Look Closer

5 stars
Top notch thriller! I was just going to read a few pages before bed, well here it is 5am and I’ve just finished the book and haven’t slept on about 24 hours now. David Ellis just knows how to write a good book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early read!

So, we have Simon and Vicky, a normal married couple. But Simon has just run into Lauren on the street – he hasn’t seen her in almost twenty years, but he has always thought that she was the one that got away. Much to his surprise, she is glad to see him, very glad to see him, and they embark upon an affair. Meanwhile, Vicky seeks out a financial consultant to help her manage an upcoming windfall – after ten years of marriage, she will finally have access to Simon’s trust fund, and she intends to clean it out and leave town. When Lauren is found dead in her home, the victim of a Halloween eve homicide, the questions start coming – the secrets that Simon and Vicky are keeping are about to come out into the open. Told from multiple points of view, including the detective who is investigating the case and knows Simon from their high school days, you quickly learn that you can’t trust any of these narrators. I seriously didn’t know where this was going, because every time I thought I had it figured out, something blew up my theory. If you like these kind of thrillers, the unreliable narrator (Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, etc) then I would highly recommend this one – and if you are a bit bored by them after all this time, I would still give this one a read, you won’t be sorry.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

Huh? What? Who? How?

Simon and Vicky live in a suburb of Chicago. Simon is a law professor and Vicky works with domestic violence victims. They seem to have a solid marriage….

I don’t want to say anything more. So many twists. So much baggage. Very engaging book where you say one more chapter and end up reading five. Told in alternating POV between multiple characters. A great thriller.

Why am I just now discovering this author??!! This book was fantastic! I was looking for a new thriller and this book cover caught my eye. I am so glad I chose it as my next read.

Simon is a law professor at a local college. His early life was heavily influenced by his mother, also a lawyer. Unfortunately, she suffers a severe stroke, becomes wheelchair bound and eventually commits suicide. Simon may have been able to recover from the trauma of his mother's death, but he will never recover from the fact that his father cheated on his mother during this time.

Vicky Lanier is working at a domestic abuse shelter, trying to hold on until November 3 when she and Simon will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary and will be entitled to the 21 million dollar trust that awaits. She has begun researching investment advisors and thinks she has found a solid choice in Christian. But does he have her best interests at heart or is he after something more?

This cat and mouse thriller will keep you guessing until the very end. I thought the author did an excellent job of connecting all the pieces, including a surprise I didn't see coming towards the end of the book. There was one small part of the story that I'm not sure was a misprint or intentional and has to do with a character's last name, but I don't want to say anymore and spoil things for future readers. Do yourself a favor and read this book!

Author David Ellis has given us a book with more twists and turns than a mountain highway. If you like plot twists, you're in luck, there's a bunch in here. If you like the unreliable narrator, great, they're in here too. You might think that with each chapter told from the perspective of a different character, you'd know what's really going on, but nothing could be further from the truth, or closer to the truth? Simon and VIcky are a typical married couple, but we soon find out that they have secrets that are providing motivation for their actions. They weren't alone, everyone in this book has an angle, and as a reader, you won't know who to root for. I could not put this down, neither will you. Pick this up on Friday night and we'll see you on Saturday afternoon to talk about it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin publishing for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.