⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is unbelievable chilling!! I was getting so irritated while reading this it was incredibly frustrating, in a good book way of course. I kept wanting to put it down to take a breather, but it was impossible, It was a constant been of wanting to find out what else was in store! All I will say is the ending blew me away. I loved it so much, if I could give more than five stars I would! Well deserved!

I chose The Stepson because I had read Jane Renshaw's work before and enjoyed it. The blurb was interesting.

An Australian psychologist, Lulu, has recently married Nick after a very brief relationship and moved to London to live with him in his beautiful apartment. She enjoys her new life and being with Nick even though he can be challenging. She knows this is due to anxiety around his past. However, lulu probably should have been more concerned about his controlling nature undercover as protective of her safety.

The story is told from two perspectives. The first, set in 1997, is told by Maggie, Nicks stepmother, and the present is described by Lulu, Nicks new wife. Lulu and Nick return to his childhood home to help him process his harrowing childhood where his whole family just disappeared one day. But this turns out to be far from what Lulu thinks it will be. So instead, we learn more about why Nick is the way he is and what has shaped his life.

This is a quick read with a fast pace, a lot is going on, and it's very intriguing. You don't know where this is going a lot of times. Is Maggie telling the truth, or does she just despise her stepson and want her new husband to herself? She has a sketchy past and could just be trying to paint him in a bad light.

Likewise, is Lulu too trusting and naïve for jumping into a deep relationship so very soon, or can she genuinely help Nick become less oppressive and a better husband?

The characters were all well rounded and described. Nick is brilliantly written. He is creepy, disturbed and even more so as we go through the story. Lulu is naïve but lovely; she feels she may have rushed into marriage too soon and wants to ensure that she hasn't. Duncan is the most devoted father anyone could ask for but is he naïve as well or just protecting his son Nick for a good reason? Maggie was my favourite. She has a sinister past; she is feisty, somewhat dodgy and knows what she wants and will stop at nothing.

The book's conclusion was great, a strong ending that I didn't see coming.

I loved the characters and the way this story is told. It's very well written with an intriguing plot and a surprising ending. I enjoyed reading this and got through it in two short sittings: one to curl up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and read straight through.

Many thanks to the publisher, author and Netgalley for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

I hate having to mark a book as Did Not Finish but I was unable to complete this one. Having just re-read the blurb I feel like I had absolutely no clue as to what was going on with the dual storyline. Lulu is married to her dream man, Nick. Nick's family disappeared when he was 16 and he is traumatised by this and convinced his stepmother did something to his beloved sister. Part of the book is from the stepmothers point of view and it seems that Nick is the one to be suspicious of and its not clear when the book is shifting in time and perspective and I had to give up on it as I had no idea what was going on.

What if you knew your Stepson was evil but no one believed you. That's the premise of The Stepson by Jane Renshaw. The story goes back and forth between 1997 and 2019 and is from told from the viewpoints of Maggie, Lulu and Nick. The book kept me guessing and the ending was a surprise. A totally entertaining book.

Whoa. That was a wild ride. Right from the beginning of the book it pulls you in. Although I really didn’t like the main character (she was frustrating to deal with at times) I thought the way she was portrayed was exactly as it should’ve been. I didn’t see the ending coming AT ALL. Very satisfying ending. Overall great, entertaining read!

This is a thriller telling Nick's story in his teens and then after his marriage. Lots of twists to keep the reader interested and an ending that I could never have expected

I went into this book blind since I'd forgotten the synopsis I'd read about it so I didn't have any expectations and allowed the plot to develop as it wanted and omg, I was blown away. From the outset I expected murder mystery but I got something so much more intriguing and cerebral. It was dark, it was suspenseful, it was twisted, and twisty...... it was just utterly captivating and such a thrilling read! The perfect book for these cold dark nights. Couldn't speak highly enough about it

Many may not like this writing style (lots of run on sentences) but this ploy is worth overlooking it. I've had trouble getting into a book lately but this cured that. Highly recommend.

Oh my god I loved this book so much! The plot was so interesting and kept me hooked the entire time. It was so interesting trying to figure out what happened with all of the incidents in the past timeline and trying to piece together the story. I enjoyed the multiple timelines as we could compare Nick as a teenager and him as an adult to draw parallels. I didn't particularly like Lulu though, I found her to be very naive and a little bit annoying however her character definitely got better at the ending of the book.

5/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this copy to review.

Psychopaths are charming. They woo you with flattery. They easily divert criticism of their actions to the one who criticized them, convincing those who were not present that it was the other person’s fault. And, psychopaths are people who throw the family cat into a deep fryer and claim that the cat had fallen in and they were just trying to rescue poor Fluffy. And, psychopaths kill their mothers in cold blood and claim that Mummy fell down the stairs.

At the same time they proclaim innocence of any wrong doing, actually, before that, when they are charming you,, they insidiously try to break you, to lure you into their web, trapping you as, inch, by inch, they nibble at you., until you, too, are dead.

They are persistent, not letting up until they have achieved their mission and their victims are dead, usually in a horrifying manner. Because at their cores, psychopaths are ruthless killers.

