A really great read. This had me gripped throughout and there was some unexpected twists and turns along the way! Really well written and fast paced. An amazing debut novel. I'm looking forward to reading more from Ali.

She thought she'd escape him now he's behind bars but the incarceration is all hers.
The leader of major gangland crime Tommy Driscoll is sent to prison for 5 years, but he leaves a list of instructions and threats with his brother to ensure his wife Emma toes the family line and waits until he's released.
A good solid read for fans of gangland crime novels but told from the point of view from the wife. I enjoyed it

I was not a fan of this book. Much of it read like a young woman writing in her diary, chronicling every detail of her day. The rest of it read like a college essay that needs to be 20 pages long, but you've only got it to 17 pages - so you go back and find ways to repeat what you've already said, just in a slightly different way.

I couldn't connect with the main character at all. She seemed immature and self centered. She got herself into a bad situation, and then just kept making even more bad choices to try to get herself out of it. When she wasn't making bad choices, she was, pretty much in her own words "doing nothing, in the hopes that everything would magically work itself out". I couldn't find any sympathy for her.

Due to all of this, I would not recommend this book.

I loved this from the fist page. Although I didn't like a few of the characters, it didn't put me off reading, in fact their nastiness added to the dialogue. I had guessed Emma's secret but again didn't detract from the story. It was gripping, fairly believable and kept me turning the pages until the very end.

#ThePrisonersWife #NetGalley
Loved the prisoner wife. OMG what a book it was. I really enjoyed reading this one. Looking more from the same author
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for giving me an advance copy.

This was different to my usual thrillers due to the gang land theme which for me gave it more of a creepy menacing feel than a build up of suspense. It was easy to see why Emma found herself in the situation of marrying a gangster without realising and also easy to appreciate why she felt unable to leave but I didn’t always find her convincing. I did enjoy finding out how she ended up in this situation and how impossible her life was even after her husbands conviction but I have to confess although the ending resolved things well it was too brief for me to feel satisfied 7/10

Tommy Driscoll is a gangster which Emma didn't know when she married him. Sure there were signs but she was in love. And now that he's been sentenced to five years in prison she thinks she's going to be free but she's not because he's hanging the safety of her family over her head. He's a controlling horrible person and so is his mother Rubycand his brother Liam, What keeps her in this place-she's got a secret. Will Jake who was Tommy's closest associate prove to be Emma's salvation? No spoilers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a fast paced and entertaining read - and a very good debut.

What a great debut that kept me fully engaged with an usual plot.. Emma's husband is in prison but she is actually the prisoner. The book has a lot of twists and turns and is an easy and addictive read. Emma's husband is alledgedly not guilty but is atuually a liar and control feak. Unusally I stayed up late to finish it. I look forward to more from this new author and thanks to Net Galley for an ARC.

I've just spent about thirty six hours with Emma. Emma is married to Tommy, he is the head of a visicious London gangland family, and has just been given a five year sentence for possession of a firearm. His family are in tears, Emma isn't though. She is relieved and is going to use the opportunity to leave this abusive, cruel, violent man, except, Emma has under estimated the control that Tommy has over her....a really quick paced, tale, a proper page turner.

A good story, but the characters all seemed very cliched, and completely unbelievable. The ending was a good one, but I found the book rather hard work.

An easy read, featuring Emma whose husband is in prison for 5 years and is determined to exert control over her from inside. There is plenty drama but the whole narrative is just a bit repetitive. A good debut novel and I give it 3 stars. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

A very addictive, unpredictable read. This has to be one of the best debut novels to date.
Emma’s husband is in prison. He is a monster. His family are gangsters and he is determined that Emma will not leave him. As his controlling behaviour continues from behind bars, Emma tries desperately to leave him but with threats in relation to her family she knows she is trapped.
I absolutely loved this story, totally gripping from first to last page.
Ali Blood has proved that he is a great writer of a thrilling psychological journey. It is full of twists and turns with a clever shock ending. I am looking forward to reading more from Ali.

