Title: Before I Let You In
Author: Jenny Blackhurst
Published: April 2018, Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages
Source: Netgalley via Publisher
Summary:
The next gripping
psychological thriller by the author of How I Lost You, Jenny
Blackhurst’s #1 international bestseller, about a psychiatrist and
patient relationship that turns not only toxic…but deadly.
Karen,
Eleanor, and Bea have been best friends since childhood. They know
everything about each other’s lives, or at least they think they do. Now
in their thirties, though their lives are beginning to diverge: Eleanor
is a young wife and mother who is struggling to cope with her many
responsibilities; Bea is happy being single—or so she lets people think;
and Karen is a psychiatrist who, despite the secrets in her past,
considers herself the anchor of the group.
But when she takes on a
new patient with issues she just can’t quite put her finger on, she
begins to realize she may have put her dearest friends in danger.
Because her patient knows more about these three women than anyone
outside their circle possible could. Or should…
My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Jenny Blackhurst, but it certainly won’t be the last. I was completely mesmerized from the very opening chapter and had a hard time putting this one down!
This is one fast-paced, crazy, twisted psychological thriller that had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going on, what was going to happen next, and how it was all going to play out in the end. You know something bad is going to happen – it’s hinted at all along – so there is this sense of foreboding that is there all along, and at times, it really gets under your skin! And this just adds to the tension and suspense – I just couldn’t put the book down and read it in two sittings.
The characters are so dynamic and whether you like them or not, you just want to know what is going on with them, why the things that are happening to them are happening, and who is really behind them. This is an intimate look at friendship and how it can come unraveled by one loose thread. I had my guesses as to who was behind everything – and this changed a few times – but WOW, I certainly did not put it all together in the end. That final twist really got me!
This book is full of surprises and the short chapters will have you flying through, frantically flipping those pages as you desperately try to figure out what is going on. It’s complex and cleverly written and you will be totally engrossed with this one once you start it, so be forewarned! I cannot wait to read more from this author…she certainly knows how to hook a reader!!!
