In the beginning of The Secret, we learn of Archie, the little guy being babysat over the course of this story. He is told in school that there are some good secrets, and there are some bad secrets, but we try not to tell them unless somebody might be hurt. And the story sort of takes off from there. I read the whole thing in a day - not to say it's the best domestic thriller I've ever read, but it was good. Kind of like cotton candy: melts on your tongue, tastes delicious, but it's ethereal and you'll forget all about it in 20 minutes.

‘The Secret’ by K.L.Slater published by Bookoutre on 26th July

Hey, well K.L.Slater has a great rep as a psychological thriller writer and I have enjoyed her previous 5 books so I knew the book would be good, and it is, its good!
In a swamped book arena of ‘secrets’ I thought it was quite brave to call the book ‘the secret’ as when I saw it I thought ‘oh, another one’....
but as the book starts you realise its exactly the right title as the characters lives in the book are all based on ‘secrets’....
Louise n Alice are sisters, but completely different....Louise is successful and outgoing....Alice is scared to leave the house and her daily thrill is waiting for the same man to pass her flat, they smile, then wave, then talk.....but of course nothing is as it seems
Enter strange neighbours, deceitful ex’s, a nephew being physically abused and more and the plot thickens
The story’s secrets eventually do become apparent and things took, well for me, an unexpected turn in a very clever set of ‘twists’ ( sorry, that word again but there you go ) in this case its no exaggeration to use the word and they come quick fire and leave you shook up and WOW’d
My only criticism is one small part of the book where Alice gives up something she has waited for all her life to do to go to her ill Mother but in reality she would have only been an extra hour, that bugged me and I was like ‘noooooooooooooo, just do it’
A good read, easy to pick up snd get back into after a break etc and even though goes between characters and past and present very easy to follow and keep up with
9/10 5 stars

Fantastic book loved every word, plausible storyline likeable and unlikeable characters in Louise and Alice and how my heart went out to Alfie, really good book one of the best I’ve read this year

Archie (8 years old) listens, and takes to heart, his teacher's talk about secrets. Always tell a trusted adult.
Alice (Archie's aunt) babysits for Archie on an increasing basis. Why?
Since Alice's 30th birthday, she has an obsession for a man who passes on the 8:16 tram on the way to work. Eventually they wave and smile...


Alice's sister, Louise, is resentful of Alice not working. Also, of Alice not selling her apartment and giving Louise half of the proceeds. Louise is self-centered - and Alice realizes that she always has been. After all, the house was their mum's... However, Louise visited her mum less and less during the last 2 years of her life while Alice was devoted to mum's care... this after Alice lost the love of her life, Jack.


Louise is married to Darren who adopted Archie. You see, Archie's biological father is a deadbeat best to be forgotten.

Alice finally meets up with the mystery man on the tram and the results are quite unexpected.

Louise finally dumps her problems on Alice - quite shocking.


Archie relays more than one shocking secret...

The shattering conclusions keep coming! Secrets are sure to both shock and surprise!
And yet, the twists keep on coming!

MANY thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a superb read!!!

Excellent story line which was gripping from start to finish. Great characters. I would highly recommend this book.

Not sure why I keep picking up these psychological thrillers when they really do not appeal to me. This is narrated in a back and forth time lapse way with different character POV. Although everthing was made clear by the end I just did not enjoy the book as a whole. K.L. Slater does have a talent for this type of read and is shown to be a skilled author. So....If the dark shadow books are your thing then you might want to sample this one. "This book was provided by Bookouture via Netgalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion."

Received a copy of this book through Netgalley.
A brilliant plot could not put the book down a real page turner will appeal to a wide range of readers.The characters are well developed throught the book,hard to figure out who the culpit was .Good ending.

I finished this last night before I went to sleep so I had some time to think about the review I wanted to read. I have quite a fondness for the books by K L Slater and I was excited to read this one.

The story itself was ok, not fantasticly brilliant but still good enough. I felt that the characters were a bit one dimensional.
We get one chapter as a character that seems that he might be more important, only to then never get a chapter from him again. That felt very weird and rushed, as if the author decided to change the story half way through.

All in all, I did enjoy reading this but I do not think I will read it again.