A fast paced suspenseful thriller. Easy to get caught up in all the drama of pregnancy and family dynamics. Although many of the characters were hard to like, either being naive or flip, it was a page turner. I did not figure out the true villain until the final pages. People can really be that cruel.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

💫 Greenwich Park 💫
By Katherine Faulkner
Publisher: Gallery Books (Jan 25.2022)

Debut author gave me a Christmas suspenseful thriller that Reminded me of “the hand that rocks the cradle”. There were So many lies and directions this book went in that at one point I struggled trying to figure out which secondary character we were talking about. And I have to admit the main character annoyed me. Having been through 10 miscarriages and 4 babies in my arms, I know that I wouldn’t be so flippant at the end of my pregnancy doing what Helen did… but perhaps that was intentional.

Positives: easy to read and brings you in right away. I really like multiple POV in thrillers. Quick chapters that allow for smooth reading.
Negative: too many side characters and way too long epilogue. I also didn’t like the MC because I wanted to shake her 🙈🙈

That said it still kept my attention and was a decent read. I have a soft spot for debut authors and think that the author has something there.

Will note the Triggers:pregnancy loss, rape, murder

Thanks to the publishers for a gifted copy in return for an honest review. Love when it’s a quick read like this. 3.5-4 ⭐️

A riveting domestic thriller by first-time novelist Katherine Faulkner about three siblings and their partners living in an affluent neighbourhood in the Greenwich borough of London. Helen and her husband, Daniel, are expecting their first child after a series of miscarriages when she meets an erratic young woman named Rachel at her prenatal class. As Helen advances through her last few weeks of pregnancy, Rachel infiltrates their lives and their home and it gradually becomes apparent that she is manipulative, perhaps hiding her true identity and may have an ulterior motive for befriending Helen. The narrative alternates points-of-view between Helen, her sister-in-law Serena who is also pregnant, and her younger brother Charlie's girlfriend, Katie, who is a journalist reporting on the rape of a young woman in Cambridge. Greenwich Park is a gripping, thrilling read that I found impossible to put down because of the constant sense that I had that something bad was about to happen! I anticipated most of the plot twists but was taken completely by surprise by aspects of the ending. This was an impressive debut - can't wait for Faulkner's next novel!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.

Helen is on early maternity leave, preparing to bring home her first baby. She is supposed to be taking it easy and nesting but is left unsettled when she finds hidden notes and photos while other items seem to go missing. With her husband busy running the family architect firm, Helen becomes fast friends with another mom-to-be in her prenatal classes.

This book is full of messy intertwined relationships that always make for an interesting read. It is fast paced and I found it hard to put down! So many times twists had me on the edge of my seat, with an ending that had me like “what?! What what!!”

I highly recommend this book!! So soo good!!!

Thank you to Net Galley & Simon and Schuster Canada for the free review copy!!

Greenwich Park by @katherinefaulkner

⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for providing a digital copy of Greenwich Park in exchange of a honest review.

Hear me out, psychological thriller are my favorite. I could read them all year long, and this one didn't disapointed me. It doesn't read like a debut novel to me, even if I knew where it was going, I still enjoyed it until the end which is a good thing!
The only thing that bother me a little is; why do we need to know that Helen is so ginormous in every single chapter? We get it, she is expecting a child. On top of that, why is she always talking about her parent using "mummy" and "daddy"... I mean she is in her 30s...

Still, an enjoyable read that kept me hooked! 🌳

I really liked this psychological thriller! It was well-paced with lots of twists and turns and even though I suspected who the villian was, the ending was still very good. The story dealt with pregnancy, friendships, and long-buried secrets, and while these themes are not new to the thriller genre, in this debut author’s hands, it was fresh and entertaining. This debut novel is on par, to me, with many other thrillers that I have read this year. Very impressed!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada and Netgalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Although it was a bit slow at the start, it turned into quite a page turner once things started falling into place. Definitely kept me guessing til the very end. Great debut novel, and hopefully there will be more from this author.

