it down. It is about little lies in a marriage and how they grow into huge things and how things are usually never what they seem to be.

"With life-or-death stakes and irreversible consequences, Poison is a chilling and irresistible reminder that the closest bond designed to protect and provide for each other and for children can change in a minute."

This is great for any fans of a psychological thriller or those who love to be in suspense.

It was mostly a solid 3-star thriller. Nothing really stand out but nothing really terrible either. What knocked it down a little towards the end was lesson it was trying to impart and then the all too convenient wrap up at the end.

I felt it got a little preachy, like the author was trying to shove it down our throats that women are not only victims of men but of a system that does not believe women. Which is a fair point and very topical these days. I think I just resented that the author had to hound us with that point instead of letting us infer that for ourselves. To me, it also would have raised the stakes for the narrator to be caught of guard by this, instead of armed with this knowledge and still somehow surprised by it.

This novel makes no mistakes about where your trust should lay, or rather where it shouldn’t. So I kept expecting something surprising, since you know early on who the villain is and what his intentions are. You can’t mistake the narrators assertions for hysteria, despite everyone else doing so, so I thought there would be some other surprise along the way to make up for that knowledge. But it comes too late and too sudden that it doesn’t really land with the intended impact.

The very end seems like it was tacked on, maybe at the urging of others. An all too convenient way out for the narrator in the last few pages. I would have been upset by a messy ending for the narrator but I would have respected the balls it would take to have so unsatisfying an outcome. The final resolution seems like a cop-out.

Such an interesting story!It took me a little bit time to understand and connect with the story but once it happened I enjoyed it a lot!! It wasn't an easy read so it took me a little bit longer to finish it!The characters and the concept was realistic .

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I’m from Seattle, so naturally I love reading books that are based in Seattle. However, this felt more like a guidebook at times - and not a very accurate one. Maybe I am sensitive because I live here, but the author got very descriptive in some of the areas, and my opinion varies from her description, so that took away from how much I enjoyed the story.

For instance, she wrote about an affordable three story house in the Madrona neighborhood purchased in at least 2016+. I guess it is up to different people’s standards as to what is affordable, but that would be a House in the upwards of $1.5 - $2 million. Thanks Amazon.

Again, maybe my personal experience in the city skewed my opinion, but overall, it didn’t take away the parts that I did enjoy of this book.

I had a really hard time with the narrator in this book as well. I had a hard time reading her ramblings, which was a majority of the book.

Then, just like that... the book ended.

Clearly there was something that kept me reading, but I am left with an odd feeling on this one.

Poison is a literary psychological thriller about a marriage that follows minor betrayal into a bubbling stew of lies, cruelty, manipulation, and danger.

Cass and Ryan Connor have achieved family nirvana. With three kids between them, a cat and a yard, a home they built and feathered, they seem to have the Modern Family dream. Their family, including Cass' two children from previous relationships, has recently moved to Portland —a new start for their new lives. Cass and Ryan have stable, successful careers, and they are happy. But trouble begins almost imperceptibly. First with small omissions and white lies that happen daily in any marital bedroom. They seem insignificant, but they are quickly followed by a series of denials and feints that mushroom and then cyclone in menace.

With life-or-death stakes and irreversible consequences, Poison is a chilling and irresistible reminder that the closest bond designed to protect and provide for each other and for children can change in a minute.


I really enjoyed most of this book, I love how suspenseful it was and how I was wondering all through the book if maybe Cass is crazy...or is her husband? are others involved? who can she trust? It kept me guessing and I loved that part, the only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is that the end felt a little rushed, everything was drawn out and suspenseful throughout the whole book and then to me it felt like BAM it's over. I just kind of expected a little more to the end story but over all I enjoyed reading this book. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this book.

This is a twisted tale of he said, she said. Who is telling the truth, and who’s crazy enough to imagine this? Will the truth will come out?

It was a chilling read... Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-copy of this book.

