I love thrillers, so I was glad to be reading a new one that more recently came out and already has the rights picked up by Steven Spielberg for a screen adaptation. In my mind, those are really good indicators of an excellent novel. And I was right! The Wife Between Us, co-written by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen had so many great twists and turns that I tore right through this in a week!
Reminiscent of Gone Girl, this story focuses on a disheveled divorceé seemingly stalking her ex-husband’s new play-thing. At first you believe she’s trying to get her old life back, because her new one is quite sad. She’s an alcoholic who’s about to lose a job she’s held for less than a month and is living in an apartment with her aunt. Vanessa is a hot mess and for a while I feared for Nellie. She seemed so happy-go-lucky, fun, and kind, and doesn’t deserve to get her life ruined by a bitter ex. But that’s when the novel flips itself on its head!
Once the first major twist lands, they just keep coming. Vanessa’s ex and Nellie’s new love seems like the dream. He’s handsome, rich, and a really attentive lover. But not everything is as it appears with Richard. As the second half of the novel unfolds, more of Richard’s truths bubble to the surface and your allegiances may change throughout. For fear of giving anything else juicy away, I’ll leave it at that.
This is definitely a thriller that is paced properly and kept me engaged the entire way through. In comparison, I remember being just about to give up on Gone Girl before the big twist came, so I’m glad this novel doesn’t string me along forever. And that’s probably because its characters are so elusive. Each chapter slowly dredges up a new facet of the women and I was always enticed to know more. The twists are punchy and artful, although one reveal seems pretty obvious, but it is still no less engaging to read about. Really, I’d tell you to read this book over The Woman on the Train…so what are you waiting for?!