Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Push

At a swanky house one member of a new mothers group is pushed off of a balcony to their death but who was it and more importantly who pushed them? Jax although a little older then most of the women in the group is ecstatic to be having her first baby with her much younger boyfriend, but she is very insecure about the state or their relationship and her position inside this new group of soon-to-be mothers. The only woman older than Jax is Monica who seems to be hangling her second late in life pregnancy marvelously. Everyone else is younger but not without their own troubles. This eclectic group is hiding secrets and someone is about to be murdered.

I was excited to read a new thriller but for me this one fell flat. Although I liked the narration from multiple perspectives and not knowing who the victim was right away the story and drama fell flat. I predicted many of the plot twist well before they were revealed and disliked almost all of the characters. This novel in hyper centered around pregnancy and babymania which made it very one note.

I have said this time and time again this year that I am in such a slump and all these books are getting neglected because of it. This was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley and my apologize go out to them for my delay. Claire McGowan writes a thrilling thriller that is worth your time and energy. Six diverse couples living in a suburban area of London are looking forward to parenthood and sign up for a group for expectant parents. The couples don’t have much in common, but agree to a reunion at the home of one of the couples a few weeks after the group’s meetings have ended. The reunion has several awkward and tense moments and then tragedy strikes - someone at the barbecue has fallen to their death from an upstairs balcony. It appears to be an accident but one detective can tell the survivors from the party are hiding something and thinks she is looking at a case of murder.

This book has two main narrators. Jax Culville, one of the expectant mothers from the prenatal group, narrates much of the story. Jax is in her late thirties and is insecure about her relationship with her much younger boyfriend, as well as over past indiscretions. I do not agree with everything Jax does, but I liked her from the beginning. I sympathize with her because she wants to do the best she can and feels she is constantly coming up short. The other main narrator is DS Alison Hegarty who is investigating the death at the party. I like Alison, too. She is determined to find out the truth even though questioning all the new moms is difficult for her since she has been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant. She has a new work partner as well that she isn’t sure about. I was slow to warm up to her partner, but by the end I really liked her and liked how they managed to wrap up the case and make a good team. I do hope that this is a series that fallows D.S Alison and we get more development.

“The Push” is one-part procedural and one-part domestic drama. What I loved is that I could sit down and finish this in one long sitting it was that good. I also enjoyed the fact that we were not given the name of the person who died at the party until the very end. I kind of figured it out who it was just by speeding through pages but the pacing and the guessing was very well done. If you are looking for a new author and love a good thriller this is the book for you. It is also a part of kindle unlimited if you have that as well check it out. Four stars read I will be reading more of this in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book took way too long to grab my attention but I felt obligated to finish since it was an ARC. Too many characters and too much back and forth starting from 8 weeks prior to the day of the BBQ...and a death.

I stuck with it because I wanted to know who did it. It definitely picked up the last quarter of the book and kept me guessing until the end. So many possibilities and motives...

Review posted on GoodReads.

Set in London with 12 members of an ante natal group, The Push is a locked room type mystery. We know someone in the group does, but we have to. Slowly learn about everyone’s back story I’m order to get there.
The premise was interesting. But the characters were all flat and pretty much interchangeable.

The story is about a couple attending a birthing class with a mix of other expectant parents. The interesting thing about the main characters is that their ages have quite a difference. For a change she is much older than him. They appear quite in love but she is very self conscious about the age difference.
Eventually the birthing group has a bbq at a member’s luxurious house. At that bbq someone falls or is pushed from near the roof. The rest of the story, that I read, continues with the police investigation from different perspectives. There is character development. Despite reading the book for a week, and usually a book doesn’t take me that long from beginning to end, I never felt invested. I had no desire to see what really happened and who it happened to. Since I was unable to finish the book I don’t feel qualified to write any more. My first book review and it’s not very well done. My apologies.

Believable characters with good suspense. Drags a bit in places and the paranoia of the main character gets to be a bit repetitive, but overall a good story with a few interesting twists

Loved this book! A thoroughly enjoyable read, good plot that kept me guessing till quite near the end.

Tantalizing story about several couples who gather to learn how to cope with pregnancy and childbirth. What occurs at their final gathering isn't what they expected.

