I was anxious to begin this book, as the description was right on with what I’ve been reading. I was not disappointed, the story had a few twists and turns that took me by surprise. I thought I had it figured out but I was really wrong. The ending was a complete surprise. I can’t wait to see what else this author puts out. Definitely on my must read list. Fantastic debut.

Was the plot kind of predictable? Yes. But was it entertaining and a quick read? Also, yes.

I enjoyed my time while reading “The Safe Place” by debut author Anna Downes. The plot follows Emily who is a bit of a scatterbrain. She wants to be an actress but is down on her luck, very broke and about to be thrown out of her apartment. In comes Scott, her boss at the hedgefund where she temps as a receptionist and offers her a job wherein she would go to France, live in his sprawling house there and help out with his wife and child. Sounds to good to be true right? Yeah, you were right.

From the very beginning you know that something is off with this situation. There’s a feeling for foreboding and creepiness that was underlying through the book. But then there are times when you’re lulled into happiness and ‘Oh, things seem okay.’ and then BOOM, things are not.

I’m not going to lie, I did get a little bored in the middle but I still think that this book ended up with a 3.5 star which I rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an arc of this book!

It seems like Emily Proudman’s life is falling apart as she loses her job, is on the verge of getting evicted, and has only a small support system. Then, her past employer offers her a job which involves moving into his home in France to help his wife and daughter. Only the house is secluded and there is no cell service. The daughter has an unusual medical condition and the wife is oddly over protective of her. The rest of the book takes a suspenseful turn as strange events begin to occur and Emily must get to the bottom of what is really happening.

I really enjoyed this book and it was well written. This book had total Ruth Ware vibes and was both a mystery and a thriller. It took a few chapters to get into it and then I was hooked. The first half of the book was so intriguing and suspenseful and I had no clue what the mystery could be. Then it became more predictable but the plot was still engaging. I did want a little more resolution with Emily in the end but overall I really liked it!

Well, that was interesting.

The problem I had with this book was not the writing or the protagonist (which usually are my biggest complaints) but it was the plot itself. This may have been the most disinterested in the actual conflict or the suspense of the book ever. I even forgot for a second that this book was told through both Scott's and Emily's perspective because I don't remember anything important happening in Scott's. And to say the least, the first 60 percent of this book was pretty slow and only had a few "spooky" moments which I still didn't feel added a lot to the story.

Except for my very major plot complaints, I enjoyed the writing. It was fun and good for fast-paced thrillers like this and I also enjoyed the protagonist who was CONSTANTLY getting mixed up in trouble.

A Safe Place didn't seem very threatening as the cover gives off until the end where I still didn't feel that much in danger surprisingly with the protagonist. But, I will be checking out more Anna Downes' books because I'm interested more in the writing itself instead of the disappointing plot this book brings to the table.

The Safe Place is a slow-burn psychological thriller with a cast of well-drawn characters each with their own deep-seated emotional issues, which are slowly revealed throughout the book.

Emily, the protagonist of the novel, who lives in London, is in a financial and career slump. She has lost her job and her dreams of becoming an actress are squashed when her agent announces she is moving to New York. Unknown to Emily, both these situations have been engineered by her boss, Scott Denny, who offers her a job as a caretaker at his French coastal home where she will live with his wife Nina and their daughter Aurelia, who he informs her needs constant “medical attention.”

At first, the walled and gated compound with its Guest House, Family House and ocean views enchants Emily. She immediately feels close to Nina and her sick daughter, but beneath this seemingly idyllic setting, Emily begins to sense that something is not right in paradise. With no access to Internet or phone, Emily begins to feel like a prisoner on the walled, gated estate. Slowly, her doubts about Nina and her physically and emotionally delicate daughter are reawakened and the truths begin to come to light.

This book is so well written it’s hard to believe that it’s a debut novel.
The characters are complex and well-drawn, and each has their own emotional damage which unfolds as the two women get to know each other better. The plot slowly unfurls until reaching its dramatic climax. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes psychological thrillers with well-drawn characters and evocative descriptions.

So kind of mixed feelings on this one although I enjoyed it overall! It would be a fun read to sit by the pool with. There is mystery, drama, and thriller aspects woven throughout. Yet this is tempered by a predictable plot and a mostly unlikable protagonist.

In fact the protagonist, Emily, was not only unlikable but I was convinced that she would die because almost every decision she made was stupid. There is no other word. The novel does dig deep into our protagonist's history though and, by the end, I felt like I understood and empathized with her a bit more. The setting was intriguing and the idea behind it definitely hooked me.

I believe this is a debut author and I can say with confidence I would be interested in any other books she might put out. There was a lot of entertainment here so all the applause for an entertaining tale!

The Safe Place by Anna Downes is an excellent suspense novel that adds thrills, twists, and turns from beginning to end. This book is the debut novel from Ms. Downes, and she does not disappoint with this psychological thriller that kept me guessing and kept me interested. There were even a few surprises and twists scattered throughout.

I enjoyed the characters of Emily, Scott, and Nina. Emily is thrust into what should be an ideal position and location in secluded France as a housekeeper/groundskeeper, all-in-one. What should be the first clue that there could be hiccups in the plan is the isolation factor of no phone/internet. What the reader then gets to experience is a slow burn of a mystery that picks up pace as the book proceeds.

The pace and dialogue were a breeze, and I enjoyed this book immensely. I look forward to future works from this author.

