Cover Image: Greenwich Park

Greenwich Park

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I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this one and wow, what a tangled web this book is! Watching it unravel as I read on was a great ride and definitely had me eager to find out what was going to happen next. It was almost to the point where there was a bit too much going on with the multiple povs that emerged throughout, but they do piece the story together despite how confusing it can become.

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Interesting story that has some exciting twists and turns. It just read a little slow for me.
I was attracted to the cover and I guess I expected more sinister mystery throughout, but it does teach to beware who you befriend.
Thank you to Netgalley, Gallery Books and the Author, Katherine Faulkner for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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After years of trying, Helen is pregnant, and on her first day of prenatal classes, she meets Rachel - a single mother-to-be who ignores what people think and does whatever she wants (e.g., drinking wine at the class). Helen is alternately attracted and repelled by Rachel, but the friendship is extremely dysfunctional, and it honestly made me pretty uncomfortable / disappointed with Helen for being so gullible and malleable. Very few of the characters were really likeable, and some (like Daniel, Helen's husband), were completely flat for most of the book. About a third of the way through, some twists and turns happened, and then things started getting interesting; the second half of the book was much more interesting than the first, where I kind of wanted to just give up. I was glad I stuck with it, but the slow start made it tough to give a good rating, even though I enjoyed the ending.

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Greenwich Park is filled with suspense. Helen and Rachel are very different women whose lives become entwined. Katherine Faulkner writes a book that will keep the reader uncertain how the story will end until the very end.

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Helen meets Rachel at a prenatal class and immediately she seems to run into her everywhere she goes. Rachel hardly seems like a mother-to-be, drinking, smoking, dressing inappropriately; yet Helen lets her work her way into her life. As Helen opens up to Rachel, what does she really know about Rachel, her life or who she is. There are several stories playing out each with its own twist - it's a really good debut for Faulkner.

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I didn't love this book or hate it. At times I thought it dragged out the drama and wanted it to pick up speed. I liked the three POV's, they added different perspectives to what was going on.

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I have always been captivated by what goes on in small, posh, confined neighborhoods. Greenwich Park is a suspense novel set behind closed doors. And the allure is getting a peek inside.

In this book, there are two women we are focusing on. Helen and Rachel. Helen is kind of overcome by Rachel and her life, possibly enamored by her choices and her -who gives a fuck- attitude. She wants to be like her a little but enjoys being above her all the same.

As the book unfolds so does Rachel as a character. And so does Helen, as she becomes more and more infatuated by Rachel. I enjoyed that aspect of the book. Where the book falls short is in displaying characters that feel different from one another.

Rachel and Helen were too similar. The obsession that I wanted to feel between them did not exist. And it didn't have the depth I was looking for.

However, if you're looking for a book to add to your spring break vacation TBR pile, this one would be a great beach or airport read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for this advanced copy!

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This is a fun thriller that I think most thriller fans in general will enjoy. It goes by quickly and has a few good twists here and there.
Helen has the perfect life. She has a handsome husband, a baby on the way, a beautiful home, you name it she seems to have it. One day while in her first prenatal class she meets a woman named Rachel and, unbeknownst to her at the time, her life would never be the same.
Rachel is a drinking, smoking mother-to-be who doesn’t seem to be very maternal at all. Still, Helen finds herself drawn to her. She thinks maybe Rachel just needs a friend and Helen has been a bit lonely as well. At least Rachel is fun to be around and she makes Helen laugh. They share confidences and have a strange little friendship.
However, Rachel’s increasingly erratic behavior has been leaving Helen feeling unsettled. Helen isn’t the only one to notice either. Her friends and family begin to suspect Rachel. When Rachel threatens to expose a past that could destroy a lot of lives things get even more tense. There are a lot of secrets brewing in this tale.
I can’t say too much more without giving things away. This story is fun and you do wind up getting yourself absorbed in it. Some things are fairly apparent and as the story goes by you get even more information that directs you in certain directions. It’s well written enough you just want to know what happens next even if you think you have it all figured out.
I absolutely loved the very end of this book! It may leave you smiling but it just may not. Depending on where you fall on the character scale.
If you are considering reading this I would say go for it. It’s worth it.

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Thank you to Netgalley, Gallery Books, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book.

4.5 stars

This was a fun and twisty read! Helen is about to have her first child--after multiple failed pregnancies--and is doing a remodel of her lovely (inherited) Victorian in Greenwich Park with her equally lovely architect husband. She meets Rachel in a prenatal class. After that, things get . . . complicated.

This one kept me turning the pages. I often thought I had it figured out only to have another wrench thrown into the works. I had heard a lot of buzz about this one and was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype, but it turned out to be a good one.

Pick this one up and get ready to devote a day to getting to the bottom of this thriller.

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Idyllic Life, not quite! Appearances are deceiving! Seems there are people that will do absolutely anything for another person even at a risk to themselves!
Helen seems quite the bore, good character portrayal but difficult to like. Rachel seems like tons of fun but maybe too reckless for motherhood! Rachel is everything that Helen is not. Maybe that is why she can’t seem to stay away from her. Meeting once in a prenatal class and then becoming fast friends seemed so odd!
Once the story unfolds and you find out where she fits in, some things begin to make sense. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, it was turned on its head! Don’t even get me started on the very end! Mindblowing!
Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

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Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner.