3.5 starts. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, which I think was the point. This seems a tad far-fetched and requires the reader to suspend disbelief in order to think that all the pieces could come together to result in the climax. I didn't hate the story by any means, though, and I mostly enjoyed the journey The Push took me on. I would read more books by this author for sure.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and author for the advanced copy.

Two and a half star rating.
Several women + partners meet at antenatal classes. What a bunch they turn out to be, more parodies than real people. They all have something to hide and the trouble is that it’s pretty obvious, well apart from the police that is! They were all unpleasant and it would be nice for once to read about a policewoman who doesn’t have domestic problems. The writing style was fine apart from some sections were a tad repetitive. An easy to read, entertaining story of various domestic dramas as all the characters had secrets they wished to keep.

I love this type of mystery. A group of people on an island, a retreat, a resort, or even a small community. This one is a party and one of the guests falls from the balcony. The guests say accident, police not so sure.

I think I wanted to like this book more than I did because the premise was so intriguing.
Six couples at a barbecue are reuniting after meeting at a prenatal class, and while they are there someone falls (is pushed?) off a balcony.

However, there was a lot about the book that meant I just didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.

The characters are generally horrid and Monica, the host of the BBQ, is abhorrent. There is a lot of micro-aggressive behaviour and dialogue here. From things like a lack of regard for the dietary requirements of vegan and Muslim characters, to outright racist/sexist/classist/body negative comments. It made it difficult to like any of the characters when they were so intolerant. The detective, Alison, seemed ok at first but then she seemed overly self obsessed and dogged to the point of unprofessional.

The plot is a solid concept but I guessed all of the secrets and twists way before they were revealed. The hints to each of the secrets were so obvious that they might as well have been followed by a "hint hint" or wink emoji! I also question the fact that Alison was allowed to investigate this for so long with no more evidence than some hairs and her hunch. One of the characters, Jax, has a background story that is designed to distract our attention but it ended up just feeling pointless to me.

The story is told from many points of view. It also jumps from many weeks before the birth of the babies to the current day of the investigation, and to the day of the incident, so you do have to really pay attention.

I did enjoy the writing style and overall pace but it was just an ok book for me when it could have been so much more.

Thanks Amazon/Thomas Mercer and Netgalley for access to this eARC.

I tried to get into this one but just could not.

The different POV and timeline made it really difficult to follow.

DNF for me, unfortunately.

Finally a thriller that’s punchy and not so easily predictable. Interesting throughout, a real page turner characters were all well developed and individual story lines held their own. Really enjoyable book. .

This book took me awhile to get into which is rare because I love this author! I’m glad I kept going because it gets better. There are so many possibilities of what could have happened and just who was hurt that day, that this made for a fun read! I loved how everyone was hiding something and it made me turn into detective mode to figure out just what was going on! Definitely recommend this and other books by this author as well!

This story was about a group of very different couple. They had a common interest but were as diverse as could be. I enjoyed the twist and turns and the suspense. The story had you guessiing to the end , but was dramatic and and hard to put down .

One party 13 people and by the afternoon 1 of them will be dead. An excellent murder mystery with lots of twists and turns. A great story with good characters

The Push by Claire McGowan is not a disappointment! I have read some of her books and this one is so good that I couldn't put it down. Follow this murder,a woman fell to her death and there are so many suspects. Someone,everyone,has something to hid,secrets flow all over this murder and that have to be separated on the case at hand! So exciting and adventure to be seen! Received this book from Net Gallery!

This one didn't do it for me. It seemed so wholly unbelievable in many ways. But I guess, with that said, it did keep me turning the pages, and I did like some of the characters. I'll continue to come back for more Claire McGowan because in general I really enjoy her books.

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

This book is not what I expected. I thought this book was going to be more of a mystery/thriller vs a fictional drama. I read the preview and I was thinking there would be some fertility/infertility baby drama, but this is actually the whole premise of the book with a little bit of police detective work.

This book hit almost all the sensitive topics plus some: infertility, miscarriage, IVF, adoption, infidelity, racism, domestic abuse, gambling addiction, "me too", sexism, and so much more. This does not scream mystery/thriller to me.

It was well written and I enjoyed the different POVs, but I just couldn't get past the drama.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!