Cass and Ryan have what seems like the ideal life. They have a house, three children, and stable careers. Slowly, things begin to unravel. Cass begins to catch Ryan in tiny lies and soon the lies become too widespread to deny. Ryan's temper rages when Cass confronts him and he makes it seem like Cass is letting her imagination run away with her...and maybe she is. Just maybe. But she can't shake the feeling that something is very wrong. She needs to catch Ryan in his game before she loses everything. But coming out of it alive is going to be tough.

This writer has a very unique writing style that took me a while to embrace. After getting used to the writing style, I become more and more engrossed in the story. Unfortunately, the ending fell short for me. All the evidence was slowly building and becoming more and more exciting and then suddenly the story ended. I suppose I was expecting the big "wow" moment and it just never came.

I received this book through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to St. Martin's Press, and to Galt Niederhoffer for this opportunity.

A bit too slow for my liking. I'd pass on this one. (Amazon reviewed

St. Martin's Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Poison. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Cass and Ryan Connor seem to have the perfect family, with three kids, a newly purchased house, and great careers. When things start to go wrong, Cass barely notices the differences. By the time that Cass is alerted to danger, will it be too late?

Poison has psychological elements to it, but it was not a thriller in the true sense of the word. Besides being too transparent, the legal and law enforcement portions of the story do not ring true. Cass is likable, but her circumstances were such that she should not have been able to aid in her own investigation. Poison had a good plot, but it was neither suspenseful nor thrilling. It really did not stand apart in a field of psychological thriller and, for the reasons listed above, I would be hesitant to recommend this book.

This was my first experience reading Galt Niederhoffer's work, but it won't be my last. Poison is a highly unusual & unique psychological thriller that kept me guessing right up to the end. The narrator is highly unreliable -- or is she? Therein lies the mystery. Cass Connor is an educated woman, an acclaimed journalist who has agreed to relocate from the East Coast to Seattle and become a journalism professor. Her architect husband, Ryan, seems like a perfect stepfather to her two oldest children and father to their two-year-old son. Until it begins apparent that something is horribly wrong and the Connor family is highly dysfunctional. But what is the source of the problem? Is it a case of Cass being emotionally unstable as demonstrated by fits of jealousy, suspicion, and even, perhaps, paranoid delusions? Or does she have good reason to be suspicious? Is she really in danger? And, if so, can her experience and skill as an investigative journalist lead her to the answers she seeks in time to save her life and her children's? Poison is indeed a chilling mystery about trust and betrayal. It is also a timely work in light of recent headlines & the renewed focus on female empowerment in America. For fans of psychological thrillers, this is a must-read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Poison by Galt Neiderhoffer. My honest opinion is that I really didn't care much for this book. I thought the main character Cass was a weak, stupid woman. She put herself and her children in perilous situations all for the sake of catching her sadistic husband at his own game. I found it hard to believe in light of the support offered by her friend and her lawyer that she would behave with such disregard for herself and her family. Just my opinion.

What looks perfect at first glance can be deceiving. At first glance Cass & Ryan appear to have the perfect marriage. But slowly, things begin to unravel. Almost imperceptibly at first, and the spiraling into a psychological thriller that will have you guessing until the end.

A fairytale life complete with an adoring husband, Ryan and 3 young kids. They both were previously married and they have one child together, Sam. Cass is a forgiving wife, but begins to suspect an affair and other inconsistencies are piling up.

I really enjoyed how the author described Ryan, giving me a feel for his creepiness and freakiness! Cass' mom never liked Ryan. Cass returned home one day and found that Ryan had "hacked the room demolishing it with a hammer." Ryan would frequently fall off asleep after watching aggressive zombie flicks. Cass was never sure if Ryan was threatening her or playing mind games.

A slow burn psychological/domestic thriller that picks up speed and kept my eyes glued to pages of the last few chapters to see how it played out! Fans of Behind Closed Doors and Never Let You Go will enjoy! I actually thought this one was better and had deeper elements of obsessive creepiness that had me questioning motives throughout!

