An intriguing and intelligent debut novel by Katherine Faulkner.

I had the ebook and audio for this title and enjoyed being able to switch back and forth between the two. An entertaining story with great characters.

An excellent debut novel! Can't wait to read more from this author.

Enjoyment (stars): 5
Total rating (stars): 4.93

At the center of our characters, we have Helen, a woman who struggled with infertility but is finally pregnant with her rainbow baby. Her sister-in-law is also pregnant. She is close to both her brothers and their wife and ex-girlfriend.

She meets Rachel at an antenatal class, and soon her perfect life turns into the perfect nightmare. Rachel literally comes in like a wrecking ball, and Helen is caught in the middle of a whirlwind.

I adored Greenwich Park, Faulkner's prose is delightful, easy to read and completely and utterly addictive. Every single character was fleshed out and intensely and authentically represented.

Helen's sense of foreboding and anxiety permeates the whole book and bleeds through the page dragging you with it. I loved, loved this book. Two of the narrators (we have a few) were so easy to invest in, even though you know they might be unreliable.

Overall, I will be thinking about a book for a long time and reread it often. Faulkner is an author I will be watching for.

My only complaint is that it took 1 year to be translated into American English. I hope her subsequent books are published much faster on our side of the pond!



Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing a copy of Greenwich Park.

The opener for this book really intrigued me right from the start. Who was this person writing from the prison? How long had they been there? What had they done to end up there? What exactly was their relationship with Helen? I had to keep reading just to find out!

I love reading an author that makes you feel like you are right there watching the scenes unfold… I felt like I met Rachel when Helen did and was both horrified by her behaviour and yet, also intrigued. I wanted to keep reading as each chapter kept bringing more unknowns and drawing me deeper into the storyline.
“What is actually happening?!?”, that’s what I kept wondering all throughout the book.
This is definitely a good read for anyone looking for a mystery you just can’t quite figure out until the end!

My thanks to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this copy of Greenwich Park.

I wasn't sure what I was getting in to when I started Greenwich Park. Typically, I don't like thrillers with an unstable narrator (I'm not sure if I've said that a million times before or not) and I was very worried this book would take that path. Helen was an idiot, she was naive and just sad, but her husband sucked and so did all of her friends, so what was there to expect really? Looking back at my notes while reading this book, I think I had an inkling of where the book was headed but I just wasn't sure how it would all play out. I was pleasantly surprised that I quite enjoyed it, as it didn't feel like an overdone plot and kept me guessing even when I had bits figured out.

There were a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of open plot lines that didn't quite connect, but overall, it was a gripping thriller that kept me guessing. I would't say it'll make any favourites lists, but it was a decent read!

This was a great thriller that begins with Helen making a new friend , named Rachel, in her pre-natal class. Secrets from Helen's past begin to stir and she must find out the truth, her life depends on it.

4-4.5 Stars
I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of Greenwich Park by debut author Katherine Faulkner.
The synopsis drew me in, but the character driven thriller kept me engaged.
I was invested in the story and the cast of characters from the very first chapter. The writing reads smoothly with multiple point of views to allow the reader to really get in the heads of the characters. As the story unfolds, you learn about three couples. Helen and her husband Daniel. Rory and Serena, Charlie and Kate, and how they are all connected.
Helen is pregnant when she meets the loud and outspoken Rachel at a prenatal class.
Rachel isn’t who she seems to be, but are any of us really?
This is a slow burning novel with a lot of moving parts which left me wanting to read faster to see how it would all unravel.
An amazing debut for Katherine Faulkner. I look forward to more fun rides in the future. I have already ordered a print copy for my shelves.

I received an eARC of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced thriller. It had some twists & turns that I didn't always understand until later. And I enjoyed the ending.

It starts when Helen befriends a woman at her pre-natal class and then the woman keeps popping up everywhere in her life. There are some strange things happening and it all seems connected back to something that happened when Helen and her friends were in college.

