I really enjoyed this book, It had an unusual storyline and characters and I never knew what was coming next.

Ghost train ride of a story!! It really is a must read!! I thought "The Girl Before" was a brilliant read, this one is so much better. Lots of twists and turns. Is he? Isn't he? Is she? Isn't she? Is it someone who we haven't come across? Is the author keeping something from the reader regarding the plot? You really must read this.

SPOIlERS ALERT Well ,I enjoyed the girl before and I did enjoy this too ,it was unique and it truly is an unreliable narrator ,I prob won’t find one quite like her again
Having acted before a little bit myself I can see how one can get lost caught up in the role they are playing full of intense feelings ,where do I begin and end as me. If I enjoy acting am I always acting or just being human ,A right head scramble
The character in this is exhausting an just when u think oh ok this is where we are heading there’s another concept being read and another idea thrown in ,which yes at times I did question how convulted we cd go but hey it fitted with the question mark over the characters reliability and state of mind
There were times I struggled or questioned things ,over a couple of things ,SPOILER alert .....no way a normal guy cd get a friend discharged from hospital wouldn’t have that much power really and I was a bit confused ,I got he went to see her and why but not how he cd get her released as even police at that stage were not behind her and agreeing to this admission an though they may have been colluding allalong as Patrick I’d question how easy it was to get her out of there .
However overall enjoyable ,not brilliant as so convulted but I did love the character and she herself was full of quick fire ideas as to what was going on ,is she para ?and I truly can say she lives on the stage all the time
Well drawn scenes I cd picture the play ,the scenes and felt darkly erotic at times but I don’t think ,though aware some disagree it was pornographic in tone at any time or overly sexual just descriptive of that kinda work
What I I think was also good was the use of distraction as I forgot about the beginning of the plot and her being recruited for a job and is she still conning him ,I mean sometimes I’d think of it then think mmmmm maybe not or she’s doing all nthis ,but it didn’t preoccupy me as u are thrown another thread u focus on till the end then bam it is what it was
Thanks netgalley and publishers for letting me read another of this authors ,I look for ward to their next one !

Claire, a young British actress living in New York makes a living by entrapping men into disclosing their tendency for infidelity. One evening she meets Patrick, a highly intelligent and cultured academic, fails to entrap him but is nevertheless intrigued by him. Later that evening his wife is murdered and she is drawn into the case. With the French poet Baudelaire's poems from his scandalous collection Les Fleurs du Mal forming a background for the story, this is a dark and unnerving tale which is difficult to put down. It is also very original and would make a terrific film. My only criticism is the unwieldy stage directions that appear throughout but I can understand why they're there. I found them a bit irritating but that's just my taste. Overall, i enjoyed this. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Having read and loved The Girl Before, I was excited to see Delaney had in store next. The plot really appealed to me and I was immediately curious about the plot.

Unreliable narrators have become a bit of a tradition in thrillers lately but providing they are good ones, I have no complaints! Claire certainly fits the bill and although you find yourself eye rolling at her at several moments during the book, I love that I trusted absolutely no one in this book and that just made the story even more thrilling. You truly question absolutely everything and everyone and thus, are not exactly sure where the story will go.

The use of scripted text really highlights Claire's obsessive nature with acting and are a really clever touch as you just know this is how Claire sees things in her head. I enjoyed the short chapters and felt like adequate time was spent on each poignant moment, except the ending where I desperately wanted to know more. I wanted everything neatly tied up and to understand how everything that had happened had came to be but it felt a little rushed.

Thanks to NetGallery for my ARC copy of Believe Me.

After reading The Girl Before I was excited to read the now book by JP Delaney. It left me feeling a bit flat. Each twist took the story in a whole different direction which was confusing and felt like I was reading a completely different book. However, the storyline as a whole was a good one and I would still read more by the author in the future.

If ever a book deserved the #WTFthatending hashtag, this is it! I was thrilled to read this noir novel from JP Delaney, as I was a huge fan of The Girl Before. This reworking of an earlier project has all the hallmarks of what I liked about my first experience reading Delaney: an education on niche subjects (in this case, Baudelaire and the actor’s craft), plenty of twists and turns, and possibly the most unreliable narrator I have ever cone across. Recommended!

I loved “The Girl Before” so I was looking forward to reading this book. It was actually published a few years ago but wasn’t received very well so the author re-wrote it and will re-release it in July 2018.

