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Summary
Summary
From the USA Today bestselling author of The Sister and The Gift , this is an unputdownable psychological thriller which asks how far we will go to create our perfect family.
Kat and her husband Nick have tried everything to become parents, and are on the point of giving up. Then a chance encounter with Kat's childhood friend Lisa gives Kat and Nick one last chance to achieve their dream.
But Kat and Lisa's history hides dark secrets.
And there is more to Lisa than meets the eye.
As dangerous cracks start to appear in Kat's perfect picture of happily-ever-after, she realizes that she must face her fear of the past to save her family...
Author Notes
Louise Jensen is a #1 bestselling author of psychological thrillers. Her first two novels, The Sister and The Gift , were both international #1 bestsellers, and have been sold for translation to sixteen countries. Her debut novel, The Sister , was nominated for The Goodreads Awards Debut of 2016.
Louise lives in Northamptonshire with her husband, children, madcap dog and a rather naughty cat. She loves to hear from readers and writers and can be found at LouiseJensen.co.uk, where she regularly blogs flash fiction.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Kat White, the narrator of this engrossing domestic thriller from British author Jensen (The Sister), is devastated when she and her husband, Nick, apply a second time for an international adoption and are once again rejected. By chance, Kat runs into her estranged best friend, Lisa Sullivan, in a coffee shop in Craneshill, England, where the Whites live. The two were close until Kat began dating Lisa's twin brother, Jake, who died in a car accident. At one point, after the former friends reconnect, Lisa says she was a surrogate for a celebrity couple and would be thrilled to help Kat. They proceed with the surrogacy, and Lisa becomes pregnant, but Kat soon has cause to wonder whether she can trust her friend-Lisa has doctor's appointments without her, wants extra money, and disappears for days. Meanwhile, Kat starts to doubt Nick's commitment to being a father and worries he's having an affair. As it happens, both Kat and Nick have secrets that threaten to undermine their marriage. Credible characters complement the twist-filled plot. Agent: Rory Scarfe, Blair Partnership (U.K.). (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
The all-consuming desire to have a child leads one woman down a very dark road.English couple Kat and Nick have been happily married for eight years, and though Kat's work with a charity benefiting stroke victims is fulfilling, there's still something missing: Kat desperately wants to be a mum, but she can't conceive. They've already had one adoption fall through, and Kat is eagerly awaiting news on another arrangement. When Kat's estranged best friend, Lisa, comes back into her life, seemingly by chance, they head to a pub and, over drinks, decide to put their fraught past behind them. As they're catching up, Lisa mentions that she gave birth to a little girl as a surrogate not too long ago. When Kat and Nick's new adoption proves unsuccessful, Kat is heartbroken, but she soon decides Lisa would be a perfect surrogate. A contract is drawn up, and Kat and Nick set about the business of getting Lisa pregnant, choosing to forego a clinic in favor of home insemination. When they get the news that Lisa is pregnant, Kat is over the moon, but Nick seems reticent. No matter. Nothing is going to ruin this experience for Kat, and she sees an opportunity to reconnect with her closest friend, whom she last saw after a car accident in high school killed Kat's first love, Jake. But Lisa loved Jake too, and as strange things start to happen, Kat begins to question their arrangement as well as everything she thought she knew about her marriage and her past. Using her considerable talent for probing the dark corners of marriage and friendship, Jensen (The Date, 2018, etc.) throws more wickedly effective twists into the mix than you can shake a stick at. Just about nothing is as it seems, and Jensen's urgent, brisk writing style begs you to read just one more chapter. If the genuinely shocking finale asks readers to suspend disbelief a little too much, they'll probably be having way too much fun to care.An addictive, darkly satisfying treat. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Kat and Nick have longed for a baby; however, after Kat is deemed infertile, and after two failed adoptions, parenthood doesn't seem to be in their future. Until Lisa, Kat's childhood best friend, comes back into their lives, offering to be a surrogate. With minimal paperwork and major payments, the details are quickly worked out, and Lisa soon becomes pregnant. As her pregnancy progresses, however, Lisa, Kat, and Nick begin reliving their childhoods, where their secrets were hidden and fear and doubt first began to take shape. Jensen (The Sister, 2018) is back with an intense, psychological thriller. Readers will whip through the pages as the narrative switches between past and present. With characters as desperate as they are damaged, Jensen creates a mood of hope versus doubt, which works extremely well in building and sustaining the panicked pace. Riddled with incredible, unforeseen revelations coupled with a creepy ending that could keep readers up at night, this novel is a sure bet for fans of psychological suspense and domestic thrillers.--Erin Holt Copyright 2018 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Jensen's third domestic thriller (The Sister; The Gift) focuses on main character Kat White's obsession with having a child; she'll go to any length. After finding out she can't conceive, she and husband Nick try to adopt a baby internationally. Two adoptions in a row fall through and then an old friend of Kat's shows up. Lisa hasn't spoken to Kat for ten years because of some mysterious event in their past. But without a moment's hesitation, she offers herself up as a surrogate. Red herrings and plot twists abound in this dramatic, fast-paced thriller, with suspicions of infidelity, deception, and delusions adding to the tense atmosphere. The traumatic events of Kat's past are unexpectedly linked to her husband's secrets, and in the final chapters everything comes crashing down in ways that only very astute readers could predict. VERDICT This twisty, soapy novel is full of a multitude of plot devices. While the trope of a wife who is not what she seems is becoming a little overused, there is still enough drama and excitement to satisfy readers of books similar to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl or Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door.-Melanie Kindrachuk, Stratford P.L., Ont. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
