SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREINSTANT #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERUSA Today bestseller Edgar + ITW Thriller Award nominee for Best First Novel“Think: Dexter but sexier.”—theSkimm“A dark and irresistible debut.”—People“Will shock even the savviest suspense readers.”—Real SimpleDexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has … Simple
Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting…
Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.
We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.
We all have our secrets to keeping a marriage alive.
Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.
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Terrifying and very unusual idea – I’m not sure I always believed in the story but I was intrigued right the way through. Would make a great film
I’m slightly conflicted about this one, on the one hand, I adored the idea here it was just so intriguing but the issue I have is the reality for me just didn’t live up to my internal hype.
So this was told completely from the husbands POV who I don’t think we ever learn his actual name throughout the whole book here.
From him, we are exposed completely to this strange family dynamic and if I am honest I did find him a bit of a wet weekend totally under his manipulative controlling wife’s thumb.
He is definitely the subservient submissive one in this bizarre partnership.
He seemed to me to be in this more to please his more dominant wife; I also got the impression that she is the one that likes the killing and he just likes the feeling he gets when he pleases his wife.
Her response and adoration compared to her usual manner is the ultimate addiction for him.
Millicent is the puppet master, shes the one in control and all in her household be it her husband or there two children dance to her tune.
I think the husband himself gets back a sense of control and this is why he sleeps with there potential victims.
She emasculates him so the planning, stalking and sometimes romancing these women give him back a sense of control he is missing in his life and marriage.
There was also a weird contrast between family man and predator that I had difficulty wrapping my head around, the two just didn’t equate as he did surprisingly seem to be an excellent father.
Millicent, I Had no issues as she came across as quite cold chilling and emotionless.
To do what she does and show no outward signs or remorse speaks to me of a lack of basic conscience or an overall sense of morality she was one cold chick.
So I was getting a trifle bored but then things did start to heat up around the halfway mark.
When the game gets real and both of there secret lives start to impact with there everyday reality affecting them all as a family and also as individuals and as events escalate building momentum along the way, the secrets these two are keeping from each other swiftly escalates as the distrust deepens and each shows there current hand.
The second half of this I found to be much better than the first but I did find the ending here and the resolution slightly rushed.
I also did appreciate the final few words genius.
So yeh mixed bag I think my main issue here is that not much really happens and I was expecting much more, this is more of a psychological endeavour and what makes people tick rather than some action-filled thriller.
I did enjoy this as it was a gripping read just not as much as I initially thought I would.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of My Lovely Wife.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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An assured and deliciously engrossing debut. You’ll surely devour My Lovely Wife, but it will linger long after you’ve reached the last page.
Read my review on the New York Journal of Books: https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/my-lovely-wife
A Lovely Wife is definitely a misnomer. A demented psycho is more like it.
Everything Millicent does seems innocent on the outside, but it is truly evil. She plans things that will benefit her and only her with her family being at the brunt of the control issues she has. Millicent is definitely a character to hate.
One day after a number of years of marriage, she had the most bizarre plan. Her husband who was never given a name in the book did what he did to keep Millicent pleased most likely because he was afraid of his wife.
MY LOVELY WIFE is unbelievable, but Ms. Downing does an excellent job of keeping you engaged from the first page, and the engagement doesn’t stop just like Millicent doesn’t stop the murders of young women.
Ms. Downing’s debut is unique and well-written, but also has a story line that is unthinkable and unimaginable.
If you enjoy a fast-paced book that takes you on a crazy ride and will have you biting your nails, then MY LOVELY WIFE will be a book you will want to take a look at.
You HAVE to read this book to believe what the characters are doing. You won’t be able to turn the pages quickly enough. 5/5
This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
HOLY CRAP- Crazy good!
I mean the book’s premise was already gaga, but the book itself is totally crazy! You think you already “see” the problem then Downing is like ‘it’s not gonna be that easy’ and throws everything out the window and you’re left thinking “WTF!?”
The chapters are super short, the writing flows and without giving anything away- the ending was both believable and left you wanting more.
This book was definitely a psychological thriller! I loved the internal feedback of ‘Tobias’ and his thoughts.
How is this Samantha Downing’s debut?! Seriously, so good
Brilliant — I was enthralled by the premise and it totally delivered. Five star entertainment!
4 stars
Plain and simple, this booked is messed up. One way ticket to crazy town. I read a lot of books in the psychological thriller genre, and this one, I can’t even wrap my head around it, let around try to write about it.
This book is best enjoyed blindly, with nothing more than the blurb to lay the ground work. You will not be disappointed, because this book takes you on all the twisty turns. So with that, what I can tell you is that this story moves at lightning speed with short, addictive chapters. So many times I found myself saying “one more chapter”. I could not, and did not, want to put this book down.
This is a very unique book in a very saturated genre and the hype is real.