I enjoyed reading the first half of the book but towards the end it became a little confusing as to what had happened and what was only imagined. I found the ending was a little disappointing but this won’t stop me reading the next book by JP.Delaney.

Wow!! I loved this! I thought the way it was written was really different, not read a book written like that before. I love that it was based on a real book, I want to read that now too.

Really enjoyed this book. Lots of twists where the reader thinks they know what's happening but it all changes. Claire and Patrick are interesting characters to say the least.

Oooooh I loved this book! Claire was a very flawed character but she is an actress. You never know if what she is portraying is real.
I kept this in the back of my mind the entire time but I was still very surprised by the ultimate twist. I thought something like that was going to happen but I just was not sure!

Read this book if you love a story full of twists and interesting characters

Amazing book. Thanks for the opportunity to read. Really enjoyed the girl before so had high hopes for this and it didn’t disappoint at all. Great twists throughout.

It was a strange and disturbing story. The head of the police team appeared driven and psychotic pushing the budding actress to her limit in "getting their man". I'm not sure if I enjoyed it.

This is a fair review of the book.

This was a very strange book for me because i thoroughly enjoyed the authors previous book but this felt like it was written by someone completely different. The plot is beyond unbelievable and as a result you can't care about the characters at all. I'm still trying to get my head round this days later.

After reading the girl before I was very excited about reading this book and I wasn’t disappointed, from the start I was drawn in and before I knew it I had read half of the book!!!
The journey with Claire and Patrick gave me goose bumps, it’s a thrilling ride that fascinated and scared me at the same time, I loved the intrigue and passion and the twist doesn’t disappoint!!!
A must read book but this book should come with a warning to clear you’re diary as you won’t want to be parted from this book!!!

Claire is a British actress in America, in order to stay in the country she needs a job, and fast. It’s not the sort of job that’s going to win her a Oscar, but Claire can’t be choosy. She’s hired by a law firm to trap straying husbands by enticing them to cheat on their wives, it’s sleazy, but it’s a job. The the wife of a man Claire is trying to catch out, is murdered and her husband is the main suspect. The cops want Claire to seduce a confession out of the man, and while she’s nervous, she believes she can do it. But can she? And have the police even got the right suspect? Edge of you set excitement with a twist you won’t see coming

I purposely didn't read the blurb before starting this so I knew nothing about it at all, I requested it because I had seen a top blogger recommend it. I started it late at night thinking I would read a few chapters, and found myself reading the whole thing. Absolutely loved it. Claire is a fantastic creation, and the premise was fresh, enthralling and in short, completely unputdownable. LOVED IT.

An intriguing cat-and-mouse thriller as penniless actress Claire is recruited to not merely honey-trap, but to become the soulmate of a sexual serial killer.

I found this far more original than the author's [book:The Girl Before|31300946], with a fast pace and interesting characterisation. It helps, too, that we have a single narrator and merely a few flashbacks but other than that a linear narrative.

Claire is an actress to her bones with a shifting and unstable sense of identity making this undercover assignment both possible and also uniquely risky for her. In Patrick, too, we have an interesting character: Columbia academic and Baudelaire expert by day, sexual killer by night. A man who is genuinely intelligent, literate, and charming -as well as ruthless, devious and twisted is a hard one to pull off but Delaney manages it.

So suspend your disbelief over Claire's recruitment and look out your copy of [book:Les Fleurs du Mal|1060828] ([book:The Flowers of Evil|3213640]) - a swift and engrossing page-turner.

Read this in one sitting this afternoon, very addictive, theatrics both of character and plot and one of those novels you just bang through, thoroughly engaged with the story and the potential outcome.

It wasn't perfect - the "staging" quotes did get a little irritating but that might be because I was reading the e-book version, it would probably work better in print - having said that I don't think they were required anyway. The main protagonist voice, Claire, an actress on many levels, set the scene perfectly, although I got the point (how she saw things in her head) the descriptive quality brought that without it having to be physically in there.

That aside though, the premise is intriguing - Claire set's honey traps for cheating husbands but can she set one for a killer? The author plays with perception cleverly, serving up several game changers that keeps you off kilter and unsure who is preying on who. The ending lived up to the promise and overall I enjoyed it very much.

An engaging and beautifully flowing story where you may work out what is going on but you'll never be quite sure until it's revealed.

To be reviewed properly near publication on Liz Loves Books.