Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell is an engaging read. This domestic thriller had so much tension, I had to remind myself for unclench my jaw. I felt like I was always waiting for the next hammer to drop. It was fascinating to see this true sociopath and how his actions affected everyone around him. Jewell is a master at character driven novels and this one is no different.

I just finished reading "Don't Let Him In", by Lisa Jewell. Many thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.
First of all, I am a HUGE fane of Lisa Jewell. She is a great author who creates these memorable characters that you cling to and want to help in the worst way. Here she tells the story of four women who are the victims or a charming, and alluring man named Nick Radcliffe. You get his back story as well as the story of his relationship with all the other women throughout the book. It can be a lttle confusing, but pay attention to the timeline and it all makes sense. When Nick Radcliffe tries to sink his claws into newly widowed Nina Swann, her daughter sees all sorts of red flags and sets out to find out more about this mysterious man and what his true motives are.
What follows is a riveting story about different women who are caught in his web of lies and how Nina Swann's daughter slowly unravels the truth. As a reader, you want to yell at allthe women for being so stupid, and shake your head at their decisions.
The characters are all complex and broken in different ways. Noone is perfect, and noone is all evil either. I love the layers of the characters, and it is difficult not to cheer for them (even though I also want to yell lat them)
I really liked this book. I read quickly because it was so good and so riveting and I wanted to know how it ended. I was not disappointed.
I strongly recommend this book. It is definately a five-star read. One of the best books of the year so far.

Lisa Jewell thrillers are like a comfy pair of pajamas. You can just sit back and relax and know you're going to enjoy yourself. It was a little slow for a start but once I was in I was hooked.

As a longtime fan of thrillers—and Lisa Jewell in particular—Don't Let Him In absolutely delivered. This was a gripping, unputdownable read that kept me hooked from the very first page. Jewell once again proves why she’s one of the best in the genre, weaving together suspense, emotion, and sharp character insight into a twisty tale of trust, danger, and the strength of women.

The novel centers on Nina and her daughter Ash, both still reeling from the loss of Paddy—Nina’s husband and Ash’s father. When Nick, an old friend of Paddy’s, reaches out with what seems like heartfelt condolences, Nina finds herself drawn into a relationship with him. But Ash senses something off about Nick. She can’t quite explain it, but her gut tells her he’s not who he claims to be.

Then there's Martha, a seemingly unrelated character, who’s married to Al—a man whose frequent work trips are starting to raise red flags. Martha loves her husband, but she can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right.

Jewell masterfully brings these storylines together in alternating timelines and perspectives, slowly unraveling the connections and secrets that bind the characters. The suspense builds steadily as each woman’s story adds a new layer of tension and intrigue. Just when you think you have it figured out, Jewell throws in another twist.

What made Don't Let Him In a five-star read for me wasn’t just the clever plot or the constant suspense—it was the underlying theme of women supporting women. As the story unfolds, the emotional core becomes clear: the strength, intuition, and solidarity of women who look out for one another, especially in the face of manipulation and deceit.

This is a fast-paced, emotionally resonant thriller that will appeal to fans of domestic suspense and character-driven mysteries. Jewell has once again delivered a story that’s as smart as it is addictive. Highly recommend!

I just finished this book, and wow—so many characters, so many layered backstories. I genuinely loved them all. Each woman felt so real, even when I found myself shaking my head, wondering how they could be so clueless. But then it hit me: I had the whole picture, and they didn’t. That perspective shift made all the difference.

The characters were each unique, yet shared this quiet thread of similarity that tied them together. It made their journeys feel interconnected in a really meaningful way.

Now, the ending... that’s where I’m still stuck. *He* wasn’t portrayed as particularly clever throughout the story, and then suddenly, in that final scene by the sea, he makes this sharp move that felt out of character. The author didn’t explain the shift, and I wish that part had been tied up better. It left me hanging a bit.

Still, it was such a fast, compelling read. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery wrapped in heartache and grounded in the messiness of real life.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to Atria Books and NetGalley for their generosity in allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Don’t Let Him In
Author: Lisa Jewell
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: June 24, 2025
My Rating: 3.7 - Rounded up
Pages: 384

Story starts with the funeral of loveable Paddy Swann who owned a popular restaurant.
He was pushed in the path of an oncoming train, leaving his daughter Ash and wife Nina devastated. There is also a son but lives out of town and isn’t as close as daughter Ash is to their father.
Nina received a lot of flowers but one bouquet is from Nick Radcliffe a friend she doesn’t know. The flowers include a thoughtful note. Sometime later he sends a package of a Paddy’s Zippo lighter that belonged to him years ago. This peaks Nina attention and later agrees to meet Nick for a drink.


Next we meet Martha a busy mid forty florist. She also is a busy mom to baby Nala as well as raising two sons Troy who is ten and Jonah thirteen from her first marriage. Her new husband Alistair – Al travels a lot for work so isn’t much help on a daily basis.

