DNF @25%

I went into this one cold, and it was "a woman finds her husband lying/cheating" storyline, and I just got bored with the book. I probably listened to more than I would have read, just because I tuned out for a few bits.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

The Woman Inside is one of those books you'll not be able to put down. It has all the qualities of a great twisted mystery.

The story is about Rebecca and her husband Paul. She's in the middle of a drug addiction when she uncovers not only her husband’s affair but also his plan to build a new life with the other woman.

Spiraling desperately, she concocts a devious plot of her own—one that could destroy absolutely everything.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Husband and wife, Rebecca and Paul, are both meant to be and a highly dangerous match.

Drawn together by their dark and painful pasts, the couple met when charismatic Paul was married. Now they are hitched, and after two decades, the relationship is failing just like Paul's contracting business. Rebecca however, is successful. She's a rep for a pharmaceutical company—a convenient job for someone with an opioid addiction.

But both of them are liars: Paul constantly lies about his cheating and womanizing, whereas Rebecca lies about how many drugs she is taking. Their relationship volleys between passion and paranoia—when you add to the mix a crazy mistress and a murder, it becomes the ultimate game of cat and mouse.

The Woman Inside is an explosive novel about secrets, lies, and revenge.

Told through multiple first-person narrators, this domestic thriller jumps between past and present. There are a few instances where the reader may be confused by the timeline towards the middle, but the narrative gets back on track for the last part where the authors ratchet up the suspense to a frenzied finish. The pace is partly why this book works—the whiplash speed does not leave the reader much time to ponder the plot issues. They will need to suspend their disbelief, and if they can, they will love this book.

Packed with secrets and a bit of revenge, this is one addictive book. Scott really does explore a unique perspective on marriage and relationships.

I'm not sure what it is about The Woman Inside, but I am torn between loving it and not liking it. I found myself constantly yelling at Paul and Rebecca the entire novel, telling them to "learn what communication is!" So many lies that didn't need to be told, Paul's infidelity while claiming that Rebecca is the only woman he could ever love, and Rebecca's pill-popping addiction made the story a fast-paced read and made me want to see what was going to happen next. I even got to the point at the end where I was truly hoping they would work things out and go on with their lives, so that ending was pretty shocking! Paul knowing Rebecca had a drug addiction that made her paranoid, but kept lying to her about the simplest of things only agitated the situation, when he could have easily explained everything. I finished The Woman Inside two days ago and it is STILL stuck with me, but I'm not sure if it's stuck with me because it was a great story, or because I am still annoyed over all the drama and death that could have been avoided. And don't get me started on the whole Sheila/Sasha crazy story line!

This book was so good! I wasn't sure what to think of it at first, but after a couple of chapters I was hooked. E.G. Scott is a great story teller and keeps you guessing right up until the very end. I liked that you got to see what was happening from a variety of characters view points.

Paul and Rebecca have been married for almost 20 years. There are so many secrets and lies that you aren't sure what the outcome will be for this couple. Rebecca works for a pharma company and gets addicted to pills. Her husband Paul is in real estate and is trying to make a living when the market takes a hit.

This book is filled with abuse of prescription pills, murder, lies, adultery, and so much more! It will definitely keep you guessing.

New author for me but pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the approval and look forward to a book relationship with other reads in the future,

Ugh, this book. I should have known before I chose it that I would come away with a less than stellar impression of it. And not because of the writer's ability or the thriller aspect, but because I do not like unreliable narrators and protagonists that I cannot find a reason to like anything about. This is one of those reads. If those aspects don't bother you, this book has many positives for you in the thrills and twists of the plot line. I just am not a lover of this style. You would think I would learn....

#TheWomanInside #NetGalley

This was a rollercoaster ride of a story all the way through. Starts off with a bang and leaves you with many questions that keep twisting on themselves throughout the book. I loved the narration of each characters raw innermost thoughts, and necessary flashbacks. I absolutely loved this book!! It kept me hooked and eager to find out more.

Another book that had an interesting beginning, which definitely built my curiosity--until it didn't anymore. Early on I figured out what was going to happen and just slowly watched it unfold. Of course I couldn't predict all the details, but even those additions didn't thrill me.

