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The Perfect Betrayal

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The Perfect Betrayal is a gripping read that keeps you guessing, with an unexpected ending.
3.5 stars

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This story had me completely suckered in right from the start - I read it in a day or so because I needed to find out who was terrorising Tess.
Tess has gone through the trauma of losing her husband in a plane crash, and now she i being terrorised with silent phone calls, and being followed. What is her brother in law Ian really up to? Is Shelley in cahoots with him? Is Shelley the sympathetic friend that she seems to be? Well worth a read.

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Tess is devastated by the tragic death of her husband in a crash. It soon becomes apparent that her husband was keeping secrets from her, a new business, a loan from his brother and a person who keeps ringing her and following her. Enter the almost too good to be true Shelley, a grief counsellor who fronts up and seems to say and do all the right things. But are her intentions good, or does she have an ulterior motive?
Can Tess keep herself and her son safe? Who can she trust?
This book was starting to frustrate me, I kept questioning the decisions made by the main character and why she was pushing away the people closest to her and trusting an almost complete stranger in Shelley.
Having said that toward the end of the book there is a twist that I really did not see coming at all!! Suddenly all of the pieces fell into place and to say I was shocked is an understatement.
A very well written book about loss, and mistrust.
Thank you Random House UK, Transworld Digistal and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title.

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Thank you netgalley for this ARC!
Wow!! Loved this book! Did not see the twist at the end coming. Excellent plot. Kept me hooked.
Tess has lost her husband. Ian, her husband Marks brother, is putting pressure on Tess to sign executor power to him. Mark owes him money and he wants it back.
Shelley is a grief councilor, Tess welcomes her friendship until strange things start happening. Is Shelley really looking after Tess or is she working with Ian?
Tess is in hospital. Jamie is missing, she's desperate to find him. Convinced Ian and Shelley are behind it.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this unsettling read.
Our narrator, Tess, is someone we’re never totally sure about. It’s evident she’s in the throes of grief and struggling to cope, but her increasing edginess is catching. We begin to doubt those around her as we succumb to her obsessions, yet are always mindful that she may not be telling us quite everything.
When we are first introduced to Tess she’s finding it hard to adjust to life after the untimely death of her husband in a plane crash. She receives unusual phone calls, her brother-in-law is pestering her to sort out the estate as he claims to be owed a hundred thousand pounds, there’s a strange man following Tess and a grief counsellor who inserts herself into Tess’s life controlling many aspects of it and ostracising her from family and friends.
At various points in the novel a number of scenarios were feasible. It’s testimony to the writing style that we’re not certain which, if any, are credible.
The truth, when it finally comes, makes perfect sense. It is - if I’m being entirely honest - not at all what we’re led to believe and a bit of a shock. However, the reality is actually deep,y unsettling and shows the extent to which grief can impact on us.

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My thanks to Random House/Transworld Digital for an eARC via NetGalley of this intense psychological thriller in exchange for an honest review. It’s available as an ebook now and in paperback in June.

‘The Perfect Betrayal’ opens with a very dramatic scene with its main character, Tess, in an ICU recovering from a stab wound. The narrative then moves back in time to recount the events that lead up to that day and on occasion there are transcripts of interviews with Tess seeking to explain the circumstances of the stabbing.

Following the sudden death of her husband, Mark, Tess is grieving deeply. She is barely keeping it together even with her 7-year old son, Jamie. When Shelley, a grief counsellor, comes into Tess’s life things improve and yet there are the occasional unsettling incidents that make Tess begin to doubt Shelley’s intentions.

In addition, Ian, her brother-in-law, is claiming that Mark had borrowed £100,000 from him that he needs returned. Yet Tess knows nothing of this and is sticking her head in the sand about dealing with his estate.

Sometimes the shifts in time were a little confusing but I got used to them. Certainly I found this very difficult to put down and again would suggest that it is best read without too much prior knowledge so as not to spoil its various twists.

