Huge thank you to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: January 4th, 2022

Review:

While this book was not for me personally because I just could not vibe with the characters, I can see many who enjoy mystery/thrillers with a lot of plot twists! If you enjoy books that are fast-paced, have multiple povs, and are full of plot twists until the very end, then this book may be for you!

4/5 stars!

The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen is the perfect thriller-y, twisty mystery to start your new year off with. Sam, Diana and Margaret are three women who have entered into a new phase of their life - divorce - and have forged their relationship around commiserating over their ex-husbands.

When the women decide to take a roadtrip to upstate New York, things start going haywire the second they get in the car. Between secrets, failed relationships and general mistrust - all hell breaks loose when one of the ladies disappears into thin air.

A jumpy thriller that diverges and plunges it's way through, The Perfect Escape is anything but a leisurely vacation.

I really enjoyed this one - it was fast paced and action packed, even if it was a tad bit unbelievable. The ending in particular was a standout.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is a real page turner. It gets very intense and I started blaming everyone in the book. I honestly didn't see it turning out the way it did. Margaret, Sam, and Diana are seemingly great friends who are there to support each other and help each other to relax. But all three are holding onto secrets that threaten to ruin their relationships. When Diana seems to disappear into thin air, the cracks start to surface and begin to tear them apart. I highly recommend this book.

This was a solid thriller, but not one that I found to be particularly memorable. The first 40% of the book reads like a soap opera regarding the protagonists’ marital woes and romantic history before truly becoming suspenseful. While it was easy to read, the story just didn’t get me as engaged as I get for the thrillers I love because of the extent of the buildup. 3 stars ⭐️ for this one. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me chance to review.

Enjoyable thriller about 3 friends heading out on a girl's weekend to get over their exes. Lots of twists and turns, perfect amount of characters but the story fell a little flat to me. I think this would be a great beach/pool read.

REVIEW: A day late and literally a few dollars short because I bought the audiobook from Libro.fm to help speed up my reading, but I’ve finally finished my first book of 2022!

The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen was released yesterday, 01/04, and @netgalley was kind enough to send me an e-ARC!

This was an interesting thriller! Thematically, this book is bit like Gone Girl meets His & Hers meets In A Dark, Dark Wood.

Was there a bit more romantic drama than I’m used to reading in a thriller? Yes, but I thought the characters were well-written in spite of the slower pacing it took to develop them so fully.

Definitely interested in reading Leah Konen’s other books, as the end twist was not something I foresaw. 4.1 ⭐️s.

CW: Pregnancy loss, infidelity, stalking, alcoholism, codependency, manipulation, cancer, genetic disorders, financial struggles, grief, motorcycle accident.

ID: A picture of the cover for A Perfect Escape by Leah Konen is collaged against a navy blue backdrop, with the word “Review” at the top in fluorescent yellow font.

When Sam, Margaret, and Diana all found themselves at the end of their marriages, they decided that what they needed was a girls’ weekend out of New York City. Margaret has a friend with a house about four hours outside of the city, where they can relax and laugh and drink wine in the hot tub. They pick a weekend, rent a car, and start out.

Margaret is the mothering sort, always making sure that her girlfriends are safe. She has the extra coat for chilly nights, she insists they text her to make sure they got home okay, she tries to keep them from getting mired in unhappiness, pushing them to move towards healing. She rented the car, and despite Diana’s insistence that she can drive too, it’s Margaret who refuses because Diana is not on the rental agreement.

Margaret met her husband Lars back when they were both struggling actors. Eventually, Lars landed a role on a cable television show and she gave up on her acting dreams and went into advertising copywriting. That was where she met Sam, who worked at one of the ad agencies Margaret worked at. She thought she’d be with Lard forever, but when they lost their son while she was still pregnant, the marriage broke apart, with Lars drinking and Margaret searching for answers anywhere she could find, no matter the cost.

Sam met her husband Harry at the ad agency. He was the creative director who came in to save the day when the client rejected every idea Sam and her team had. They put in long nights together, coming up with a new campaign that the client finally liked and just kept working together. Their creative teamwork turned into friendship and then flirtation, and when Harry admitted that he and his wife were splitting up, Sam was willing to take their relationship to the next level.

It wasn’t long at all before they had a beautiful wedding ceremony, which brought a lot of joy to Sam’s dying father, but only a few months after the honeymoon, Harry announced he was leaving Sam to go back to her. That she needed him. Sam was devastated. It was at a local bar that she met Diana, and she was the one who introduced Diana to Margaret.

