Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my advance reading copy of The Secretary in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

I really enjoyed Renée Knight's first book Disclaimer, so I had high hopes for an intense thriller I couldn't put down. The Secretary is a book woven around the lives of the two main characters Mina and her secretary Christine. I found this book to be an interesting in depth character study which showed the deep intricacies and sometimes manipulations in relationships. However, for me this was not a thriller. While I did enjoyed the detailed examination of their relationship which developed I was waiting for something to happen each time I turned the page. And while this happened in the last 20% it was somewhat predictable. Not a bad read but sadly nothing close to her debut.

An easy to read thriller about a secretary and the elements of her life she gives up for her employer. This isn't ground breaking but is enjoyable and well worth reading!

Unfortunately, I was only able to read a couple of chapters before making the decision to stop reading. I found it too boring.

Christine is a difficult character to connect too. She is efficient in her work, in the way she takes care of Mina and in her private life too. It is difficult to understand her decisions, especially as the chemistry between Mina and Christine does not always justify them.
The story is switching between now and the past. In the now chapters it is clear something has happened and Christine is trying to get a grip on it. This did not really work for me. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the story would have been chronological building up to that point. The writing is done with a great speed though and it was difficult to put the book down. It just shows again never to trust those silent observing people in a room

The story is centred around a lady called Christine who starts working as a secretary for Mina who is running her family business with her father. As time goes on Mina’s father an honest and respected business man dies and Mina takes over as head of the business. This means in turn that she becomes more demanding on Christine's time and this takes its toll on her family life as she is working longer hours and weekends and has to attend to Mina's every call and at all her hours. Her job becomes her while life which has drastic consequences.
I did like this book, but I did feel that there was too much build up and unnecessary content at times. I feel that the book only really started going in the latter third of the book and ended quite abruptly and in a way had a bit of an unbelievable ending given how believable the rest of the book was, which is a shame. That said, you don’t see the ending coming so a good twist.

I was a huge fan of Renée Knight’s debut novel Disclaimer and so I had that inevitable mixture of excitement and conscious lowering of expectations as I approached this, the author’s second book. I didn’t need to have a moment of worry, I loved it.
This is a claustrophobic book which is mainly set within the mind of the titular secretary, Christina Butcher. Christina was employed by Mina Appleton as a secretary, almost on a whim, back in the day before personal assistants became de rigour, but essentially that is exactly what Christina was. She wasn’t just employed to help Mina with the family business, a supermarket, she was there to interview the nannies for her children, by the gifts for everyone and anyone, and be on call day and night to do Mina’s bidding.
You might imagine that Christina is a single woman free to devote her time and energy to her role for eighteen years but not so, as Christina tells us her story, we find that she was happily married with a young daughter.
This is exactly the type of psychological thriller I most enjoy, it isn’t a fast moving sweeping and swooping novel, instead it is a study of a relationship albeit one between two women in a business environment, just think given the nature of the work, how many dynamite pieces of information both personal and work-related that Christina has picked up over the years. We also get to see just what Christina has given, and sacrificed, in order to appease her whip-cracking boss.
Neither woman is particularly likeable, if you need to like at least one of the lead characters you probably won’t enjoy this book quite as much as I did. However, both came across as real, in fact, one of the aspects I particularly appreciated was how realistic this book felt. As I mentioned Mina is in the supermarket business and this strand of the storyline isn’t glossed over, we hear and witness some meetings with farmers, and we can easily compare the ethics with those we have read about with the national supermarkets. All interesting and giving every appearance as being researched and not just plonked into the book as a pet cause.
As the book develops there are several minor storylines featuring more sympathetic characters and these build towards what is an absolutely explosive ending. So although the book is what could be called a slow burn, for me it didn’t feel long enough – I was left knowing that we’d exhausted every avenue so I wasn’t left longing for me from that perspective, but having been so caught up within the storyline I was sad to say goodbye.
I’m sure the ending will divide readers, and for this reason alone I would definitely recommend The Secretary as a book club read, but I wasn’t disappointed by it as I enjoyed the sentiment and felt it was entirely in keeping with all that came before.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Random House UK for allowing me to read a copy of The Secretary before it is published today, 21 February 2019. This unbiased review is my thanks to them and to Renée Knight for a completely addictive read.

