Is it possible to build a perfect wife? When his wife disappears that is what he sets out to do. But what happens when his perfect wife begins to put together pieces of her past and how to hide what she is thinking? Can a robot remember? Think? Be perfect?

Intriguing, thought-provoking novel involving artificial intelligence and robotics (but not so technical as to be difficult for the reader to understand). A very engaging story of a mother, Abbie, married to tech CEO Scott, and their 10-year old autistic son, Danny. Abbie wakes in a hospital and is told she is married to Tim, is an artist, and is a mother to Danny. But wait - she's not human - she's a cobot, a companion robot built in Abbie's image and with Abbie's memories and history uploaded. Abbie had met with a tragic accident five years earlier.

At the end I went back to re-read the last couple of chapters to make sure I understood what actually took place in the end because I wasn't sure at first. I think I know now, but still have a few questions - I think we are supposed to be left with questions here.

I was totally engaged throughout the book and found the author's strong understanding of autism and his ability to convey the difficulties faced by the child and the parents in a sensitive manner admirable (I found at the end in the Acknowledgements that Delaney's son is autistic). The author also delves into the moral issues of the life of an artificially intelligent being and its humanity.

Thanks to J.P. Delaney and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through Netgalley for an advance copy.

This story is uniquely different from anything I’ve read before. A mind bending story that kept me engrossed and turning the pages to solve the mystery of what happened to Abbie Cullen-Scott.

This was very unusual...and I mean that in a positive way. I wasn’t expecting the almost Sci-fi angle of this. Honestly though, given the strides we’ve made in AI it really makes me wonder if something like this could happen down the road sometime.

Publisher’s description: Abbie awakens in a daze with no memory of who she is or how she landed in this unsettling condition. The man by her side claims to be her husband. He’s a titan of the tech world, the founder of one of Silicon Valley’s most innovative start-ups. He tells Abbie that she is a gifted artist, an avid surfer, a loving mother to their young son, and the perfect wife. He says she had a terrible accident five years ago and that, through a huge technological breakthrough, she has been brought back from the abyss.

She is a miracle of science.

But as Abbie pieces together memories of her marriage, she begins questioning her husband’s motives—and his version of events. Can she trust him when he says he wants them to be together forever? And what really happened to Abbie half a decade ago?

Beware the man who calls you . . .

THE PERFECT WIFE

**********

I KNEW IT!! OK, I totally didn’t know it!

If you are at all fascinated by artificial intelligence and the possibility of empathetic robots, this is an excellent read. If you get caught up it psychological thrillers, this is a great book for you.

JP Delaney’s “The Perfect Wife” grabbed me from the first chapter. Not giving anything away since we discover that something happened to Abbie in the very first chapter, the story is told from two different perspectives. An unknown (until the end) narrator tells the story of Abbie, the artist, and how she came to work for Scott Robotics, fall in love with and marry its founder Tim, and then tragically vanish. In opposing chapters, we follow Abbie the “cobot” (companion robot) as she learns about Abbie’s life and tries to become Abbie.

About 40% of the way through, I was certain I had it figured out. I was even making bets with my daughter and her friends on different theories. About 65% of the way through, I was thrilled that I was right and just wanted to see how everything played out.

In the end, I was so very wrong! I have been a fan of JP Delaney since reading “Believe Me,” and I will continue to be a fan if he keeps them coming like this.

What a fantastic read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine Books for a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This title will be available August 6.

This book really held my attention which surprised me because it had a bit of a science fiction element which is not my genre. It made me think about grief and could we be replaced in our loved one’s lives by a robot with our same memories complete with emotions. This book was suspenseful, and I didn’t see the ending coming. It was very enlightening to read the author acknowledgements which I appreciated. Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to preview this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The Perfect wife will be released on 8/6/19.

I have never read anything like this book. The world of AI and how it will impact the future is totally fascinating, and this book left me asking lots of ethical questions about AI's place in the world. The plot was fascinating and absolutely crazy! Loved it!!

