The Push

Brilliant psychological thriller that had me turning the pages so fast. Gripping, well written and an interesting storyline. There's a party held to celebrate, where one of the guests falls off a balcony. That then causes many secrets and lies to unfold and questions whether the wealthy family that hosted the party are all they seem to be. The characters were well defined and I highly recommend this psychological page turner. 

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF this book. I will pick it up again and try later. I struggle with fertility issues and the investigator just got to me

I always love her books and I will come back to this for sure.

The premise was so intriguing. I love books with a contained number of suspects and the slow process of eliminating who's not guilty. However, I figured out the ending about halfway through the book. I feel like I can't even categorize it as a thriller since the second half of the book was more just watching everything I knew play out. With a little more suspense and a few more twists, this book could have been great. Unfortunately, it just didn't pull out the punches I'd hoped it would. That said -- there are some interesting characters and is worth a read as long as you aren't expecting a huge surprise ending.

Thank you for allowing me to discover such a good new author for my repertoire! Great plot line, interesting characters, I will recommend to friends and family.

DS Alice Hegarty is called in to investigate what appears to be an accidental death at a party. The party goers are all recent parents and they’ve gotten together to cut loose and relax a little, but when one of them goes over the balcony, the party is over. Hegarty doesn’t believe the fall was an accident and begins questioning the other party guests and discovers that none of these couples had an easy or typical path to parenthood. Is one of them keeping a secret worth killing for? You better believe it!

A classic locked room mystery thriller the likes of Agatha Christie.  How well do you know your friends? A close knit gathering in a luxurious house ends in murder.  How could be responsible?  There are so many twists and turns until a thrilling climax that unveils someone no one expected.

I enjoyed this excellent thriller very much. The storyline was exciting and kept me entertained all the way. Highly recommended!

A compelling thriller with a focus on pregnancy and motherhood
Lots of twists (although many were foreseeable), This was a page turner and definitely kept my interest

In a sense, it could have been a great story. However, mid way through the book, there was no longer any mystery/thriller. It's only the unveiling of all the characters and the unfortunate event. With that being said, there are so many characters that it's hard to fully developed all of them to where you feel like you know them. I think if the characters were more developed it would make the mystery of it all much better. 

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Push’ by Claire McGowan focuses on a disparate group of people whose only link is their state of pregnancy.  Taught by an increasingly strange ante-natal teacher, Nina, they gather weekly in a local hall to be scared, humiliated and generally undermined by this woman.  Strange and not altogether believable although one could argue that first-time mothers may be too worried to question anomalies, perhaps feeling vulnerable or insecure.
Whilst McGowan’s main focus is on charity fund raiser Jax and her significantly younger partner, Aaron, she does manage to balance the narrative so that we remain interested in all of the other couples, even if some of them are rather sketchily drawn.  There is no doubt that readers will be drawn in to the story; we learn early on that one of the women has met an untimely death and the police have to work out whether or not she has been pushed or whether she slipped and fell at the party Monica is hosting to celebrate the birth of the babies.  What is clear is that pretty much everyone has something to hide!
This isn’t the most stretching of murder mysteries.  It’s not difficult to work out who the deceased is even though McGowan doesn’t actually name her for most of the story.  Likewise, the ‘twists’ are easy to predict.  However, whilst further development of the couples’ relationships would have been interesting, this is still an entertaining, cleverly structured and well written thriller.
My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

This genre is so crowded that a book needs to be extra special in order for it to stand out and unfortunately this did not deliver for me.

The push is a strangely compelling read,not your usual psychological thriller more of a suspense type read! Centred around a varied group of couples attending a baby group led by the enigmatic Nina, despite the differences amongst the attendees of the group they all come together for a summer barbecue/party where they witness a tragic event! Each couple is thoroughly investigated and it becomes clear they all have differing versions of the event and something to hide! Proving that many a relationship is not what it appears! An entertaining read.
Thank you net galley for this early read.

What a deliciously clever story - Christiesque in its limited number of suspects and a pair of investigators who are determined to get to the truth.

I thoroughly enjoyed the structure of the story and the  nicely drawn characters, and although I sort of guessed what had happened,  the last couple of reveals were very well handled and the ending seemed to be most appropriate.

I've not read Claire McGowan before but I can thoroughly recommend this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

What an absolutely amazing book! This is the first book I have read by Claire McGowan and am looking forward to reading more of her work.  I adored the six couples in this book - loved how diverse the group was and how they came together only because they were all expecting babies.  I could not put this down and read it in one day.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.  I cannot wait to recommend this fantastic suspenseful book!

This was an intriguing read that pulls you in right from the start and makes you want to keep reading until you finished.

This was a great domestic mystery that has me drawn in from the beginning. The storyline is compelling, and I found that it really paid off. I found it quite predictable at times but I still really enjoyed it nonetheless. 

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

One of my favorites for 2020. This book has it all. Mystery, drama, you name it, this book delivers. 
Dont miss this one!

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I have read a few books by this author and when I had the chance to read this book for review before publication, I jumped at the chance.  It did not disappoint, living up to my expectations completely. The story follows six couples who all attend the same baby group.  Each of the couples seem to have a story to tell, something to hide, provoking the question "did they fall or were they pushed?" 
I liked the way the story was told through the eyes of each individual character, split between weeks before and they day of the incident. I worked out some of the plot by the time the book got to it but it was, nevertheless,  still surprising. A thoroughly recommended read which did not disappoint at all,  Thanks NetGalley!

Really enjoyed this book. I love a story that’s told from several points of view, it keeps me hooked. I tried to guess the ending from early on, but was kept guessing until the last few pages! Highly recommend!

The Push (Claire McGowan): This was a decent thriller, overall. Someone (you don't know who at first) is pushed off of a balcony at a gathering of families from a prenatal class. The book dives into the lives and problems of the different families who were present at the party, both before and after the murder. 

There were some great subplots in the story. The main character's chapters, however, had nothing to do with the mystery most of the time. Part of her story did connect with the twist at the end, but most of her plot was completely irrelevant and felt like filler content. The story would have been more enjoyable if it was shorter, with fewer red herrings.

[triggers: infertility, loss of a child]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this title! It will be released on November 26th, 2020.

Tense chilling page turner.new author for me one I am excited to be reading all her books.Will be recommending .#netgalley#amazonuk

Claire is one of my fave authors in the genre and I was so excited to be approved for this. 

Thankfully, she didn’t let me down!

I love the multiple POVs. 

As is usual in the genre, parts of the plot are guessable. Other twists, not so much. 

It’s well-written, with each character distinguishable from others. 

A very compelling read.