**5 stars**

If you have read my blog or Instagram feed, you'll know I am a huge JP Delaney fan. His books hook you from the very first page right until the very last!

His latest book, The Perfect Wife, is no exception. If you like cleverly written character driven thrillers with jaw-dropping twists, Delaney is a must read.

The Perfect Wife takes place in the competitive, misogynistic environment of Silicon Valley, a place where tech giants will go to astounding (and unethical) lengths to ensure they make the most money and have the most power. The book explores how far Tim, a tech CEO and billionaire, will go to pursue perfection in his life and in his soulmate.

Tim founds an innovative AI (artificial intelligence) company that provides "shopbots" for department stores. Shopbots are designed to replace salespeople in stores, as they are more efficient, cheaper, and can intuitively determine a customer's needs. Tim rules his company with an iron fist; the ground quakes when he's angry, and his employees are accustomed to his ridicule when they fail to live up to Tim's impossibly high standards.

Given Tim's authoritarian temperament, one would not expect him to be drawn to the arts. But he announces that he is hiring an artist in residence for the company, much to the shock and surprise of his employees. The artist's name is Abbie, and she is everything Tim is not: free-spirited, creative, artistic, go-with-the-flow, impulsive, and laid-back. She is also drop-dead gorgeous.

Abbie observes the employees and Tim, and makes art that reflects these interactions. Her art becomes a commentary on the abuse Tim's employees suffer under Tim's management. His employees expect a backlash from Tim, but instead, Tim seeks to take the art to heart, changing his management style while Abbie is around. Tim also starts to court Abbie, who, surprisingly, accepts his advances. They end up getting married and having one child, a son named Danny, who is on the spectrum.

Tragedy strikes Tim when Abbie disappears from their sprawling mansion on the sea, her body never recovered from the ocean.  Some people speculate that Abbie's past as a wild child caught up with her; others wonder if the pressure of raising a child on the spectrum drove her to depression and ultimately suicide. Many assume that Tim killed her given his controlling nature, but he is acquitted of all charges and set free to continue to rule his empire at work. 

Imagine his employees' shock when Tim reveals he has remade Abbie in the form of a "cobot," or companion AI. Abbie's memories and past have been downloaded from a cloud of social media about her. The new Abbie realizes, however, that parts of her past are missing, including what happened the day the "real" Abbie went missing. AI Abbie also discovers that the "real" Abbie and Tim disagreed on their son, Danny's treatment. Tim wanted not only the "perfect wife," but also the "perfect son." He wanted the latter so much that he was willing to place his son in an experimental school, one that is known for corporeal punishment.

Tim's drive for money, fortune, success, and perfection makes him seem less human than Abbie the AI. This makes the reader ponder if AIs might have the potential to be more thoughtful, more caring, and more human than their makers. As Abbie the AI astutely observes,

"Perhaps the real test of someone's humanity, you think, is how tenderly they treat those like Danny. Whether they blindly try to fix them and make them more like everyone else, or whether they accept their differentness and adapt the world to it."

I greatly enjoyed the deep, philosophical questions this novel raises about humanity and AI, as well as about how people on the spectrum should be treated in this world. Delaney is especially sensitive to and well versed on issues relating to autism: his adult son is on the spectrum (and serves, I am guessing, as a mirror for the character of Danny in his book) and Delaney has devoted his life to caring for him. This book has a lot of heart for a thriller; it will make you reflect on what it truly means to be a sentient human being.

Thank you to the author, JP Delaney, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of the thrilling The Perfect Wife.

JP Delaney quotes Ovid’s myth of “Pygmalion” at the opening of his novel, but as I read it I couldn’t stop thinking about Victor Frankenstein. This is a domestic thriller with a side of sci-fi. The main character is -- for all intents and purposes -- an emotionally advanced AI that is capable of empathy. (Creating an AI with empathy seems paradoxical since empathy is unique to human beings, the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes.) It -- or AI-Abbie -- is also capable of recalling moments from the life of the woman of which she’s a “replica.” I won’t rehash the synopsis but essentially a man pieces together a prototype of his dead wife to bring her back to life. That seems the gist of the story. Or so you think …

I love reading AI fiction, which isn’t always done well because it’s difficult to make AI’s “real” to the world they’re set in. Often storytellers deal in the future to make it easier. Delaney’s story is set in the present time, which presents several problems. We obviously can buy into the AI idea. We see it in the news and advancements have been made. We’re already having conversations about the rights of sex robots and whether it’s acceptable to create ones with rape settings. So the reader gets this world. And of course Abbie’s husband, Tim, is a tech bazillionaire with carte-blanche to experiment on/with/for whatever the heck he wants. We’ve seen that, too. We live it. But one of the silliest leaps Delaney makes -- and one that makes me incredulous -- is that AI-Abbie is so lifelike people mistake it for the dead wife. Um, what? This happens several times and is actually an important plot point. This doesn’t work and isn’t going to work no matter the suspension of belief for fiction. The story falls apart with that alone.