I really struggle with this review. I could not put this book down for two days. It made me curious and held my interest and was suspenseful. However, I really had to suspend disbelief in a lot of circumstances. I am glad that they tell you she is a "cobot" from the beginning but that leads to the feeling of, "oh, wait, am I supposed to be cheering for the robot in this one?" She was so lifelike that there is where you forget and let the story take it where it is going. Around 60% in (chapter 49), it felt like you understood everyone's intent. The ending disappointed me. It felt like it changed everyone's intent and I was really confused by some of the "subjects". it was very hard to tell who was talking/thinking and ultimately what actions were taken. I had to re-read the final chapters a couple different times and I think I understand what happened. It still made me question who was engaged at the end and why she ended up where she did.

Notes:
- I really don't understand how she could fill in the "gaps" in her memory. Unless Tim had access to those memories and was able to upload them, how would they have been available?
- If I was made into a robot and couldn't do all the things I loved (eat, drink, surf), it wouldn't be much of an existence to me.
- The personal notes on the son were heartbreaking.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Abbie, wife of an AI tech genius and mother to an autistic son, tragically dies in a surfing accident. Five years later, she awakens, groggy and disoriented, to find that her husband Tim has placed her memories in a "cobot" or companion robot made to look just like his late wife. As she tries to fit in to her new life and become more human, strange memories keep surfacing, making her question what really happened to the "real" Abby.
This book is a mix of sci-fi, family drama, and psychological thriller that just works. I could feel all the emotions that the robot feels, especially the love for "her" son. I look forward to more books by JP Delaney in the future.

love this author. Have read whatever she has published. It kept my interest. I can't wait until she does another book. Great job

This book was interesting.... I love a good psychological thriller, however I am not a big fan of sci-fi. That being said, I liked this book - I can’t say it has been one of my favorites this year, but I did enjoy it. There were enough twists and turns in this book to keep me reading. I am interested in reading more of JP Delaney’s books! Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine books for an arc of this title!

I enjoyed this fictional book, based on quite a few things in the real world. It seemed a lot like the TV series Humans at times. Human's synthesized/robotics. The author''s knowedge of autism was worked in well in the storyline.

Abbie wakes up groggily with a sense of having been in an accident. She is grateful to have survived along with her husband, Tim and son Danny. Then her husband tells her she is not quite the person she was, she was created with her memories. Then he proceeds to tear her face off and show her the plastic skull underneath and the wires at the back of her skull. Then he puts her face back. I gasped, but kept reading! The ‘Perfect’ Wife was a disturbing concept especially since technology is working with robots. I guarantee you will enjoy this one!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Perfect Wife was unlike any book I have read. It is a psychological thriller, a sci-fi story with themes of AI, a crazy love story and a saga of a family struggling with autism, all rolled into one. There are a lot of twists and turns and just when you think you have figured out the ending, everything changes.
I learned a lot about Autism and the use of Applied Behavior Analysis techniques that I was unaware of. The book left me pondering what “humaneness” means. J.P. Delaney sums it up brilliantly in the book when the cobot Abbie says : “Perhaps the real test of someone's humanity is whether one blindly try to fix someone unlike them self and make them more like everyone else, or whether one can accept their differences and adapt the world to it.” The novel is a great original story with a lot of suspense and emotional upheavals. The unexpected ending was both bittersweet and foreboding.

This book is advertised as a psychological thriller -- and it is. But future readers should also know that it's just as much a science fiction tale as it is a thriller. So, if you're not a sci fi fan, this may not be the right book for you.

It's about a woman who wakes up and discovers that she's a robot, not a human. How did she end up that way? Is her beloved husband, a tech guru in Silicon Valley, truly in love with her or did he create her for more nefarious purposes?