Death,loss and bereavement are never easy subjects to approach whether in fiction especially when portraying someone coming to terms with a sudden death. I did feel that Lauren North wrote from an awareness of the complexity of grief and a sensitivity to the psychological aspects.

A very impressive debut.

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I've never read any of this authors books So when a new author came up to read and review I jumped at it.
OMG..........What a brilliant book "The Perfect Betrayal" by Lauren North.....It had everything you want in a book!
Its gritting, addictive, that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and will have you hooked after a few pages and you could really feel for the main character Tess. The ending was a OMG ending. I didn't see that coming. WoW!

Tess is the main character of this wonderful book and is married to Mark, they have a young son called Jamie. Mark was killed in an aircraft accident. Tess, distraught at the loss if her Husband and is trying to hold everything together for the sake of their young son.
There's a knock on the door and a young beautiful young lady who is a Grief counsellor introduces her self as Shelley come to Tess's aid.
They become good friends.....Shelley helps Tess with her daily life etc and looking after Jamie.
Then, Tess feels something is more to Shelley after Shelley talks about her loss of her child and starts to write things down in a note book, then hides it in a kitchen drawer.

What is Shelley after?

Is Jamie safe?

Mark's brother tells Tess that Mark Borrowed a lot of Money from him and wants it back. Tess is confused and doesn't remember any money changing hands between them!..................

Is he Lying?

Did he lend this money to Mark? and what was it for?

What a book...........Don't start to read this before you go to bed Like I did...............Before you know it the birds will be singing and the sun will be rising! lol......
But I had to finish it! (Is it bed time yet? lol)

Highly Recommend this book Big 5 stars for The Perfect Betrayal.

Big Thank You to Random House UK, Transwold Publishing for my advanced copy of this book to read for a opportunity to read and review a new and wonderful author Lauren North. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

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Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. A really powerful thriller and the ending was not at all what I expected. This book hooks you in from the very beginning

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This is a gripping story of love, loss and grief and how different people deal with it. I certainly did not expect that ending.

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READ IT
THE END
😎
Seriously I would leave it at that but better say more about this top notch pyschological thriller
Tess and her son Jamie are grieving the loss of their hubby/dad after a plane crash
To say Tess is distraught is an understatement and so her Mum involves a grief counsellor Shelley, she is amazing.....too amazing...who is she really and what does she want?
Ian ( hubby’s brother ) appears on the scene demanding £100,000 that he says he is owed....
Shelley and Ian seem to whisper together, Tess starts to write things down as her suspicion’s get worse.....something is going to happen..................the book starts as she wakes in ICU with stab wounds, the Police are there, Jamie is missing....where are Shelly and Ian???
To say more would be to give too much away but this book is made for devouring, it will get you and when you get to the end you will be shaken
Flawless psychological thriller, involving and shattering
Perfect betrayal, Perfect Book
READ IT!!!
10/10 5 Stars

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This book has all of the qualities of the perfect psychological thriller. Deftly layered with emotion and suspense it starts off fairly slowly but the tension builds into a dramatic sequence of events.

The story is told predominantly from the point of view of the main character, Tess, along with snippets from her grief counsellor and brother-in-law. Tess’ conversations that she had with her late husband were heart-breaking. It was an incredibly emotionally charged book, well written and beautifully plotted and so cleverly constructed to help conceal major reveals in the natural progression of the story.

“The Perfect Betrayal” is my favourite type of psychological thriller - where the voices and thoughts of the characters and the reader’s own imagination complement the story. From the beginning, it is an absorbing and riveting novel as well as being massively addictive. The main protagonist, Tess, did not know who to trust and nor did I.

Highly recommended, this is a sad and harrowing story of grief, love and loss, with a fulfilling but shocking finish. Lauren North’s writing is just exquisite and I will be looking out for her next offering.

[Thank you to #NetGalley, Random House UK/ Transworld Publishers, and Lauren North for my free ARC of #ThePerfectBetrayal in exchange for an honest review.]