This was an enjoyable read, but was a bit slow for my liking and the extreme behaviour of both parties wasn't explained enough for me to really get invested in the story. I would read other titles by this author though, because I really enjoyed her writing style - just this one wasn't really for me.

I’ve waited a long time for this second novel having loved the first, and this didn’t disappoint! I really enjoyed it, a solid read with characters I didn’t like made it even more a satisfying read!

The Secretary, Ms Knight's second novel, is a tale of sacrifice, power, betrayal, obsession, loyalty, revenge and office politics with acute observations that set it apart from similar books. The writing is scalpel sharp, but this is slow burn suspense so anyone expecting fast-paced shenanigans might want to look elsewhere. With superb characterisation and a riveting plot, this is a great read. It's a cleverly written, entertaining and exciting tale which somewhat reflects the dog-eat-dog nature of Christine's environment. There is a slightly sinister undertone running for the duration of the story, and you never knew quite what was going to occur next.

Although the two main characters, Mina and Christine, are not particularly likeable individuals I felt their personalities worked well. They were constantly rubbing each other up the wrong way and the manipulation of Christine created sizzling suspense. That said, I do feel as though it could've benefited from being shorter in length which would have tightened it up a little, and some of the plot became far-fetched, but overall, this didn't detract from the captivating story. I look forward to picking up Knight's next novel and hope it will be just as interesting as this was.

Many thanks to Doubleday for an ARC.

Having really enjoyed Renée Knight’s first novel ‘Disclaimer’, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to review ‘The Secretary’. The story of a dedicated, extremely hard-working PA (or, as she would prefer, ’secretary’), Christine Butcher details the eighteen years that she has worked for Mina Appleton, CEO of Appleton’s supermarket. Told throughout in first person narrative, Christine isn’t so much a subtly unreliable narrator as an extremely biased one.
Over the years, Christine has put all family loyalties to one side in order to please her employer with the result that she cannot be by her father’s death bed, is divorced from her husband, and is shunned by her daughter for many years. It is only when Mina publicly completely lets her down that she becomes truly aware of the sacrifices she has made to please her boss. Because Christine is such a capable woman, it is not surprising that, once angered, the latter part of the novel focuses on her revenge which comes at a tremendous price.
Focusing on the ruthlessness of someone at the top of the business world, Renée Knight is clever in her choice of a female CEO. Mina has clearly been damaged by her upbringing, just as Christine has by childhood circumstances. The interplay between these two women is interesting. However, this in itself wasn’t enough to keep me fascinated throughout the story. It was pretty clear from the outset that the only way in which the novel would become more than an exploration of how power corrupts was for the narrative to include a revenge twist.
Because the story is told in Christine’s voice throughout, we can only conjecture about much of Mina’s past. Why is she so disparaging of her father? What of her first husband? Why has she had three children when she is so utterly unmaternal? Why is she so greedy? What makes her cruel? Perhaps had the author chosen a structure which had allowed her to focus more on the psychology of her ‘villain’, this would have been a more satisfying read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Oh, how I loved this. This is Zoe Heller meets Patricia Highsmith. The characterisation is sublime and the plot utterly compelling. I read it in two breathless sittings, horrified that I had to go out briefly in the middle. It grabbed me from the start. I revelled in the depictions of office politics and shameless scrambling over the corpses of others to get ahead. It all rang so deliciously true.

The story is age-old; Hell hath no fury like an underling scorned. But it is delivered in such a vivid and frequently pathos-fuelled way here that it felt new and surprising. There are far too many things I loved about it to list them all, but here are a few spoiler-free observations.

