Sadistic and twisted, not words I usually like to describe books that I am reading but this one was excellent!. Fast paced and you won't want to stop until you put it down! I loved The Girl Before and this one did not disappoint!

I truly enjoyed this roller coaster ride! This one had me guessing until the end.

The writing style was a little bit different, but not only did I appreciate it, it work for this book.

I have read the The Girl Before, but did not enjoy it as much as Believe Me. Take the time to read this gem.

Claire Wright is a struggling British actress living in New York City. After being questioned for the murder of a woman she was one the last people to see alive, Claire is offered the role of a lifetime.

J.P. Delaney is an excellent writer. The novel moves at a fast pace, and suspense builds with every page. I tore through the first half of this novel in a day. I could not put it down. But then somewhere in the middle it starts to take a weird turn. After that first turn, there are a series of twists and turns. And suddenly Delaney is trying to do too much. Instead of a thriller with a big surprise or two, it becomes a roller coaster of ups and downs.

As the reader, you no longer know who to trust. You doubt all of the previous assumptions you've made. While this can sometimes be a great thing as a reader, in this case it's too confusing and complicated to enjoy the ride. This is an excellent thriller, that was well written on both ends, but loses itself for a good chunk in the middle.

4/5 stars! This was an intriguing read... the characters were neither likable nor relatable, yet I found myself unable to put it down. I was dying to know how the story played out. At it's core, it is a murder investigation with many unexpected twists (although I did not find them jaw-dropping). About half of the dialogue scenes were written in script form (the main character is an actress), which took a little while to get used to. There were many times where I questioned the reliability of the narrator... but this was seemingly intended and only added to the plot!

Thank you to JP Delaney, the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book as an ARC courtesy of Netgalley for my honest opinion. I read The Girl Before from this author and enjoyed it very much. I couldn’t wait to dive into this one and it did not disappoint. I love psychological thrillers and this one was very different than most. It really kept me guessing and had many “mind blown” moments. I don’t like to give things away in my reviews, but all I can say is read it! You won’t be disappointed! 5 stars from me.

Liked this book about a flawed character with a mysterious past. Cool premise! Had good twists but reader beware: it ends and youll really have to think through what happened and what didn't!

Claire is a British actress living in the States trying to make ends meet. To pay the bills, she agrees to work for a group of attorneys who want to use her as a decoy to help catch cheating husbands. One of her marks catches her attention. He's handsome and intelligent, and for the first time ever, he turns her down, claiming he loves his wife. Later that evening the wife is found dead. The cops now want Claire to work even harder to ensnare Patrick and get him to admit that he killed her, but she finds herself falling for him, and thinks his feelings for her might be real, too. Twists abound in this thriller--almost too many to keep up with. It could have used maybe one more run through editing to tighten everything up a bit. I absolutely loved The Girl Before, and this has none of that book's chilling originality. However, what Delaney does well is create these weird cerebral characters that are just shy of being unbelievable, but somehow making it work.

Oh BOY! Oh WOW! This book grabbed hold of me with the first page and never let up! It was a first rate psychological suspense novel! I rarely give a 5* rating, but this one definitely merited it!
Excellent plotting, excellent flow, excellent follow-throughs, excellent character development – just completely first class! This was greatly superior to “The Girl Before.”
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House who provided me with an ARC of this fabulous book! This is my own review and will be posted immediately on GoodReads and also on Amazon and the website of the Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun County (https://publiclibrary.cc/) when the book is released.

Really a 5 STAR book due to the multilayered plot or a least thoughts it gives you about justice, news, and what is real and isn't real in what we call real life today. Very well written, with great character development. It is a page turner but a slow page turner as you are trying to figure out all the clues and nuisances used by the writer,. Good job here!!

A fun sexy thriller where you will be constantly wondering where the acting ends and the real people begin! I very much enjoyed the second novel from JP Delaney and will certainly be looking for more in the future! An interesting premise for sure, an actress hired to "act" the part of a woman interested in married men, generally hired by their wives, hoping to catch them in the act, but when one of these jobs goes wrong, all bets are off.

I received an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

I didn't care for the book, in a story where it's all about feeling and acting the part, I didn't feel anything believable about main character. I thought her to be shallow and unlikable. I certainly wouldn't believe her.

5 ⭐️!!!! ALL the stars!
I was so totally hooked from the first page and that never changed throughout the entire book!

Creepy, sadistic, mind twister, twisty, TWISTED!
I’m definitely NOT going to give anything away because I went into it blindly and so glad I did!
Oh My God....Part Three! THAT ending!! Nothing I thought I knew was the truth.
Another edge of your seat read from JP Delaney.

Thank you #NetGalley and the publisher and JP Delaney for my free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.. I’m not sure if I’m moved, scared, terrified or afraid to admit how freakin much I loved this book....never know who is watching....hmmmm....

My honest review: 10 Stars. Because it was worth ignoring my family all weekend to read this book.

I found this book to be fast paced and an interesting read. I will definitely read more of JP Delaney's work in the future.

Some may appreciate the “scattered” organization of the story, but it didn’t work for this reader. The twisting nature of the plot development was too confusing for me.

Horrid book. A play disguised as a novel. Where was the editor when the author decided to forgo actually writing a scene like a novel, with real descriptions of place, character, etc. and instead rely on play dialogue? EXCEPT in play you have actors who give personality and life to their characters and you have backdrops and other scenery, so you don't have to explain any of that. Poor excuse for a book. Shame on you all, editors, publishers and author.

The Girl Before it is not. I am disappointed. This was an uncomfortable read for me and I had to keep pushing myself to get it finished. I did not like any of the characters, and didn’t care who might be guilty. I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

A struggling young actress with a bad rep from England is trying to start fresh in America. She’s having more trouble than she had hoped because it seems rumors travel across the ocean, too. This leads our character to take a different type of job, which allows her to act, but also entraps men whose wives suspect them of cheating. No problem...except things become very tricky when a possible murderer is involved.

Claire Wright was a fledgling British actress who was living in the US and taking odd acting jobs just to stay afloat. When she was offered the chance to make $400.00 just by persuading a man to sleep with her, and presenting the evidence to his wife, she was all in. That man was Patrick Fogler, and her involvement with him did not end that night. In fact, it started Claire on a whole other life that was encased in secrecy, espionage, and danger. As this psychological thriller progresses, It becomes exceedingly difficult to determine if Claire is the hunter or the prey. Is it acting for Claire, or real life? Believe Me is a book that will definitely keep readers guessing until the bitter end.

I was interested in reading Believe Me as I’d been hearing quite a buzz about it, but sadly this one was just not to my liking. BDSM figures heavily into the plot and that is just not something I am interested in reading about, too kinky for my tastes! But I felt obligated as this was an ARC provided via NetGalley so I persevered.

First, what I liked about the book. Parts are formatted like a script of a play complete with stage direction and stand-alone dialog. I think the author wanted to give a film noir feel to the book and I have to say he accomplishes this nicely.

Other than my primary complaint, I found the book engaging right up to the first twist, I say first twist as the book includes many but not all of them work. Another distraction was the protagonist is an unreliable narrator but this included her thoughts also. This I thought was a bit far-fetched. Granted, she was characterized as an exceptional actress who “lived in her characters” but to carry this off for months on end was not believable.

Much of the book centers around Charles Baudelaire’s book of poetry, Les Fleurs du mal. Many, many references to the poetry which I think really bogs down the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books providing with with an advance copy to review.

I read this in one sitting this evening. I loved not knowing where the book would go. I found the format of the screenplay to be an interesting change and enjoyed it