Marlena grew up in a redneck backwoods country to a mother who likes to have male acquaintances and sometimes neglected her children. Her older sister Dee made it out, and now it's Marlena's turn as it's now or never. Marlena buys a bus ticket and hightails it out of the country to New York. World of opportunities. Here she meets a friend Jenny, and the two become close. At the cafe they work at, they heard of a guy who scouts for talent and models. Marlena gets herself noticed by him, and along with Jenny as they are a twofer, their lives start to change . Marlena being the more attractive finds her career soaring and fast too. This leads her to go overseas and to become a big name and to put her in the eye of Michael Durst. He is the one everyone wants, the big cheese and being with Michael for models is a dream come true. The thing though is the Cinderella fairytale life comes with a hefty price tag that no money can buy as Marlena is about to discover in the form of complete control and abuse. During the book, Marlena does research and finds that the previous two Mrs. Durst's died after a short time being married to Marlena and when it looks like someone else has Michael's interest, Marlena knows it's only a matter of time for her. With the help of Vince and Jenny and a newfound friend, Marlena will try to bring Michael down once and for all before she ends up being another casualty. I did like the twist of this book when we discovered the workings of Marlena's brain and her connection to the previous Mrs. Durst.
This was also a new step for Ann Aguirre as she is more known for her YA Dystopian books and I have to admit as a thriller/mystery fan she did an excellent job with The Third Mrs. Durst.

I went back and forth with how I felt about this book. There times I thought it was going to be excellent, and times I thought it was average. Ultimately, I decided on a 3 star rating, as I found this book to be a mediocre telling of a tired story.

The first 20 percent of the book didn't satisfy me. There was very little buildup to explain Marlena's decision to marry Durst, and there was very little buildup to Durst's true evil character. Then, right around 20 percent into it, the character's motivations are explained. I flipped back in the book and realized I missed some clues meant to explain Marlena's actions. I was all in at that point, eager to find out what would happen.

I loved that Marlena starts out as a poor, country girl who's pretty enough to twirl men around her finger, but vulnerable enough to be used and abused along the way. She's not perfect, but she's desperate to escape the crap life she's been given. She decides to use her looks and her perceived vulnerability to advantage. She has a plan. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned who has a plan!

However, and I hate to write this, this book didn't hold my interest consistently. The author doesn't give us much to hold onto. I wasn't rooting for Marlena as much as I should have, especially in light of the stupid, reckless decisions she made along the way. And the middle of the book is literally just Marlena waiting it out, keeping the reader hostage with her while she waits. So little really happens to keep the reader interested.

The end of the book enraged me. It's hard to not spoil this part, but it's the part that most deserves criticism. If Marlena was so smart, with SUCH a cunning plan, why did she ultimately decide on such a ridiculous course of action? She only got lucky that her dumb decision didn't kill her. Maybe the author intended to imply to the reader that Marlena KNEW she would not be killed, but with a first person narrative, that simply doesn't work.

A true page-turner, The Third Mrs. Durst is a fast-paced domestic thriller.
Michael Durst is a rich, controlling and abusive husband. His wife Marlena seemed to walk willingly into this horrible marriage and plays the part of the submissive wife. Does she have a plan to put a stop to the abuse from Michael? Some people just need to be killed...

Loved this book. Not sure I would share it with my class but for a personal read it was great. Gripping.

Marlena Altizer Durst is a beautiful former model living in luxury with her successful husband. To outsiders, it seems like she that she leads a fairy-tale life, but not everything is always what it seems. Mrs. Durst lives in her husband's shadow. He controls her entire life, from what she wears, to how much she weighs, to the friends she's allowed to make. And when she does not follow his rules, there are consequences. But what if Mrs. Durst knew what she was getting into before she married her controlling, manipulative husband?

The Third Mrs. Durst shows just how far someone will go to get what they want, even if it means killing someone. Told from the perspective of the calculated, cunning Marlena, The Third Mrs. Durst had me on the edge of my seat until the final page.