Diana is the life of the party. She brings an unstoppable energy to her projects and relationships. She is the first to suggest another bottle of wine or margaritas, and she listens with her full attention. As a social worker, she understands human behavior, and she’s slow to judge and quick to celebrate the good things. Diana’s ex, Brandon, is obsessive and controlling, so she’s not on social media and she ducks out when Sam tries to take a picture of them together. Diana was the one who suggested the girls’ weekend in the first place, so the three women can get away from their exes and their problems and just let their hair down for the weekend.

It’s Diana, the navigator, who insists that they stop a couple of hours outside of Manhattan, at a gas station in Catskill. They fill the car with gas and buy snacks and are ready to get back on the road when the key to their rental car disappears. They search all over for it, but it’s nowhere to be found. They decide to stay the night there and have a local garage make a copy of the key for them, and then they can head back out to their original destination. Diana finds a rental, and they get the car towed to the local garage and call a car service to take them to the rental house. And then they go out for dinner and drinks.

The local bar doesn’t have margaritas on the menu, but the friendly bartender is willing to make them anyway. The friends promise each other that it will be a glass of water between drinks, so they’ll be n good shape to get back on the road in the morning. But things don’t go as planned.

The next morning, all three women have to face what they did the night before. One hooked up with her ex. One hooked up with someone new. And the other one never came home. As the day goes on, and Sam and Margaret can’t get ahold of Diana at all, they start to worry. They call local hospitals and hotels, but they still can’t find her. They decide it’s time to call the police.

When the officer comes out to take her report, Sam and Margaret realize that they don’t actually know that much about Diana. They don’t have any photos of her. They can’t look her up on social media. They don’t even know exactly where she lives. And then the officer comes back to them later with the news that there is no one by their friends name in any database in New York, no driver’s license, no certifications for social work, no trace of her at all, Sam and Margaret start to wonder who they left town with, how they ended up in Catskill, and who they can trust.

The Perfect Escape is Leah Konen’s chilling story of a girls’ weekend gone horribly wrong. The secrets and reveals just keep coming, one after the other, until the very last page. These women she has created could be your friend, your coworker, your sister, they are so real.

I was completely taken by The Perfect Escape. I kept thinking that I knew what was happening, but there were some surprises that were completely out of left field. I would recommend this one to anyone who loves a good thriller, who looks to the novels of Shari Lapena, Megan Miranda, Gilly Macmillan, or Ruth Ware. This one may start out a little slow, but once it gets moving, it just does not stop! Loved it!

Egalleys for The Perfect Escape were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Leah Konen took me on such a convoluted ride along with three girls on an “escape” girls weekend. Just as I decided what was happening…no, that isn’t right because…now it has to be him…no that can’t be because. My mind was constantly in a ping pong match that I was losing! Well done Leah Konen!
The girls, Sam, Diana, and Margaret are fairly new friends and clearly don’t know each other as well as they think they do. I enjoyed the pacing of the secrets they were each hiding from each other. As each part of each secret was revealed I was heading down a different path in this massive maze. I really love books that make my mind twist and turn trying to keep up. I could not put this book down.
Many many thanks to Leah Konen, G. p. Putman’s Sons, and NetGalley for affording me the pleasure of reading an arc of this book, just published on January 4th. I totally enjoyed this read.

This was wild and not always in a good way. The bones are good though and it was a quick few hour read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I hadn't started The Perfect Escape the day before Pub Day, I had resigned myself to posting a late review. I was disappointed, but the holidays had just gotten away from me, I'm in the middle of a move, and I'm starting a new job--that was enough to slow anyone down!

I told myself to open up the book and at least get started. If I had to post a day or two late, people would understand.

Then I started the book. And I devoured it in one sitting.

It's so rare to find a thriller that actually surprises me, and Leah Konen did just that with The Perfect Escape. Sam, Margaret and Diana are three new friends, all going through separation and divorce. When the opportunity comes to take a road trip, the three get away to a cabin to drink wine, sit in a hot tub, and commiserate.

Unfortunately, halfway there they run into car trouble. Forced to stay the night in a small town, the ladies spend the night out at a local bar...and in the morning, one of them has disappeared. Throw in a handful of exes and some closely-guarded secrets, and you get a story that keeps you guessing.