Soon find out that Al and Nick may not be who they say they are.
As the story unfolds it gets more and more involved
Once I knew what was going on I was sure I knew how it was going to end.
Yet thought – Wait a minute I have read ten Lisa Jewel]stories and know she reveals just enough to keep me curious.
So what does happen next?
Although “None of this is true’ is still my favorite this is of course, it good!

Want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for granting me the pleasure of reading this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 24, 2025.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reader copy of Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell.

When I started this story it has me a little confused in the beginning, with all the jumping between characters and timelines. It took a bit to get my bearings and figure out who was who and how they were all connected. But once that clicked, the story really took off.

Lisa Jewell does a great job creating that unsettling, slow-burn tension that keeps you turning the pages. Each character’s story brought something important to the bigger picture, and I appreciated how their paths slowly intertwined in a way that made everything make sense. There were moments that genuinely surprised me, and I loved how the suspense built gradually throughout.
A solid, twisty read that kept me engaged right through to the end.

I typically love Lisa's books, this one was good but not my favorite. The story blends raw, real-life drama with heart-pounding suspense. Every revelation, every turn, feels fresh, exciting, and unpredictable pulling me in deeper with each page. Here lies the genius of Lisa Jewell’s craft: she layers each mystery, revealing just enough at every turn to keep you hooked. I should have trusted the magic she wove and let my overactive mind rest, and let the story carry me along. I did like the multiple POV's and figuring out how the story would end. Even though I did guess correctly it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. I wouldn't classify this book as a thriller per say, but more of a domestic suspense. If you've enjoyed her other novels, I would recommend reading this one it is not a waste and was worth it.

I gave this newest book by Lisa Jewell the full 5 stars. She is a queen of storytelling and you will not be disappointed!

After the tragic loss of her father, Ash struggles to accept the new man her mother begins dating. Taking it upon herself, she tries to dig up more information on this new addition in her life, and she may be very surprised by what she uncovers. Whenever I’m in any kind of slump I crack into the latest Lisa Jewell. I really liked this one! It gives the vibes of “You”by Caroline Kepnes, when you spend a lot of time in the POV of the villain, which I always find interesting. I really like mysteries where we kind of know more than the main character (in this case Ash) and but we mostly get revelations as the investigation is happening. This one has really great pacing, with multiple POVs and short chapters. If you want a fun, quick mystery/thriller involving scammers/conmen that will definitely get you out of a slump, this is a great choice!

A family is mourning the loss of their father and husband, a larger-than-life restaurateur after he was pushed into the path of a London Subway when a character from his past enters their present. As Nick Radcliffe, a former friend of Paddy’s, passes along stories and things of Paddy’s he gets closer and closer to Nina, Paddy’s widow. Ash, Paddy and Nina’s daughter has concerns about Nick and Nina’s relationship but is trepidatious to bring them up to her mom after a recent anxiety episode that has estranged them.

Martha, a small-town florist, thought she had it all. From her perfect husband, Al, to her thriving business, beautiful home, and children but suddenly her husband is around less and less and she can’t figure out why. It all comes to a head when an emergency brings their daughter to the hospital and she realizes she’s not meant to do this alone.

This book does a wonderful job of weaving past and present storylines in a way that is captivating and easy to follow. Leading the reader to wonder what is going on with Nick’s suspicious appearance and Al’s mysterious disappearances.

I have read a few Lisa Jewell books now and I tend to enjoy them quite a lot. This one was interesting to me, the premise of the book sounded so interesting, but it didn’t really keep my attention until about 60-70% of the way through. Most of the twists I guessed and I didn’t feel like the ending was twisty *enough*. That said, I wouldn’t say it was bad by any means, it was a solid thriller and a unique premise, which I did enjoy. I just wanted a few more twists that shocked me!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell!

The novel presents a chilling portrait of a man whose charm belies a deeply narcissistic and abusive nature. It reveals a disturbing portrait of calculated deceit and emotional violence.

The book keeps the reader on edge, gradually revealing past secrets and current dangers in a suspenseful way.

It is a compelling and unsettling read. It will appeal to readers of psychological thrillers.

I could NOT put this book down! 🤯

I was recently given the opportunity to read an early copy of Lisa Jewell’s upcoming thriller novel Don’t Let Him In through NetGalley and when I tell you… this book is EASILY a new favorite thriller book for 2025.

The story is focused around Nick. A handsome, romantic, perfect man, husband, and Father. He’s a “too good to be true” type guy, who seems to always know what to say and what to do.

But Nick isn’t at all who he says he is. Between his mysterious background, all the unknown gaps in the tales he spins and the fact that he continuously disappears on the women in his life? It’s safe to say, those ladies are beginning to get suspicious of him.

This book will absolutely have you hooked from the first chapter and delivers an incredibly satisfying end. I wanted more! I honestly could have kept reading this one, it was just that much fun.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publisher, Atria Books, for the early copy!