Nick, the prominent character in The Stepson, is a psychopath who wreaks such incredible horror on people he claims to love.

Scary but deliciously so book. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book. I look forward to more by Jane Renshaw.

The Stepson by Jane Renshaw is a psychological thriller told through two timelines, Nick as a young teenager and then as a married man. As the book goes on more and more is revealed about Nick's life and the tragedies that have befallen him.

I really enjoyed this book, I loved all the characters and how the reasons for their personalities are slowly revealed. Showing how one person can appear as a completely different person to different people and I really felt Maggie's frustration and fear.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Psychotherapist Lulu is married to a man still struggling with demons from his past. When he was a teenage, his father, step=mother, and half-sister disappeared... leaving him in the care of an aunt and uncle. There was never any trace of the missing family. In fact, the police somewhat suspected Nick of killing then and burying the bodies. But Nick told police he suspected his step-mother was to blame. That trauma has left him feeling that anyone he loves is in danger, might vanish in a heartbeat.

Lulu is getting a little weary of Nick's obsession with where she is every hour of every day. He's increasingly becoming more anxious, even insisting that she carry pepper spray in case someone tries to kidnap her.

As a therapist, she knows the only way to heal a trauma is to confront it. So she persuades him to return to the country house from which his family vanished.

And shortly after, another family member disappears. As Lulu is forced to question everything she knows about Nick and his missing family, dark secrets emerge from the past.

This is a riveting tale, the story line moving from the past, before Nick's family disappeared, to today with Lulu as the narrator. As a reader, I found it hard to believe Nick's memories, but at the same time, with the step-mother's past history, I could easily believe she may have been responsible. So whose memories are we to believe? There are twists and turns that swirl around the turbulence of human emotions. The characters are deftly drawn ... the angst, the fear, the uncertainty is palpable. The conclusion was terrifying and totally unexpected.

Many thanks to the author / Inkubator Books / Netgalley for this gripping psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I found this book very entertaining - meaning it kept me wondering what really happened. I raced through the book in two days. I liked the ending as it added a little something extra.

A quick read but not an easy one. The writing style was challenging and I felt needed some ruthless cutting to over long sentences.

I chose The Stepson because I had read Jane Renshaw's work before and enjoyed it. The blurb was interesting.

An Australian psychologist, Lulu, has recently married Nick after a very brief relationship and moved to London to live with him in his beautiful apartment. She enjoys her new life and being with Nick even though he can be challenging. She knows this is due to anxiety around his past. However, lulu probably should have been more concerned about his controlling nature undercover as protective of her safety.

The story is told from two perspectives. The first, set in 1997, is told by Maggie, Nicks stepmother, and the present is described by Lulu, Nicks new wife. Lulu and Nick return to his childhood home to help him process his harrowing childhood where his whole family just disappeared one day. But this turns out to be far from what Lulu thinks it will be. So instead, we learn more about why Nick is the way he is and what has shaped his life.

This is a quick read with a fast pace, a lot is going on, and it's very intriguing. You don't know where this is going a lot of times. Is Maggie telling the truth, or does she just despise her stepson and want her new husband to herself? She has a sketchy past and could just be trying to paint him in a bad light.

Likewise, is Lulu too trusting and naïve for jumping into a deep relationship so very soon, or can she genuinely help Nick become less oppressive and a better husband?

The characters were all well rounded and described. Nick is brilliantly written. He is creepy, disturbed and even more so as we go through the story. Lulu is naïve but lovely; she feels she may have rushed into marriage too soon and wants to ensure that she hasn't. Duncan is the most devoted father anyone could ask for but is he naïve as well or just protecting his son Nick for a good reason? Maggie was my favourite. She has a sinister past; she is feisty, somewhat dodgy and knows what she wants and will stop at nothing.

The book's conclusion was great, a strong ending that I didn't see coming.

I loved the characters and the way this story is told. It's very well written with an intriguing plot and a surprising ending. I enjoyed reading this and got through it in two short sittings: one to curl up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and read straight through.

Many thanks to the publisher, author and Netgalley for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

I received an ARC of The Stepson, by Jane Renshaw. This is a such a good thriller, kept on the edge of my seat. I would of gave it four stars except for the language.

The Stepson
by Jane Renshaw
This was along, hard book to read. It just seemed to go on and on, but going nowhere. By the end of the book, I was more or less jumbled from the long, needless sentences and the repeating. Sorry, but I just did not connect at all.

An interesting premise,good characters,for me an unusual writing style but got used to it and with twists and turns we arrived at a good ending,overall an enjoyable read

Don’t read this on a week night, as I guarantee you will lose sleep! Lulu, originally from the Australian outback,, is living her dream life in London. A successful psychologist married to a handsome financier, all seems perfect until her husband Nick’s traumatic past begins to intrude on their idyllic present. As a therapist she is determined to get to the root case of Nick’s trauma, and together they set off to the imposing country house where Nick spent his childhood. All I can say is, her training is no match for the shocking events and revelations that come her way.
At times I wanted to scream at Lulu’s naïveté, but the overall this was a highly satisfying read.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills. Solid five