Who can you trust? Everyone in this book seems to be playing a role…and they are all very, very good at it. When I began reading, I found the play script format a little distracting, but as I got into the book, I understand how and why the device was being used. There is a good deal of theater lore, literature, and a great deal of background and theory about Baudelaire's famous volume of French poetry Les Fleurs du mal. If this was an action movie, I would say the main characters played the roles of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Despite the deux ex machina ending, the book kept me riveted throughout. According to the author, this is a rewrite of a novel she wrote a while ago – I’d say the revision and updating succeeded. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks for the chance to read this book and OMG is all I can say. I was hesitant to read this at first, it didn't seem like the first few pages were going to pull me in bit I kept reading and I am so glad that I did. This book had so many twist I couldn't belive it. I was so convinced that each time it was over it really was and then bam another twist was thrown at me. I really liked how the author used the acting lines back and forth like they were running lines with one another. I rwally liked this book! Read it when it comes out!!

My first by this author, I own The Girl Before. but haven't read it yet. The beginning of this novel had me hooked and flipping pages to find out how it would play out after a quite intense beginning.

Claire is a British actress who is looking for work in America, but can't get hired without a green card. She is resourceful though, and uses her acting skills to lure unfaithful husbands into a sort of divorce trap (so the wives can be certain whether their husbands are cheaters). The wives are her so-called "clients". Is this called a "honey trap"?

The temperature starts to rise in more ways than one when one of her clients is found murdered in one of the hotel rooms on the same night Claire met up with her hubby. This is where the twisted show of cat and mouse really begins. When I say twisted, I am talking....tangled, distorted and disturbing!

I have mixed feelings because I really enjoyed the first half and was looking forward to a compelling end, but it turned out to be more confusing and bizarre that what I could even imagine. Why, did we have to go there? The unreliable narrator turned out to be quite the actress in my opinion. This is only my take , so check it out and see what you think of all the strange twists and turns that spin this one!

Believe Me by JP Delaney is a psychological thriller that will have your heartbeat thundering in your ears from the very first page. Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will be just as fascinated with this book.

This is a new-to-me author and I was definitely in the mood for something other than romance. Oh boy, did this check all my boxes? It’s full of suspense, some snark that makes you chuckle at times, and the twists leave nothing to be desired.

This is a story that will keep you guessing who the killer is, but it is so twisted that just when you think you’ve cleared everyone you thought was a suspect, BOOM! The one person who you really thought was innocent turns out to be the culprit.

But goodness, the mind games are incredibly twisted to the point that you find yourself saying “what in the world?” several times. But wait until you find yourself screaming at it “Believe her! Please, believe her!”

The way this is written isn’t like your regular fictional books either. It’s a mix of a screenplay and a novel. It made me want to pick up my screenplay writing again. I loved it!

This is such a good story, I read it in one day. I just couldn’t put it down. It was that good. Seriously, if you’re looking for something good to read, pick up this book. It will mess with your head but you won’t regret it. Trust me.

A fascinating psychological thriller ! I love this book and how the plot had so much subterfuge.!
This book kept me reading long into the night.
The book was told from the point of view of Claire, an actress who is broke from the UK. She is living in NY and desperate to make money so she takes on a job as a decoy and is to wait until one of the philandering husbands attempt to pick her up. She is employed by a law firm who is doing this scam with her on a thin line between what is legal and what is illegal. She is never to approach the men first, then the law firm has the evidence for the wife that the husband is cheating and was not "entrapped". Her job seems to be going along as planned then a crazy twist takes place after a murder.
One of the wives of one of the men turns up dead. The police believe it is the husband, or so that is what they tell Claire. She agrees to to see if she can get a confession . Or is Claire really the one being set up? She doubts the police and does not trust anyone involved. Claire realizes she is in danger of being the primary suspect and begins to follow leads herself to save herself . Who is after her and can she find out who the real suspect is in time? The plot twists kept turning and I was more intrigued at every chapter.
This was very well written. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC which does not influence my review. This is one very compelling read. I look forward to further work by this author.

Believe Me by J.P. Delaney is a psychological thriller that brought out that side of me that argues with myself. My reaction while reading this one…. What?? Yes… well, no… yes… no way! Yeah, you get my point.

The book begins with Claire doing what she does to earn money, propositioning a man in a bar. But it’s not what one would think in any way, Claire works for a law firm going undercover to catch cheating spouses since acting jobs are hard to come by for someone without a green card.

