vegantrav 's review for:

Disclaimer by Renée Knight

5.0

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The premise of this thriller is utterly engaging: Catherine recognizes herself in a novel she is reading. The author of this novel knows things about Catherine that she thought no one else knew--that no one else could possibly know. A secret that she has been hiding for 20 years is exposed. Now, it seems, the author of the novel is trying to settle a score with Catherine, but who is the author, and what does she or he want from Catherine?

For the first third of the book, I was completely hooked. Then, in the novel that Catherine is reading, we see the secret.

Spoiler

Catherine had had an affair with a young man named Jonathan while on vacation in Spain. Then, while at the beach, Catherine fell asleep after making love to Jonathan, and her son, Nicholas, who is playing in an inflatable toy, starts to drift out to sea. Luckily, Jonathan sees this, swims out, and rescues Nicholas, but before making it all the way back to shore, Jonathan is exhausted and drowns. Another man, though, had swum out as well, so Nicholas is saved.

The secret is just not as horrible and not as bad as I had thought it would be, so I started to ratchet down my expectations for this novel.

However, about three quarters of the way through, there is an even bigger reveal.

Spoiler

Catherine was not having an affair with Jonathan. Jonathan had actually raped her. The writer of the novel that Catherine was reading had simply portrayed Jonathan and Catherine's sexual encounter as consensual when, in fact, it was not.

This completely changed the tone and pace of the novel for me. I was once again completely hooked. This revelation cast everything that came before in a new and surprising light, and it made me re-evaluate all of the key characters and what I thought of them.

My summer reading (today is June 1) is starting off on a great note. Disclaimer is a first-rate thriller with a great drama and two strong characters in Catherine and her antagonist, Stephen. Mystery and thriller fans will not be disappointed with this riveting (yes, I used the word, riveting, and I know it sounds trite, but it's apt) debut novel from Renee Knight.