This story started out very fast-paced and had the make-up of a perfect thriller. I think the backstory and middle of the book was way too slow in comparison to the rest.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. As a thriller lover I was looking forward to it and it did not disappoint. It was fast paced with many twists and turns. I will be recommending it to my family and friends and I will look out for future books from this author.
Thanks again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I’m having a hard time really connecting with thrillers and this was not an exception. I found this one really strange and twisted but not in a good way. The married couple absolutely hated each other. The kidnapping of their daughter left me so confused by the end. I just didn’t full understand the whole point of this one by the last page.

This was pretty interesting! I honestly didn't see where it was going at first, but I'm glad I stuck it out and kept reading. Lots of twists and turns, and some interesting commentary on power struggles within a marriage where the woman is the breadwinner. Well written as well, and certainly made want to keep reading!

Ok, so where to start. I loved the way this book began. It has an immediate punch and goes right from there. I was drawn in. Things got crazier. The characters are likeable and the storyline is decent. The pacing was good. Then all of sudden, and I can't tell you exactly when or how, but something happened, and just like that, I fell off the page. I no longer had any interest in the book or the story, or anything about it.



And here's the thing. When I say "I can't tell you exactly when or how" I don't mean that in a spoiler way. I mean that in a it-was-just-a-feeling-way. Somewhere along my reading path, this book and I disconnected and I no longer cared at all about anything going on. And as much as I tried to reignite that feeling, nothing happened.



That really sucked.



For the most part, this was a good read. But I didn't like the ending. I didn't like the wrap up, or how things were left for the characters. And I wish I could tell you exactly why or how. But I can't. So forgive me.



3/5 Stars

OMG this was a crazy ride. I love espionage and strong women so this book was exactly what I needed. What a crazy ride. Kind of like Taken, if the dad was a high up US government official. I feel like I can't say much about the plot without giving things away but if you want secrets and twists and to know that you will never guess the ending, READ THIS BOOK!!!

This book took me a little bit to make an investment into the story, but I am glad I kept going. The book starts out with a family trip that results in a kidnapping, The stories of both sides of the power couple develops separate from this event, but immediately draws back into the kidnapping. I found this book to be intense and thrilling. I thought it highlighted two sides to a story to an extreme and tied together at the end expertly. I definitely want to read more from this author in the future and will be recommending this to others. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

I've found so many thrillers lately to negatively portray women as unreliable narrators, weak and alcoholics who make bad decisions and jump to idiotic conclusions. Mind you, these characters have all been written by WOMEN! WHAT?!

In this book, we have a MAN writing a strong female character. WHAT?! I was shocked to actually have a tough, badass female character in a book! Rebecca (Becks) is an FBI agent, most recently working with Russian counterintelligence. She is strong, capable and badass. Her husband, on the other hand, is a "house husband" for most of their marriage until he finds his way into a job at the NSA. While on vacation in Europe, their 19-year-old daughter Kira is kidnapped.

The story continues on many differing levels. It is interesting and fast-paced and has a very satisfying ending! I also really enjoyed reading the parts of the story set in Spain.

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by Alex Berenson - 4.5 stars for a thrilling read!

Rebecca and Brian have taken their two children, Kira and Tony, on an anniversary trip to Europe. After 20 years of marriage, this trip seems to be a turning point in their lives after some rough years. Rebecca is an FBI agent who has always tended to put her job first. Brian now works for the NSA but for most of their marriage was mostly a stay-at-home dad. Their first night in Barcelona, Kira doesn't come back to their rental after a night out. Is it a random event or somehow related to their jobs?

I loved the way this story unfolded. It opens up in the "now" when the family is desperate to find out what happened to Kira. Then it goes back in time and we hear the perspectives of both Rebecca and Brian over the course of the last 20 years that led to the now. This was a fast-paced book with plenty of twists and turns; the ending was fabulous.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. I literally couldn’t put this book down and finished in one reading. Amazing character development and integration. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Power Couple is a gripping novel about Rebecca and Brian Unsworth and their children Kira, 19, and Tony, 17. From the outside looking in, the family has it all; both parents have good jobs (Rebecca, with FBI and Brian with the NSA), nice house, living comfortably. Life is good, right? Not true. What started out as a passionate and loving marriage has dwindled into silence and emotional distance with barely the hint of an ember left to fan. In an attempt to rebuild some family bonds, they take a trip to Europe for their 20th anniversary. There, during a night on the town with her younger brother, Kira is kidnapped. Rebecca and Brian must work together if they hope to get Kira back safely.

Told in the 3rd person narrative in rotating chapters about Rebecca, Brian and Kira, we get to see what life is really like within the Unsworth marriage, and it isn't pretty. This novel could be aptly titled The Power Struggle. I found both Rebecca and Brian despicable; one I wanted to slap upside the head and shout "Get over yourself!", the other I had a bit more sympathy for, but still disliked. I rooted for Kira, and wondered why Tony was even in the book; his sole purpose seems to be to serve as a witness for the night Kira was taken.