This was SUCH a good book, Lisa Jewell is an amazing author. All the lies and intermingling stories made it hard to put down. Nick is a true sociopath who is easy to hate as a reader but it makes sense why Nina and everyone else loved him. I was kind of hoping for a more satisfying ending maybe in the realm of gory revenge but i still enjoyed it.

After the horrific death of her father, Ash and her mother Nina are struggling to cope until Nick, an old friend of Paddy’s comes into their lives. Martha, a florist with a young family, is also struggling - with her finances, her children and most of all her disappearing husband, Al. Ash is skeptical of Nick especially as he begins courting her mother and slowly inching his way into their lives.

This psychological thriller has you on the edge of your seat in a dual timeline with plenty of unreliable narrators and characters. Nothing is ever as it seems and the moral of the story is… don’t trust anyone.

I will read and devour anything by Lisa Jewell! I can’t wait to read some of her backlist too.

This book was a bit confusing at first, but it all came together in a jaw dropping twist. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and rhe story. I was so glad that Nina got out at the first sign of trouble and didn't follow the creep through anything as some characters do. One of my better reads this year..

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this E-ARC. I was excited for this after loving None of This Is True but unfortunately this one didn’t do it for me. It didn’t feel suspenseful or twisty and instead just seemed to drag. It was entirely too long to have nothing happen. I’m still a Lisa Jewell fan but this didn’t work for me unfortunately.

I feel rather awkward giving this 3 stars when I see so many folks have enjoyed this novel. However, calling this a thriller is misleading, and i'm wondering if we all read the same book.

I wasn’t expecting this to be a story of revenge, but at its core, it is. It’s about a man with a colossal ego not being able to come to terms that he was spoken down to in the early 1990s when he worked for a restauranteur. That the entire novel hinges on this fact (which we don't learn until deep into the story) isn't a twist as perhaps Jewell intended it to be. It's an annoyance. It feels like thin plot that a man should be such a petty bitch.

This book is Dirty John. It's Tinder Swindler. For me, this story just missed the window of opportunity to hit that zeitgeist when we all clamored for such tales. But this isn't the have nots taking away from the haves (which in 2025, we love), it's a lazy man who thinks he's deserving of more than he is and truly, doing very little to cover up and get away with it. He has one M.O. and his tricks are all the same. We don't see him zig and zag or ever truly feel the heat. Quite the opposite, he's quick on his feet and always has an answer. It's rinse, lather, repeat with these women and the monotony? It's killer.

Even for the most heinous of characters, you need something to cling to in order to keep reading. However, you do not feel empathy for Nick/Al as you read "Don't Let Him In," and make no mistake about it, it's very much HIS story (though some may argue it's shared with Ash and Martha). There is nothing in his background that has caused him to turn out this way - no real reason for the reader to connect to him and feel any sense of empathy. He is simply just a bad seed; a core issue of the novel. At the end of reading this, all I could surmise is that I'd spent a few hundred pages just tracking a sociopath/narcissist, the conclusion of the novel and confrontation suddenly feeling rushed.

Thanks to the lovely folks at Atria and NetGalley for this ARC.

Nina Swann and her family are devastated when her husband Paddy is murdered. Ash, Nina and Paddy's daughter is having a hard time moving on from her father's tragic death when a man named Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of Paddy's gets in touch with Nina. Ash is suspious from the start and gets Paddy's old flame Jane to help her dig up information on Nick. Soon Ash finds out that Nick is not who he say's he is and that everything about him is a lie, Martha Grey has been together with Al for four years and now she is seeing signs that he is keeping secrets from her. She put a tracker in his car after he goes away and has no contact with her for days on end. Martha is then outside Nina's house wanting to confront the other women. Ash and Jane start to untangle the web of Nick's lies and with the help of both Nina and Martha they decied to take him down. This was a fast paced read that will have you hooked from the very first chapter. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Atria Books for letting me read an advanced copy of this novel.

🚪 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 :
-domestic suspense
-red flags 🚩
-con artists
-multiple timelines & POVs
-unlikable characters
-super short chapters

🚪 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 :
Let me preface this by saying I absolutely love Lisa Jewell. She has written some of my favorites (Then She Was Gone, The Truth About Melody Browne, None of This is True) so it truly pains me to say that unfortunately this one was a miss for me.

I was able to figure out what was going on about 20% in, but the book started with an authors note promising “nothing is as it seems in this kaleidoscopic thriller” so I kept waiting for some reveal to knock my socks off… but it never came. There was a lot of flipping between timelines & POVs, so much build up.. but it ended up just being about a huge narcissist gaslighting, manipulating & taking advantage of gullible women.

Luckily the short chapters made for an easy-to-binge read, but I was left feeling underwhelmed. Although this wasn’t my favorite, you can bet that I’ll continue to read whatever Lisa Jewell puts out.

Thank you to @netgalley & @atriabooks for the opportunity to read this arc!