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I had rather fallen out of love with psychological thrillers – quite apart from finding them so very difficult to review, I was beginning to find the story lines a little samey, with “jaw-dropping twists” that were disappointing me a little. If you’ve ever begun to feel the same, I’d urge you to try this one – a first psychological thriller from an author whose books I’ve previously enjoyed (but under another identity), and something so different and original that it rather took my breath away.

The story opens on the day after son Jamie’s birthday, and the reader finds out on the very first page that Tess is in hospital, has been stabbed, and that her son is missing. And then we go back to 55 days before that birthday, slowly approaching the critical date, the narrative punctuated by extracts from interviews and snippets from statements, all unexplained. It’s a compelling structure, as you become involved in all the twists and turns of Tess’ life, question what might have happened, and always with that ticking clock in the background.

The whole reading experience was so very unsettling, with the knowledge that something dreadful was going to happen – and when I reached the end, all I wanted to do was go back to the beginning, to make sense of how I could have got the whole story so entirely wrong.

It begins with a quite overwhelming depiction of loss and grief – quite wonderfully done, desperately moving – which lingers throughout as Tess focuses on motherhood and attempts to go through the motions of day-to-day life. She turns away from her family – her mother and her brother – but finds alternative support from grief counsellor Shelley, which turns into a close friendship.

But might it be too close? Tess begins to doubt whether Shelley with her ever-present smile is all that she seems, and her life becomes further complicated by the discovery that her husband had secrets. Coupled with her distinctly unpleasant brother-in-law bringing financial pressure, threatening phone calls, a stalker and an intruder, she reaches the point where she finds it unable to trust anyone – and as you read, you start to draw your own ever-changing conclusions.

The characters are superbly drawn – particularly Shelley, and you’ll find your views on her character constantly shifting, wondering about her motives, slowly growing to doubt whether her care for Tess can possibly be as selfless as it appears.

The tension in this book is cranked up to an almost unbearable level, laced with threat and menace – to give any clue where the story’s going would be entirely unforgivable, but I promise it won’t disappoint. I quite possibly forgot to breath beyond the halfway point – it’s immaculately plotted, so well written, totally impossible to put down until the bitter end… and quite wonderful.

(Review also copied to Amazon, but link not yet available)

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Die Spannung ergreift einen sofort. Man ist direkt in der Geschichte drin, das ist der Autorin gelungen. Man erwacht mit Tess nach einem Messerangriff im Krankenhaus. Sie fürchtet um ihren Sohn Jamie, aber sie kann sich nicht verständlich machen.

Dann beginnt die eigentliche Erzählung 55 Tage vor Jamies Geburtstag. Vor 4 Wochen ist Tess Mann Mark bei einem Flugzeugabsturz zu Tode gekommen. Sie ist ganz gefangen in der Trauer, auch ihr 7 jähriger Sohn leidet sehr darunter, der Tagesablauf kommt schon morgens kaum in Schwung. Immerzu hadert sie mit sich, ob sie die verschriebenen Antidepressiva einnehmen soll. Oft ist sie ungeduldig und harsch mit Jamie. Man erfährt, dass Mark sich wohl von seinem älteren Bruder Ian für die Hausrenovierung 100.000 geliehen hat. Er taucht bei Tess auf und verlangt das Geld zurück, doch sie sieht sich noch nicht in der Lage, sich mit dem Erbe und den Finanzen auseinander zu setzen. Aber wieso bietet ihr die Fluggesellschaft eine Kompensation für 2 Passagiere an?

