My Sunday Book Review for another psychological thriller about a widow – The Widow by Valerie Keogh. This isn’t a sad widow story, rather a twisted tale about secrets of the past, nasty characters, and a plot that will keep you turning the pages to find out what exactly Allison has done in her younger life to spur on her desire to keep a low profile. But nobody can hide from their past, because there will always be someone who knew you back then – even if you think there isn’t.
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Blurb:
‘Keogh is the queen of compelling narratives and twisty plots’ Jenny O’Brien
The brilliant new psychological thriller from bestseller Valerie Keogh.
‘A wonderful book, I can’t rate this one highly enough. If only there were ten stars, it’s that good. Valerie Keogh is a master story-teller, and this is a masterful performance.’ Bestselling author Anita Waller.
Grieving or guilty?
When Allison’s wealthy and charming husband Peter is found dead, she appears distraught, devastated….delighted?
Because despite an apparently picture-perfect marriage, Allison knows it was all built on a bed of lies.
And as the truth regarding Peter’s life and death are revealed, Allison must try to keep her own dark past buried.
Because if Peter was keeping secrets, then his widow is too…
Don’t miss the brand new thriller by Valerie Keogh! Perfect for fans of Sue Watson, Shalini Boland and K.L. Slater.
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My Five Star Review:
This book kept me turning the pages. When we first meet Allison we’re given a snippet of an unhappy and emotionally neglected childhood with snippets of Allison’s petty jealousies in school about another girl in her class who seemed to be shown such affection from her adopted mother, stirring Allison’s jealousies and leaving her wondering if ‘her own parents were to die’, would she be lucky to get a doting adopted mother. Every time Allison heard the word ‘family’, it brought a chill to her.
Swiftly the plot moves to present where we learn of Allison’s whirlwind romance with lawyer, Peter who she’d met at a party, and a marriage two months later. We the readers are both happy that this seemingly lonely girl who had a hard life has found happiness and a cushy life, but has she? But sprinkled throughout the story are snippets not brought to light into more detail until almost halfway through the book, keeping us turning the pages as we try to discover who Allison really is. Is she a sweet girl who had some hard knocks and is finally getting her dream life or was there a reason Allison chose to accept Peter’s proposal when her rumblings of past inform us she wasn’t completely happy?
Lots of action and plot twists kept me excited for every new chapter. Allison is stalked on social media by Jo, only Allison isn’t aware Jo has been following her for some time, and then ultimately connects with her and agrees to meet Jo for lunch in London. This is when the thriller in this book heats up. Jo has revenge on her mind for something Allison has done to her in the past and now she’s sneaking into Allison’s life without Allison realizing who Jo is. But it didn’t take now, bereaved Allison long to figure out that Jo is a menace and potentially dangerous.
On the same night after the two women had lunch, Allison gets ready for her dinner date with her husband Peter to celebrate their three month anniversary, only to feel stood up then ultimately shocked when the police show up to tell her Peter has fallen into the subway tracks.
In this psychological thriller, Allison’s planned perfect life begins to unravel after meeting Jo, and Peter’s sudden death. In the first half of book we are privy only to incoherent pieces of Allison’s younger life, through her flashback thoughts. She remembers a fire, then kids in school calling her monster. How can that be when Allison comes off as a protagonist our heart goes out to? And we learn that Jo is a psycho who has been stalking Allison for some time now to exact some sort of revenge on her for the past.
As Allison’s real life nightmare is happening all at once, the hits keep coming as she learns from Peter’s attorney that nothing is what it seemed – Peter isn’t who he said he was and Allison’s new planned out life of leisure with a big house and enough money to leave her set for life are shattered by reality. Peter’s personna was a sham. And it turns out her other newfound friend, Portia who has been coddling Allison during her grieving, has ulterior motives for befriending Allison too.
The story keeps heating up as the diabolical shenanigans progress – especially when Portia decides to hold Allison captive and the only one who knows where she is, is Jo. Can Allison’s nemesis Jo be the one who actually saves her?
A diabolical tale and a wicked read with secrets held and ultimately revealed as the plot twists keep coming and keep us guessing right up until the end.
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©DGKaye2023
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ive Star Review:
My Five Star Review:
My ve Star RevieMy Five Star Review:This book kept me turning the pages. When we first meet Allison we’re given a snippet of an unhappy and emotionally neglected childhood with snippets of Allison’s petty jealousies in school about another girl in her class who seemed to be shown such affection from her adopted mother, stirring Allison’s jealousies and leaving her wondering if ‘her own parents were to die’, would she be lucky to get a doting adopted mother. Every time Allison heard the word ‘family’, it brought a chill to her.
DGKayewriter.com 