3.5 stars. I read the Girl Before and really liked it, so I was excited to read this one. I liked the initial theme of working as a decoy to catch cheating husbands and I got into the book right away. I thought having an actress as the unreliable narrator was an interesting choice because she could be acting at any time and we wouldn't know what was really going on. I thought the relationship with the potential killer should have been more suspenseful than it was. He was really boring though most of it, maybe because I would never go for a guy that is so wrapped up in French poetry. Also, the French poetry angle got a little old for me, just because that isn't my thing at all. I wasn't that awed by the ending of this one and I didn't really think we got enough explanation of why Stella had hired an attorney and the reason for her murder seemed very flimsy. Anyway, it was entertaining and I will likely read the next book from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Love books that make me wonder who did it, where is this going, etc. In other words, books that make me think and this was one that fit that criteria very nicely!

The book is set in NY's acting world and it's hard to tell who is acting and who is real. Who killed Stella? Her husband Patrick? Or Claire who seems all over the place as a true actor would be? Or someone from the dark net? Or....?

I'd love to see this as a movie as it would keep you on the edge of your seat. Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Believe Me by JP Delaney..
The main character Claire has problems - she has no green card, no job, no money. She takes a job to become a decoy to catch cheating husbands. Then there is a murder and everything changes -And the husband (always the guilty one) is Claires target. Did he or didn't he and will Claire survive this assignment or wind up a victim.
Delaney is a good writer - I liked her first book better, but this is a good read.

Wow, this book was twisted. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it was far from what I imagined. It was hard to follow sometimes due to the monologue but this book twisted and turned and kept me on my toes the entire time. I never even came close to guessing how it would end. It wasn’t my favorite book ever because this was a little more intense than I normally read but I was very impressed. The author did an amazing job of keeping me hooked and then blew me away with the surprise ending.

3.5 stars.

I liked this book, although not as much as "The Girl Before."

The middle of the book briefly sagged for me but boy oh boy did the last quarter fully redeem it. Twists and turns galore!

I would recommend this "Believe Me," but if you haven't read "The Girl Before," definitely make sure you catch that one!

Ohhh my goodness! JP Delaney had me immediately captivated with Believe Me! I decided to dive into this novel completely blind -which I highly recommend! I found the storyline well developed and loved the fact that many of the twists and turns were total shockers for me. I felt JP Delaney did a great job of letting the reader know just enough information at just the right times which made for seriously good suspense. Believe Me is a 4 star read that keep you up waaaay past your bedtime! I cant wait to read whatever JP Delaney comes out with next

Although I really liked the style that the author used in writing, I cannot say that I enjoyed this ultra-noir novel. Within the clever use of style and poetry, I found the story of the struggling, desperate actress, Claire, too violent and painful for my taste.

I found the characters, including the heroine, unrelatable and unsympathetic. It was hard to separate the bizarre assignment that Claire took on with the truth about her own life.

The topics of bondage and S & M practices are simply too foreign for me or my readers to enjoy.

Wow!! I'm not sure how I feel after this one! I read it really fast - almost in a day. Those short chapters made the story fly right by.
The first two parts were great - I was hooked, I was intrigued, I was confused. I didn't trust anybody!
The third part almost seemed like a different book. It focused on the play and the actress and the love between Claire and Patrick. Then the ending! Wow! It's not over until it's really over. I wasn't satisfied with the story at the end of the play, but once they moved on and it really ended.... It definitely blew me away.
It's absolutely one of the better thrillers/psychological thrillers I've read in a while. And this one is definitely a psychological thriller!

I am extremely torn on how to rate this book honestly. It wasn't very good until about half way through and the best part of the book was the end. It wasn't particularly poorly written it just seemed to drag on and wasn't exactly one of those books that kept you at night because you couldn't stop reading. In some parts it didn't seem detailed enough where maybe it should have been. I really wanted to love this book more.

I loved this book. It was very fast reading, with an intriguing plot and characters. It was written in a different style than the traditional thriller, and that made it very engaging. Highly recommend.

The book begins in a busy New York hotel. It then jumps to five days earlier taking off like a rocket. Just when you think you know what is happening, everything changes and off it goes again. I really like the book. The plot was well written and held my interest from beginning to end. The characters, even minor ones, were developed in such a way that they seem to come alive. Delaney makes you feel for the characters--sometimes sorry for them, sometimes happy, and sometimes 'oh my, how could she/he be so stupid'. It was an exciting book. I received this ebook free from NetGalley for an honest review.

Definitely a psychological thriller with many twists and turns, I found I could not put this book down until I kept reading and reading it all the way to the end!!! Filled with a great leading character, an unusual story line, this book had me captured from word one! A definite enjoyable and most entertaining read. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to have read this title prior to publication--it is a definite winner!