5/5 stars

Thanks to Ms Downes and Minotaur Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am submitting my review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

While it did take a little bit to get into this book, once I did I was thoroughly hooked and entertained. Once the book gets going and you can see what is going on, it becomes a real page turner and you need to see how things turn out and even how things things were put into motion in the first place The story is told through the eyes of the three main characters (one more in flashbacks) and this works to reel you in with well defined characters. This is the debut novel by Anna Downes and what a debut it is!

Emily Proudman is a young struggling actress living in London and her life is falling apart. She just got fired from her temp job, her acting agent is dropping her and she's in the verge of being evicted.

Just then Scott Denny, the CEO of the company she was temping at offers a once in a life time opportunity to come be a housekeeper / au pair / live in personal assistant to his wife who's living in a beautiful house in France.

Eager to get away from her life, Emily jumps at the opportunity and moves into the estate where she meets Nina, Scott's wife. Emily has heard some rumors around the office that Nina is crazy and that Scott hates her but when she meets Nina she finds her to be ethereal and lovely and the two become friends.

However, there is definitely something more sinister lurking beneath the surface of this perfect exterior.

I found this book started off strong - I was invested in Emily's life and sympathetic to the mess she's made of it and the need to find an escape - who wouldn't? I was also curious about her and Scott's story line as it seemed that there was a hint of chemistry there.

Once Emily get to their estate in France I also found it to be a bit unsettling and there definitely seemed to be a lot of tension building. However, the execution of the ending fell flat for me. I found that this book seemed like it was taking way too many twists and nothing was really coming to fruition - it all struck me as a bit jarring and disorienting. I couldn't find the novel coming together in a seamless way and it was disappointing after the set up and the premise seemed fresh and new.

This book is available on July 14, 2020.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Emily finds herself down on her luck when her boss offers her the position of a lifetime. Emily takes the job but soon finds things aren’t what they seem and her need to sign a NDA become more and more clear. Twisty and dark, entertaining. Well written

I *love* a thriller set in an idyllic location - this one at a beautiful estate in France - especially right now, when most of us are confined to our homes. This book is a good slow burn mystery where you just know something is wrong but can’t quite put your finger on it…until the last 30% is when secrets emerge and everything starts to click into place. Perfect summer read!

I really enjoyed this novel! I was constantly worried about what was going to happen to the main character (Emily) . No spoilers here, but I thought the ending was perfect. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

This a great holiday read with a like-able but broke protagonist who agrees to work in a luxurious mansion in France, isolated from the rest of the world. The tension builds slowly but surely.

This is not an edge of your seat thriller with wildly unexpected twists and turns and multiple dead bodies. If that’s what you want, don’t read this.

But if you like character based stories set in beautiful locations with an edge of danger and mystery and an engaging, believable plot-line, this will hit the spot. It is also very insightful in how it approaches the impact of trauma in very young children.

Thank you to Netgalley and Affirm Press for allowing me to read this. The opinions are all my own.

This book kept me guessing until the end. Emily a self centered, actress down on her luck accepts a job from her ex-boss to be a housekeeper at his home in France. His wife and their child live in this isolated rambling estate and need help with the upkeep. What sounds to good to be true starts out to be too good, so good Emily can't believe her luck. It is the journey and uncovering of the truths behind the people who live here that make this story so riveting.

This book is very well written to the point that I felt a dark presence when reading some of the chapters. The characters are well developed and the plot is fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would love to read the next novel by this writer. It was a great mystery and a wonderful insight into human nature.

At first, I found the book confusing, I didn't know what it was all about and more than once I thought that this book was just not for me. About halfway through I began to get a glimmering of what both the story and Emily were about. I also began to think about Madeleine McCann disappearing and how that disappearance had affected her family. Once I'd made that connection I began to see Nina's general behaviour as somehow off-kilter. All four of the people in this story had some serious mental issues and the tension between Emily and Nina began to unravel and the tension to increase. The more Emily discovered, the more the tension ratcheted up until it became almost unbearable. Scott, the unwilling accomplice was becoming increasingly erratic but couldn't bring himself to cross the line and kill Nina, yes she had already had very serious mental issues even before her real daughter died. I did end up enjoying the book and I was glad that Emily had finally realised that she also had some serious mental issues that needed to be resolved. But somehow, you got the feeling that those issues would be solved and that Emily had finally come to age. A good read but with lots of unnecessary gaps between letters and the words they were meant to complete. There were also gaps between lines where paragraphs didn't make sense. It took a bit of time for the story to warm up, but once it did it took off and ended on a very high note. Well, done.

A little disjointed at first, but once it started to flow it was an read..A great story. Absolutely fantastic book.Do your self a favour and put this on your to read list. Great story and beautiful characters.

4 stars.

I was extremely excited to read this book. When i found out I was approved I immediately began to read this one. The intriguing premise left me with loads of questions and will leave you wondering how you would handle the situation of the main character.

I highly recommend this one for all the mystery and thriller readers looking for a book to binge in quarantine.

Yikes!! What a fabulous book. Absolutely 5 stars. Read in one day because. I. Couldn’t. Put. It. Down. Did not see the ending coming. Never heard of the author before but ready for more of her!! Suspense. Mystery. A thrilling thriller!!

I will be honest. I was definitely intrigued by the title of this book, and I will admit that it was the primary reason that I chose to read it. (It's superficial... I know!) It is difficult (I can imagine) to keep mystery/thriller books from being predictable, and I think this book was somewhat predictable. However, the premise and storyline were good, and this book comes at a time when we need to escape from the realities of the world.

I devoured The Safe Place in a day--I didn't want to put it down! The book starts off slow but pulls you in with lots of mysteries... and the ending was so great! Never saw the twist coming!