Despite its fast pace, the book is well-developed and the characterization is on point. The narration switches between characters, and each woman has a distinctly defined voice. And while some of my thriller pet peeves popped up (microscopic reveals of "dark secrets" any decent person would be understanding about makes me want to roll my eyes) it still had me tearing through pages to get to the Big Reveal.

A girls' weekend to die for.

Getting out of the city sounds like a wonderful thing to do! Three new friends, Sam, Margaret, and Diana are happy to do just that. Road trips sometimes come with bumps in the road. When the keys to their rental car are missing after a quick stop. They must stop for the night and stay at a lovely rental.

They are not going to let a little car trouble get in the way of them having fun. They need this. They have all suffered losses in their personal lives. They will soon learn that although they have left the city, their past hurts and betrayals have come with them.

This was a fun book and I enjoyed doing some super sleuthing to try and figure things out. Soon, they car keys are not the only thing that has gone missing. When one of the women does not return from their drunken night out, the tension mounts, as does the mystery and suspense.

What a mess this becomes! An enjoyable tension filled mess full of twists, deception, lies and lust. The author had me from the very first page. Word to the wise - Do Not go on a road trip with someone who have not known for long. Seriously, if you don't know their last name, maybe it’s not a wise idea.

But I digress, this was an absorbing, tension filled mystery which had my turning the pages, glued to my seat, wanting answers. I have to say, I did not see the twists or reveal coming! I love when that happens.

Gripping, shocking and entertaining!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam/ G. P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have a confession (and I feel terrible) but I read this many months ago and completely spaced writing a review. Thus, I'm really wracking my brain to remember it as I've read a number of books in line with the genre. From what I recall, I quite enjoyed it as an escapist read (fitting since it's about women taking a temporary escape from their lives - and husbands.) It's not necessarily memorable in the long run as is evident courtesy of my months long delay. However, it is entertaining in the moment thanks to a fast-paced, read with ease, and plenty of thrills. Great beach read.

This page-turner of a thriller will have you either sighing with satisfaction at the ending or grimacing with dismay, depending on your personal worldview.

Three friends have decided to take off from the hurly-burly of New York City in order to have a girls' weekend upstate, all while nursing wounding sorrows. Diana is hiding from her stalker ex Brandon, while our two viewpoint characters, Sam and Margaret, are mourning the ends of their own marriages. Sam's husband left her for his own needy ex, while Margaret's marriage broke down irreparably after the loss of their baby. In an effort to pamper themselves and push all thought of disappointing men out of their minds, the three women embark on a road trip for a cabin in Saratoga Springs, where they're planning to soak in a hot tub, sip wine and indulge in a lot of sheet-mask-related self-care for a few days.

Only they never reach Saratoga Springs. The key to their rental car goes missing while at a rest stop on the way, stranding the women overnight in Catskill, New York. They decide to make the most of it anyway, finding a rental to stay in and heading out to a bar, before realizing that at least some of their exes are in town, too. Sam's encounter with her ex Harry is particularly mortifying, its aftermath the lowlight of her whole evening... until she reunites with Margaret and they realize that Diana has disappeared.

At first, the two friends figure Diana has hooked up with someone and let her phone run out of battery, but as the next day wears on, they begin to worry. The police officer they file a missing persons report with assures them that 9 times out of 10 in situations like theirs, the missing friend will sheepishly return sooner rather than later. But when a body is found in the woods behind the bar, and Sam and Margaret are brought in for questioning, it's clear that whatever happened to Diana will have lasting repercussions that neither of them could have possibly imagined when they first embarked on what they thought would be a carefree getaway.

I had to force myself to stop reading this novel several times in order to go be a responsible adult, so seductively does Leah Konen write! I very much enjoyed the way she unwrapped the layers on her narrative, even if I found Alex's excuses for his lies less elegant than awkwardly realistic. I was, however, impressed by the dissection of Harry's personality. Also impressive was the way the suspense kept going right till the very end, even if I personally felt disappointed by Margaret's choice. Tho I totally understand why she did it! I just didn't think it was the right thing to do. But I get it! (Which string of sentences should very much be considered a plus in the novel's favor: I do like books that challenge one's idea of right and wrong.)

I was occasionally distracted by the stray British-isms, but overall found this solidly entertaining: a perfect little escapist thriller -- that does touch sensitively on several weighty topics -- for these pandemic times.