Normally these jobs go very quickly for Claire, all she has to do is wait for the mark to approach her and flirt a bit all the while getting them on camera. But Claire is surprised when a mark doesn’t fall for her attempts but even more surprised when the wife is upset her husband didn’t cheat. What Claire never expected after the job was over was to find herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

This is one that I’m not sure if it would be for everyone as it is certainly different. They style the author chose was one that took a little getting used to. A lot of the conversations and such are in an interview type of format but since the story was intriguing I went along with the differences well enough. Once the twists in the book begin to happen my internal debate meter shot off the chart and it wasn’t as if you are thrown a whole pile of suspects but the psychological side showed in playing mind games with the reader. In the end I was glad I picked this one up as it certainly was an entertaining read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book had so many twists and turns in it! Just when I thought I knew what was going on, it spun a different way. I rate this book between a 3 and 4. There was a nod to Shades Of Gray, that I wasn’t expecting and not sure if that plot line was for me. However, the book kept me reading and I finished it in a couple of days!

This is the second book I have read by J.P. Delaney. The first book, The Girl Before, kept my interest because of the way it was written. I was hoping for something similar with this one. But I got something even better. The book was told from the point of view of Claire, an actress from the UK. She is living in NY, taking acting lessons and doing what she can to pay the bills. She takes on a job with a law firm. Her job is to be a decoy, for lack of a better word, and wait until one of the philandering husbands attempt to pick her up. She is never to approach the men first, the point is they approach her and then the law firm has the evidence for the wife that the husband is cheating and was not "entrapped". Things take a crazy turn for Claire when one of the wives of one of the men turns up dead. From here it is a cat and mouse game - did Claire kill the wife? She had opportunity. Did the husband do it? He had opportunity. Was it someone else entirely? The police believe it is the husband, or so that is what they tell Claire. She agrees to be interested in the husband to see if she can get a confession from him, but is that what the police want? Or is Claire really the one acting or being set up? From one moment to another I had no idea who was playing who - maybe the cops weren't who they said they were either? Oh my, I just kept reading and reading and reading and couldn't wait until the end.

was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I had read The Girl Before by JP Delaney last year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to get the chance to read his new release. And it did not disappoint! This was a really great book, it was dark and mysterious and honestly entrancing. I didn't want to put it down. The reader really gets drawn into Claire's character and mindset, and while she can be somewhat of an unreliable narrator, her character was fascinating. I also loved how the dark poet, Charles Baudelaire, played such a critical role in the plot of the book. Baudelaire was an actual French poet, and his most famous work, Les Fleurs de mal, is a dark exploration of sexuality and death. And so too, this book is a dark and twisted exploration of reality and relationships. We as the reader are dependent on Claire's version of reality, which alternates between seemingly clear and downright delusional. I did not at all see the ending coming, this was one of the few gasp-worthy endings I can remember experiencing. This was really a great book and I would highly recommend giving it a read!

This is an intense psychological thriller with many twists and turns. It sucks you in and you have to keep reading to find out what is real and who is guilty. Keeps you guessing. I didn’t really like any of the characters though., all pretty weird and depraved.

I liked this psychological thriller but I didn't love it. I was fascinated by the way the author wove snippets from Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal into the story and plot line. This created an eerie vibe throughout the book, in a good way. The main character, Claire, is an actress with a difficult past full of disappointment and heartbreak. She moves through her life as if she's playing a part in a movie but it is her life so she seems disengaged from whatever she's doing. She agrees to help the police by playing a role to entrap a supposed serial killer. Because she is so disengaged, I found it difficult to like her or feel sorry for her when things went wrong. The many twists and turns in the story were confusing at times and it was hard to distinguish truth from what was really happening or what had happened and who was genuine and who wasn't. Claire is paranoid about everyone so doesn't really form close relationships with anyone. Much of the book is written as though it's a script so again, I found it difficult to care about what was happening to the characters. I liked the story but I felt detached from the whole narrative. I wanted to care about the characters but because the writing style was so cold and aloof, I didn't. The police sting operation was a bit far-fetched and over the top. I don't believe any police department would be able to invest that amount of time and money in such an elaborate attempt to catch a supposed serial killer. I wish I could have liked Claire and the other characters more but they weren't likeable. Overall, I think this was an interesting and brilliant idea for a story but I wished it was written in a less detached way. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for this complimentary book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Twist upon page-turning twist. This is a tale from the ultimate unreliable narrator, masterfully told and I would defy anyone to figure it out on their own before the final reveal. Will definitely recommend to friends.