But it does have notable qualities. The writing is good and specific. The setting feels real and sometimes the characters seem real -- though I may be reaching since all of the characters, with the exception of Danny, are basically stereotypes. I mean even Victor Frankenstein had some redeeming qualities, but Tim Scott is a cardboard cutout of demented and pathetic. He’s really not a good character in any way. So, nuance is missing big time here. AI-Abbie is cardboard as well, but it’s a cobot, so it’s acceptable -- or at least, expected. But Abbie Cullen, Tim’s wife, is dreadful. She’s uber gorgeous and artsy and cool and free-spirited and every man wants to do her. No, just no. Delaney’s characters have no complexity, which makes the book feel like junk food, and that’s just hard to digest. I will say I think there’s an interesting dynamic between Danny, who suffers from Heller’s syndrome, a rare form of autism, and the AI. The way Delaney explores empathy here and how the brain functions, as well as sensitivity to environments, are brilliant. To me, that’s the value, but he covers this truffle in mud.

At this point, I’ve got to talk about plot to get at my next few points, so if you are worried about spoilers please stop reading.

STOP. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Too many writers take the seismic hit that is “Gone Girl” and try to replicate it. I really feel like Delaney was mashing some original ideas about AI and autism with GG. This makes the book an epic fail for me, and a patchwork of Frankensteinean proportions.

But also we’ve got a serious problem from the get-go. Delaney outright lies to his reader. AI-Abbie discovers some of Abbie’s secrets, leading to the suggestion she faked her death to leave Tim. Once the AI realizes that, Tim confirms he believes Abbie is still alive and he’s built the AI to find her. Okay, so we’re on a slightly different trajectory now, but fine. Yet, Tim is lying. Tim killed Abbie. Tim built AI-Abbie for who knows why. Tim is a psycho. Tim is a liar. That’s the twist? That bit at the end is the twist? But it’s not really a twist, is it? It’s an outright lie that makes the whole story fall apart because WHY would Tim build an AI-Abbie and set it on some goose chase to discover what he’s known all along? He killed Abbie. Um, it makes no sense. His motives are non-existent. The best thrillers give the reader the WHY, not the WHAT and WHO. Tim has absolutely no reason to do what he does. The cobot could easily be set up to live with AI-Tim and together they could raise Danny however they wanted. Tim has sole custody already.

Okay, so I blame this “Gone Girl” craze that has made thriller writers confused about what makes a solid domestic thriller. You can plot a missing person. That’s fine. But the characters need authentic motives -- at least authentic to the fictional world you’ve created -- to do what they do. Otherwise, the writer comes off as pulling ideas from the air.

It really does all fall apart at the end -- because of the outright lie -- but also for the deus ex machina. I won’t get into details, but it is completely unsatisfactory. For me, it’s not that it’s open-ended, because I don’t really think it is. It’s simply lazy. Again the idea seems pulled out of a hat. It reads like Delaney painted the story into a corner and need a forklift to get it out. I also think the reader would’ve enjoyed AI-Tim giving Tim his comeuppance. I mean, he considers it. Why not satisfy us a little and let us see it? We kind of earned it, didn’t we?

Thank you JP Delaney and Netgalley for this ARC of The Perfect Wife. I loved this book. It was so intriguing to think about AI and technology. We already have shopbots in some supermarkets here, none however that look even close to human. The idea about the ethics of AI, and does because we can mean that we should, begs consideration. This is the story about Tim, a technology developer, and his not so perfect wife Abbie and son Danny who has autism. As expected from JP Delaney, the book if full of twists and turns. Only negative was although it was written in alternately different points of view, it was often difficult to figure out exactly whose point of view I was reading .