The Perfect Escape by Leah Konen was published today January 4 2022 by G. P. Putnam's Sons and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9780593085448">Bookshop!</a>

Sam, Diana, and Margaret have been friends for awhile and have decided to go on a long weekend to Saratoga Springs to relax and enjoy one another’s company. All three of the women are separated and need a chance to escape their problems for a few days.

Margaret rents a car and they take off. About halfway through their journey, they stop for snacks and gas and Margaret ends up losing the key to the car. Diana finds a rental cottage for them to use for the night until a key can be made for the car. Once they settle into their place, they head to a nearby bar. They end of drinking too much. Diana doesn’t show up at the end of the evening and Margaret has met a nice man named Alex whom she ends up with that night. Sam’s ex turns up at the bar and they get together. The next day as the booze wears off, they call the police because Diana has still failed to return. When Sam starts to investigate things herself, a body is found and the fingers start pointing. Everyone is a suspect.

How well do you really know your friends? Can you trust them? This story is quite convoluted and brings many of life’s pains forward. We have infidelity, loss of a child, alcoholism, and more. Just when I thought I had certainly learned the last a-ha of this book, along came another one. I am on the fence as to the number of stars this book deserves. While each of the characters is flawed, that shouldn’t be held against them. The author wrote them that way and even though I didn’t like any of them, to be fair, I am giving this book 4 stars.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

New friends Sam, Margaret and Diana are thrilled to be getting out of the city for a girls’ weekend—they’ve bonded over their messy divorces, and every mile on the odometer feels like another step towards putting their exes in the past. But when car trouble halfway into their trip strands them in the most unlikely of mountain towns, they come face-to-face with the hurts and betrayals they were so desperate to leave behind.

💭 Good book to pick up if you love a suspense story full of unreliable narrators! Starts as a slow burn mystery, and then twists into a page turner. I loved hearing the POV from Sam and Margaret and watching their secrets come out. Some of the character decisions just made me want to 🤦‍♀️. The ending also seemed little too drawn out. Overall, I enjoyed it. Great read for someone easing into the thriller genre.

Three new friends bonded over their relationship troubles decide to go for a girls weekend. Car trouble on their way puts them off course and changes plans. What happens next is one twist and turn after another all the way through to the end of the story. This one kept me reading well into the night.

This was a fun, twisty, what is happening thriller. It’s told from the POVs of Sam and Margaret and I did not have this one completely figured out, which I love. So many lies and skeletons in the closet coming to light. It was hard to determine who to trust, if any of them. The thing I didn’t like was some of the stupid things these ladies did throughout the book but overall it was enjoyable. The setting was fairly creepy especially the ending scene with a raging storm and loss of electricity at the cabin.

What could be more fun than a girls trip? Ask Sam, Margaret and Diana. The 3 are all dealing with relationship troubles of their own. When car troubles leave them stranded, of course where an ex lives. One of the friends goes missing. I wasn’t sure where this was going, but couldn’t put it down. Well done!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-copy in exchange for a non-biased review.

I really struggled to stay engaged with this book. Nothing happens until 48% of the way into the book. In the meantime the reader is forced to read speculative passages amongst characters over and over again. It was redundant and boring. I didn't need 184 pages of "where's Waldo".

The last 1/4 of the book was interesting but getting through 384 pages made the book way too long. The editor and publisher easily could've edited this down to 280-300 pages.

Two characters in the book have a romantic relationship and I found it incredibly sappy and unrealistic. The dialogue didn't develop the characters enough to make the immediate relationship status believable. Woman meets man, has one night stand, falls in love forever by day 4. Ugh, no.

The ending was abrupt. The "bad guy" simply drives off into the sunset. We then open the next chapter with "Two Months Later". What?

The thriller plot twist I did not see coming. Had the editors amended the first 184 pages into a shorter and faster clip this book might've worked. 2.50 Stars

Best friends Margaret, Sam and Diana set off on a girl’s trip to upstate New York. It sounds like The Perfect Escape as all have relationship issues with their significant others. However, halfway to their destination, they lose the smart key to their rental car.

Forced to stay in rural Catskill for the night, the women decide to party in a local bar. Two of the women hook up. The third never returns to their rental house. What is going on? The answer is as twisty as any thriller I’ve read.

If you are looking for a dark and twisty thriller, you can’t go wrong with this book. It really is The Perfect Escape. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.