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A review by emilyrainsford
Kill Your Husbands by Jack Heath
dark
mysterious
tense
5.0
It's not often I give a full five stars full stop, let alone for a thriller, but this really hit the spot for me (double entendre not intended but noted).
I was just having a whinge recently about how the more thriller/suspense style books I read, the harder it is to surprise me, so it seems like the universe must have been listening when it threw this one in my path. I was truly kept guessing the whole way through, and I absolutely love that in a thriller - or really any book.
I've realised that one of the top things I want in a book is to feel like the author is cleverer than me. Like they're the grinning puppet master who's always five steps ahead weaving a web, and I'm the lil dumb dumb trying to follow the breadcrumbs. You know that feeling when you read what seems like a throwaway line and your seasoned reader senses go "hmm that seems like it might be important but I can't see how" and then half the book later you're like "oohhhhhhh, now I see!" I *live* for that feeling and this book delivered it in spades.
I realised pretty quickly that one of the characters in the "cop timeline" had featured heavily in Heath's previous novel, Kill Your Brother. This current novel is my first read from the author, so I can confidently say that it can easily be read as a standalone without the prior knowledge of Elise's story. I will definitely be going back and reading it though.
Books that alternate between a "then and now" timeline are very hit and miss for me. When not done well, I find one of the timelines ends up feeling like a pause in the story, which I find frustrating. When it IS done well, both of the timelines are driving the story forwards despite the change in time point, and I'm glad to say that this one was done exceptionally well. There was nothing extraneous here - absolutely everything was part of the story being woven, even (especially) all the juicy interpersonal drama between the couples that are the main feature of the story.
I barely put this book down from the moment I picked it up (only for pesky requirements like real life) and blasted through it in a couple of days which is very quick for me. Honestly the most I've enjoyed a book in ages, especially in the thriller genre, easily one of my fav reads of the year.
I was just having a whinge recently about how the more thriller/suspense style books I read, the harder it is to surprise me, so it seems like the universe must have been listening when it threw this one in my path. I was truly kept guessing the whole way through, and I absolutely love that in a thriller - or really any book.
I've realised that one of the top things I want in a book is to feel like the author is cleverer than me. Like they're the grinning puppet master who's always five steps ahead weaving a web, and I'm the lil dumb dumb trying to follow the breadcrumbs. You know that feeling when you read what seems like a throwaway line and your seasoned reader senses go "hmm that seems like it might be important but I can't see how" and then half the book later you're like "oohhhhhhh, now I see!" I *live* for that feeling and this book delivered it in spades.
I realised pretty quickly that one of the characters in the "cop timeline" had featured heavily in Heath's previous novel, Kill Your Brother. This current novel is my first read from the author, so I can confidently say that it can easily be read as a standalone without the prior knowledge of Elise's story. I will definitely be going back and reading it though.
Books that alternate between a "then and now" timeline are very hit and miss for me. When not done well, I find one of the timelines ends up feeling like a pause in the story, which I find frustrating. When it IS done well, both of the timelines are driving the story forwards despite the change in time point, and I'm glad to say that this one was done exceptionally well. There was nothing extraneous here - absolutely everything was part of the story being woven, even (especially) all the juicy interpersonal drama between the couples that are the main feature of the story.
I barely put this book down from the moment I picked it up (only for pesky requirements like real life) and blasted through it in a couple of days which is very quick for me. Honestly the most I've enjoyed a book in ages, especially in the thriller genre, easily one of my fav reads of the year.