The Perfect Son by Lauren North is a stunning debut that will stay with you long after the final page has been turned. This one ticks all of the boxes for me as a compelling, suspenseful, and twisty psychological thriller.

Tess Clarke is grieving the sudden death of her husband, the result of a plane crash. It is only concern for the welfare of her young son, Jamie, that keeps Tess motivated enough to even get out of bed in the mornings, so crippling is her grief. As she struggles to keep her life with young Jamie afloat, Tess meets Shelley, a grief counsellor who is mourning the loss of her own young son. Shelley provides a sounding board for Tess, and the two quickly bond over their shared grief. Adding to the stress of Tess's circumstances, her brother-in-law, Ian, appears, demanding repayment of a loan that Tess knows nothing about. As the difficult days that follow are marked by a series of unsettling events, Tess begins to wonder whom, if anyone, she can trust, knowing only that her first priority must be to protect her precious son.

This is a read that had me completely gripped from beginning to end. The suspenseful unease settles in early, and only intensifies as the story progresses. I cannot wait to see what the talented Lauren North has in store for us next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this fabulous ARC.

3.5 stars. The Perfect Son is a good psychological thriller and a very satisfying debut from Lauren North. The novel’s main character, Tess, is a young woman with an eight-year-old son Jamie whose husband has been killed in a plane crash. As the novel begins, Tess wakes up in the hospital with a stab wound in her abdomen and an apparently missing son.

North then backtracks in time to tell Tess’ story from when her husband is killed to the present, a story which focuses on the Tess’ grief and her attempts to deal with it and to get her life back in order. Tess’ character is very well developed, and the reader can truly feel her pain as she goes through bouts of being totally unconsolable and significantly paranoid and she appears to be pretty unhinged most of the time. She does not know who to trust, and she particularly questions the motives of Ian, her brother-in-law, and Shelly, her grief counselor and new best friend.

North successfully builds suspense around Tess’ relationships with Ian and Shelley, as well as with her son, as Tess struggles to cope with the reality surrounding her as a newly widowed mother. Although the plot was a bit slow-going for me, especially at the beginning, there were enough twists and turns to make this a decent page turner. And, even though I was somewhat disappointed in the ending because if found it a bit too formulaic, I can see where other readers might think that the ending really makes this novel. I do look forward to reading more from Lauren North!

2.5 starsT

his is my favorite genre to read, but I've been underwhelmed with some I've read lately. This one was very slow to get into, the suspense angle wasn't as strong as I'd hoped, and I figured out most of the twists. Tess was a bit hard to connect with, and she seemed a bit clueless. Nothing really memorable about it. Just average overall.

First off let me give a big thanks to @penguinrandomhouseca, @berkleypublishing & @lauren_c_north for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
•
This was a good thriller, fast paced, draws you in from beginning to end and keeps you flipping the pages to figure out what is happening, which is what I love in a book. The story is in the present and then goes back to when her husband passed away and counting down the days until her son's eight birthday, where she gets stabbed and her son goes Jamie goes missing. I didn't enjoy the parts when she is in counselling, felt some information was missing and it always came down to the same thing.
•
Tess is a very damaged woman, but throughout the book you get so attached to her, you feel her pain, her loss, her loneliness. The relationship with her son is sometimes so aggravating and enraging, how can she be so distant ? The suspense throughout the book is well done, keeps you reading !
•
I loved Lauren's writing, engaging, fast paced and keeps you wanting more. I loved how Tess was speaking to her husband Mark through us, she makes you feel like he is actually there. The whole story was great and to me I was not expecting that ending !
Like

Most domestic thrillers deal with one of two common plots – a child is missing, or a husband has died and his widow learns he was not the man she thought he was. Debut author Lauren North has combined these elements in The Perfect Son, which releases August 13th. While shaky at times, the book is a solid mesh of these story lines. Read the complete review by clicking on the link below.

Waking up in the hospital after her son's eighth birthday, Tess is confused and doesn't understand what is going on. She's been stabbed, her son is missing, and no one appears to be listening to her. Tess has been at a loss since the death of her husband and struggles to keep things together for her son. Why does everyone in her life, seem to be against her? Why does it as if she can't trust anyone?