I wanted to like this book. There are some positive things to say - the writing is descriptive and interesting. At times, the story of Cass, a young mother trying to save herself and her children from a murderous husband, is quite gripping.
But the dialogue is often really over the top, with long speeches that didn't sound at all believable. I found myself increasingly frustrated with Cass, who continues to allow her husband to slowly poison her, believing that she is gathering evidence to eventually convict him. For some inexplicable reason, no one will believe Cass - not medical authorities, the police, even her parents! Everyone seems to think this completely normal woman has suddenly lost her mind and is fabricating lies about her husband. Of course, the author is commenting on how women are treated in the justice system, but it just came across very heavy-handed to me.
That said, this book has lots of positive reviews, so I would encourage readers to give it a chance, it just didn't work for me.
Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I hope this author does a better job at fleshing out the situations in the future. I found this book to be a little bit beyond belief. Didn't love it.

Poison gets a 3.5 rating from me.

The author gives us wonderful character descriptions in this psychological suspense thriller. At times, the writing is almost lyrical, and that in itself made this a good read.

Ryan and Cass have been married for three years and their life seems perfect. Ryan, a handsome, charismatic charmer (red flag #1), has taken to Cass's two children by her previous marriage as if they were his own, and the son they had together, Sam, is the icing on the cake for this family. Cass believes she has found the man of her dreams, though her mother disagrees (red flag #2).

Agreeing to make a fresh start as a family, they move across country to Seattle, and soon settle into a comfortable homey routine. Cass is a professor in the journalism department at the University of Washington, but is most happy being with her children. Soon, Cass suspects Ryan of having an affair. Ryan denies this, saying that she is paranoid. Cass investigates more, becomes more uncertain, and Ryan's actions become more menacing in turn. "Joy sometimes seems a clever cover for the constant threat of violence."

The marriage rapidly spirals out of control, with Ryan constantly telling Cass (and others) that she is mentally ill. As Ryan's actions escalate, Cass finds difficulty getting authorities to believe her. The age old question - are you really paranoid if someone is actually after you?" applies perfectly here. Can Cass find someone to believe her and stop Ryan before it's too late?

This psychological suspense had me flipping pages quickly. There were turns I didn't expect at all. The beginning was a bit too saccharine for my liking, but the over-sweet soon turned to danger and then I was all-in.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an e-copy of this book provided to me by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

From the author of The Romantics, the Indie director-producer Galt Niederhoffer’s slow-burning highly anticipated and riveting high-stakes psychological domestic thriller, POISON centers around a seemingly perfect marriage turns deadly, when a journalist, Cass Connor begins to suspect her dazzling architect husband, Ryan is trying to kill her.

C H I L L I N G !

Similar to Gaslight, the popular noir film; and even more shocking— inspired by the author’s own personal nightmare (very intriguing). In 2016 a court battle over custody and accusing her own high-profile ex-boyfriend of poisoning her with arsenic, making headlines.

Presently, POISON has been optioned for a scripted TV series by Ben Silverman’s Propagate Content... Hollywood Reporter

This is one I am dying to see and look forward to the cast of stars! Predict will be hotter than Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train.

There is a lot to discuss further here:

In addition, the novel addresses some highly-charged topics ripped from today’s headlines. More importantly how violence, threats, and patterns are viewed.

However, by coming forward with knowledge of a crime, women are scrutinized. They need protection, yet get thrown to the wolves. Brutalized, while being ravaged by violence. In turn, the attacker is rewarded.

A broken legal system.

Victims are made to appear suicidal, paranoid, delusional, jealous, mentally ill, a danger to herself, her children, or simply revengeful. A simple reporting of a crime, and conspiracy to commit murder. However, the tables are turned.

A hot button question in today’s world and decades past. How many women must report a crime before the crime is believed?

“Victims have two options: to be believed or dismissed. Deemed credible or crazy. A credible or unreliable witness.”