The story is engaging, and there are plenty of plot twists (and point-of-view changes) that kept me interested and turning the pages. But it's more than a psychological thriller -- it's science fiction, and it's not billed as such.

The Perfect Wife is a psychological thriller that keeps you guessing at what is going to happen next, and holding your breath wanting to see a good outcome. J P Delaney did an excellent job of keeping the reader glued to the pages. I was given an early copy to review.

Abbie awakens with no idea of the events that happened during the past five years. During her search to learn who she is she is told that she had the perfect life. She was also a creative celebrated artist and perfect wife and mother. Now if she can only get it back...

This psychological thriller grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go (in fact, I stayed up too late binge reading this one since I couldn't wait to find out how it ends!) But more than a thrilling story, it also runs deeper, and makes you question what it means to be perfect. And what it means to be a mother and wife. And what it means to be human.

The perfect wife is a sentient robot who interacts much the same as the individual she represents. Much of the book is from the mind of this robot. Other information is from another mind, but just who is not revealed until near the end. The writing style is simple and straightforward, and the characters are defined in detail and appear very realistic. Suspense grows throughout the story, with several surprises along the way. The family for the robot includes a son with severe autism, which is the trigger for much of the conflict between husband and wife. The robot is using an advanced form of Artificial Intelligence to provide very humanlike thoughts and actions. This is a good story and is very thought-provoking.

Last summer, I devoured Delaney's second novel in one sitting - and I would have done the same here had life not intervened! At first, the perspective threw me off a bit... most of the book is told in second person-singular ("you") and the other parts are in first-person plural ("we"). But, I quickly got used to it once I became absorbed into the story. The premise, on its surface, is similar to so many in this suspense/thriller genre - the titular perfect wife has gone missing. But, this book's fresh spin on that sets this opening five years later, with the cobot (for "companion robot") Abbie "waking" up and discovering that she has been created to help with the grief of Tim, the husband. As cobot Abbie learns about human Abbie's past, she begins to uncover secrets and maybe even flashes of real memories that may help uncover the truth.

The "we" portion of the novel provides additional background, coming from a sort of collective opinion of the employees of Scott Robotics, Tim's company and the creators of the cobots. This does lend the book a certain science fiction flair, but I wouldn't really categorize it as that... the book is very flawlessly written and is not only engaging from the get-go, but also quite unique. Plus, the ominous tone really keeps the reader on edge. On top of all the family dynamics, Abbie and Tim's son, Danny, is autistic (and his character especially shines as realistic). The book is creepy, exciting and the plot definitely holds some real shocks! Plus, the whole book just sort of oozes a cinematic quality that makes it all so easy to visualize. And it's a satisfying read in the end - I loved how inventive this book is as well being quite the suspenseful thriller. I am really excited to see what Delaney will write next!

4.5 stars
What doesn’t come across from the book’s blurb is that this is sci-fi. Abbie awakes from what she thinks has been an accident. Her husband and child are alive, so no worries, until her husband says that she’s actually a cobot, a “companion robot” -that she actually died and what she thinks of as HER memories have been uploaded into her.

Now Abbie maybe a robot, but she’s one with empathy. It was hard to remember that she wasn’t human. And the book contains the best definition of what it means to be the parent of an autistic child I’ve ever read. (The reason why is explained in the Acknowledgments.)

I always find it unusual when a story is told in the second person. But Abbie’s portions are. The historic sections are told in first person but we aren’t told who the narrator is. It’s a very disconcerting approach but it works really well.

The book is an interesting mix between sci-fi and domestic thriller. It raises some fascinating moral questions and will have you thinking about what makes someone human. Abbie is even asked at one point if she thinks she has a soul. As someone who hates that pets are treated as property, I really got into the legal aspects as well.

This book took me places I didn’t expect. It’s one I highly recommend, even for those that think they don’t like sci-fi. My only criticism is that Tim is more caricature than real person. I had trouble buying his simplistic view of women which read like a Freud 101 case.

My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.