The perfect son was a book on the slower side for me - at least the beginning was. The blurb talks about psychological suspense and I guess I did want this to be a bit more suspenseful (and to move just a little bit faster). I feel this was a book that kept building but at a much slower pace, but then that ending. Whew! The ending was the payoff. I have to say, I did not figure that one out. It was a shock. I just wished the book had that punch the entire way through. This one didn't wow me as I had hoped until the ending. It’s a slower burn with a surprise/shocking ending.

I think a reader needs to be in the mood for a slow burn. It's obvious that something isn't quite right, but what? Is Tess being paranoid? Are people really plotting against her? Is her grief affecting her perceptions? She has suffered a tragic loss; her son is her reason for living. So, who stabbed her? Where is her son? Why is no one helping her?

Enjoyable book that had me wanting more for most of the book, then *BAM* that ending. Sigh, it was powerful, and I wish the entire book would have felt this way for me. I will be reading more of North in the future as she shows a lot of promise with this debut novel.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lauren North has crafted a clever and compelling psychological thriller. This was an absorbing story packed with tension, suspicion, and heartbreak. Tess has recently lost her husband Mark and now believes that her beloved son has been taken. Tess’s grief and frustration were palpable, drawing you further in as you turn the pages. The book starts off with Tess in the hospital having been stabbed and desperate to know what they are doing to try to find her son Jamie. The book then tells the story of the events leading up to the day of Jamie‘s birthday starting on the day of the fatal accident that killed Mark. Also peppered throughout the book were police interviews with Tess’s brother-in-law Ian and her grief counselor Shelley. I was suspicious of and second guessing everything and everyone. Why was Shelly a virtual stranger such a rock for Tesse? Surely nobody is that kind and supportive to someone they don’t even know. And then there was Ian... he was a little too concerned about life insurance money. I had oh so many theories and all of them wrong! This book left me with my jaw on the floor and a million thoughts running around in my head. An excellent debut that I would absolutely recommend.

*** many thanks to Berkley for my copy of this book ***

Stevie‘s review of The Perfect Son by Lauren North
Women’s Psychological Fiction published by Berkley 13 Aug 19

Along with unreliable narrators, I’m very partial to mysteries in which it’s impossible for all concerned to be telling the truth, and where the reader has to work out out who is either deliberately lying or is giving a version of events that seems true to them yet conflicts with how others involved have interpreted the same scenario. Such is the case in this debut novel, previously released in the UK with a slightly different title and with a different name for the principal narrator. If our protagonist’s narrative is true, then at least one of the secondary narratives is a lie, but which one? And what really happened in the weeks leading up to the point at which we are first introduced to the characters?


Recently widowed and still grieving intensely, Tess Clarke wakes up in hospital to find she has barely survived being stabbed. Initially she remembers very little of the events that took place on her son’s birthday. She knows he went missing immediately after she sustained her injury; however, none of the people around her appear to be doing much to look for him. Tess is certain that her son has been kidnapped, possibly by either her brother-in-law or the grief counsellor with whom she spent so much time in the weeks leading up to the incident. By trying to piece together, in order, the days between her husband’s death and the day she was stabbed, Tess hopes that she will be able to figure out what happened to her and to her son, who was responsible, and who else has been lying to her.

Tess is working in the garden, when the police arrive to tell her of her husband’s death in a plane crash. Mark had been on his way to a business conference when he, along with all the other passengers and the crew, were killed as a result of the pilot’s suicide. Horrified at what has happened, Tess is comforted by the presence of their seven-year-old son, Jamie, and tries to carry on with their life as normally as possible: taking him to school every day and trying to ensure that they have regular meals even when she doesn’t feel hungry. Simultaneously, she resists taking the antidepressants her doctor has prescribed for her and avoids the attempts of her family to reach out and help her.

As Tess is struggling to cope, she receives a visit from a grief counsellor, Shelley, who herself suffered the loss of her son some years before. As Shelley becomes part of Tess’ – and Jamie’s life – it seems to Tess that Jamie may prefer Shelley to his mother. Shelley, after all, seems at peace with her loss and has interests outside of her home and work. Meanwhile, Mark’s brother, Ian, is keen to talk to Tess about both the provisions made for them all in Mark’s will, of which Tess is the executor, and about a large sum of money he claims he lent Mark shortly before the accident.