“An outraged victim, wrongly accused, dismissed, disgraced, ripped from her children. A woman, charged and criminalized, tried without due process. No burden of proof. An innocent, a victim sentenced for reporting a crime. All of this filtered through a feminist lens. But most of all, it the story of every woman’s fight for survival, a mother on a quest for her children.”


A tactic to destroy the credibility of his victim and witness. Obscure his crime by attacking the victim.

Cassandra (Cass) and Ryan have three children (two from Cass’s former relationship). The family of five relocate cross-country from Brooklyn to a Seattle suburb, Madrona. Married three years. She is a journalist with a strong journalist instinct.

Ryan, a powerful, sexy, charming, architect. A so-called loving father and husband turn into a monster. Her father also suffered from narcissism. Her mother did not care for Ryan.

The Connor family. All goes along smoothly. The daily rotation of domestic life rolls on, as with any perfect machine, until a circuit breaks and the machine ceases to function.

Had Cass overlooked her husband’s troubled past? His sexual appetite and preferences. Eaten alive by the lies her husband?

Cass, age 40 becomes sick after confronting her husband of cheating and his constant travel. He loves to turn the tables on any argument. She was married twice before (one deceased and divorced).

At the University of Washington, she has a classroom of aspiring journalists and students. She happens to be discussing “Reporting on the Female Witness.” Destroying the female witness.

The oldest defense is “she is crazy.” They quote The Crosby case. They blame the victim. A familiar tactic in every rape case. Misogyny.

However, little does Cass know soon she will have the first-hand experience. The family appeared perfect on the outside. Quite different on the inside. Ryan has chosen the perfect crime and the perfect weapon.

When conducting an internet search, the symptoms appear to be poisoning. Heavily intoxicated against her will. Drugged without her knowledge. Who will believe her? In the meantime, Ryan is having an affair. He becomes more sinister and violent. There are more clues. Poison in her system. A pattern of abuse.

Poison used with intent to harm. Trapped in a cage of her husband’s design that extends far beyond anything she could have imagined.

She is being poisoned. Nausea, dizziness, vomiting, pain, bleeding, hair falling out. Similar to patients who are taking chemo. Who will believe her? Toxins in the home, sheets, food, and other sinister acts. They were joint tenants on the deed to the house which means if she dies, he gets the house. Of course, if he can prove her insane or suicidal, he gets custody.

“Arsenic is unique in its dualistic nature, its capacity both to heal, to act as a cure or a killer. In small does, it has a medicinal effect. At higher levels, it transforms from helpful to fatal. It is an example, perhaps more than any other substance, of the inextricable relationship between medicine and poison, endowed with both the power to revive and to destroy, to giveth and to taketh. Like two sides of the same coin, or the cruelest lover.”


. . . “The strangest thing about arsenic is the way it flips from medicinal to toxic. It is Dr. Jekyll, then Mr. Hyde. A personality split between its capacity to do good and evil. . . from an angel of life to an angel of death in a hot minute.”

Much like her husband.

A house once her haven is now her very own crime scene. She has one friend, Nora a real estate broker. They met when she sold them their home. She needs help.

In order, to protect a child, Cass as to pull off a seamless bait and switch. When the legal, health, or law enforcement system does not protect, it forces a woman to take matters into her own hands.

Snow him, and seduce him. He does not love her. He wants to kill her. She needs more evidence. She has to risk danger in order to protect herself and her children. A man who has the power to weaken her defenses.

HE is her poison. A bed that promised restoration is now a torture chamber. A meal that offered sustenance is now a possible vessel for poison.

The only question is the dose at which he is fatal. Her lover. Her tormentor. She must overcome conflicted goals; the desire to run from him, to protect herself from his danger, the impulse to run to him, collapse into his arms and the need to destroy him.

She has to catch him in the act of her own murder. Proof of the crime. Witnesses. Physical evidence.

Will he stop? Can she trust him? A war in which losing is death and winning is safety for her children. A trusting marriage finds new stakes on the age-old issue: happiness or homicide, confidant or killer?