This book was exactly what I was looking for….a crazy domestic thriller that had me sitting on the edge of my seat!
The Woman Inside was a super disturbing book that was filled with characters that were extremely horrible and heavily flawed yet you will be drawn to their stories! The plot twists will require you to wear a seat belt! The twists and turns of this roller coaster will blow your mind!

Well that was something! If you are looking for a disturbing, crazy, domestic thriller full of secrets and revenge then this is the read for you.

This book takes place on Long Island and has some very flawed and unlikable characters. Rebecca and Paul's painful past drew them together, they thought they were the perfect match for each other. Now twenty years later all their secrets have taken over their marriage. Rebecca has a serious opiate addiction. Paul is cheating on Rebecca and it's getting out of hand. What happens next is a serious game of cat and mouse. How well do you really know your spouse?

THE WOMAN INSIDE is a disturbing domestic thriller with a twisted plot and an ending you won't see coming. You will get drawn in from the start, but make sure you buckle up on this wild and crazy rollercoaster ride.

*Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman Inside by E.G. Scott is one of those books where you have to try really hard to like the main characters. Rebecca and Paul have been married 20 years but suddenly there marriage seems to be full of strife. Rebeccas has become dependent on pain pills. Paul's business has gone belly up. The only positive thing in their life appears to be their dog, Duff. Rebecca discovers some secrets Paul has been keeping and things all roll downhill from there. The two detectives in the book provide some great comedy relief. Read and enjoy!

What an amazing thriller! Absolutely loved it; every roller coaster moment of it. This book was full of surprises, and there was no boring moment. I highly recommend it.

This an interesting, dark story but requires a suspension of belief at times. Paul and Rebecca have been married almost twenty years but their marriage seems to be built on a foundation of distrust. They seem to believe they love each other but they do not trust or confide in the other.
This alternates viewpoints between the two as well as other characters in the book. It includes drug abuse, adultery, revenge and secrets.
Definitely a twisted, macabre tale with twists you don’t by see coming and a few you will as well as thought provoking.

Slightspoilers
Not for those who like happy endings !

Thank you to Net Gallry and Penguin Group Dutton for this ARC and the opportunity to give my honest opinion.

A wild, macabre funhouse of a thriller.

Drug addiction! Adultery! Multiple murders! Whee! The tone of this book is actually much lighter than the content would suggest, which is a welcome change from most of the thrillers I read. The book takes an unrepentant, almost gleeful approach to the misdeeds of its characters, keeping the tone on the flippant side of dark while propelling the reader commandingly.

The plot has a number of deeply improbable components to it, rendering this a story best read by not looking too closely or thinking too hard. And the twists, entertaining though they might be, are not difficult to guess. Dana, for example, was easy to peg from the start.

Regardless, this is an exceptionally fun read, and I loved the structure of the book.

This was an intriguing story. It did keep me guessing what was coming next, even though at times it was predictable or even a bit unbelievable.

Wow just wow! This book was so flipping wrong but right up my alley. I loved this book! My favorite kind of book is a dark, twisted, crazy thriller and this sure was one. I am mad at myself for not reading this sooner.

Most of the focus is on Paul and Rebecca's 20 year marriage and how it started to unravel. Rebecca is quite the interesting character. She is a pharmaceutical representative that likes to sample her products. Paul is a former home builder that is now a real estate agent. These two are quite the couple, actually a match made in heaven. They had secrets from each other, secrets with other people and secrets with each other. I probably gasped a million times at the shocking things these two did. The character development was amazing and they were the couple I loved to hate!

This is such a twisted read that I can't say much more without giving things away. I never saw these twists coming and they were not just thrown in there to throw you off, they were well executed and shocking.

Everyone involved in the book is not really likable but who cares, it made them all the more interesting. I found myself holding my breath during the last chapter because it was just that crazy.

All I can say is if you have not read this, you need to! I am hoping E.G. Scott has something in the works because I can't wait to read another by this great duo. As a nurse I am praying that Euphellis is purely fictional. Fingers crossed.


Thank you so much to E.G. Scott, Penguin Group and Netgalley for this fantastic book!

The Woman Inside is a debut collaboration from E.G. Scott - a pseudonym for two NYC-based writers, one a publishing professional and one a screenwriter.

The Woman Inside is told from two viewpoints - Rebecca the wife and Paul the husband. They've been married for twenty years and each of them came to the marriage with secrets. And after twenty years, there are new secrets. Paul is having an affair and it looks like he's planning a new future for himself. Rebecca has a serious drug problem, but is not going to let Paul throw away their marriage. They're each capable of so much....

