A disturbing and shocking debut novel of psychological suspense about a recently widowed mother, her young son, and the lengths she’ll go to in order to keep him safe. When Tess Clarke wakes up in the hospital the day after her son Jamie’s eighth birthday, she’s sure of these things: She’s been stabbed, her son is missing, her brother-in-law and her grief counselor are involved. But no one is … But no one is listening to her.
After her husband, Mark, died suddenly in a terrible accident a few months earlier, the only thing keeping Tess together is Jamie. As they struggle to make sense of their new life without Mark, they find joy in brief moments of normalcy like walking to school and watching television together. Life is hard without Mark, but Tess has Jamie, and that’s what matters.
But there in the hospital, confused and surrounded by people who won’t listen, Tess’s world falls apart. To save her son, she must piece together what happened between Mark’s death and Jamie’s birthday, but the truth might just be too much for her to bear.
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I don’t know that I’ve ever written a review where I start with the ending, but I am for this one. I finished the book and thought what did I just read? How did the story get to that point? I was excited to talk to someone about what I just read and if they were as surprised at how it ended as I just was. The ending is wonderful, surprising, and ties the whole book together perfectly. Everything I thought was going to happen did not and I loved it.
On to the rest of the book. Lauren North is a new author for me. I was hoping for a twisted, suspense story that I couldn’t put down. I got just that. I started The Perfect Son and just kept turning page after page. I was pulled into the story by the sometimes creepy characters, the unexpected happenings, and the wonderful plot. I kept hoping for the best for all involved and most of all for Tess to be able to keep Jamie safe.
Looking back at the book I can see clues that I totally missed or just didn’t want to follow as they led a way that I didn’t want to go. I am so excited to share this book with my friends and see what they think.
I will be brief because I want to talk about this book which makes it too easy to write spoilers. I actually finished a few days ago but was afraid to write the review.
Tess has lost her husband in a plane crash a few months before the story starts. When the book opens Tess is in the hospital and is sure of four things:
1. She is in the hospital
2. She has been stabbed
3. Her husband is alive
5. Her son is missing
The pain of losing a loved one is almost unbearable. Grief is overwhelming. The fight to muddle through can be too much. The author did an excellent job portraying this. I felt Tess’s pain on every page. I could imagine having conversations in my head with my husband if I was going through that. I would, I think, fight to keep his voice alive there.
This story is haunting as much as it is a thriller. It is a book I would recommend.
Tess wakes up in a hospital with a stab wound and has no idea how she got there. She remembers that it happened on her son, Jamie’s birthday and now she doesn’t know where he is. Even worse, she remembers that her husband is dead, killed in a tragic plane crash several weeks prior.
The story takes the reader back to a little more than a month before Jamie’s birthday and alternates between that time and the current time in the hospital, leading up to the actual birthday.
While I thought the premise was good and the way the story was told was original, I was a little let down by the ending. Well, let me re-phrase that. The whole idea was good and creative but without giving too much away, I think the ending would have packed a little more punch IF the author hadn’t portrayed the main character the way she did with such severity. She ended up getting on my nerves a little.
Overall, I think this book will do well. It was previously released in the U.K. as The Perfect Betrayal. Releases here August 2019. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the copy. No review was required. All opinions are my own.