A fake (fraud) nanny, Marley. A neighbor, Aaron who is not as he appears. The source of the toxin. A family who turns against her. Betrays her. A husband who attempts to kill her. A system which does not support her. A fatal attack on her own credibility. A murderer supported.

Insanity? The motive for revenge. A wife reported her husband’s crime, but the wife, not the husband was sentenced.

Four ways to discredit a woman: Delusion. Fabrication. Inculpation. Criminalization. Four failproof ways to destroy the testimony of a victim— when a victim is a woman.

The contradictions. Hatred and love. Fear and desire. Loathing and yearning. Twist the facts. Shift the blame.

A two-year-old son. Still breastfeeding less than two months ago. Now both parents fighting for custody. Two other children sent to live with grandparents.

The terror of being the object of her husband’s hatred. Threats to kill her. A crime with no evidence other than hearsay. Time is not on her side. There is only one option: she must use her own devices to protect herself and her children.

She faces a throng of opposing forces on this subject: rage compels her to hurt him back, to deprive him of the thing he wants most, their most precious shared possession, and common sense tells her is not in his right mind, that he is not competent now to be around children.

And yet her pure and weakened heart wants no revenge, no malice, and like some old broken toy, years to make him happy.

Why does a woman stay a day with a man she knows is capable of violence? #WhyIStayed

To prove a crime, not unlike rape, a crime with no witnesses, the only proof that it did occur, the victim’s bruises, trauma, terror, and, if she’s lucky, her attacker’s semen. An attacker warps an act of love into an act of violence. Except here the semen is poison.

No need for a smoking gun. Cass swallowed the bullet. Will Cass find the strength to protect her children and wage this war?

“Killers forget that when they fail, they train their insurrection.”

Liars like to brag. They love attention. Love-hate relationships. . . . “Liars are storytellers first and foremost, and a story without an audience is a tree falling in a forest.”

The author’s writing is precise and flawless. Due to the premise (the author’s first-hand experience), the details are raw and full of passion and emotion.

Some reviewers state there is more telling and narrative than dialogue. Being that this book could have been written as a memoir or non-fiction (however, due to any whistleblower story, that cannot be done) legally; and must be fictional, while paralleling close to the real truth.

In doing so, possibly the author is very close to the topic at hand, so the humor and additional fictional dialogue are not present i.e. husband’s POV.

Say for example, books such as: Best Day Ever (Kaira Ruba) – also a psychopathic husband poisoning his wife, and Behind Closed Doors (B.A. Paris), Emma In the Night (Wendy Walker), and Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty) there comes more banter and dialogue between the two and crosses over to the sarcastic witty side, or includes secondary sideline stories and other characters.

Whereas, in POISON (a more serious tone). More of a "telling" from a woman’s point of view how a perfect life unraveling by someone close to her, and at the same time there is no support when attempting to attain justice from the system. In-depth feelings and emotions. Broken trust. A story for women, about women. The author shines here.

Cass' role as wife, and mother is the focus. This is a strong and intelligent woman. How it all unravels from perfection to hell. Demonstrates this happens to women from all social classes. There is not a husband’s POV. Whereas other psychological thrillers may go into more detail of the deranged husband and his background. (however, highlighted here).

Thought-provoking! Why so many women do not come forward until there are others to support the actions, lest to be shut down and demoralized. An ideal book club choice.

In our society today, this rings true. Similar to rape or domestic abuse. There is a twisting of the truth by the opposition and therefore discourages women from coming forward. The proof.

You have to be almost dead or the killer caught in the act. The witness? In this case, there is another burden of truth, who is actually putting the toxins in the food, which further complicates the motive.

Like so many women (and whistleblowers), you are forced to stay in the relationship or job, in order to attain more evidence or proof due to the way our court system is unfairly designed.

POISON is realistic, gripping, and haunting. A cautionary tale. (The book reminded me of my psycho-ex husband and our nightmare trip to Bermuda). Ironic, it was Bermuda here as well.

