Title: Second Life
Author: S.J. Watson
Published: June 2015, Harper
Format: ARC Paperback, 432 pages
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
From the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go To Sleep, a sensational new psychological thriller about a woman with a secret identity that threatens to destroy her.
How well can you really know another person? How far would you go to find the truth about someone you love?
When
Julia learns that her sister has been violently murdered, she must
uncover why. But Julia’s quest quickly evolves into an alluring
exploration of own darkest sensual desires. Becoming involved with a
dangerous stranger online, she’s losing herself…losing
control…perhaps losing everything. Her search for answers will
jeopardize her marriage, her family, and her life.A tense and unrelenting novel that explores the secret lives people lead; and the dark places in which they can find themselves. Second Life is a masterwork of suspense from the acclaimed S. J. Watson.
My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by S.J. Watson. I had heard his first book, Before I Go To Sleep was excellent, so when I was asked to be part of the blog tour for his second book, I jumped at the opportunity. I love a good psychological thriller and will certainly be picking Before I Go To Sleep at the first chance I get. This one is also billed as a psychological thriller and not having anything to compare it to, I have to say I thought it was pretty good.
This is the type of book where I was a bit conflicted throughout because I didn’t really like the main character. She just didn’t seem to sit well with me and so I had a hard time warming up to her. In her quest to find out what happened to her sister, her life starts to spiral out of control, and I have to admit, I just couldn’t look away. Much like when you drive by a car wreck – you just have to see what has happened, and this is what I felt about Julia – I didn’t much care about her, but I had to see just how far out of control she ends up.
What I did like, though, was the whole online aspect. It really does make you think twice about how we have to be so careful with who we share our information with. Do we really know who the person is that we are communicating with in the virtual world? How easy is it to pretend to be someone else? This part certainly provides much food for thought.
I don’t know if it’s because I read so many crime/psychological thrillers or not, but I tend to be suspicious of almost all characters that come into the main character’s life throughout the book. I certainly had my suspicions of quite a few characters in this book and while I was correct in my suspicions of the ultimate “bad guy,” I didn’t quite have all the facts lined up – of course, there were some twists added to that as well. That coupled with the ambiguous ending might just be my favorite parts of the entire book.
This was a good psychological thriller that definitely had me interested throughout. While I didn’t love Julia – in fact, many times she drove me crazy! – I did have a hard time putting this book down. I had to see how this book played out. S.J. Watson is going on my to-watch list and Before I Go To Sleep is already on my to-read list!
About the author: S. J. Watson was born in the Midlands and lives in London. His first novel was the award-winning Before I Go to Sleep,
which has sold over four million copies in more than forty languages
around the world. It was recently adapted into a major motion picture
starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong.
Authors Links:
To see who else is participating in S. J. Watson’s Second Life tour, click here.
OK, I really liked Before I Go To Sleep when I read it a couple of years ago. I haven't watched the movie yet, but I probably will since it's now on Netflix streaming. I've been waiting for this book to come and was a little worried with some of the early talk about it. I'm going to try it with an open mind though. I do usually like the books about people getting into situations that get worse because of online predators. That just always seems so possible to me and I think many are not careful enough. Anyway, thanks for the review. Looking forward to the book.
I've not read the other book either but hopefully will get to them. Thanks for the review.
That online aspect is certainly something we all have to be concerned about.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!