Told mostly from Tess’ point of view – covering the week’s between the accident and Jamie’s eighth birthday, but also in the form of interview transcripts between Tess and the man questioning her about the day she was stabbed, along with statements from Ian and Shelley – a picture is built up for readers of how Tess saw the events. It’s obvious that something isn’t right, but I was mislead right up to the Big Reveal, when it became obvious who had been lying in their narrative – and why.

This was a wonderful twisty book that I really need to reread in order to spot all the clues that were placed there for readers and see if I could have spotted the realities of Tess’ life earlier. I’d be intrigued to see what happens to her after this; however, I feel that a completely separate book from the author would be a far more interesting next step.

Grade: A

The Perfect Son by Lauren North is a psychological thriller, my favorite genre, about a young woman whose husband was killed in an airplane crash. She lives alone with her son, and her grieving consumes her making her life unbearable. She feels that she is a bad mom because of it. She and her husband had moved to a remote town in a tranquil English town, her husband's deceased mom's home, it is isolated which does not help her to overcome her grief.

She wakes up in the hospital with a stab wound in her stomach and her son missing.
She has a grief counselor, Shelley who Tess befriends, who is there in the hospital with her. While in the hospital, Tess tries to piece together the events that led her to the hospital.

The story starts 1 day after Jamie's birthday. Jamie is Tess's son and we learn that Tess is in the hospital. Then we go to 55 days before Jamie's birthday. The book goes on in this vein, counting down the days before the fateful day that changes Tess's world. I found this way of telling the story interesting. I enjoyed the author's style and found the story suspenseful and sad at the same time. Sad because I could not imagine what Tess was going though, suspenseful because I kept turning the pages, finished the book in two sittings. To me, if an author can keep me in suspense and be surprised by the ending, then this is a good author! I really enjoyed the book! Keep writing Lauren!

Tess Clarke’s life fell apart when her husband tragically died in an accident. She is left with a young son to raise on her own. After her son’s eighth birthday, Tess is stabbed and her son is missing. She’s desperate to find her son and fears those closest to her could be involved in his disappearance.

The police aren’t paying attention to her claims. Tess doesn’t know what to do or who to trust. Her fear mounts as she isn’t getting any answers about her son.

I must admit, I did start to figure out a few things early on but I didn’t have the details all worked out until I read through to the end of the book. There were so many different possibilities and different ways this story could have gone.

Tess is a sympathetic character. My heart went out to her. The supporting characters were all well developed and realistic. The situation simply tragic. It’s an emotional read. For me, I couldn’t wait to find out what was going on, but when it ended, I was sad it was over. It’s one of those books I couldn’t stop thinking about even when I wasn’t reading.

Lauren North did a great job of keeping me riveted and guessing to the last page. She’s going on my list of “authors to look for”. Great job!

Please for the love of all things books - no more paranoid/unreliable women!!!! In all honesty, having our protagonist portrayed as insanely paranoid and suspicious following her husband’s death made this book really hard to enjoy. Give me strong, fierce heroines any day but please no more of this! The stories are feeling stale and repetitive. However, the ending was surprising and not at all what I saw coming which is the reason I’m rounding up my 2.5. I’m intentionally keeping this short as there are many glowing reviews you can read of this one that are worth your time - but sadly, this one just didn’t work for me.

A clever psychological, suspense thriller.

This is the author's debut and it reminds me of the writing of B.A.Paris or Louise Candlish a bit. It even reminded me a little of one book in particular. I mostly enjoy their books as well.

The way it starts with Tess Clarke in the hospital (with a fuzzy memory) was very intriguing to me. My curiosity had the best of me and I had to know who stabbed her and where her eight year old son was. She was very concerned about his whereabouts and the police were waiting to interview her.

Really enjoyed the structure of inserting the police interviews and the chapters that described before her accident. The chapters were labeled as a countdown to her son, Jamie's eighth birthday. There is some tension, some suspense and an emotional aspect that was thought provoking.