Overall it was interesting, exciting and kept me hooked and continuing to read. I read most of it in just a few days.

Greenwich Park
4/5 ⭐️

Thank you @netgalley & @simonschusterca for the ARC in exchange for review! This one released January 25.

The only reason it wasn’t a perfect 5⭐️ is this girl does not love a slow burn. I like when a novel just gets to it within the first few chapters. However, this story made up for that BIG TIME.

The alternating views had me constantly reading so that I could finally find out WTH is going on! And who the heck is Rachel?

While I did guess a major plot pretty early on, I did not expect the very end after the letter. Even until the bitter end it had you guessing.

#GreenwichPark #KatherineFaulkner #mystery #thriller #audiobook #ARC #books #netgalley #newrelease #readingnow #readinggoals #goodreads #bibliophile #bookworm #nsbookstagrammer #canadianbookstagrammer

A pitch-perfect thriller, this book is dark and devious and thoroughly engaging - with enough twists and turns to keep even the best psychological sleuth guessing.

Helen, Serena, Rory and Daniel. College friends at Cambridge, (Rory Haverstock is Helen’s brother) and as the couples pair up and their studies are completed, the men, both architects, take over the well-established and successful Haverstock family architectural business.

Helen, an anxious, feverish soul, who has suffered multiple miscarriages, feels herself to be something of a misfit, struggling to be as stylish, confident, befriended and innately centered as her friend Serena (and indeed, as most everyone else). Pregnant again, and for the first time, as the months stretch on, tentatively hopeful - the initial joy, as Helen finds Serena in a similar position, turns once again to her perceived and inevitable failure to measure up.

With fears for her pregnancy, home renovations, financial concerns, and a whole mess of everyday stressors now creating chaos in her inner life, Helen is ripe and ready to take on a new “friend”, a strange and somewhat alarming young woman, Rachel, who comes crashing into her world when the two are unexpectedly paired up at prenatal classes.

Set in and around a leafy and stately section of London’s finest homes, with Helen’s much-loved home overlooking the gorgeous views of Greenwich Park, as the pages turn, a mood that feels not unlike thick black treacle begins to settle in - seeping across all that is good and stable and wonderful in Helen’s life. As the details begin to pool up, ominous and chilling, leaving Helen now seriously stricken, this reader cannot help but wonder - just who is this Rachel and what is she up to?

Masterfully plotted and deeply unsettling, this atmospheric and claustrophobic read unveils hints of gothic gloom, murkily reminiscent of both Daphne Du Maurier and the creepily Hitchcockian brilliance of Patricia Highsmith.

Highly recommended for fans of moody suspense, I loved this book, tearing through the pages as I managed to puzzle out the significance of only part of this devilishly constructed plot.

A great big thank you to @Netgalley and the publisher @SimonandSchusterCa for an ARC of this book #GreenwichPark by @KatherineFaulkner. All thoughts presented are my own.

Helen is pregnant, and meets Rachel at a prenatal class when her brother and SIL, as well as her husband, Daniel, are all not able to make it. After that night, it seems like Rachel is everywhere that Helen is. Although Helen isn't a fan of her, she entertains Rachel on every occurrence, feeling bad at first and then slowly starting to come around to her. When strange things start happening with everyone around her, Helen does not know who to trust, or what is going on. When Rachel goes missing, the web of lies starts to unravel and Helen learns exactly who everyone is, and what secrets they've been keeping all this time.

I have been so torn on how to rate this book. This was a great debut novel and the writing was very well done. However, the first half of the book was SO slow for me, I almost DNF'd it. I like to be intrigued fairly early on, and this did not hit that mark. With all the great reviews I've seen, I decided to continue on and try to finish it. The plot was interesting, but nothing that wow'd me, and I actually found some of the twists predictable and the ending was underwhelming. The only character that was somewhat likeable was Katie, so I found myself not really caring what happened since there was no one I was rooting for.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my copy of this digital arc in exchange for my honest review

3.75 stars

I thought this one was good but not amazing. The story was interesting, and the characters were an entertaining mess, but I think I saw parts of the ending coming too much to fully appreciate the suspenseful elements (or maybe it was just my own view contrasted with everything the main protagonist seemed to miss, haha). It was good, though, and I do enjoy thrillers that have multiple points of view. I liked it and will look for other books from this writer in the future.