After years of trying, Helen is finally having a baby, and even better, so is her brother and sister-in-law. Ecstatic to learn all about her upcoming birth and pregnancy, Helen attends a prenatal class, where she quickly meets Rachel. But Rachel is nothing like Helen, she is brash, loud, and a very persistent friend. But Helen is lonely and desperately in need of a friend, especially one that can relate to what she is going through.

But it takes very little time before Rachel's aggressive personality and intrusion into Helen's life begins to sour. People are starting to raise eyebrows, and even Helen grows increasingly uncomfortable about this woman who appeared out of nowhere. Is Rachel just a big personality, or does she have a more sinister agenda?

Ooooh, I was drawn into this novel right away. Great atmosphere and setting. Lots of tension right from the get-go, the author did a great job even setting off MY red flags. I felt like I was a fly on the wall of the ever growing drama of this story. Very fun!

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Greenwich Park held my interest for a while, but too many different things were going on that seemed pretty strange. I did not like the ending where it was all neatly tied up in a most unbelievable way. I would read another book by Katherine Faulkner as I think parts of the book showed promise of getting better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this ARC for review.

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What a book!!!! I read this in one sitting. I absolutely could not put it down. I had so much fun with this one.

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Thank you Gallery Books for this copy of Greenwich Park.
I wish I had better things to say but this was not for me, it is a very slow burn and I could not connect with any character. I was hoping by the description for a faster paced thriller but it was not.

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Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review. Catching up on missed reviews & know I will be recommending this one to a lot of my customers!

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Excellent twisty, edge-of-your seat thriller! Greenwich Park is a tale of friendships, motherhood, and the secrets that we all keep. Helen and Rachel's worlds collide in this gripping read and who (and what) Rachel is turn Helen's idealic world upside down. Greenwich Park is a world you will leave awe-struck!

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Faulkner has won me over with this debut novel. This novel had cat and mouse vibes. I enjoyed the anticipation of reading this novel and the slow pacing. However, my favorite thing had to be how neatly everything was wrapped up in the end. I really struggle with leaving books when there are still unanswered questions I have, and this one was so comfortable to close with a sense of satisfaction! The one thing that kept me from giving five stars was that some of our major characters seemed to fit too neatly in stereotypes of characters - such as "the selfish one", "the one making dumb decisions when she should know better", etc.

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Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

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Greenwich Park is the London neighborhood that readers get to know well over the course of this domestic thriller. This is the first novel by Katherine Faulkner but I feel that she has done her research on how to write this type of popular book.

Readers get to know a number of women in this story that is told in alternating voices. That, of course, does not tell readers who is truthful or what exactly will happen. There are:

Helen-She finally seems to be having a successful pregnancy after heartache. Her husband seems to work late an awful lot of nights. Keep an eye out for his computer.

Serena: She is also pregnant with a baby due not so long after Helen’s. She is married to one of Helen’s brothers. What is the meaning of the note that is secreted in a cupboard and that has the initial W?

Katie: She is a reporter covering a rape case in which the accused are public school boys. She is involved with Helen’s other brother, Charlie.

These characters all know and interact with one another. Into this mix comes Rachel.

Rachel attaches herself to Helen in an ante-natal group and soon insidiously makes her way into Helen’s life. Who is her baby’s father? Rachel is portrayed as manipulative, presumptuous and able to insinuate her way into other’s lives. Why does she want to be with this group?

Helen, Serena and their respective partners all went to Cambridge together. What happened when they were there? How will that resonate in the present day? Readers know from the first chapter’s first sentence that someone is in jail but who is it and why? Pick up the novel to find out.

I enjoyed this book. I was taken in by its sense of menace, often finding myself wanting to warn the characters. I thought I knew what would happen. Will you feel this way? Will you be right?

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

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My favorite thriller of the year thus far is the novel, Greenwich Park by debut author, Katherine Faulkner. An engrossing tale of domestic and psychological suspense, this one had me turning pages until late into the night.
Helen’s life appears to be idyllic, she has a handsome and successful husband, a lovely home in the upscale London suburb of Greenwich Park, a close circle of longtime friends and after four miscarriages a pregnancy that seems to be going perfectly. However, all of that changes the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets mom to be, Rachel. Confident and dynamic, Rachel is a force of nature. At first Helen is intoxicated by the breath of fresh air Rachel infuses into her life, but soon she begins to show up every place that Helen goes and she claims to know things that Helen doesn’t remember. Eventually, even Helen’s family and friends become concerned by the situation and it becomes increasingly apparent that Rachel is not what or who she appears to be. Who is Rachel and what does she want? As Rachel insinuates herself more deeply Helen’s life, secrets tightly guarded for years begin to bubble to the surface with catastrophic results.
Told from multiple perspectives and shifts in time, Faulkner manages to construct a tale that is at once complex and yet easy to follow. The shifting narratives keeps the reader off balance and you are never quite sure which character is telling the truth. This sophisticated and character driven thriller begins as a slow burn but quickly picks up in pace and the suspense continually increases until it reaches a fever pitch that leaves the reader desperate to know the final answer to the puzzle. As with any good thriller Faulkner leaves enough bread crumbs along the way to keep the reader engaged but is also is able to shock and surprise with twists and turns you will not see coming. This is a story that took me someplace I hadn’t expected to go and I loved every second of the journey. And just when it appears that all the secrets had been revealed, the last line of the novel reveals a twist that you will not see coming and that will leave you thinking about it for years afterward

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