There is a lot to like about this book, and somethings not so much.

Its a clever premise and set up- one that at first I didn't see. Escaping from a rural and desoulate future, Marlena gets to the big city. With determination, she works her way up until she meets a handsome and rich man. Despite warnings for others, she goes ahead with a marriage to a increasingly pathologic control freak.

As the story goes along, there is some foreshadowing that I only saw in retrospect, and some that is really blatant. I generally don't like this approach, but I can see its necessity.

The usual horrors occur - and the bad guys seem to have limitless funds, a gigantic sinister network that observes everyone and everything. The abuse and sheer violence that this woman endures is shocking and her tolerance for pain is remarkable.

The ending was nice, satisfying in some ways and didn't really hold together in others. I can suspend credulity only so far. But I did like it.

One comment: it bothered me that all the conspicuous cruelty, sadism, violence - some of it really awful- is described as being by ' that animal', and his acts were those of an animal. Only humans plot and manipulate and create huge complex structures designed only to hurt, maim or kill. Animals may be violent at times, when they need to, but never they way these bad guys do. They are thugs, and monsters and psychopaths, but they are not animals.

I really enjoyed this book! In a sea of psychological thrillers, I thought this one had a great new perspective and the author did a great job of unfolding the story. Once I got into the story, I really had trouble putting it down - it kept a great pace! I ended up being completely absorbed in the next twist! I full expected to know where the story was headed and was thrilled when it went in a direction I didn't foresee.

Thank you so much for the advanced copy - this book was a pleasure!

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well developed. It had an interesting plot. I would be interested in reading more
highly rated

The Third Mrs. Durst is a twisty, fascinating, and edgy read with an engrossing plot and characters. Worth the read.

It took awhile for the author to give backstory - until then it was hard to sympathize with Marlena. It lagged, writing was decent.
It was a quick read but hard to finish. Ending was predictable.

This is a truly gripping read and totally not what I expected.
Marlena, a girl with a horrendous background of abuse who rises up from living on the streets to marrying a very wealthy, prominent businessman. A rags to riches story but it is no fairytale. Michael Durst is no knight in shining armour - controlling, vicious, possessive and very, very dominant.
The truth behind Marlena's ambitions emerge slowly and as her friend from the streets, Jenny and Vin, Michael's bodyguard become more involved so the story builds. You start to learn about Marlena's siblings and the protectiveness she feels towards them and how driven she is to avenge the past.
This is a great psychlogical journey. Cleverly written and hard to put down I would highly recommend this book.

I was able to read this amazing book thanks for NetGalley, and Midnight Ink books.
What can I say? This book is fantastic. It is clever, well-written, and shocking.
We know from the beginning that
“Some people need killing..”
I’m going to read a book that has this description.
Marlena leaves her poor town and drug addicted mother to seek a new life. There she becomes a model and is discovered by her future husband. She can tell right away he is controlling but she has no idea what she’s in for.. or does she?Will she end up like the first snd second Mrs. Durst? Or will she fight back and win? The twists and secrets keep coming and keep you guessing.
I literally read this book in one day. I cannot recommend it enough and can’t wait to read future books from the brilliant author.

What an amazing thriller! I loved the character development and stayed up way past my bedtime to find out what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this author.

Yikes! Best book I've read in a while! Love, love, love. This is my first book by this author but certainly not my last. A perfect thriller to keep you up all night long because it's certainly hard to put down.

I was a little underwhelmed after having finished this book, "The Third Mrs. Durst". I think I was expecting a fast paced thriller that would pit two intelligent minds against one another-leading to the final demise of one of them. Although the book moved quickly as it was narrated by our main character-Marlena, I don't think her story was believable enough for me. There were too many cliche's and the plot was lackluster and this trope just seemed to have been done before. The ending just left a very bad taste in my mouth-- the author tried to hit us with some big twists and they just fell flat to me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and give an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Third Mrs. Durst is the story of Marlene, a poor country girl from Kentucky who becomes successful in the modeling world and eventually attracts the attention of a billionaire, whom, if the title didn’t give it away, she ends up marrying. After they marry, she gets the opposite of a happily ever after with a controlling and abusive husband, who may have had more than a little to do with the deaths of his two previous wives...