What a wild ride! The only weakness in this new British thriller was that it started out a little slow for me -- I somehow missed that the chapters were being told in different voices, this wasn't super clear but that may just be a formatting issue with the ARC, so I was not immediately sure who was who. But once everything clicked into place, I stayed up until 3am, two nights in a row to get to the end. Some unexpected twists and turns kept me turning the pages! A solid cast of characters and an atmospheric setting. This one will no doubt be a movie -- some of it felt designed for film, it was very visual -- and I can't wait to see it. Really solid debut.

Wow, what a terrific read. This book is a first novel for journalist Katherine Faulkner but hopefully it will be followed by many more.. Greenwich Park is the green space that gives its name to the neighbourhood where Helen lives with her successful, professional husband in an historic family home, inherited on the death of her parents. After suffering several miscarriages, she is nearly term with a son. Her life seems idyllic but all is not as it seems. The peace of her home is being destroyed by major renovations, her husband is reluctant to engage in prenatal classes and her brother and sister in law, also expecting a first child, are less than supportive, her friend from childhood is busy with her own life and her other brother remains distant. When Helen attends the first session on her own, she is befriended by Rachel, a brash young woman who is also on her own. Slowly, Rachel begins to infiltrate every aspect of Helen’s life, appearing on her doorstep following an assault and ending up residing in Rachel’s home and casting an ominous shadow over Helen.
Katherine Faulkner knows how to build suspense and this is a novel where the reader will be guessing the final outcome virtually to the end. It is a superbly constructed puzzle and I recommend it highly for any whodunnit fan.. Thank you to Netgalley/ Raven Books/ Gallery Books for the ARC.

This is a highly anticipated release for me. Even since I saw Ashley Audrain talk about this book on an IG chat - I’ve been dying to get my hands on it.

Things I loved:
-couldn’t put it down, the pacing kept me intrigued
-I truly had no clue where the book was going, I had so many suspicions
-Katie’s POV was my favourite, but I did love to roll my eyes at Helen
-that ending was 👌

Things that weren’t my fave:
-there are so many unanswered questions, I feel like a few things were left unresolved
-a few things don’t add up or weren’t well explained, maybe they were just in there as red herrings, but I am still confused about a couple
of plot points

Overall, a gripping, unique read!

I really enjoyed this book, and it kept my interest till the last page. The storyline is ambiguous, and I really had no idea how all of the characters connected. The pacing was good, and although it's a bit of a slow burn, the ending makes up for it. Really enjoyed this one and will recommend it on my page.

Mother of an Elf!!! 😳🤯

Well that was an interesting thriller! It started a bit slow and mundane in a way when a pregnant woman, Helen, meets another pregnant woman Rachel at a pre-natal class. But soon weird things start to happen. Her brother and his wife are acting strangely, her husband is distant, and what about her friend Katie writing about a rape case? And how do all these people link up, hmm? Gosh it was crazy! It really started to pick up half way through and boy was it delectable! I mean I thought I knew, I thought I had it worked out but oh flippin' no! Holy geez what a book!!

Thank you to @NetGalley for allowing me this ARC.
Release date: January 24, 2022

I give this 4 / 5 snowflakes! ❄️

Review of Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner


“Oh, what a tangled web we weave…” Sir Walter Scott

Greenwich Park is a story about secrets. Who is keeping the secrets and why?

Helen and Daniel are married. She’s pregnant and on early maternity leave. Daniel is an architect in partnership with his brother-in-law, Rory, Helen’s brother. Rory is married to Serena the four were besties at college and did everything together.

Helen is being very careful nurturing this pregnancy because after many losses this one is looking like it will be full term. Serena is also expecting so he two couples decide to go to pregnancy classes together.

It is at the first class that Helen’s life begins to change. First, none of the others show up to meet her there as they had agreed. Helen is determined to deliver a healthy baby and stays. She is befriended by another woman (girl actually) who is also there alone. The girl, Rachel, seems a bit off, breaks all the rules of having a healthy baby. She smokes, drinks alcohol and doesn’t take care of herself.