Thank you to Penguin Publishing Group for my copy of this book via Edelweiss
A domestic thriller told from the husband’s POV may not be original, but it is unusual. A husband and wife who become “addicted” to murdering women after he vets the victims teeters on originality. The murderous couple has two teenage kids–and all seem to be quite normal … apparent normalcy not that unusual for serial killers, but the kids a definite twist. She’s a martinet when it comes to disciplining the kids (nothing physically abusive or even emotionally abusive). More controlling. Which could prove necessary if you imprison several of the victims, torture them, and then kill them. The pacing is slow–too slow to pass for suspense, IMO. Learning why they commit the first two murders comes late in the novel and does not ratchet up the suspense. If thieves make strange bedfellows, murderers make even stranger ones. Predictably, they turn on each other and from then on, the story picks up. The ending makes sense on one level, but I found it less than satisfying on another since I like seeing justice done.
This is a twisty thriller with fascinating characters. It has a subversive, how-did-she-do-that feel to it and a plot that…well, it’s better if you read it yourself. Grab a copy.
Wow, what a great ride and from a debut author. She won the Edgar for the best first novel and justifiably so. Excellent point of view, pacing, characters. There is conflict on every page that keeps the story moving. This is a serial killer story with a wonderful twist on a well-used trope. Great imagination. It is difficult to make an antihero that is endearing enough to stay with throughout the heinous things that happen, but I was with the story every step of the way. The author does a masterful job layering in the backstory and flashbacks with seamless transition that never confused. The ending was predictable mostly because there were no red herrings as far as alternatives for what was going to happen. I also caught a hint of Thomas Harris in the tone. The explanation for the final disposition didn’t work for me but that’s probably due to my law enforcement background. This book is a 4.5 would have been a solid five except for the ending.
I highly recommend this book.
David Putnam author of The Bruno Johnson Series.
A complex, suspenseful plot with tension so thick that it felt palpable. Wonderful characters with depth and substance. I was immediately drawn in and held captive from beginning to end.
#MyLovelyWife #NetGalley
MY LOVELY WIFE
By Samantha Downing
This book is just what I needed. It’s without a doubt a 5 Star stellar read. It is so captivating from the very first page, I wouldn’t be surprised if you refused to stop reading until the book is done.
It is so well written and told from the viewpoint of one of the main protagonists, the husband and in perfectly sectioned chapters.
Highly addicting and full of so much psychological drama. There is way more you get than just what you read on the synopsis and that’s one of great things about this book…there’s so much coming that you never knew to expect. I can’t cover it all without writing a book myself and ruining the surprises for you. That’s why I believe the synopsis was kept short and sweet.
When you think you know what’s coming is when you will find out out you were all wrong because this book was masterfully written with twists and turns you weren’t meant to see coming. I highly recommend this book.
Um. What in the actual…?
This book is a generous slice of crazy and I loved it. Our unnamed protagonist and his Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs wife shake off suburban boredom by murdering local women.
It gets crazier from there.
Ridiculously good, “unputdownable” thriller; go read this book!
I loved this book and wish I had written it! So fun and fresh, dark and twisted. A unique and delightful addition to the thriller genre. I can’t wait for Samantha Downing’s next novel.
My Lovely Wife is Samantha Downing’s debut novel. Oh boy! An incredibly disturbing read that I could not put down. The ideal suburban couple turn out to be a couple of wackos. They serve organic dinners, don’t allow junk food, no cellphones at the dinner table, homework done after school. Mom and dad run a tight ship. Only one problem, the loving couple get their jollies killing women. A very dark but wonderful work. I look forward to the next book by Samantha Downing.
Samantha Downing This disturbing, horrifying read is one that will stick with me for a long time.
I flew through the pages from the very beginning. The distinct voice of the narrator, a simple yet engaging syntax, and a chilling idea sucked me into this book.
I loved that it focused on a husband and wife “team.” They were both eerie in their own right–but combined, they were a couple I won’t soon forget. This is one of those books where you find yourself sometimes rooting for the villain, which is horrifying in its own right. I loved that the author took a seemingly normal family and let us see into the far-from-normal aspects of their lives.
The plot was believable and chilling. I found the ending to be a bit rushed, but I still liked it a lot. I felt like it was realistic but also creepy in its own right. This is a great book for anyone who likes serial killer stories, dark novels, and female villains. I highly recommend this dark thriller and can’t wait to read the author’s next book.
Read my review on the New York Journal of Books: https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/my-lovely-wife
A fabulously creepy debut. I loved it!
Bravo! What a deliciously dark disturbing debut. I loved that it was from the husband/fathers point of view, I couldn’t help but like him as disturbing as that is. I found myself totally absorbed in his thinking and rationalization. I did not want the book to end, I enjoyed it like I do my favorite meal, taking my time, savoring each and every bite. Well done Samantha Downing, very cleverly done, I will eagerly await your next novel.