There are plenty of twists and turns in this book of espionage, secrets, lies, and betrayals. The ending is nothing short of exquisite! A 3.5 star read rounded up to 4 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read an ecopy of this book. All opinions stated in this review are my own.

This book grabbed my attention and kept it from page one all the way to the end.

Everything from the relationship between Becks and Bri to their individual relationships with their kids to their work/life situations was so intriguing.

Berenson is a fantastic writer. This was my first book by him but I would definitely read more.

I really was impressed with the different POVs he wrote from and switched to and from flawlessly. The many dog settings in the book were impressive too.

I wouldn't say that any of the characters were likeable, but they weren't really supposed to be. Instead they were all intriguing.

I was on the edge of my seat most of the book trying to figure out how it would end and never did I imagine in it would end the way it did. It did end up being darker than I expected, but still a good book.

Great for fans of espionage and risk.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Loved it! It was a quick, good read with twists and turns! My worst fear of being kidnapped in a foreign country is played out! The secrets and the lies are so good! I rate this book a 3.9

You are a bad person. Your spouse is a bad person. You have both pissed people off. A lot. Now someone has taken your daughter. Which one of you pissed off someone enough for that or was it neither? Or both? You amy never find her because being honest has never occurred to either of you. The only decent character is the daughter and the mystery is not who took her and why, but how she managed to be so quick thinking when both her parents were crappy parents who didn't deserve more than a passing thought. This was difficult to care about. The daughter's chapters were the on.y thing worth reading.

I really enjoyed this story. I choose it for its cover and was not disappointed in the writing. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.

Vacationing overseas Rebecca and Brian and their to teenage kids are tossed into a nightmare that few could imagine. Coupled with the seemingly snail paced machine that moves the police and government departments push this story to the hair pulling stage. Brian and Rebecca hold high government positions which overseas puts them in a vulnerable situation. Their daughter is missing and the authorities are ambivalent at best. Rebecca and Brian know time is not on their daughters side. Kira thinks she’s met a grad student from Paris and agrees to meet him late and alone at a club. Footage shows an incapacitated young woman being put in a car with four adults. Footage found much later and only because Brian and Rebecca know the fault lines and the pressure points they can use. I loved the pace of this story. Above all I loved the resolve of a young woman determined to change the narrative. Happy reading

Thank you to Netgalley & Alex Berenson for my copy of The Power Couple, for an honest review. Mr. Berenson, knows how to tell a story. His ability to set up a thriller is well known. The Power Couple, is just another example of how Berenson, slowly builds up a story and brings you, hook, line and sinker. Rebecca and Brian Unsworth, are taking the trip of a life time. Second to celebrate their 20th anniversary, in Europe, with their children is a huge step for them. The years they have been married, haven’t always been easy. They haven’t always had the money to take this type of trip. They are beyond excited to start the journey. The Unworths’s, don’t have power, per say but they do both work for the US government, one as an FBI agent and one a software analyst for the NSA. Their amazing trip comes to an end, when their daughter Kira is kidnapped in Barcelona. The story, reads like the movie Taken but goes deeper into the couples relationship. The trials, tribulations the lies we tell ourselves and the lies we tell others. Could their relationship problems, be the reason their daughter was taken? Or could she have been taken because of their high profile jobs? It was so interesting to see how Berenson pulled this story together. Their were many twists and turns and I was surprised how I couldn’t guess the reason why? This was such a good read, with interesting characters, interesting settings and interesting connections. This was a four star read for me. I don’t think you can go wrong reading An Alex Berenson novel and look forward to reading the next one. I hope you enjoy this one.. who doesn’t love a good who done it??

A power struggle within a marriage...
Definitely an exciting premise to this book! I sort of went in blind then decided to read the description on Goodreads about halfway in because I just wasn’t sure where this story could possibly lead! After reading the synopsis of the book I thought the story would focus more on their missing daughter, but it’s about so much more. The POV’s are split between Brian and Rebecca, as well as their daughter who is 19 years old. The characters were hard to love. One of them I disliked so much I wanted to jump through the book and punch them. I also started to realize this book has some espionage to it but was so full of suspense I had to keep reading. Different type of suspense novel for me but I did like it!

The Unsworth’s are your typical family. Rebecca is an FBI agent and Brian is an NSA government hacker.
Ok, so maybe not really that typical. When they take a family vacation to Europe, they find themselves
in every parent's worst nightmare. Their 19-year-old daughter goes missing. As they frantically search
for her, glimpses of their marriage and the cracks start to show as the story alternates between past and
present. Does her disappearance have anything to do with her mother’s job? Was she taken for
ransom? And when all said and done, can a marriage survive the struggle of power between husband
and wife?

I really enjoyed this unpredictable thriller with unreliable characters all around. Lots of twists and
moments where my jaw just dropped!

The Power Couple really digs into a marriage, family, motivation, career, ambition to name a few. I could not have predicted many of the twists and turns in this novel. The pacing was magnificent, the narration from the different family members added to the suspense of the novel. Everyone has their own opinions, viewpoints and read of the situation.

** I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review of this book.