What happens after is how mysterious Rachel seems to appear out of the blue everywhere Helen is, at the mall, at a coffee shop where she’s meeting her friend, Katie. Rachel even shows up at Helen’s home in Greenwich Park. At one point she arrives at Helen’s and pleads with her to stay the night after being beaten up. Daniel wants nothing to do with anything that has to do with Rachel or her problems. Why this sudden but strange friendship?

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this mystery and mystery it is. From Rachel to the questionable cryptic messages that appear to the end. You’ll want to stay up all night until you know the answer. Many thanks to Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review this novel.

Absolutely loved this book! Not super predictable and really enjoyed the twist(s) at the end! Amazing debut by Katherine Faulkner.

After years of struggling to have a child, Helen Thorpe is finally expecting a baby boy. But her life is upended when she meets Rachel, an offbeat woman in her prenatal class. Rachel doesn’t act pregnant. She smokes, drinks and acts almost too laidback towards her pregnancy. She also lacks boundaries and keeps popping up in Helen’s neighbourhood. Why exactly is Rachel so interested in Helen?

I liked how this book built emotional suspense from the first page that started with a letter written by an unidentified person to the last page when the writer was revealed. I also thought the author did a great job of setting scenes. I felt transported to Greenwich Park and Cambridge. There was also a good amount of characters and the ending satisfied me.

I do think the author could have revealed the details over a few chapters instead of one. It felt like an info dump. I also thought the main character was a bit too dim, to the point when she became hard to root for.

Overall this was a solid debut, and I think it will satisfy readers looking for a suspenseful novel.

This was a decent thriller. This was a tangled web of secrets that a family kept over the years that came back to bite them. Rachel wasn’t a character that it was easy to feel sympathetic towards, although neither was Ellen. I had it figured out pretty early in advanced. The ending was decent, but I think it was a little bit unrealistic. It seems strange to be that is escalated to what it did.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Put me in mind of Girl on a Train. This author used 1st person dialog of several parties to tell a tale of love, deception and murder. It was an entertaining tale, well crafted with well developed characters. It is a page turner.

This was a good, easy read. The multiple point-of-view writing is always up my alley. Helen, Serena and Katie have very different personalities and view points. After reading from one point of you, I kept wanting to read more to see what information would be added from the other perspectives. Admittedly, I wanted a little more out of the ending but that doesn't detract from my overall feeling of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for my copy of his book!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC edition of Greenwich Park by Katherine FaulknerGreenwich Park!
This was a fantastic thriller and definitely now a top for me in this genre.
What I like most about this book is that for basically the entirety of the novel, I had no clue what the actual crime was. This kept me completely guessing through the novel every time a "hint" was dropped about a person, a situation, a past occurrence ... I couldn't believe they were all perfectly tied together in the final chapter. Faulkner did an excellent job doing this.
The writing was as expected for this genre, for me it was more about the thrill. I did notice quite a few spelling errors and even two parts where a wrong name was used and even a wrong beverage (previously stated making tea, yet set coffee on the table).
All in all, this book started off slow for me as the reader doesn't know the crime, but it eventually picked up for me once I realized I am not going to know what is going on until the end. I found the characters slightly lacked any dimension, but the "what's going on, who did it" factor made up for that. I think it's on par with The Girl on the Train and The Woman in Cabin 10. It was exciting yet lacked characters to connect with and the writing was average.
Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada, this was a quick and enjoyable read. Fans of Chicklit Thrillers will definitely enjoy this book!

Greenwich park was such an intriguing and captivating novel. The character development for both Rachel & Helen had me so invested I could hardly put the book down to go to work!

Twisting and turning at every corner to keep you guessing who’s involved and who isn’t. The last chapter had me focused as everything unsolved only to literally laugh at loud at the end, brilliant. I honestly loved being able to walk away from a thriller feeling mind blown but also so satisfied at the justice served.

Needless to say this book now joins the list of books I stayed up until midnight because I couldn’t compel myself to stop reading and actually go to sleep without an ending was