“This year’s Gone Girl.”—Harlan CobenA Boston Globe Best Book of 2018 | A Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery Book of 2018 | A Crime Reads Best Novel of 2018His ScandalHer SecretFrom New York Times bestselling author Alafair Burke, a stunning domestic thriller in the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Woman in Cabin 10—in which a woman must make the impossible choice between defending her husband and … Behind Closed Doors and The Woman in Cabin 10—in which a woman must make the impossible choice between defending her husband and saving herself.
When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.
Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their perfect life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look—at both the man she married and the women she chose not to believe.
This much-anticipated follow-up to Burke’s Edgar-nominated The Ex asks how far a wife will go to protect the man she loves: Will she stand by his side, even if he drags her down with him?
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Very different from what I usually expect from Alafair Burke, but highly satisfying.
This book is described as “a novel of psychological suspense”, but it felt more like a police procedural or legal thriller to me until the very end. It was still a fast, enjoyable read with a satisfying and surprising conclusion!
This is Burke’s best yet! A tale ripped from the headlines (charismatic professor accused of sexual harassment by a student) is given a new twist; it’s told from the POV of the accused man’s wife. Burke brings her expertise as a former prosecutor to the legal intricacies of the story, and she keeps the surprises coming until the unexpected (and terrific) end.
Alafair Burke has outdone herself with her 2018 new release of The Wife. It’s engaging, mysterious, powerful, message-filled, with one hell of a surprising twist…surprising to me anyway. Intentional or not, the timing couldn’t be more perfect with the #MeToo movement in full force. Full of insight and perspective, with situations that allow you to explore rape culture, legal processing of allegations, and consequences experienced by victims, alleged perpetrators, and their families. Even though I probably make this book sound like a women’s fiction drama, it is indeed a mystery/psychological thriller. Really, it’s the best of both worlds. Check it out.
My favorite quote:
“The public’s first instinct is to disbelieve the woman because we don’t want to admit these horrible things actually happen. So to counter that instinct, we good feminists take the position that we believe every single woman every single time. And then the Rolling Stone article about West Virginia happens and it hurts us all.”
No! WHAT?
Did he? Didn’t he?
Reading this made me feel like I was being seduced. I was coaxed and lured into this story almost against my will. Is Angela a reliable narrator? Why don’t her actions make sense? Why isn’t she doing what I would do in this situation?
And then? BAM!
Like a freight train to the face, it all falls into place and a post-coital cigarette wouldn’t have been out of order.
Excellent thriller that kept me listening to the audio.
Wow! I’d sworn off domestic thrillers, Gone Girl knockoffs and the like last year, but The Wife was a happy surprise. After downloading the sample on Kindle, I went for the whole book. The plot is relevant to our present “me too” culture, and it moves along, peeling the layers off the characters and events at a steady pace. My only bumps were descriptions and info dumps about someone’s water-treatment business, but otherwise, it was a real page-turner. I couldn’t decide if the main narrator, Angela, was unreliable, but mum’s the word on that. I found her and the other characters believable with the right amount of flaws.
Warning: you may neglect your laundry and other tasks once you start this book.
Thoroughly enjoyable! Held my interest to the end.
I was an avid fan of her first few books but as time went on she became too formulaic and could not resist jabs at Republicans completely out of context and unnecessary. Just stupid to alienate readers with your political bent.
So poorly written. Weak, trite plot devices.
An excellent domestic suspense about a woman who’s husband has been accused of rape. The last half really ramps up the tension, with some really intriguing twists right there at the end. Very innovative and timely, with a multi-layered plot and real-life characters, I really enjoyed the thematic exploration of this thriller.
Whoa! Who saw this coming?
Kidnapped as a teen and help captive for three years, Angela tries to keep a low profile when her husband is accused first of sexual harassment then of rape. Angela totally believes in Jason’s innocence and promises to stand by him thru the ordeal.
I didn’t really like Angela or Jason. Most of the characters in the book are not sympathetic. But I have to say, I didn’t see the end coming. I suspected something was up with her son, but not any of the rest of it. Ms Burke did an awesome job of catching me off guard.
A really twisty story. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I got a surprise. This is one you’ll want to read again just to see what you missed the first time and how you got fooled!
Good suspense, twisty!
Intriguing. It all fit together in the end but had surprises
Enjoyed this even more than previous book I read by this author “The Ex” which was also very good.
I discovered Alafair Burke by reading this book after reading some books she co-wrote with Mary Higgens Clark, and already I love her.
The story is well written, and yet from the beginning I felt the narrator was a little unreliable. She kept so much of herself hidden that I couldn’t help wondering why. I thought of Patty Hurst. Maybe Angela wasn’t the perfectly innocent victim, abductee. She wasn’t exactly a “good” girl before she was taken.
I thought she probably did something she was deeply ashamed of that related to her husband’s present day sins.
This story is emotionally so charged, I couldn’t stop reading. The ending is a big twist—but I did see it coming.
I liked this book so well I immediately bought the one she wrote before it
There is something strange in this marriage and you want to blame it on the husband, then on the enabling wife. Pat the poor poor son Spencer going through this with them. Then somehow the author has left you a trail that leads off to the left into the wife’s history and things just don’t add up. Beautiful, successful, rich, wealth and there is something wrong. The title of the book is WIFE. Hmmmmm…… scary.
The way it was written. The characters, you knew their story and the ending was not what I expected. I enjoy books like that.
Great suspense novel. Interesting plot and characters. Love the twisted ending.