I really enjoyed every bit of this book. It gripped me from the start, especially the last sentence of Chapter 1 “… I find it terribly hard not to let him see me smile.” I couldn’t put it down after that. The plot was original and interesting, not so far-fetched that I couldn’t believe it, and I loved the writing style. Throughout the story I kept wondering how on earth Emma was going to get out of this mess and escape from her vile and controlling husband. Her feelings were so real that at times I felt that I was her and I had to have a little break from reading as I thought my heart was beating too fast! Her emotions were so well described that I was positive this must have been written by a woman. In the preface the author is ‘he’, but I’ve looked at other websites where the author is ‘she’. Which is correct? I really want to know! Whatever, if this is a debut novel I absolutely can’t wait to read the next! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this excellent book.

I really liked the premise of this one, but for me, it just didn't deliver. I found the plot moved really slowly, and the characters were, without exception, irritating. Particularly the husband, who was almost a caricature of a villain, but they were all awful. This wasn't so much of a thriller for me as it was a lackluster domestic 'drama'. I just didn't engage with it at all - not that other people won't, I can see it already has several five star ratings - but this writing style just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, and to the publisher, who granted me a free ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review,

A cracking story - the story centres around Emma and her husband, an attractive, but controlling London gangster who at the beginning of the book is sentenced to prison. Emma has had enough of his controlling, abusive behaviour but much to Emma's distress, far from providing Emma with the means to escape her unhappy marriage, the sentence provides no release - her husband's immediate response is to lay down rules, to be enforced by his brother and minder - Emma cannot go out in the evening, cannot divorce him, cannot work etc. The story sucked me in - I wanted to know whether it was Emma who had set her husband up to be arrested, and whether she would be able to escape him. But the actual style of the writing really grated on me - I generally don't mind, indeed I like books that move back and forth between the present and the past to develop understanding of how the key players have got to where they are now. The way that the author 'reflected' back on the past felt contrived and difficult though and really didn't work for me. I really didn't like the fact that Emma got away with murder, literally. For that reason this was a 3.5 for me, rounded up to a 4.

What an outstanding read. Being married to a manipulating and controlling gangster has its drawbacks, only Emma didn’t realise her husband was keeping such dangerous company when she married him. Even backed by an expensive legal team can’t get Tommy off. So when he’s found guilty for possession of a firearm and sentenced to five years in prison, this means freedom for Emma. Or does it?

Left with a list of rules while he’s inside, Tommy ensures Emma is watched night and day and not by a security firm as one would imagine, but by his mother and brother. Having broken Emma’s spirit over a period of two years, he has no idea she has been playing her part of the loyal wife rather well. Since the Driscoll family regard south London as their stamping ground, Emma doesn’t have a means of escaping their clutches that easily.

There’s Tommy’s history to contend with, plus the mental rules she has to follow. Liam is just as horrendous. But can Emma truly be rid of the Driscoll’s. Or will she be up to her neck in guilt? If she ever gets her life back will it be with conditions?

This is a book you can easily read in one sitting. Well-written and fast-paced, you’ll be desperate to know how Emma can escape such a terrifying situation. Author Ali Blood is definitely one to watch and I’ll be excited to read her next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Avon Books UK for the privilege of reading this book.

Tense and well written and had some good twists I didnt see coming,maybe a bit repetitive in places but all in all a great debut and a good read

This was a real page turner Emma thought she’d married the man of her dreams she couldn’t be more wrong she married a monster while in prison he wanted to rule her life she was not allowed to go out after 9.00 wasn’t allowed to go to work the nightmare was only just starting.

His family were just as bad she didn’t know where to turn for help luckily she could rely on her own family but couldn’t tell them too much as they would be in grave danger. Definitely recommend reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC

Emma can’t believe her luck when a handsome customer at the restaurant where she is a waitress shows an interest in her. After swapping numbers, she waits for his call, but not too long as the very next day they arrange to meet and from there on their relationship travels at super speed and in no time at all, Emma has moved in with Tommy and they get married. But is it too good to be true? What is the source of Tommy’s wealth? Who are all these rough looking characters? Emma soon finds out after a visit from the Met reveals all.

A quick, easy read of a book. At times a little repetitive, but not a bad plot. Ending a little too contrived and tidy, but ok. Would be a good holiday read.

Thank you NetGalley.

Fast paced thriller with enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. A few of them I did guess but it still kept me reading Told in the first person the storyline flowed well though the ending was perhaps a little too neat.