The ending was unpredictable.

I was guessing and had different theories throughout which would make this a great group read.

Looking forward to the author's next book.

In her debut novel, The Perfect Son, author Lauren North examines the devastatingly destructive impact of sudden, profound loss with stunning effect.

Tess Clarke is happily married to Mark and they are raising their seven-year-old son, Jamie. When Mark is killed in an airplane crash, Tess's world is shattered, but she is trying to carry on for Jamie's sake. Her first-person narrative -- an ongoing internal dialogue with Mark -- commences 55 days prior to Jamie's eighth birthday. She and Mark bought out his brother Ian's interest in their childhood home, and Tess has opted to remain there. Aside from walking Jamie to and from the school in the nearby village, she rarely gets dressed or leaves the house. Sleep evades her, unopened mail is piling up, and she is reluctant to take the antidepressant medication prescribed by her physician. Tess cuts off communications with her old friends, mother and beloved brother. She has failed to respond to her attorney's urging that she begin the painful process of carrying out the terms of Mark's will. Concerned for Tess's well-being, her mother arranges for a local grief counselor, Shelley, to pay Tess a visit and provide support.

Shelly became a grief counselor after losing her four-year-old son to leukemia. He would be just about Jamie's age now. Realizing that they have much in common, Tess accepts Shelley's assistance and friendship, agrees to being taking the antidepressant, and is delighted by the changes she observes in Jamie as a result of Shelley's presence in their lives. However, as Jamie's eighth birthday approaches, Tess becomes increasingly paranoid and frightened. Tess and Ian never had a close relationship. When he appears, claiming that Mark borrowed money from him and demanding that Tess repay the loan -- about which Tess had no knowledge -- she becomes convinced that Ian has a nefarious motive. She believes he wants to collect the proceeds of Mark's life insurance and has been inside her home while she was away, rifling through Mark's office in search of information. Tess also becomes convinced that she is being followed by a mysterious man, and that she is receiving ominous, threatening telephone calls demanding that she return something Mark took from the stranger, although she has no idea what he seeks.

North alternates the chapters detailing Tess's daily activities and thoughts with transcripts from an interview with her in the hospital by an individual Tess believes to be a detective, as well as excerpts from declarations executed by Ian and Shelley.

The Perfect Son is unpredictable and engrossing. Tess is a compellingly tragic character. Her distress is palpable, understandable, and heartbreaking. She is also incredibly angry about Mark's death which North reveals to have been senseless and a result of a series of unfortunate occurrences. As the story advances, North keeps readers guessing about what is motivating Ian and Shelley, and the nature and history of their relationship, as well as whether Tess is a reliable narrator. North's pacing is spot-on and unrelenting, as she inserts clues about the impending momentous event that will take place on Jamie's birthday. When the truth is fully revealed, it is shocking,emotionally wrenching, and demonstrates how skillfully North constructed and executed Tess's harrowing story.

The Perfect Son is an impressive and promising debut thriller that proves Lauren North can hold her own among other female authors penning psychological thrillers, and leaves readers clamoring for more of her work.

Full disclosure, I wanted to read this book because I loved the cover. It was eye catching and coupled with the title suggested and interesting and complex mystery that I was instantly dying to read.

This book is also the author’s debut and I was even more excited to read it since her author bio sounded so relatable! Here’s the CliffNotes version—Lauren’s love of psychological suspense has grown since childhood and her dark imagination of always wondering what’s the worst thing that could happen in every situation—I felt like I found my person!

Like many kids I had a huge imagination but unlike other kids who were dreaming of unicorns and rainbows, I was fascinated by the worst case scenario. For instance, I wondered what would happen in a car crash and I also watched the weather channel like it was the most intense thriller known to man (I loved natural disasters) and I was constantly questioning what would happen is a volcano erupted and how bad it would actually be. Needless to say I have never out grown that imaginative phase. So when I read her author bio I was like—F(*@ YES I need this book!

Summary

A disturbing and shocking debut novel of psychological suspense about a recently widowed mother, her young son, and the lengths she’ll go to in order to keep him safe.