This is a thriller for readers who simply love the thrill. I am going to compare this book to a horror movie and start with the fact that I am incredibly picky about which horror movies I actually enjoy watching. I am not afraid of guts and gore, but a slasher flic with no other purpose than killing is not my thing. I need an intriguing plot, some unexpected twists and turns, and characters that I can root for. This book is like a slasher flic, which was its downfall for me. The rape, and abuse, and brutalities start to feel like that is the only point of the book. The plots twists were obvious from miles away and the characters not exactly complex. Vin and Jenny, Marlene’s only friends, I actually really liked, but that made me dislike Marlene more for how she used and treated them. I did forgive her for that in the last scene though...

Throughout the whole book I had difficulty sympathizing with Marlene and what she was going through. And that made me introspectively feel bad for not being able to sympathize with a victim of abuse. The whole book, I was waiting for some “Count of Monte Cristo” epic level vengeance scheme to play out and Marlene’s claws to come out. The blurb itself basically sets readers up for that before even opening the cover. She’s a Kentucky girl, she survived a horrible childhood, then made something of herself. We know she is capable of kicking his rich douche bag a**! I wanted something so epic and satisfying, but the ending seemed like everything just kind of fell in place for our very lucky heroine.

Personally, I want more than deux ex machina style endings from thrillers and mysteries. I do think a lot of people will like this book for being such an easy and entertaining read.

This was as fast paced as a book can get! It’s a story of revenge that you want to read in one go. The narration starts in the first person and hooks you immediately. It’s a classic domestic violence plot but with enough twists and turns to make you want to keep reading. The ending was a little drawn out but overall the book was crisp.
Marlena’s character offers some deep insights to life and you find yourself rooting for her. This book brings to light how difficult a seemingly easy life is. The violence of Michael Durst is agonizing and makes you physically sick sometimes. However the intricacies of the plot are handled brilliantly and make you want to keep reading. What motivates Marlena is the love that she felt for her sister and the desire to right the wrongs of Mr Durst. The characters are all complex and very well developed. Whether it is Jenny or Joanna, Clive or Vin, Marlena or Michael, they all add so much flavor to the plot. Marlena’s determination is almost inspirational. This is a quick and engaging read.
Thanks NetGalley and Midnight Ink for giving me this ARC for my unbiased review.

Very good book and a great description of domestic violence/abuse and how it can slowly build up to total lack of freedom. The book was awful in the sense of what the wife was put through but brilliant in the way you read it. Great book.

4* Obsessive Maniac Stars

I was attracted to this book by the beautiful cover as well as the title and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed by what I read.

This was a fast paced thrilling read, which was hard to put down. The story of Marlena and her monster husband Michael was captivating and chilling. Marlena was extremely brave to withstand the consequences that were delivered to her for the smallest oversight.

There were also some very likeable and interesting characters as well as some that were just horrid.
The story flowed well and the ending was very satisfying.

Many thanks to Midnight Ink and NetGalley for my copy to read and review.

Unputdownable! And I don’t use that word lightly. From the moment I started reading I couldn’t stop. Before I knew it, it had been 5 hours and I needed to go to sleep, but I couldn’t! I literally fell asleep reading this book because my eyes simply would not stay open a moment longer.
The protagonist, Marlena, is a very interesting, likable woman, whom I found myself rooting for! A product of a poor upbringing in a small town in Kentucky, Marlena is adamant on having a better future no matter what the price...or so she thinks. Marlena ends up living in a dangerous, terrifying, suspenseful world, married to a controlling monster. She’s quite the fighter, but can she survive being the third Mrs. Durst?