Plötzlich und unerwartet steht dann Shelley Lange vor ihrer Tür. Sie ist Trauerbegleiterin und Tess Mutter hat für sie einen Termin mit ihr gemacht, da sie sehr besorgt um ihre Tochter ist.
Die Erzählung der vergangene Ereignisse wird immer wieder von kurzen Auszügen aus den Vernehmungen nach dem Messerangriff unterbrochen. Das macht die Geschichte spannend und abwechslungsreich. Der Leser fragt sich, was da los ist, was das alles bedeutet. Man wird zu Spekulationen angeregt. Je näher man dem Geburstag kommt, desto gespannter ist man.
Einige der Ereignisse klären sich auf, Tess sieht manchmal etwas klarer, doch das Buch strebt ungebremst dem Höhepunkt entgegen. Der Roman findet ein überraschendes sehr realitätsnahes Ende und lässt einen mit nicht ganz einfachen Gefühl zurück.
Die Autorin weiß anscheinend sehr gut, wie Trauer und Depression sich anfühlen und auswirken. Sie kann das sehr realistisch und ergreifend vermitteln. Das zermürbende Schwanken zwischen trüber Realität und beklemmendem Verfolgungswahn kann den Leser nicht kalt lassen.

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Oh WOW! I 've just finished this. It has a great twist which I didn't see coming and I was kept guessing as to the motives of Ian and Shelley. And then at the end i was almost in tears without giving too much away. Brilliant, recommended read.

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I can not recommend this book enough! It’s the right amount of mystery and suspense from the first page through to the last. Tess only has Jamie her son after her husband dies and suddenly Shelly arrives to help, is she too good to be true? Is she trying to steal jamie?

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"The space behind my eyes throbs with the threat of tears. My thoughts are running away with me. I focus on the sounds of the house, on what is real... But these sounds are drowned out now but the noises of our son...I imagine Jamie brushing his teeth, slipping over the gap in the middles where his bottom baby teeth used to be."

Grieving following the sudden death of her husband Mark, killed when an airline pilot committed suicide and took the plane and all its passengers with him, Tess is struggling. Recently moved to the house Mark grew up in, Tess and seven year old Jamie feel alone, pushing Tess's mother and brother Sam away, feeling manipulated by Mark's brother Ian, who claims Mark owed him money. Then grief counsellor Shelley comes into their lives, providing arRay of hope. She lost her son Dylan, who would be Jamie's age now, so understands what it is like to grieve for a loved one. Jamie takes to her right away and Tess is glad of her support. But what are Shelley's intentions? Who is phoning the landline and hanging up and did Tess really see someone skulking in the back garden at nighttime?

Counting down to the day of Jamie's eight Birthday, this is a domestic psychological thriller. It is primarily told from Tess's viewpoint, alternating with interviews in hospital with Tess, Ian and Shelley. The ending brings a shock discovery that explains. This thriller is full of suspense that will have you speed reading to find out who is telling the truth, who can be trusted and what is really going on.

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Tess is struggling with life after losing her husband Mark in a plane crash. She is left to bring up their son Jamie on her own. Tess goes to the Doctors for sleeping pills and comes away with antidepressants and advice for her to see a Grief Councillor.

Along comes Shelley Lange sent by Tess’s mother, she is a Grief Counsellor
Quote ‘Should have seen her coming. Like a siren bright and blue, flashing in the night”

Shelley seems to come along at the right time, a saviour amongst all the grief and despair that Tess is feeling since losing her husband. The 2 women become friends and Tess starts to depend on her.

When Tess starts to get calls where no one speaks, she starts to feel like someone is out to get her and her son Jamie.

Very gripping that sweeps you along and before you know it you have finished the book. It is a sad story of love and loss mixed in with twists that will keep you gripped and guessing until the last page.

Narrated mostly by Jess with snippets by Ian (Marks brother) and Shelley the Grief Counsellor. Loved the countdown to Jamie’s birthday and the tension building as the eventful day approached!!

The Perfect Betrayal is a must read psychological thriller. I finished this book and sat for a while digesting the ending, not what I had predicted!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

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I just loved this and devoured it with gusto. It was alarming, heartbreaking and a truly tragic story. If this is her first book, I simply can't wait for more.

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I have shivers down my spine. This is a really good story. I was gripped the whole way through and only worked out the truth near the end of the book. This story is about loss and grief and trying to live your life after you have lost someone close to you.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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A really great read with an interesting twist, I really struggled to put this down and with the subject matter to it showed there's no right or wrong way to deal with things

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