This is my first exposure to this author and it definitely did not disappoint! This is a well-written, suspenseful, complex, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless at times in anticipation of the next twist in the plot of which there are many. Her characters are well-developed though not necessarily likeable. None of them are whom they appear to be. This provocative, somewhat dark and twisted story grabs you from the first page and keeps you guessing until the very end where the author inserts a deliciously wicked twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Slow start... quick pick up that left me NEEDING TO KNOW where it was all going. Impressive debut thriller, but the closing chapters left me feeling like it could have been wrapped up in a more polished manner. I can't say more without spoilers, but the manner in which all is revealed seems out of place and felt like a last minute "add on" because the author wasn't sure how else to tie it up. Not disappointing, but it made the whole thing feel very amateur and took away from the overall effect.

Thank-you NetGalley for an ARC of Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner. This was a debut book for Katherine Faulkner and it did not disappoint! It was a little slow at times, but hold steady everything pulls together and all your questions will get answered. The author has a very descriptive way of writing which allows you to put a picture to her words. Looking forward to the next book.

Greenwich Park tells the story of Helen and her inner circle during the end stages of her pregnancy with her first child. When she meets a young women in her prenatal class who seems determined to befriend her, events from the past unravel to revels a shocking revelations.

This domestic thiller unfortunately left me wanting more. Helen and friends/family (Rory, Serena, Daniel, Charlie and Katie) are all incredibly well off and live in the titualar neighborhood. Helen in particular is an irritating narrator: wealthy, constantly complaining, and overly passive. She comes off as a whiny child.

The first 40% of this novel is very slow and the writing style is overly descriptive. After the 40% mark however, the plot and intrigue picked up notably until about the 70% mark. In the final 30% of novel I felt the author gave too much away too quickly and as a result the momentum built in the previous section comes almost to a grinding halt.

In conclusion, Greenwich Park joins the ranks of other domestic thillers, trying to capture the artistry of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, but falls notably short.

Thanks to NetGalley, author Katherine Faulkner, and publisher Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Novel was published on January 25, 2022.

⭐⭐✨

Usually with a thriller you know from the start of you are supposed to look for a missing person, a murderer or what ever else but with Greenwich Park you don't know why you are reading the book for more than half of it.

I was confused about the plot, well about the lack of plot for about 60% of the book. Honestly it's just this woman going through her life with her shit husband and her weird new friend.

I kinda knew from the start who was the suspect we were supposed to look for even though we had no clue about what they had done. It's was quite obvious who was guilty and who was not.

The writing was fine nothing spectacular but better than average I would say. There is a lot of description so if it's not you thing maybe don't read this.

The characters are all stupid and unbearable to read about. Helen is so naive, Serena is mean and think she is better than everyone else, Katie is just boring with no personality. And obviously all the mens are scumbag.

The ending was meh at best. At that point I didn't really care about how it ended I just wanted it to be over with. Maybe I would have liked it more if it was 50-75 pages less.

I'm a sucker for over description so just for that I rounded up to three stars. For a debut it's good and I will keep track of future books from Katherine Faulkner. I think she has great potential to write amazing books, books about pregnancy are just not my thing.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free earc copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

