Scan barcode
thephdivabooks's review
5.0
A married woman, a mysterious stranger, a murder…
Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist wrote a slam-dunk five-star thriller that kept my mind spinning to the very last delightfully twisted page! Once you pick up The Woman in the Park, you won’t be able to put it down!
About the Book
Manhattanite Sarah Rock is going through a tough time. She is certain her husband Eric is having an affair with his younger coworker Juliette. Her kids are away from home at boarding school. She’s so lonely. To fill her time in between preparing for her weekends with the kids, events with her husband, and appointments with her therapist, Sarah sometimes takes a book to Central Park to read.
One day, Sarah is reading in the park when she is approached by a handsome and mysterious stranger named Lawrence. He strikes up a conversation about her book, Thérèse Raquin, which he has read before. After the most authentic and intriguing adult conversation Sarah has had in ages, she finds herself think about Lawrence more and more. Running into eachother again in the park, it begins to become a regular thing, and before long the two strike up a steamy affair.
But when the police show up at Sarah’s door a few weeks later investigating the murder of a woman whom Sarah saw in the park, things begin to unravel. The woman is somehow connected to Lawrence. Sarah hasn’t heard from Lawrence in a while, and now she starts to wonder if there is more to this affair than she realized.
As Sarah finds herself accused of this serious crime, her view of what is true and what are lies becomes distorted. Sarah needs to find out what is going on, if she can keep it together long enough…
Reflection
This is a quick read, and the authors don’t waste a paragraph of this book on a throwaway moment. Every single sentence kept me glued to the pages. Truly, this is one of my favorite books of 2019! Twisted, dark, and disorienting in the most delightful and salacious way.
There’s no omniscient narrator in this book, which meant that I was never totally certain what to believe and what was happening. The writing is brilliant! How two authors collaborated in such a tightly woven story and kept the writing so flawless, I’ll never know! I wish I could ask them how they did it, because this is one of the most seamless dual-authored novels I’ve ever read.
The psychologist in me was obsessed with Sarah as the main character. Sarah isn’t unreliable in the way of lying to the reader, but she is unreliable in the sense that she is struggling a bit with her mental health, and so I found myself never really trusting her reporting of the events. Sarah is paranoid, she has gaps in time, and she’s a bit erratic. But there is something so pure and vulnerable about Sarah, that I felt my heart wanting to reach into the book and protect her.
But from who??
That’s the key to this book! What exactly is going on? Obviously, I’m not going to tell you, but I want to say this: I read a LOT of thrillers and I have seen a lot of twists, and I didn’t even come close to guessing what was happening in this book. Masterful! I thought I had it all figured out, and then suddenly everything turned over and then twisted again. The entire last third of the book is impossible to put down for even a moment!
A truly twisted ride that left me so satisfied, and simultaneously wanting more from these authors! I am blown away!!!
Thank you to the authors and to Suzy Approved Book Tours for my copy. Opinions are my own.
Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist wrote a slam-dunk five-star thriller that kept my mind spinning to the very last delightfully twisted page! Once you pick up The Woman in the Park, you won’t be able to put it down!
About the Book
Manhattanite Sarah Rock is going through a tough time. She is certain her husband Eric is having an affair with his younger coworker Juliette. Her kids are away from home at boarding school. She’s so lonely. To fill her time in between preparing for her weekends with the kids, events with her husband, and appointments with her therapist, Sarah sometimes takes a book to Central Park to read.
One day, Sarah is reading in the park when she is approached by a handsome and mysterious stranger named Lawrence. He strikes up a conversation about her book, Thérèse Raquin, which he has read before. After the most authentic and intriguing adult conversation Sarah has had in ages, she finds herself think about Lawrence more and more. Running into eachother again in the park, it begins to become a regular thing, and before long the two strike up a steamy affair.
But when the police show up at Sarah’s door a few weeks later investigating the murder of a woman whom Sarah saw in the park, things begin to unravel. The woman is somehow connected to Lawrence. Sarah hasn’t heard from Lawrence in a while, and now she starts to wonder if there is more to this affair than she realized.
As Sarah finds herself accused of this serious crime, her view of what is true and what are lies becomes distorted. Sarah needs to find out what is going on, if she can keep it together long enough…
Reflection
This is a quick read, and the authors don’t waste a paragraph of this book on a throwaway moment. Every single sentence kept me glued to the pages. Truly, this is one of my favorite books of 2019! Twisted, dark, and disorienting in the most delightful and salacious way.
There’s no omniscient narrator in this book, which meant that I was never totally certain what to believe and what was happening. The writing is brilliant! How two authors collaborated in such a tightly woven story and kept the writing so flawless, I’ll never know! I wish I could ask them how they did it, because this is one of the most seamless dual-authored novels I’ve ever read.