When Tess Clarke wakes up in the hospital the day after her son Jamie’s eighth birthday, she’s sure of these things: She’s been stabbed, her son is missing, her brother-in-law and her grief counselor are involved. But no one is listening to her.

After her husband, Mark, died suddenly in a terrible accident a few months earlier, the only thing keeping Tess together is Jamie. As they struggle to make sense of their new life without Mark, they find joy in brief moments of normalcy like walking to school and watching television together. Life is hard without Mark, but Tess has Jamie, and that’s what matters.

But there in the hospital, confused and surrounded by people who won’t listen, Tess’s world falls apart. To save her son, she must piece together what happened between Mark’s death and Jamie’s birthday, but the truth might just be too much for her to bear (summary from Goodreads)

Review

This is one of the better thrillers I’ve read in a long time. I was instantly enthralled in the book and was able to read it in a couple of long sittings. As I have a 3 year old boy myself, it was instantly terrifying. I can’t imagine waking up in a hospital bed and having no idea what happened to my kid. It sounded so chilling and as the story unfolded I was beyond captivated just based on the beginning of the book alone.

I don’t know if this book really fit in the thriller category, since it seemed more mystery to me but I ended up classifying it as a thriller because it was fast paced with intelligent and well drawn characters and I felt like even if it was more mystery, I picked thriller because it read so fast. Plus there was a distinct psychological aspect to the overall novel that put it in more of the thriller category.

Tess and Jamie were fully realized and lovable characters. I loved how much the author put into their story and development and found it difficult to NOT fall in love with them. Some of the flashbacks that Tess had where she was being interviewed were a little confusing and just ok for me, but in the end it wasn’t overly distracting to make me dislike the book, story, or characters.

This was an impressive debut and readers will surely love the twists and turns in this story. I can’t wait to see what Lauren North comes up with next. This one held my interest and kept me guessing and I couldn’t get enough. The afternoon that I finished it, I was supposed to go workout but I bailed on my workout because I was way too wrapped up in this one. Well done indeed!

Wow what a suspenseful page-turner . Each chapter was short and kind of slow paced. Had a couple sleepless nights while enjoying the ride this story took me on. The way the characters come to life in each chapter kept me engrossed and waiting for the next plot twists, There was alot of plot twists that left you saying omg i didn't see that coming.I was hooked on the story from the beginning and it kept my attention until the very last page. I found the characters to be interesting and well drawn.Suspense was built up nicely and the end was a surprise. Many parts of this book caught me by suprise and trust me that does not happen often often. I had to go back and read the last couple of chapters a second time just to wrap my head around what I had just read lol .Each scene was described so well that it was as if I was picked up and transported to right there . I Really enjoyed this book . This was my first read by this author, but will not be the last. You can also read this review and all my other reviews on my fb page at Joyce Stewart Book Reviews , my fb Group Stewart Book Reviews Book Club , Good Reads at Joyce Stewart Reviews and instagram at Stewarts_bookreviews.

We meet Tess in the hospital after she had an accident at her son's birthday party and after coping with the death of her husband a few weeks ago.

Something is going on since her husband’s death, and Tess doesn’t know what it is. All she knows is that she is happy she has her son.

Her brother-in-law, Ian, says Tess needs to pay back the 100,000 her husband lent him, flowers are left on her doorstep with no note, her son is being very difficult, and an appointment with a social worker that Tess doesn’t remember making do not add up and make things worse for Tess.

We learn of all these things in between the time we meet Tess in the hospital and the flash backs to the days before her son’s eighth birthday party where Tess was stabbed.

There was a lot going on as Tess grieved for Mark, and what was going on wasn’t good. She thought she saw Mark in the grocery store, heard people in her driveway at night, had a social worker stopping by and looking through her mail, had questions about what Ian told her, had hang-up phone calls at all hours, and other odd happenings.

You can feel there is something going on and plenty of hints that seem to go in the wrong direction not allowing you to be able to figure out what is really happening.

If you enjoy the feeling of something not quite right growing underneath it all, THE PERFECT SON shouldn’t be missed.