Now this is a twisty story. Maybe even the most twisted I have ever read. I didn’t know who to believe or even who to root for. Can’t give away the plot but it’s a tension filled read with an ending that is just a teensy bit disappointing. But that being said, I definitely enjoyed the book and was mesmerized by the story. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc. Opinions are my own.

I had difficulty getting into this book. It never really took off and I felt like I was reading a book that I had read before.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book! I loved The Girl Before by JP Delaney and Believe Me did not disappoint. This was a quick read for me - once I started it I couldn't put it down. I loved trying to figure out if the relationship between Claire and Patrick was real or if it was acting. I totally loved every twisted page!!

Believe Me is a story of life imitating art and a dark art at that. I love books that incorporate art into narrative, in this case Baudelaire controversial poetry, Les Fleurs Du Mal. I've read JP Delaney's previous book, The Girl Before, which I really enjoyed, but Believe Me was even better in my opinion. The first half of the book reads like a standard murder investigation that I did like, but the second half reads more like a very intense and twisty psychological thriller. The second half of the book blew me away.

There is a strong theme of dark genius throughout the book, how a talent often goes hand in hand with a disturbed mind. Claire's character reminded me very much of Natalie Portman's character in Black Swan, the way she often found the line between her real self and the character she was portraying blurring and disappearing. I found it fascinating. Believe Me was very engrossing and unputdownable, I highly recommend this book to any thriller and suspense lover.

Believe Me is one of those books that I requested purely because of the hype it's received from other reviewer friends of mine. It was getting a lot of buzz, so I expected it to be pretty good. I did not expect it to grip me by the end of the first chapter, but it did. This book is a perfect example of a strong opening. But once this book took off, it never let back up. I would advise you to wait to start this one until you have the time to devour it, because it is hard to put back down.

Believe Me was so different for me because a lot of the time I didn't know what to believe. I found myself suspicious that every character at different points throughout the book. It was an incredible mystery ride based on that fact alone. I couldn't tell what were lies and what was the truth. I loved it because it kept me guessing the entire time.

The characters were done really well especially Claire and Patrick. But every character in this book was done really well. The development is thorough, but without unnecessary details. I also found Claire to be intriguing from the very first chapter. She was mysterious and bold, but also impulsive. I liked her character right away. She was just so interesting.

I am kind of shocked at how J.P. Delaney pulled this book off. It certainly lived up to the title because, honestly, I never knew what to believe. But it is also a little difficult for me to review because I don't want to spoil anything. The plot was incredible and the twists came out of nowhere, but were clearly planned well. In the interest of keeping this review spoiler free I will keep it short and leave you with this, give it a chapter before you decide to pass on this one. I was going to read this later, but after reading the first chapter I wound up reading the whole thing.

Wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I had a hard time connecting with the characters. It could have been the mood I was in but ultimately it left me feeling underwhelmed.

Believe Me by J. P. Delaney

This is the third time in a row that I have requested a psychological thriller based on loving the author's previous work and have been hugely disappointed. This was just too confusing or I would really have to suspend belief to be thrilled or chilled. Claire is the main character who is in New York City attending acting classes. While she is trying to pay for the acting classes she gets work from an ex police officer who she masquerades as a prostitute trying to tape and video married men whom she approaches in Hotel bars to test whether or not the men will cheat on their wives.

Claire meets a woman named Stella who meets with Claire before meeting with Stella's husband. Stella is found murdered in her hotel room and the police and a forensic psychologist play Claire and the husband against one another. They both believe that each other are working with the police and the psychologist each one trying to get one another to admit to the murder.

The husband is a professor of Baudelaire and this is where the narrative takes off in too many directions. The husband writes a play for Claire to play in the role of a lifetime for her. There is a lot of text from Baudelaire that bogs down the narrative. Claire and the husband fall in love but who is predator and who is prey? This twist is used too many times. I didn't find this suspenseful or addictive. It was trying too hard to be clever and it just was unsatisfying. The ending was supposed to be explosive but it was just too far fetched to believe.

Thank you to Net Galley, J.P. Delaney and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

Not my favorite book. I enjoyed the first book I read by this author but this one was a struggle for me to get into. I don't know if it was the characters or setting but just wasn't my favorite.