Book review - The Perfect Family Man, M. M. Deluca.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A perfect mystery-thriller with the right amount of twists throughout. I found this the perfect mix of twists I had my suspicions on and ones that I hadn’t had a clue about! I was pleasantly surprised throughout!

Olivia has had her fair share of tragedy. The death of her brother, the loss of her child and now the disappearance of her husband. When she hasn’t heard from her husband in over a week, she calls his boss to find out exactly where he is on this “business trip”. From this phone call, she begins to realise that the man she married has lots of secrets. Who is Nate Barnett and why does bad things always seem to happen when he’s around?

I found this rather slow at the beginning for around 30% of the story was plot building. It was necessary though and you discover why this was needed later in the story. The way DeLuca interlinked all of the different story lines was perfect and it had the right amount of twists throughout to make me not want to put this book down. I loved the “now” and “then” approach to writing the chapters. It served the characters well as it supported their importance to the mystery.

My main criticism lies with the dialogue. I found myself grimacing at the way the characters talk. It was far too formal for the “long lost friends” DeLuca was aiming for. At times, I found myself thinking there is no way friends would speak to each other like that. There were far too many details within the dialogue that could’ve been added elsewhere to give the characters more of a realistic and relatable edge to them. A bit of dialect wouldn’t have gone amiss either - after reading Stefan’s first text to Olivia I realised this was something I needed more of!

Despite this, it was a fantastic, couldn’t-put-down mystery that had many great twists and turns interwoven throughout. The characters were great and the idea of uncovering secrets as we go always draws me into a story! I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would recommend it to all that love a mystery!

Thank you to Canelo for the ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Family Man is a roller coaster of a thriller. There are twists and turns and revelations that leave you wondering who to believe and what’s going to happen next.
Olivia, an artist, is grieving the loss of her son Jack who went missing 5 years ago. Her husband Nate is away a lot on business trips. He’s about to embark on a business trip when Olivia discovers that the lake house opposite, which has been empty for 5 years, has been sold. She wonders who will move in there and is distracted when Nate is about to leave. Their marriage has been a strain for the past 5 years and she is glad of the break the business trip will bring her. As he leaves they see the neighbour and she has a young boy who reminds her of Jack.
Olivia hears from Nate the next day, but after a couple of days she hears nothing from him even though she calls him, she gets no reply from him. When she calls his company she discovers he hasn’t worked there for 6 months. Where is he? Why did he lie to her and what other secrets is he keeping from her and what really happened to their son?
The Family Man is a great read and will keep you guessing to the last page. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for an honest review. The book started out a little slow for me but quickly drew me in. As I was reading this book it was easy to sympathize with Olivia in the disappearance of her son. When her husband disappeared it quickly seemed like the husband took the boy as the typical story. This book was so much more than that. There were many twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. The book went from slow to I can't put down!!

I found this book to be a real page turner. I guess it brought out my inner detective. That I recognized some of the areas and could envision the "lake house" was a fun fact for me as well. I really liked it and wondered how the Author gets from beginning to end without missing a beat.
I would leave the title to The Perfect Family Man, and omit the question part on the cover.
Great job M M Deluca!

HOLY CRAP - THIS IS ONE HELL OF A BLOODY GOOD READ!!.
I was completely blown away by this story. When I started it, I thought it was going to be a straight forward mystery, suspense book but OMG I was completely wrong. It's a gripping read that keeps you guessing right to the last page, with unexpected twists which were mind blowing. The suspense and mystery builds up throughout the book and the more you read the more you want to get to the ending, to see who is who and who did what. The plot plays with your emotions and one minute you feel sad, the next you get goosebumps and the ending is utterly heart breaking but in a joyful way. Olivia the protagonist was a bit of a pushover at the start but when things start to get creepy her confidence soars and she won't stop until she finds out who she married and the secrets he keeps. All the characters were well thought out and they all had depth and feelings which helped me connect with them. It's a book filled with secrets, lies and murder and I can't praise it highly enough, it deserves ten plus stars and I loved every page.

Thank you so much Canelo you have made my month 😘
I read this book in on sitting and I'm so not disappointed about it! Hahaha

I was drawn to this book because of some of the Authors other work and
M.M. DeLuca has become favorite of mine since reading Savage Instinct and The Secret Sister!

My only constructive criticism would be I wished there was .ore of a thrill factor add to this story!
But other than that.... I very much enjoyed the entire read!
This book kept me guessing till the very end!
With many twists and turns this novel kept me on edge and guessing till the end.
The books got more exciting as you got into it And the cast of characters wow..... Simply amazing set of people here!
The author builds tension that grows throughout the book and you find yourself unable to put the book down. I would definitely recommend this book.
Looking forward to reading more from this author!

Thank you again for this opportunity to read this story! I very much enjoyed it!
I will post to my platforms closer to pub date!

Just an ok read for me. Story seemed bulked out in parts which was not really relevant to the storyline. Slow burner which had a few twists to keep me reading to the end.. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Olivia Barnett is already mourning the loss of her son Jack who went missing over 5 years ago, when her Husband Nate also disappeared. Olivia strives to find out what has happened to her husband. There is a lot of to and fro-ing which I thought was not relevant to the story. Olivia is calm about her husband's disappearance in my view, being more interested in her new neighbour who has just moved in over the road and has a little boy. This was an ok read and must confess I skimmed most of it.

The perfect family man by M.M. DeLuca.
Five years ago, my little boy went missing. Now my husband’s vanished, too.
Wow a brilliant read. I read this in one sitting couldn't put it down. I loved Olivia and how she wouldn't stop fighting to find out what happened to her son Jack and husband Nate. This was a twisty suspence read. The only thing I didn't like was the then and now. I thoroughly enjoyed it apart from that. 5*.

A great story full of twists and turns. Emotionally charged and atmospheric with an incredible ending. Highly recommend.

This is a very slow-paced suspense that you won’t simply put down. The writing was very good but very slow, with too many irrelevant descriptions. The first half of the book is really slow and nothing major happens but the mystery involving this family will make you want to keep reading until you have it all figured out. Some parts I figured out by myself pretty early but there was some mystery left to discover that made me binge this book in a day.

What I Liked:

- Olivia’s cool-head when searching for answers about her husband's disappearance. Despite all that has happened during the years, she was able to master the courage to discover things by herself instead of waiting for the answers to appear.
- How the mystery involving her son and husband kept me interested until the end.
- The end of the story. I loved how it ended.

What I didn't like:

- The unnecessary and irrelevant parts of the book that didn’t contribute to anything at all, only made it boring sometimes. It felt like the author was just trying to fill in pages in order to make the book a little bigger.

Conclusion:

Despite the very slow-paced story, I recommend this book. If you like mysteries and suspense and if you have patience to read the slow parts, I think you’ll overall enjoy this story.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. This book sounded amazing, but sadly it fell short for me. I skimmed it more than anything. It did have some shocks and suspense, but it was very slow moving. Just ok for me.