“Smith spins out a sensuous, sinuous psychological thriller that compels attention to the final line.”—BooklistAmelie and Janet are in love with the same man: Janet’s husband. One knows it; the other doesn’t. Or does she?As bestselling novelist Amelie Ferrar knows, an affair with a married person is like a work of fiction: a kind of spy story with its rules and customs, negotiations and … spy story with its rules and customs, negotiations and compromises, and many private rituals. But like any spy story, there will inevitably be a betrayal: something will slip, someone else will find out, someone may even die.
As Amelie falls deeper into her obsession with the man she loves—and his wife—the line between the fiction she writes and the reality she lives begins to blur…and the twisted ending to this story is one that not even she could have seen coming.
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I was given an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. I have a strong preference for nonfiction, so when I read Smith’s THE DROWNING I was surprised that I could not put it down. When I agreed to read his latest novel, IF SHE WERE DEAD, I was sure that I would struggle to get through it. And I did. For the first 30 pages. But then his story gripped me and did not let go.
Part love story, part exploration into the difficulties of marriage and part psychological thriller, Smith’s latest masterpiece dazzles and delights with plot twists and turns down to the very last sentence. Literally.
A seemingly simple plot—married man having an affair with an unmarried woman—proves to be the instrument for an exploration into the tangled parts of our own psyches. I was left wondering who exactly was the most aggrieved—the cheating husband, the mistress, or the “innocent” wife? At different parts in the story I believed it was all three. By the last page, however, I felt it didn’t matter. They were all perpetrators and victims—of one another, and even more so, of themselves. And then there was the fourth “real”victim—the truly innocent one.
Smith’s latest novel will leave me questioning the complex nature of love, crimes and punishments for a long time.
Traci Medford-Rosow
USA Today bestselling author of UNBLINDED: One Man’s Courageous Journey through Darkness to Sight and INFLECTION POINT: War and Sacrifice in Corporate America.
Amelie and Janet both love the same man. One is his wife …the other his lover of two years.
As a best-selling author, the lover knows it probably won’t last forever … not unless she herself makes some changes.
What if his wife was dead .. it’s a game she plays in her head. If she were dead, she and her lover wouldn’t have to hide their relationship. If she were dead, his kids would grow to love her. If she were dead, her life would be perfect. And if she were dead, she wouldn’t have to worry that someone would tell his wife.
Book Blurb: As she falls deeper into her obsession with the man she loves―and his wife―the line between the fiction she writes and the reality she lives begins to blur…and the twisted ending to this story is one that not even she could have seen coming.
This is a superior psychological drama with finely drawn characters who are unforgettable. The ending is a total shocker.
Many thanks to the author / Poisoned Pen Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of IF SHE WERE DEAD. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
2 Stars
I had so much hope for this book but it was pretty terrible. Amelie was an insufferable woman having an affair with unremarkable Ben. The whole book is her thoughts on this stupid affair. It was very slow to start off and the just when you think it could get good. Poof! Nothing freaking happens. What a let down. It promotes as a psycho-thriller but it is nothing of the sort.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.