The bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish—a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick—returns with a psychological thriller, filled with chilling serpentine twists, about a woman fighting to hold onto the only family she’s ever loved—and how far she’ll go to preserve it.Named one of the most anticipated thrillers of the year by Goodreads, Bustle, SheReads, and Library Journal; A LibraryReads pick of … Bustle, SheReads, and Library Journal; A LibraryReads pick of the month
Breezing into the upscale seaside paradise of Westport, Connecticut, gorgeous thirtysomething Piper Reynard sets down roots, opening a rehab and wellness space and joining a local yacht club. When she meets Leo Drakos, a handsome, successful lawyer, the wedding ring on his finger is the only thing she doesn’t like about him. Yet as Piper well knows, no marriage is permanent.
Meanwhile, Joanna has been waiting patiently for Leo, the charismatic man she fell in love with all those years ago, to re-emerge from the severe depression that has engulfed him. Though she’s thankful when Leo returns to his charming, energetic self, paying attention again to Evie and Stelli, the children they both love beyond measure, Joanna is shocked to discover that it’s not her loving support that’s sparked his renewed happiness—it’s something else.
Piper. Leo has fallen head over heels for the flaky, New Age-y newcomer, and unrepentant and resolute, he’s more than willing to leave Joanna behind, along with everything they’ve built. Of course, he assures her, she can still see the children.
Joanna is devastated—and determined to find something, anything, to use against this woman who has stolen her life and her true love. As she digs deeper into Piper’s past, Joanna begins to unearth disturbing secrets . . . but when she confides to her therapist that she fears for the lives of her ex-husband and children, her concerns are dismissed as paranoia. Can she find the proof she needs in time to save them?
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Tense and deliciously twisty, The Wife Stalker is a hall of mirrors in which Liv Constantine delivers sinister surprises with characteristic sleight of hand.
Wickedly entertaining. With The Wife Stalker, Liv Constantine proves once again to be a master of domestic malice.
A twisty, engrossing house of mirrors… smart, propulsive, and tricky-in-all-the-best-ways psychological suspense.
Liv Constantine has done it again. Suspenseful and mesmerizing, Constantine’s third novel is a breakneck thriller that keeps you riveted from the first page to that explosive, jaw-dropping twist. If you’re looking for an addictive, up-all-night read, The Wife Stalker is as good as it gets.
Take a whole bunch of people doing things people would never do, making shitty decisions people would never make and throw in a generous handful of stupidity and selfishness.
What do you get? Frustrated.
But only for a little while, because by the time the authors are done with you you don’t mind that they’ve driven you nuts for the majority of the book.
Thank you to a friend who shared her copy with me!
Wow. The Constantines do it again in this twisty turny novel of glamorous suspense–right from the start you’ll be captivated by this tale of double lives and misdirection–and what the wealthy can manage in their exclusive and affluent world. SO great! If you loved THE LAST MRS. PARRISH-and who doesn’t?–snap this right up. And fair warning–clear your calendar.
Unpredictable ending. You just THINK you know how it’s going to end…
I thought about this book long after I read the last chapter. It really pulled me in. I need more from these authors.
Piper Reynard is a newcomer to Westport, Connecticut. She is a woman who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it. When she meets a handsome lawyer she isn’t going to let his wedding ring stop her. Piper is hiding secrets about her past including her name. What dark secrets is she trying to hide? Does she succeed in taking the lawyer away from his wife? How does the wife react? I liked the characters and the setting of the book.
Fast paced and easy to read. I liked The Last Mrs. Parrish a lot more but The Wife Stalker is a quick book, worth a read.
Compelling and surprising, The Wife Stalker is a fast-paced page-turner, full of unexpected twists and an ending I did not see coming. Impossible to put down!
u202aAbsolutely brilliant thriller!u202c
u202aWOW! I was blown away by one of the most twisted and unpredictable endings I’ve ever read! This fast-paced and suspenseful read easily kept my attention and I was considering it a solid 4 ’s, until that ending! u202c
The book alternates between two sides of the story. Joanna, the soon-to-be ex wife, and Piper, the new woman in Leo’s life. They each give us their interpretation of the circumstances. One woman out to steal another’s husband always gets my shackles up!
This is the first book I’ve read by Liv Constantine, which I assumed was a female author. Even that turned out to be a surprise! This duo is now cemented in my top author list!
