Publication date: 27 November, 2020.
Description
“Thank you,” I say sweetly when she tells me I’m lucky to have such a beautiful family. But I want to tell her it’s not just luck. A family is like a fortress you have to defend all the time. You can’t relax because there’s always someone looking for a breach, always someone trying to get in. Someone just like her…
When I arrive unannounced at my husband’s studio in need of a shoulder to cry on after hearing that my best student, Alex, has died, I see a pair of wineglasses drying by the sink and my deepest fear is confirmed: my husband is having an affair.
Most women would fall to their knees in tears and throw him out of the house–but I just can’t bring myself to do it.
Instead, I go home and cook a healthy dinner for our children, walk the dog and unload the dishwasher without complaint. I will make him see that I’m still the woman he married; attractive, successful, the glue that holds our perfect family together. I need this marriage to work to protect a terrible secret of my own, something that would destroy everything I’ve already sacrificed so much for.
But when the police arrive at my door asking questions about Alex’s death that I can’t answer, and threatening text messages start appearing on my phone, I know that someone close has been watching me very carefully.
The truth is, there are three people in my marriage, but only one of them is deadly…
About the author
Natalie Barelli can usually be found reading a book, and that book will more likely than not be a psychological thriller. When not absorbed in the latest gripping page-turner, Natalie loves cooking, enjoys riding her Vespa around town and otherwise spends far too much time at the computer. She lives in Australia, with her family.
My thoughts
‘Unfaithful’ was an intriguing read and packed full of mystery. Anna is far from perfect but I felt that I was on her side from the start even thought I cringed at some of her decisions.
The author does a fantastic job of presenting how downtrodden she was by everyone which made me hope that she would explode. As for her character, I totally enjoyed her being highly intelligent. Being someone who taught university maths and works with PhD students placed her high on the clever scale. It made it all the more disheartening when she was treated badly in the workplace. I felt her disappointment.
I loved how the story then wound around Anna’s suspicions and followed on with the gathering of evidence when it came to her husband’s suspicious behaviour. I also enjoyed how she was trying to juggle all that was happening in her own life. It was great that on the surface, she was always so together but as the reader of her first person POV, I recognised that rumble of thunder that was building up for a mega storm.
There are many tense moments and a few scary moments. There is one particular scene that takes place in a cupboard and that really creeped me out. The explosive ending was set up brilliantly and full of surprises! If you love a fast moving psychological thriller with infidelity at its core, ‘Unfaithful’ is just that! It’s punchy, exciting and knuckle clenching!
Thanks for reading!
Why not check out one of my other reviews? Maybe you’ll find your perfect read.
Cold Mercy by MA Comley – review. https://griffbuck.wordpress.com/2020/11/24/cold-mercy-by-ma-comley-review/
Carla Kovach – author of Amazon and iBooks bestselling DI Gina Harte crime series.