Title: The Perfect Husband
Author: Lisa Gardner
Series: Quincy & Rainie/FBI Profiler series, #1
Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman
Published: December 2018, Brilliance Audio
Length: 10 hours 52 minutes
Source: Publisher
Summary:
What would you do if the man of your dreams hides the soul of a killer?
Jim
Beckett was everything she’d ever dreamed of…But two years after Tess
married the decorated cop and bore his child, she helped put him behind
bars for savagely murdering ten women. Even locked up in a maximum
security prison, he vowed he would come after her and make her pay. Now
the cunning killer has escaped—and the most dangerous game of all
begins….
After a lifetime of fear, Tess will do something she’s
never done before. She’s going to learn to protect her daughter and
fight back, with the help of a burned-out ex-marine. As the largest
manhunt four states have ever seen mobilizes to catch Beckett, the clock
winds down to the terrifying reunion between husband and wife. And Tess
knows that this time, her only choices are to kill—or be killed.
My thoughts: I’ve been a fan of Lisa Gardner for quite some time now, falling in love with her writing with her Detective D.D. Warren series. Her FBI Profiler series is a new-to-me series, having only read the two newer books in the series. Since I liked them so much, I knew I wanted to go back and start from the beginning and was thrilled when I saw Brilliance Audio had the first one available for review.
This book was quite an intense, gripping story that kept me engaged throughout. It’s one of those books that keeps you on edge and gets more and more intense the further you get into the book. Right from the start, I was pulled in and felt this paranoid terror for Tess and her child. They aren’t even real, yet the terror that I felt while listening to this book was palpable…that’s how good the writing is.
The characters that Lisa Gardner creates are just pure evil at times and Jim Beckett is a classic example. He is a sociopath through and through and what he put his wife through is something I will never forget. He is terrifying and Lisa creates him to be full of life and the type of character with absolutely no redeeming qualities…and rightfully so. But at the same time, this is also the type of character you want to read about if you like these books – she makes him attractive, if that makes sense.
This book is non-stop…it’s not always about the action, but it doesn’t stop with the intensity. It will hurt, it will take an emotional toll on you and quite possibly deplete your energy as you read this from all the adrenaline needed to stay on top of what is going on. But let me just say…it is so worth it. This book is good…Tess is a fighter and she is not going down without a fight!
I cannot wait to continue this series and while I don’t think Tess will be in any more of the books, I hope the rest of the series is just as adrenaline-pumping as this one!
Audio thoughts: This was one crazy book to listen to and I thought Sarah Zimmerman did a great job. She brought all the characters to life, giving each and every one their own unique personality. She infused just the right amount of tension into her voice as necessary and her intonation and pitch were spot on.
Books in this series:
1. The Perfect Husband
2. The Third Victim
3. The Next Accident
4. The Killing Hour
5. Gone
6. Say Goodbye
6.5 The 4th Man
This sounds really good! I would love to read it (or listen to it.)