‘The perfect read. Surprising and original’ LESLEY KARA ‘Masterful . . . a great twist’ HARRIET TYCE’Doctor Foster meets Gone Girl’ BP WALTERTHE PERFECT HUSBAND . . .After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves.But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she’d … loves.
But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she’d thought. And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface.
OR A PERFECT LIE?
Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing. As the police investigate their disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems…
Is Robin the perfect father everyone thinks he is? Or was it all a perfect lie?
‘A real thriller of a ride with a twist I did NOT see coming’ NIKKI SMITH
‘An emotional and intelligently written thriller’ ELISABETH CARPENTER
‘Had me hooked from the first page’ RUTH HEALD
‘Realistic, gripping, emotional and distinctive’ NICOLA MOSTYN
‘Unpredictable, tense and engrossing’ REBECCA FLEET
‘I love Charlotte’s dark, messy takes on modern relationships’ CLAIRE MCGOWAN
‘Fresh, thrilling and packed with unstoppable tension’ LAUREN NORTH
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READERS ARE LOVING THE PERFECT FATHER
‘Deceit, ambition, suspense and betrayal: this book has it all’ *****
‘Gripping and nuanced’ *****
‘Totally twisty, dramatic and addictive’ *****
‘The best thriller I have read this year’ *****
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Robin and Esther appear to be a happily married couple. Esther has a high-powered job and Robin is a stand-up comedian when he can get some jobs. One day, they decided they wanted a child and just before starting IVF, Esther finds herself pregnant. However, her pregnancy is plagued with being constantly sick. When Riley is born, Esther is ready to return to work early because Robin has decided that he wants to be a stay at home father. He loves their little girl so much and is a caring father to her.
This book started off in what appeared to be a marriage of two strange people. I did not see them as a couple, so dissension between them was not surprising. This unhappy atmosphere in the book was making me wonder why I chose to read it…until….some surprises came along that made me stay with the book. It’s a sad story which shows Robin a product of his relationship with his father and Esther who appears to not be as strong as she may appear to others. I simply did not like these two characters. The one person I did like is Viv, Esther’s friend. She is solid and steady and the kind of person you would want for a friend. Pieces of the puzzle fall into place as the book finishes. Thank goodness for that or I may have given this book a DNF early on.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I may need to add another bookshelf for guilty pleasure books. I was intrigued by the description of this book. I’ve been reading a lot of psychological thriller books and this one sounded like it fit there. After reading it I’m not so sure of that. It was definitely psychological but more drama than thriller. My opinions of the characters totally changed from who I thought there were in the beginning of the book to who they really were at the end of the book. This book had some twists to it that I didn’t see coming. I do think you have to be a person who can suspend reality in reading to really enjoy this book. Some things just wouldn’t happen in real life. But other things it was easy for me to understand and were realistic to me. The main female character, Esther, is pregnant but it is not an easy pregnancy. She suffers from hyperemesis gravidarum. I had that in my second pregnancy. If you have never had this, it may be difficult for you to understand some of Esther’s thinking. In my second pregnancy the nausea and vomiting stayed with me for almost the entire pregnancy. I lost weight and was very malnourished. I had headaches every day and my anxiety was on maximum. I worried that I was doing something wrong, that I was going to lose my baby, that I wouldn’t survive and so many other thoughts. I didn’t know anyone else who had morning sickness like mine so I was positive I was doing something to cause it. The guilt I felt was tremendous. For this reason, I found the character of Esther to be believable. I’m happy to see this illness in a book. I think it is one of those illnesses that if you didn’t have it, or know someone who did, you probably had not heard of it. I’m not sure how much is known about the causes or treatment since my pregnancy many years ago. I hope someone is working on this and that there is some progress in it. I don’t want to go into Robin, her husband, as I’m afraid I’ll give away something. I think there were layers of things that were wrong with this couple, certainly more than her difficult pregnancy. I am going to wrap this as everything I want to write looks like a spoiler.
This is my second book by Charlotte Duckworth. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.
Kept me guessing throughout!
I found this book to be too unbelievable. Author seemed to change mid-book with story line. I shook my head trying to figure where story was going and who was the villain and hero. Confusing book.
After a difficult pregnancy, Esther is grateful that her husband Robin offers to put his career on hold so that she can return to the job she loves. But Esther finds leaving her daughter Riley behind more challenging than she’d thought. And soon the new imbalance in her relationship with Robin brings old tensions to the surface. Then one day Esther arrives home from work to find Robin and Riley are missing. As the police investigate their disappearance, it becomes clear that nothing about this modern-day family is what it seems. I was quite intrigued with the blurb and expected to read a thriller, but this is more a family drama with some suspense. Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus/Hachette UK, and the author for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.
Perfectly creepy!
It was ok I wouldn’t recommend it 1st, but I finished it.
Dumb.
I really enjoyed the first part of this book. Great character development, interesting storyline, kept my interest. The ending was too pat, nicely done up with a pretty bow, totally unbelievable. Too bad, it started out so good!
I really got a feel for the characters; very emotion-packed. Filled with twists I just didn’t see coming! Highly recommended.