The writing is as crisp and satisfying as biting into a perfect Granny Smith. No fat whatsoever. The structure is clever, a narrative minefield, where elements of the narrative you might have thought of as there to merely to add colour or context suddenly explode into fresh problems or...thrilling possibilities. I loathe spoilers, but I promise you will love it when you realise what is happening behind those trees...Then stop to think for a minute about who put them there, and why, and then marvel about how you love it even more now.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Knight's first novel, Disclaimer and, as ever, picking up a second novel I couldn't help wondering, can she pull it off a second time. I am now ashamed to admit this thought even flickered in my mind. #TheSecretary is proof of a writer at the peak of her powers, using acute observational skills, a dry sense of humour, and sheer authorial cunning to go from strength to strength. I cannot wait to see what she does next. May there be many lovely pens and notebooks in her future.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me see an advance copy in exchange for a fair review.

From the very first chapter in this book I could feel the tension simmering away that something bad had happened but I just didn’t know what. That tension didn’t let up the whole way through the story. To say I was on the edge of my seat reading this book is a bit if an understatement!

Christine’s character could be anyone, she could be you, she could be a friend you know, at the beginning she is just a completely normal uninteresting individual. Which is why I think it was so riveting to read along and find out how her life took all these seemingly inconsequential turns that led her down the path she took.

There were times when I felt really sorry for Christine, and then there were times when I wanted to shake her and scream ‘why are you doing this?!’. She is definitely a character that evokes some emotions whilst reading.

Like all good psychological thrillers there is a twist at the end and it is not one I saw coming! I was rushing through the pages towards the end eager to find out how this story would finish. This is an intelligently plotted psychological thriller and one I would not hesitate to recommend.

I absolutely LOVED Renee Knight's debut novel Disclaimer which I read in August 2015 and eagerly (impatiently) awaited her second novel which FINALLY has arrived.  

The Secretary is a tense and gripping page-turner which I absolutely devoured in less than a day.  The main character Christine Butcher is a secretary/personal assistant to Mina Appleton, a TV personality and CEO of a national supermarket chain.  She's been a loyal and trusted employee for 18 years and narrates the story through her own slightly warped and often unreliable point of view.

Now, I was a secretary for over 12 years and believe me when I say that the line between being professional and appearing obsessive can get very blurred (let's not talk about the time I had to go shopping with my boss's heavily pregnant mistress to furnish her nursery and ensure his wife and children didn't find out!), so I was quiet empathetic towards Christine and understood why she was unwavering in going that extra mile for her boss.  

We know from the start of the book that something has happened and the entire story is filled with a sinister and tense undertone.  Christine's voice throughout the book appears to be calm and collected, but her actions are anything but.  The Secretary is, in my opinion, a fantastic psychological thriller with fascinating characters and an intelligent story line.  Highly recommended by me.

After reading this authors previous novel, Disclaimer, I was expecting a great read. Unfortunately, i was slightly disappointed. I didnt really care for any of the characters. Hoping her next novel will be as good as Disclaimer.

Absolutely brilliant. A dedicated PA will do anything for her boss, even if that means lying to herself and in court. A fabulous ending too.

I loved Renee Knight's first novel, Disclaimer and have been waiting for her second to be published since 2015. Was it worth the wait....yes it was.

The novel is told from Christine Butcher's perspective and moves from the present to the past with ease. Christine is hired by Mina Appleton, the daughter of Lord Appleton who founded Appleton Supermarkets. Lord Appleton is a principled man and has created a business which treats its' suppliers fairly. However, when Mina takes over things changed. Mina is a celebrity, a business woman and has friends in high places. As her 'number one' secretary, Christine puts her work life before her home life and sees the private Mina, and more importantly is involved in the secrets of the new Appletons.

This is a twisted thriller with a difference, it's intelligent, the characters are believable and the plot moves along with pace.