Greenwich Park - Katherine Faulkner
From the outside looking in, Helen seems to have it all, the handsome architecture husband, close brother and sister in law, the family home passed down to her, and now the thing she wanted most, a viable pregnancy.
In her Prenatal classes, Helen meets Rachel and is taken back by the in your face attitude she presents herself with. However, after multiple run ins, Helen and Rachel become friends. Helen is so happy to have someone to spend time with, she ignores the oddities until those oddities invade her space.
When Rachel shows up at Helens door upset after being attacked, she finds a way to shove herself into Helens life, from overstaying her welcome to pretending she's one of the group with her friends. But what is Rachel after? After Helens party, Rachel goes missing, and everyone starts acting funny. Helen is left more confused than ever about why Rachel seemed to target her and her friends and family. What is the connection between the all?
This book had me hooked right away, and until the very end. I had a very hard time figuring out Rachel and what she was up to. The author left subtle hints throughout but definitely not enough for me to put the entire story together.
I am still indifferent to Helens character. I feel like she reeked of desperation and was weak. I tried to feel sorry for her, but in the end, I think I was just tired of her story.
However, the book as a whole was amazing. For someone who is looking for a psychological thriller to keep them on the edge of their seat. This. Is. The. One.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Rachel entered Helen's life after they met at a prenatal class. Her erratic behaviour unsettles Helen's family and friends and then, she threatens to expose a past crime that could destroy all their lives.

What I liked:
- The 3 point of views allowed me to see the situations and each characters differently.
- Everything got explained in the last chapter.

What I disliked:
- This book was really slow. It only got interesting about 3/4 into the book. I don't mind a slow-paced story if I like the characters, which wasn't the case here.
- I feel like the suspense relied mostly on us having no information of what was actually going on. Most of the time, the characters had information that wasn't transmitted to us, the readers.
- Sometimes, the chapters ended in a cliffhanger and the next chapter with that character's POV started with what happened later and we saw what happened after the cliffhanger in a flash back.

This book just wasn't for me, but other people might like it.

2.5⭐

Greenwich Park - Katherine Faulkner

A debut thriller for Katherine Faulkner that is available today. A story of a wealthy couple and their circle of friends. Helen's idyllic life is disrupted when she meets Rachel, a young pregnant woman at a prenatal class who suddenly seems to be everywhere Helen is. “How do you unmake a friendship?"

I found myself doubting and suspecting everyone. Who is keeping secrets and how are all the characters connected? This was a slow burn thriller but at times confusing with the multiple POVS and I personally didn't love the rushed ending.

Maze Hill, Greenwich is home to a neighbourhood of perfect people. You’ll soon find out that perfect people can tell perfect secrets! Can they get away with the perfect crime?

In short, this novel is about a pregnant woman’s life that starts to unravel when she meets an unpredictable single mother.

Katherine Faulkner’s debut exposes obsession that is fueled by revenge and explores the dark and sinister side of seemingly perfect people. Helen and Rachel’s lives become entangled when they meet at a prenatal class. Helen has suffered trauma from several miscarriages and is missing the support of her husband and her best friends, who are actually her brother and pregnant sister-in-law. They were all supposed to be at the class, but for various reasons couldn’t make it. The scene is set for needy Helen to befriend Rachel, a woman with an ulterior motive. The women appear to be a good support system for each other until the day that Rachel knocks the door asking for a place to stay until she can get her life back together.

I was honestly surprised that this was written by a debut author. Faulkner is a master at creating atmosphere, a sense of place, visceral and descriptive writing and a well-planned psychological suspense. She was able to fool me with her multiple twists and keep me in the dark until the end. The success of this novel is the use of multiple unreliable narrators using first person point of view. It gave me a greater sense of what was happening behind the closed doors of Maze Hill, but also gave me insight into the college lives of the main characters. The suspense created was a close second. I knew something sinister was lurking when I noted that Rachel’s behaviour was a little off, something was askew with Helen taking so long in her sister-in-law’s bathroom, and when things started to go missing in the house only to show up days later. When I discovered lies and secrets between the friends, I didn’t know who to trust. These two things made for a compelling read that I honestly couldn't put down.

I’ll eagerly read another psychological suspense by Falkner.

I was gifted this advance copy by Katherine Falkner, Simon and Schuster Canada, Gallery Books, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review