"I wanted to write a book where the suspense is fueled both by the peril of the protagonist and by the judgment of the community," Niederhoffer said. "It's a story about a whistleblower, and the ways a community can discount, dismiss and demonize — shoot the messenger — when she reports violence before believing a woman's word."


Masterfully done! Great passages, and superb writing; bookmarked many pages. Loved: The friend, the drying cleaning clue, the second phone ("Robinhood" for jilted housewives) – an edgy and crafty twist.

Highly Recommend for those who enjoy intelligent and entertaining domestic suspense (literary fiction) focused on women. For fans of Big Little Lies, would love to see Nichole Kidman or Shailene Woodley cast as Cass, and evil, Alexander Skarsgård as Ryan. Oh, and please sneak in Iain Armitage as one of the children.

JDCMustReadBooks

A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. Also purchased the audiobook, narrated by Hillary Huber for an entertaining and engrossing performance.

Caution: marital rape/sexual assault scenes

The premise of Poison sounded like it would make for a rather good thriller. Tense moments, mystery, a life-or-death situation…these elements appear in many a good book and I thought I would find the same here. I found that to be rather far off the mark in this instance.

The book starts off rather pompously, with over exaggerated language to describe the family unit and what it’s members do to ensure survival. It was a bit off putting, almost condescending, as the author/narrator pontificate about the perfect system that is a family, how everyone has to follow the rules or the unit crumbles. As this wasn’t being said by a member of the Connor family, I felt like this prologue was more preachy than necessary.

The manner in which the story progresses felt very much like the copy for a documentary on the modern family. As the reader, I didn’t sink into the story as usual, but felt like I was peering in at the Connors as one might look at an aquarium, complete with narration from some omnipotent being.

In another writer’s hands I might have been able to sympathize with the Connors, see them as a family that is tired in their routine, but generally alright. There was no time to come to that point in Poison. From the start all I got was a deep sense of co-dependency, of the author stretching out the details like an overextended rubber band.

I didn’t much care for how Cass, the matriarch, was portrayed. It’s stated early on that grief had made her dull and boring, grief for her first husband that died of an extended illness. This didn’t come across as a personal belief that Cass held, but rather a dismissive opinion of the author or, as I mentioned before, the narrator of the documentary that is the Conner family. The problem is, with the way she’s treated early on, it makes it difficult to like her midway through when normally I would have been sympathetic, maybe even sincerely worried about her. Building that foundation was essential for a story like this and I didn’t get that.

There were also snide, sexist remarks about Cass’s “true calling”: picking up after her children, not the career she’s had for years in legal journalism and as a journalism professor. Again, this might not be so bad if it felt like the character’s desire, but the way in which that passage in particular came across as the author breaking into their own story and remarking upon what they think is the “proper place for women”.

There was a chapter when, describing her narcissistic, egotistical, misogynistic father than Cass seems to rebel against his more dated ideas, to pity or mock them, but these protests felt like a puppet speaking from a script because, as I’d seen prior to this point, she is encumbered by these notions more than she admits. This is either a result of falling back on familial comforts or the author trying to portray Cass one way, but letting their own opinions shine through despite that.

It wasn’t consistent, either. One moment things seemed decidedly old-fashioned, the next Cass was going on about how modern Ryan was, how he didn’t wholly subscribe to traditional genders roles by being both able to construct floors and cool a good meal. There was always this undercurrent of falling back on a more 1950’s world view, but the narrative going forward couldn’t make up its mind.

Ryan wasn’t a good character either, though in his case I strongly disliked him because of his constant gaslighting of Cass. I was frustrated with Cass because she allowed it, accepted that this was how things were, and instantly forgiving him despite acknowledging that he was turning his fault into a criticism of her and her “failures”.

No one in the book seems to realize the privilege they have either. Though it’s never stated, I assume the family is white because of how they behave and remarks made about things in their life, such as the Victorian house they inhabit. The narration indicates that it’s “an example of what can be attained with hard work, a little luck— and a low-interest mortgage.” That’s not all there is to it and yet not one person recognizes the advantages they have because of who they are as well as what they’ve accomplished.