"I didn't realize what I'd done until many minutes later. Sometimes my anger is like that. The rage has been within me for so long....I've worked hard to keep it under wraps, especially from my husband."

Ahh, what follows is a lovely game of cat and mouse between the two. The reader is aware of what each player is thinking and scheming. There's also a back and forth narrative - giving us insight into the early days of the marriage.

But things takes a turn with an unexpected twist and the two are now forced to work together against a common threat. But the reader is still privy to that insider knowledge - and I could see what was coming. But I wasn't completely right - there was still another few surprises. You'll have to suspend belief on a few plot devices, but go with it.

Neither character is likeable and both are distinctly unreliable. The characters I did like were the police detectives - I found their back and forth banter quite entertaining. (Perhaps we'll see them in another book from this duo?)

If you're looking for domestic noir with some really nice twists, this is a really good bet. (But I'm not sure about that cover....)

The Woman Inside reads like a film - and TV rights to The Woman Inside have already been bought!

It's hard when a book turns out to be something completely different from the one you were expecting. I picked up The Woman Inside, the début novel from author E.G. Scott, thinking it was a domestic thriller featuring a husband and wife who commit crimes together, but that wasn’t at all what it turned out to be, and at first, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. The characters are extremely flawed and the plot is compelling, but it took me a little while to let go of my expectations and appreciate the story for what it actually was.

When the story opens, Paul and Rebecca have been married for almost two decades. As you might expect, their marriage wasn't always filled with sunshine and rainbows, but the reader is given the impression that the couple is relatively happy with their relationship. Rebecca is a sales associate for a large pharmaceutical company, and Paul is a successful real estate agent. At one time, he owned a very successful contracting company, but when the U.S. fell on hard times in 2008, his company went bankrupt, forcing him to seek out a new line of work. Selling rather than building houses isn't necessarily something he loves, but Paul seems grateful to have a job that helps keep Rebecca and himself in the lifestyle they've grown accustomed to.

It doesn't take long for the reader to realize things are not as smooth and peaceful as they appear on the surface. Rebecca has a drug problem, one she's trying hard to keep hidden from those around her, but unfortunately, she's not nearly as good at hiding her addiction as she thinks she is, and she ends up losing her job as a result of her habit. Her reaction to this loss isn't at all what I was expecting. She is extremely angry and hatches a rather hare-brained scheme to empty the bank account she and Paul share and leave the country without letting her husband know what has happened. Unfortunately for her, it turns out that Paul has been keeping his own set of secrets and has already taken most of their savings out of the bank.

Rebecca is quite fixated on what she views as Paul's great betrayal of her trust, and rather than looking for a new job or trying to get help for her drug addiction, she begins to spy on Paul, determined to find out what he's hiding from her, but the deeper she digs into his personal life, the more questions she has. Is Paul planning to leave her for another woman, or could his plans be far more sinister than Rebecca can imagine?

The story is told from multiple points of view, but we spend the majority of our time with Rebecca and Paul. We learn about the early days of their marriage and discover what led them to the crisis point they are currently experiencing. Neither of these characters is particularly likable, and yet I found myself strangely drawn to them in spite of their huge flaws. It was obvious they loved each other deeply, but something about that love gave me an uneasy feeling. These are people who lie to each other practically all the time in both large and small ways, and seem to see nothing wrong with their behavior. Both of them have suffered deep traumas, and a part of me wondered if either of them would ever be able to find healing.

You're probably wondering about the other characters we encounter in this story, but I'll leave you to find out about them on your own. Revealing their identities would serve only to spoil some key elements of the plot, so I'll just say that each of the other narrators offers a unique perspective on the relationship between Rebecca and Paul, and I enjoyed learning what they knew about the couple.

I usually read these kinds of books when I'm in the mood for something thrilling and fun, and if that's what you're looking for, you might hesitate to pick this up. The Woman Inside is a dark and gritty picture of an imploding marriage, and while I did enjoy it, I came away from it with a feeling of deep sadness. It's a page-turner for sure, but it's weightier than a lot of books that are classified in that way.

E.G. Scott is an author I'll definitely be keeping my eye on in the coming years. I've never read anything quite like this, and I'm intrigued to see what the author will come up with next.

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