JP Delaney has become one of my favorite authors of this decade. One paragraph into this book and I knew I would not be able to put it down. "The Perfect Wife" is full of suspense, technology and characters you cannot forget.
As I read this book I began to see the android main character as sentient and human, you genuinely care about the journey of this robot. I also was impressed with the story of Danny, his autism, and the various therapies and schools they had tried for him. This book had so many ideas in one story - murder, AI, autism, sexual harassment, technology, infidelity and yet all of these ideas were woven in. This book had many twists and turns and I was not sure where it would end up. I was satisfied with an unexpected ending that fit perfectly. 5 stars - I cannot wait for Delaney's next book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the name that of all that is holy, please male writers understand that the concept of “love robots” is inherently misogynist. We understand you’re not doing it on purpose, you just do not have the lived experience of walking in our shoes. So we are telling you. No more love robots. Please God no. It is literally dehumanizing

Beyond that the book itself is just standard suspense. But the love robot thing, just, no.

I really enjoyed The Perfect wife! Each chapter left me thinking, then reconsidering, discarding theories right and left. I had as many theories as there were chapters, and I still didn't figure the ending out! Nicely done author JP Delaney. I recommend this book to those of you searching for something a little different than your usual reads, I think you will enjoy it also.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This was a unique book -
I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review -
Abbie is missing or is she?
Abbie's husband is robotics tech and he can make the perfect wife, and mother.
As Abbie's memories return she tries to piece together what her marriage is and if she is the perfect wife.

This book was SO good!! I have loved all of the author's previous novels, and while I knew this was a totally different genre, I was still excited to read their latest work. This book kept me hooked until the end. The best part was that about halfway through, I assumed that I solved the twist so I eagerly read the second half of the book thinking I knew what was coming down the pike. I clearly had no idea, as the plot turned in a way that I never expected. I thought about this book for days after. I would definitely recommend this to everyone who loves a good story and is into a bit more sci-fi!

This is the third book by JP Delaney that I have read and it is another winner. Another psychological thriller, this time focused on technology. Here Abbie awakens to find herself in a hospital-like environment with her husband, Tim, beside yet unaware of why she is there. As things start to gel, it becomes clear she is a cobot — a companion robot. Tim, entrepreneur founder of a Robotics company in Silicon Valley, has created her to simulate his missing wife. He imbues her with human Abbie’s memories and little by little, cobot Abbie starts to become more “human” in her thinking and behavior.

The plot is fascinating and intriguing but the writing is a little confusing. Delaney changes between present and past, and from point of view. The present comes from cobot-Abbie, but the past comes from an unnamed third person. These changes are in some places quite harsh, in some place very good.

The mystery is what happened to Abbie that caused her to disappear. Was Abbie the perfect wife? Is the new Abbie a perfect companion? Why did Tim create her? Who is deceiving who? The story kept me hooked and had sufficient twists that when I thought I had figured out the climax I was again surprised. I would highly recommend this book as well as the other two books by this author.

I received this book as a free pre-publication galley version in return for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I am a huge fan of JP Delaney, so I knew when I saw this novel that I had to read it! While I do love the authors writing, this book was a little too far fetched for me. As the future gets more and more developed technologically... it does kind of put into perspective that this could happen!

I do love how suspenseful this book was, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Another awesome book by JP Delaney. This was a different sort of novel than the previous mysteries by this author. Initially, I was not sure about it but it hooked me pretty quickly. There are several twists in it so I will not give up too much of the plot.

The story begins as Abbie wakes up with her husband, Tim, by her side. She is told that she was in an accident and must slowly start to put pieces together of her former life. Her husband is the CEO of a major tech company and she is the mother of an autistic child. He insists that they had a blissful marriage and life until her unfortunate accident. As her memory returns, she is not sure that she can trust all that her husband tells her about their idyllic life together. She begins to do her own investigation to her prior life.

All I can say is that this is a page-turner from start to finish. It touches on so many relevant areas from autism and the various treatments for it, to ethics and moral issues. Highly recommended.

Thank you SO much for this ARC.

As a huge fan of JP Delaney, I was so excited to read the authors next novel. This was definitely not my favorite Delaney book. Everything I read from him will always be compared to The Girl Before, which is sooo tough to beat.

However, this was still a great book. A little far fetched but still very cool! Could possibly happen in the future. Perfectly suspenseful.

Very strange as Abbie is almost a cross between "AI" and "You got mail". There is some good pieces here that are even a little "bladerunner-esque". There is a lot going on here and some deep moral issues you will grapple with. Good writing.

This novel is so totally different from anything I expected, so much sci-fi, so little traditional mystery. I did find myself skeptical about this cobot heroine, but as she/it became more real to me, I was more drawn to the book.

Honestly prefer earlier Delaney, this was a new experience and I’m glad that had the opportunity to read it.

Thank you NETGALLEY.