As with the Girl Before, I was a bit underwhelmed. The premise is really intriguing, a Brit actress with a sketchy past working as a decoy catching husbands with a wandering eye. Then she gets caught up in a murder. Patrick's infatuation with everything Beaudelaire was brought in an erotic and dark element. This book had my head spinning at times, it is so filled with twists, turns, lies and deceptions. I can't say I was surprised at the way it all turned out, but it was definitely a well written story about the dark side of obsession.

Loved the book, read it in 3 days after work. Thriller, twists, interesting characters and some literary history---everything I look for in a good read.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an advance copy of this book. I was excited to find out that JP Delaney is coming out with a new book. I enjoyed The Girl Before very much and was looking forward to reading more books by this author.
Believe me is full of unexpected twists and turns. Murder solving, psychological profiler, struggling actress, Baudelaire obsessed love interest, and a intelligent cop.
The book kept me on the edge of my seat through most of it. I was anticipating the end because I couldn't wait to found out "whodunit"? I was very intrigued by the story. I thought it was well written , fast paced and easy to read.
My least favorite part was the last one. I felt like it was out of place and perhaps the author could have developed the cop/actress/psychologist dynamics rather than adding the play production. I wasn't a fan of that part and to be honest it was a bit boring. The first few parts were a lot more thrilling and interesting.
Overall I really enjoyed the book and it will be reading the next book by this author.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of Believe Me. I loved this book! A wannabe actress is hired to get a confession from a murder suspect but gets in way over her head. I haven’t read The Girl Before yet so this is the first piece of writing of Delaney’s I’ve ever read. I’m very impressed and look forward to reading more.

This is a truly frightening story. The characters are believable and as the story unfolds it becomes very clear that nothing is clear or what is real or fiction. Lots of suspense and a truly terrifying ending. I could not put this book down.

Another great Delaney thriller! Superb job on character development

Completely bored with this book. I couldn't even finish it. Very flat and a lot of tell-tell. The way the author wanted to innovate putting the conversations in a different format just annoyed me.

I found the MC without substance (can't even remember her name!).

Was this book trying to be a <i>La Femme Nikita</i> of cheating men (minus the blood)?

Thank you Netgalley for providing with a free copy of this title.

"Sometimes, when you wear a mask too long, you find it sticks to the skin."

"Never fall for anyone who prefers to speak someone else's words."

JP Delaney's Believe Me is a tantalizing character-driven thriller that explores the length at which an actress would take her craft. British born orphan Claire Wright has managed to flee England in pursuit of an acting career in New York City. A few months after living in New York and taking acting classes, Claire is beyond broke; she's behind on her rent and is about to be booted out of her apartment.

Her luck changes when she finds clandestine employment as an undercover agent of sorts. Claire's job is that of a temptress. She is hired by women to lure their husbands into committing adultery, to prove they are willing to cheat on their partners. This job allows Claire to put her acting skills to the test and helps her pay the mounting bills piling up in her shared apartment.

One fateful encounter, however, changes everything for Claire.

Claire meets the oh-so-charming Professor Patrick Folger when his wife requests for Claire to get him to cheat on her. Professor Folger is not like other men Claire has easily seduced. He doesn't take her bait despite one of the best performances she puts on for him. The day after Claire's failed attempt at making Folger's hers, Folger's wife is found dead in her room, killed brutally by what police believe to be a serial killer obsessed with finding beauty in death.

Folger's academic research on poet Charles Baudelaire's darker works makes him a prime suspect. Claire is then forced by the police to continue her cat and mouse game with Folger. But as Claire pursues Folger, she finds herself drawn into his deceptively dark sexual fetishes, some that border on the obscene. Folger, however, is the first man intelligent enough to intrigue Claire, leading her to wonder who is seducing (and perhaps blackmailing) whom? Claire finds that the character she was told to inhabit to attract Folger is taking over her sense of sense, claiming her mind and body with each passing minute she spends with Folger.

Is Claire falling into Folger's trap? Is Folger truly capable of committing such heinous crimes? 

This book is sexy and absolutely lush. There are so many quotable passages and memorable scenes in Believe Me. It's clever, seductive, and everything a psychological thriller should be. I loved all the twists and turns of this book, and would love to re-read it to see the hints and clues as to where the book was taking me now that I know how it ended!

On a side note, I thought the back story to this book was very interesting. JP Delaney, which is a pen name of the author Tony Strong, rewrote Believe Me after the original version, called The Decoy, was published in 2002. I was interested in reading Believe Me because I absolutely adored JP Delaney's The Girl Before that was published last year. Both books kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you to the author, JP Delaney, the publisher, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Believe Me.