Having read Renée Knight's The Disclaimer I was anticipating another exceptional read. As a follow up, it was a riveting story. Siding on the secretary's side, I rooted for her not to be manipulated by her boss. However, as the book continued, I became frustrated and annoyed with Christine. Having two despicable main characters, made it at times, a difficult read. When justice seemingly to be done, I wondered how it was going to finish. I liked wrongs to be made right. In the end justice was done but not as I expected. I didn't feel satisfied,I felt thrawted. Overall, though, a captivating novel

The Secretary by Renee Knight was a bit of a slow burn, taking a while before much really happened. But when it did my goodness it really did. There is a lot of build up of the main characters which all comes into it in the second half of the book so it is worth sticking with it. I am still not entirely sure how I feel about the ending though... maybe it was too easy to end it that way?

Christine Butcher is a secretary working for Mina Appleton for 18 years. The 2 women are the complete opposite of each other. Christine is the quiet, constant, wanting to please Mina in anyway. But how far will she go to protect her boss? She works long hours, often at the expense of her personal life. Mina on the other hand is a manipulative, power and money hungry women who will stop at nothing for success. The story jumps from the present to the past in alternative chapters, telling the story of these 2 women.

Thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Doubleday for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Christine Butcher is a young woman, happily married with a young daughter when she is offered a job as Mina Appleton's secretary. Appletons is a very well known, highly regarded, ethical and moral chain of supermarkets that Mina's father, Lord Appleton has built up over many years. He knows all of the supermarket's suppliers personally and visits their farms regularly. His word is his bond and the reputation of Appletons is built on this respect and trust between supplier, supermarket and consumer.

Mina Appleton takes over the family business when her father "steps down". Christine is working very long hours, she is a pleaser and is anxious to make herself indispensable to Mina, catering to her every whim and need, sometimes anticipating needs and wants before they are even articulated. Mina, on the other hand, is incredibly ambitious, narcissistic, manipulative, and knows how to get what she wants from those around her. She turns the business around to make it more profitable, not caring whose toes she treads on, losing long highly regarded suppliers in the process, and turning herself into a media star.

At the start of the book, Christine is in a location only known to us as The Laurels, we don't know where or what type of location this is. She tells us the story in diary form, recapping events that happened during her 18 years of employment with Mina. In trying to make herself indispensable to Mina, Christine often pre-empts Mina's needs, taking tasks upon herself without being asked and eventually forgets herself and her own needs and her family's needs over that time. She is enthralled, over-awed and utterly captivated by Mina. She will do anything for Mina, paying more attention to Mina's children in boarding school than her own daughter Angelica, in an effort to keep in Mina's good books. Praise and acceptance from Mina is what keeps Christine going so when Mina asks Christine to do something for her, Christine, in her blind loyalty, doesn't think twice... with disastrous implications for them all.

I really enjoyed this character driven book. It is clear that Christine has grown up without a mother, her eagerness to please stemming from her own self-worth issues. She is a people pleaser and therefore allowing Mina to take advantage of her, She can't say no to Mina and can't stand the thought that Mina might be displeased with her. She is so captivated by and eager to please Mina that she looks on her not only as a friend but also as family. Mina, clearly manipulative, takes advantage of Christine to her own gain, reinforcing Christine's beliefs that they are more than colleagues and Christine depends on Mina's approval for validation. However, the clearly defined lines and boundaries between employer and employee are blurred driving Christine to, quite probably, an eventual breakdown. There is a good twist at the end of the book, which wasn't expected at all. My only criticism is that the book is overly long and could have been more exciting and dramatic had it been cut back a little, and for that reason I am giving The Secretary 4/5.

I was excited about this book as I've read this author's debut and enjoyed it, and I also worked as a secretary for a moment. It was captured well, but I didn't enjoy the voice much on this one. Still, a good story, quick read, good twist.