This is the 3rd book by JP Delaney that have read. And it's made me a fan forever. The Perfect Wife kept me wondering all through the book on how it was going to turn out. The ending was a total surprise!!! It doesn't take too long to get to the heart of the story, but then it's just a crazy guessing game about it might turn out. The characters are great. I didn't like some of them, but then, I don't think I was supposed to. Great editing on this book! Can't wait to see what he writes next.

Veeeeeeeery well done! Veeeeeeeeery scary – especially considering the “afterwards”.

At first I thought this was a millennial take on “The Stepford Wives” by Ira Levin. But what I couldn’t figure out (and which was not made clear until the end) was why this book – unlike any other novel I’ve ever read – was written in the second person. It was difficult to know who was chronicling the story and why.

Another reviewer has said it was “riveting and unsettling”. Yes, I agree entirely. This plot was not about marriage, but about the direction our society is taking with the new advances in AI technology.

It was also interesting to see how the author related the teaching of a severely handicapped autistic child to teaching/programming a robot. There’s just a whole lot to be garnered in this book.

I’m very thankful to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House - Ballentine, for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be posted immediately on Good Reads and on Amazon and the Public Library of Anniston-Calhoun Co. (publiclibrary.cc) after publication.

Abbie wakes up to discover that not only has she lost 5 years of her life and many of her memories but she is also a robot known as "cobot". Tim is her husband and owns Scott Robotics. The book is told from the point of view of Abbie, the cobot, and her husband Tim's employees. Abbie is telling the present and the employees are telling the reader the past.

If Abbie's memories are in Abbie the cobot then where is the human Abbie? Abbie starts to investigate.

I struggled with the 2nd person person point of view for the robot aka "cobot". The jumping between the present in 2nd person pov and the past 3rd person pov with a little 1st pov thrown in was confusing.

I was curious enough to want to continue the story. Overall the story was just ok for me.

I would like to start by saying I am a huge mystery/thriller fan, though not typically a science fiction reader.

“The Perfect Wife” definitely caught me by surprise, and I’d say veered down the course of science fiction more than thriller - though still very captivating!

Abbie awakens, not knowing where she is or what is happening and soon finds out she died five years ago. Through the wonders of artificial intelligence and thanks to her billionaire husband, she has been brought back to life.

Her son, Danny, has autism, and as a side note, before ending my review, I needed to say how much I appreciated his character and his relationship with Abbie!

An eerie concept - why? You may think a devoted husband was simply bringing back the wife he loved and missed... but there’s much, much more to the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher of The Perfect Wife for giving me the opportunity to pre read this extraordinary book. JP Delaney has turned the usual psychological thriller upside down. There are moments reminiscent of Brave New World intermingled with a human perspective. The author weaves such a tale between Abby before and Abby after. Her characters and the story is so thought out. I especially enjoyed Danny and learning more about autism. This book was a thriller wrapped up in a sci-fi tale with a hint of horror.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

emoji rating scale: 😩🙁😐😀😍
The Perfect Wife rating: 😀

This is my first ready by J P Delaney. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that uses first / second POV, but wow , way to make a creepy book even creepier. Psychological thriller meets sci-fi* meets mystery in a perfectly twisted, can’t-put-down read.

*I can solidly say that I am normally anti sci-fi, but don’t knock this book until you try it (about five pages in I considered giving up on it, but I’m so glad I didn’t!)

I really don’t want to give too much away here because I don’t want to ruin the thriller-style story line, so I’m sorry that this review airs on the side of vague. Delaney writes on a subject that isn’t too far from our future: cobots, an idea of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to recreate a human connection with someone you’ve lost. *creepy already*
“You try to imagine what he’s been through, what those last five years much have been like. In some ways, you realize, you had it easy. You simply died. He’s the one who suffered.”

After mega-techie, Tim Scott’s wife, Abbie, mysteriously disappears, and an AI cobot ‘Abbie’ is brought “back from the dead” (Tim’s creation), this book becomes a race against time to put together all the puzzle pieces of what happened during the last five years, and more importantly, what happened to the real Abbie.

Jumping from present to past, this book carefully threads together a story that left me trying to read as fast as I could to get to the end. There were so many moving parts to this book, but they somehow all worked seamlessly together.
“You’re saying I died.” You stare up at him. “You’re saying the real me died–what? Five years ago. And you’ve somehow brought me back like this.”

Releasing in August 2019, if you’re a thriller junkie like myself, this needs to be on your TBR shelf. I don’t want to give away anymore than that, so you’re just going to have to give it a read and chat with me after!