Review: Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson

Title: Before She Knew Him

Author: Peter Swanson

Published: March 2019, William Morrow

Format: ARC Paperback, 309 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary: 

Hen and her husband
Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston,
Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out
of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar
disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace.

But
when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she
spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The
sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a
young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long
had a fascination with this unsolved murder—an obsession she doesn’t
talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either…

My thoughts: I have come to love Peter Swanson’s books – there is just something completely binge-worthy about his thrillers that I cannot describe. They keep you on your toes and are usually dark and twisted in the best ways.

I love that this author is able to take a basic premise and totally turn it upside down. This isn’t your typical murder mystery, in fact, it’s not a mystery at all as we know early on who did it. Rather, this is a psychological thriller that will mess with your head in all the best ways. It’s a game of cat and mouse as we try to figure out just what is going on…and why.

I love reading books with unreliable narrators and Hen is absolutely one for sure. With her bipolar disorder, even her husband has a hard time believing her at times, so how can you trust her? Doesn’t this just make you want to read it? To me, this just pulled me deeper into the story. I had to know how things would play out, especially since I felt that the others characters felt a bit untrustworthy as well. It just upped the game, so to speak, and really hooked me even more.

I love Peter Swanson’s books. You just never know what you are going to get and this book is the perfect example of that. It’s a dark, disturbing book with quite the ending. Pick this one up if you haven’t already – you won’t be disappointed!