The psychologist in me was obsessed with Sarah as the main character. Sarah isn’t unreliable in the way of lying to the reader, but she is unreliable in the sense that she is struggling a bit with her mental health, and so I found myself never really trusting her reporting of the events. Sarah is paranoid, she has gaps in time, and she’s a bit erratic. But there is something so pure and vulnerable about Sarah, that I felt my heart wanting to reach into the book and protect her.
But from who??
That’s the key to this book! What exactly is going on? Obviously, I’m not going to tell you, but I want to say this: I read a LOT of thrillers and I have seen a lot of twists, and I didn’t even come close to guessing what was happening in this book. Masterful! I thought I had it all figured out, and then suddenly everything turned over and then twisted again. The entire last third of the book is impossible to put down for even a moment!
A truly twisted ride that left me so satisfied, and simultaneously wanting more from these authors! I am blown away!!!
Thank you to the authors and to Suzy Approved Book Tours for my copy. Opinions are my own.
jmbibliolater's review
4.0
Special thanks to Teresa Sorkin, Tullan Holmqvist and Suzy at Suzy Approved Book Tours for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. For more reviews, visit www.jennifermitchellbooks.com
The Woman in the Park synopsis says it will leave you breathless. And breathless it did. The Woman In The Park is a debut novel that had me captivated at the start. The Prologue drew me in so effortlessly.
In the beginning, I felt a little sorry and sad for Sarah. She believes her husband is having an affair. Her kids are in boarding school. She religiously goes to therapy (nothing wrong with that). And she has A LOT of time on her hands. Life is going on without her and you feel it too.
When Sarah meets Lawrence, I was a bit surprised she begins an affair with the ever-so mysterious man (even though the synopsis clearly states she has a lover). I didn’t think Sarah really had it in her to cheat on her husband. She just seems like a fragile bird.
However, when the facts and the details of this thriller began to NOT add up (when as a reader you get this sense that something is just not right), I teetered between feeling a bit sad for Sarah who is going thru what appears to be a midlife crisis to being a bit weary and cautious as she doesn't seem to be all there mentally. And I LOVE it. I love how I was forced to think of Sarah as both the victim and the potential perpetrator.
Another aspect that I LOVE is that not only does the reader get front row, live seats into Sarah's therapy session with Dr. Robin, the reader ALSO gets to read the therapist's note from the sessions. Teresa and Tullan brilliantly allow you to see both sides which adds an entirely new element to the story and presents clues to what the H is actually going on.
Like any good thriller, The Woman in the Park has a lot of twists and turns (NO Spoilers). As soon as you think you have it figured out, the story changes. I found the ending to be exciting, entertaining and satisfying.
The Woman in the Park synopsis says it will leave you breathless. And breathless it did. The Woman In The Park is a debut novel that had me captivated at the start. The Prologue drew me in so effortlessly.
In the beginning, I felt a little sorry and sad for Sarah. She believes her husband is having an affair. Her kids are in boarding school. She religiously goes to therapy (nothing wrong with that). And she has A LOT of time on her hands. Life is going on without her and you feel it too.
When Sarah meets Lawrence, I was a bit surprised she begins an affair with the ever-so mysterious man (even though the synopsis clearly states she has a lover). I didn’t think Sarah really had it in her to cheat on her husband. She just seems like a fragile bird.
However, when the facts and the details of this thriller began to NOT add up (when as a reader you get this sense that something is just not right), I teetered between feeling a bit sad for Sarah who is going thru what appears to be a midlife crisis to being a bit weary and cautious as she doesn't seem to be all there mentally. And I LOVE it. I love how I was forced to think of Sarah as both the victim and the potential perpetrator.
Another aspect that I LOVE is that not only does the reader get front row, live seats into Sarah's therapy session with Dr. Robin, the reader ALSO gets to read the therapist's note from the sessions. Teresa and Tullan brilliantly allow you to see both sides which adds an entirely new element to the story and presents clues to what the H is actually going on.
Like any good thriller, The Woman in the Park has a lot of twists and turns (NO Spoilers). As soon as you think you have it figured out, the story changes. I found the ending to be exciting, entertaining and satisfying.