Thank you to Edelweiss, HarperCollins and Liv Constantine for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
My Rating: 4.5 ’s (rounding up)
Published: May 19th 2020 by HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 320
Recommend: Yes!
@deleted_33871815 @harperbooks
#TheWifeStalker @weiss_squad #brilliantthriller #mustread
Piper Reynard decides to leave California behind for Westport, Connecticut in an attempt to recreate herself. She establishes a wellness center and quickly finds success. It is there that she meets Leo Drakos who is investigating a client. She is immediately attracted to him but notices that he is wearing a wedding ring.
Leo has been suffering from depression and his wife Joanna is happy that the man that she loves is returning to his former self. He is reconnecting with their two young children and he is ready to resume his career as a prominent lawyer. What Joanna didn’t expect was for Leo to develop a friendship with Piper during one visit. She soon finds out that they have been meeting regularly and there are signs of a romantic interest. Joanna will do anything to keep Leo and her prominent role in the family.
The Wife Stalker is the third novel by the sister writing team Liv Constantine. This psychological thriller is very well crafted and the twisty plot will keep readers on edge. On a personal note, I know these authors and have a hard time reconciling how these two kind women write crazy evil stories.
Liv Constantine’s deft facility with sleight-of-hand plotting and diversionary tactics are on full display in her latest thriller The Wife Stalker. Piper Reynard, one of two central figures in the novel, is fleeing a murky past that she seeks to leave behind on the other side of the country. She is the recent owner of a new wellness center in a wealthy CT suburb, leveraging her prior therapist training to cater to a gullible clientele. The story begins as Piper is training her laser focus on a handsome defense attorney who is representing one of her clients. Leo Drakos is a successful but troubled family man who quickly becomes captivated by the beautiful and driven woman. There is only one thing standing in the way of the two lovers: Joanna. Joanna is almost farcically indulgent, overprotective and doting, always seeking to selflessly serve the needs of Leo and the two young children, Evie and Stelli. Despite her ceaseless devotion, Leo jumps at the opportunity to banish Joanna when her needy mother is injured, paving the way for a new life with Piper. Now that Joanna is out of the house, Piper slides into place—clumsily attempting to win over the children who miss their mother and are not as easily charmed as their father. Convinced that Piper is a dangerous black-widow predator, Joanna vows to recapture her rightful position and convince Leo that he has been dangerously duped. Joanna starts digging into Piper’s past, hoping to discover enough disturbing evidence to justify some increasingly desperate attempts to win Leo back. Constantine alternates between the perspectives of the two main female characters, Piper’s in third person and Joanna’s in first-person narration. The two women are cleverly complements and the book’s gripping plot provides creeping revelations into the warped complexity of both. Somewhere along the way, the author also manages to lead the reader astray, and the result is a climax that is breathtakingly unexpected. The Wife Stalker will likely thrill Constantine’s many fans, earning her some well-deserved new ones. In a genre replete with an embarrassment of riches, Liv Constantine manages to provide even the most seasoned thrill seekers an uncommon reward—a genuinely surprising ending.
Thanks to the author, Harper Collins and Edelweiss for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
This is one amazing, twisted book! It got me. This is the first book I have read from the author but it definitely will not be the last.
Thank you Harper Collins and Goodreads for the giveaway win.
I really hate to say it but …..I was not all that impressed with this book. I had such high expectations and it fell flat … the characters (it was so hard to like any of them or root for any of them) and the momentum (story moved so slowly, I actually found myself skimming sections to move it along faster) ……. until the end! A twist I wasn’t expecting and that made reading it worth it. You can’t win them all and they can’t all be 5 star books. I still look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.
Thank you #netgalley and #HarperCollins Publishers for the eARC.
Oh, you sneaky sisters. Liv Constantine got me in the best possible way with The Wife Stalker, a wicked, whip-smart bag of tricks about a woman fighting to hold onto her family. Read this one in one long gulp, then read it again to see what you missed the first time through. I promise you won’t see it coming.
A twisty thriller told from the viewpoint of two women- one used to getting what she wants and one determined to keep what she has. Piper Reynard sees Leo Drakos and instantly is attracted to him-never mind that he has a wedding ring! Joanna, Leo’s wife, is at first excited when her husband agrees to a wellness retreat. But when she sees the woman who runs the retreats- she realizes that she may have found out why her husband is suddenly so happy. Tow women determined to have the same man- and with two children involved- makes for a thrilling story with a shocking ending!
Liv is a great writer
Great read with a surprise ending.