If biting your finger nails keeps you reading because of the choices a character makes and doesn’t make and other characters that don't really have another character's best interest in mind, THE PERFECT SON should be your next read.

THE PERFECT SON will lead you down the wrong path as you read, but a terrific book and a surprise ending await you. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#BlogTour
A number of life events can leave people feeling sad and discouraged. The death of a loved one is probably the purest cause of depression imaginable. The main character, Tess, experiences the loss of her husband in an unexpected plane crash which causes her to spiral out of control.

I felt real exhaustion after reading THE PERFECT SON. It was such an emotionally charged book. I was totally spent afterwards. Reading about death, plane crashes, suicides, and untrustworthy friends and family can have such a negative effect on a person’s subconscious. I was so happy to reach the end. I consider this book a true psychological thriller. The author, Lauren North, walks the reader through the emotional turmoil and grief first hand. I’m a mother and it caused me to grieve as if I knew these characters personally.

North also dives into an interesting relationship between 2 of the leading females characters in the book. I felt the friendship dynamic between Tess and her “grief counselor” Shelley to be cringe worthy. I almost hated Shelley up until the very end of the novel. I was so taken aback with her cheery behavior throughout the book and the way she kept inserting her own tragedy onto Tess. She clearly wasn’t healed enough from her own trauma to counsel anyone.

The only thing I wish was changed about this book was how long it took to actually get to the meat of what was happening. I kept reading the same concept chapter after chapter. Each chapter, Tess would cook, visit the school, and see Shelley. It started to annoy me. But, in reality that’s how grief can actually present itself so maybe I’m just being too critical.

Thank you @berkley for providing me a finish copy to review on my leg of the blog tour! THE PERFECT SON is in stores TODAY!

The Perfect Son was a slow building debut thriller by Lauren North.

I was captivated by the the initial storyline of Tess trying to get out of her grief from her recent husband's death. Tess soon gets on this train of paranoia questioning everyone and everything about what they want from Tess. This was a tad annoying to me and I don't do well with the endless paranoia and questioning throughout the story. This was a tad overload for me and ended up skimming to get to the final portion of the book.

I felt like Lauren's writing was wonderful but the story just fell extremely flat for me. I was wishing for less of paranoia questioning and more shock/twists and juice!!

Overall, it just didn't live up to my thriller expectations.

3 stars for The Perfect Son

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 8/13/19
Published to GR: 8/11/19

Tess wakes up in a hospital room after being stabbed at her son’s birthday party. Tess is in a frantic state, demanding for her missing son, Jamie to be found.

Several months earlier, Tess’s husband, Mark, died in a plane crash, leaving Tess to parent their 7-year old son, Jamie, alone. Tess is suffering from extreme grief after losing the love of her life, and doesn’t know how to move forward.

Tess’s mom contacts a grief counselor named Shelley who starts paying regular visits to Tess’s house. The two women strike up a friendship as they bond over their shared grief since Shelley herself experienced a devastating loss years earlier. But the more time Tess spends with Shelley, the more she feels Shelley doesn’t have the purest of intentions.

And Tess’s brother-in-law, Ian, keeps visiting their home, demanding a loan be repaid to him. But Tess has no idea what he’s talking about. When things start going missing in her home, she worries Ian is letting himself in and snooping around her and Jamie’s life.

When Tess starts receiving threatening anonymous calls, that’s the final straw for this grieving widow. Now she’s stabbed in a hospital room, desperately wondering where her missing son is. And Tess won’t be able to rest easy, not until Jamie comes back to her.

The Perfect Son by Lauren North is a stand-alone mystery told in alternating chapters—the present via interviews and the months leading up to Jamie’s birthday party. I love mysteries with dual timelines because we somewhat know the outcome and I want to put the pieces together of how we got there. Grief-stricken Tess is quite the unreliable narrator and her life is spiraling out of control right before her eyes. I didn’t guess the big plot twist at the end and I’m glad I didn’t because it made me enjoy the story even more. 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Books and Lauren North for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A good story that doesn’t try to go over the top to throw a twist at you....sometimes the newest thriller seem to try and one up each other with shock value. The Good Son is a well written mystery, that will keep you on your toes.