1neverendingtbr's review
4.0
Wow this book took me by surprise. The first few chapters I had no idea where the story was going and I wasn’t sure about the book but wow did the twists and turns come out and they did not disappoint. Once you think you have it figured out, you quickly find out you were wrong.
janeeyre_914716's review
4.0
All I can say is wow! Such a great story of psychological twists and turns for sure and had me guessing more and more in the second half/part two and yet there were two to three big twists that I didn't see coming and was very clever. The end was really good and a great way to end this book. Not much to say without spoiling too much except that you just need to read this for yourself and good luck with this story messing with your mind in the last third of the book with the psychological twists and turns ;) well done and well put together for sure and a clever story at that.
bookishwithwine's review
5.0
New Review
I was so excited to win this in an IG Giveaway after reading a review.
Sarah thinks her husband is having an affair. When she meets a mysterious man in a park she has no issues staring her own affair.
The real excitement in this book happens when the police come knocking on Sarah’s door. A woman that she has seen at the park has disappeared, and Sarah is the prime suspect.
With her new lover nowhere to be found, Sarah’s life begins to unravel and nothing is as it seems!
Have you read this one? What did you think?!
Head to my blog for the full review, rating, and wine pairing!
www.bookishwithwine.com
I was so excited to win this in an IG Giveaway after reading a review.
Sarah thinks her husband is having an affair. When she meets a mysterious man in a park she has no issues staring her own affair.
The real excitement in this book happens when the police come knocking on Sarah’s door. A woman that she has seen at the park has disappeared, and Sarah is the prime suspect.
With her new lover nowhere to be found, Sarah’s life begins to unravel and nothing is as it seems!
Have you read this one? What did you think?!
Head to my blog for the full review, rating, and wine pairing!
www.bookishwithwine.com
readsalattethrillers73's review
5.0
Wow! The was a fantastic read. I had no idea you could pack such a twisted story into such a small little package. Is it wrong that I was casting the movie as I read this? I seriously hope we here more about Dr. Robin cause this book was a solid 5 stars for me,
omnia_atef's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Brilliant unpredictable. It was a roller coaster psychological thriller it some parts I felt delusion couldn't differentiate between the real and delusional part it's most epic thriller I have ever read till now. The psychiatric Dr.Robin was not normal creeper me a lot. I devoured the book in one sitting it crept me I was unsettled all the time it fucked my brain really. Thumbs up for it and shout out for everyone to read it
bookapotamus's review
4.0
Did you ever get that feeling that you might be losing your mind? I mean - we've all been there - right? But then you're like ehhhh... noooo - I'm just fine. Cool, calm and collected - every duck in a row - it's everyone ELSE who has lost their marbles! I'm just fine. The rest of the world is bonkers.
I kinda of felt a little bit like that reading this book. My mind went up and down and all around and I haven't felt that bat sh*t crazy in a long time! I felt crazy just trying to figure out if the main character was mad as a hatter.
Sarah's trying to get out of her head. Her kids are teenagers (enough said), her husband is cheating on her with a coworker, her therapist shows her no compassion or sympathy, and she's just downright bored with her daily routine. She needs something more. And one day in the park, when a strange yet handsome man approaches her ... she thinks she has found that something.
And then it gets bananas...
A woman from the exact same park goes missing and Sarah finds herself as the prime suspect in her disappearance. As everything slowly begins to unravel, both her husband and her therapist turn against her believing she is so sick - she may just be capable of the crime. And her one alibi, the man from the park - gone. But did he even exist in the first place, or did Sarah's mind make him up?
This one is a SUPER twisty thriller, chock full of secrets and lies and has you pointing fingers at everyone. It's a super fast read that I tore through, hoping the whole time that Sarah proves herself innocent... but is she really as innocent as her mind has led her to believe?
If you love fast-paced twisty-turny thrillers - this is definitely your book!
I kinda of felt a little bit like that reading this book. My mind went up and down and all around and I haven't felt that bat sh*t crazy in a long time! I felt crazy just trying to figure out if the main character was mad as a hatter.
Sarah's trying to get out of her head. Her kids are teenagers (enough said), her husband is cheating on her with a coworker, her therapist shows her no compassion or sympathy, and she's just downright bored with her daily routine. She needs something more. And one day in the park, when a strange yet handsome man approaches her ... she thinks she has found that something.
And then it gets bananas...
A woman from the exact same park goes missing and Sarah finds herself as the prime suspect in her disappearance. As everything slowly begins to unravel, both her husband and her therapist turn against her believing she is so sick - she may just be capable of the crime. And her one alibi, the man from the park - gone. But did he even exist in the first place, or did Sarah's mind make him up?
This one is a SUPER twisty thriller, chock full of secrets and lies and has you pointing fingers at everyone. It's a super fast read that I tore through, hoping the whole time that Sarah proves herself innocent... but is she really as innocent as her mind has led her to believe?
If you love fast-paced twisty-turny thrillers - this is definitely your book!