Home aside, they also have hired help within the home and children in multiple activities that require a good deal of money to attend, the ability to have these things never seeming worthy of note by either the family or the author. It was frustrating because the book is built around their achievement of a sort of familial nirvana, but there’s no recognition for getting there or being able to get there.

Cass even ticks off the things she has, the privileges of middle class wealth, at one point and instead of noting that she is fortunate enough to have these things both because of her person and her accomplishments, she waves them off as comforts she can count on, as though they were marks on a map or ladder that everyone aspires to follow or climb.

There was a careless comment thrown in about Cass being a “sleep anorexic” that rubbed me the wrong way. Eating disorders are nothing to joke about and the author using this phrase was unsettling because it felt like it diminished the severity of a person with anorexia and made Cass’s insomnia a flippant thing. The way Cass talks about her self-diagnosis was really bewildering because it sounded like something an anorexic person might say when in denial about what their disease is doing to them: bragging about how little they need, how much better they are than others because they can do more on less than their peers.

An oddity I noticed, especially concerning Marley (the new babysitter), was that the timing and order of events was off for some things. In Marley’s case, when they first meet Cass finds out that she’s 24, but later Marley says, when speaking of her personal illness, that she was 12 in 1984. That would make her at least 45 since the book takes place in 2017. These inconsistencies don’t seem to be because of paranoia, as Cass’s husband might suggest, but perhaps a bit of carelessness in the writing.

The formatting was a bit awkward in the book and I don’t think it was because it was an ARC. The transitions from scene to scene were very abrupt. One line to the next you might find yourself, formerly in the Connor house, then all of a sudden in a restaurant in Seattle proper, with nary a line split to really set things apart.

As for the pacing…with all the issues that kept coming up, along with the strange writing style considering this is pitched as a thriller/mystery, I found myself wondering when something would actually happen. Even when things did pick up, around 30%, it was a rather random acceleration of events, like 0 to 60 in three seconds. The whiplash did not endear me to the characters or the story.

For long expanses of time I found myself uninterested because nothing was really happening. The family troubles, which could have made for some kind of drama, were flat and, written as they were documentary style, had no real rising action that I could find. When Cass begins to suspect Ryan of indiscretions, it wasn’t written in an engaging manner. It was like a textbook case being displayed on the page. No humanity to the words, really, just the blunt statement of “fact”.

The ending was unsatisfactory in that, despite all the troubles and legal complications stacked against her, Cass was able to solve the case to the authorities’ satisfaction rather quickly. It didn’t seem real or possible, considering what the courts and the police had thought of her moments ago. There was also the matter of the story not really being resolved. The reader is more given a foot on the path to the end rather than a definitive conclusion.

I wouldn’t recommend this because of the lack of interesting content and the problems that arose from sexism, gaslighting, and the cycle of repetitive interactions between the two main characters.

All Cass wanted was her family to be safe and sound, happy and healthy. All of this becomes threatened when her seemingly ideal marriage takes a turn for the worse and she can no longer trust her own husband, Ryan. Reading Poison was like a chilling roller coaster ride of sanity vs. reality. The horrible things that Cass seems to experience via her husband will have readers on the edge of their seat wondering if it really is happening or is Cass losing her mind? And through it all, is she really done or does she actually want to work it out with Ryan for the sake of keeping her family together and if so, at what cost is she willing to pay? Throughout this story I was slightly annoyed at Cass for so many things and being all over the place. At times I would think she would actually make progress in making sense of what she should do when the dangerous situations start to threaten her health and her children, yet she would make the worst decisions. You may at times find yourself wanting to yell at the pages "Come on!" There also were times where the story jumps around so it's hard to follow exactly what is going on and I found that frustrating. The twisted plot was enough to keep me reading because I obviously wanted to find out exactly what was going on, and then it did seem to just come to an abrupt end after all the chaos of the story. I enjoyed the read though and would be interested in more from this author.