I loved this book! It is a well written, fast paced, edge of your seat roller coaster ride and I highly recommend it!

The Marriage Pact
I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of publication. I have not been paid for providing this review and is my own honest opinion of the book.
Not certain that this is the type of book as a male I would normally read, however I have to say it was extremely enjoyable if a little far fetched at times for my liking.
Story revolves around the married life of Alice and Jake and their induction into a sect preaching and seeking perfect marriages. Any misdemeanors are punished on an ever increasing scale and it isn’t soon before Alice and Jake’s relationship is tested to breaking point.
If I’m being critical, the control the sect have over couples is a little hard to believe at times, but a few twists along the way kept me interested in finding out how it was all going to end.
In summary, a decent read and three out of five stars from me.

#cults
A story that gets darker as it develops.
So here is the fairly typical West Coast USA couple. Well educated, good careers with some previous experimentation, living together in a bijou house in a nice neighbourhood. Marriage seems the next and logical step.
And a friend introduces them to this ‘organisation’ that started in Ireland, which aims to help people have better marriages and fewer divorces.
Strangely, to join the organisation you have sign a contract, and then are given a very large book of rules of behaviour. The rules are very precise and specify minutiae - as an example, if your spouse rings you, you must answer within 2 rings. Now you may ask, what happens if you answer in 3 rings? And how would the organisation know? Which is where the story starts getting creepy. Apparently they do know. And you will be ‘reported’ and ‘dealt’ with.
The story is told by Jake, who is a counsellor and therapist, and it is his marriage to Alice that is examined in the book.
If you are married, or about to be married, there are definitely some elements of this story that you might want to think about. How often do you talk to your partner properly? Not just about day to day chores and work. How often do you surprise them with a gift? For no reason other than that you want to?
The statistics about divorce are horrendous and also those about how often marriage counselling fails. So the idea of (self) help and how to make a successful marriage appeals. But, I suspect, that what works for some couples, works for them alone, just because they are who they are, and not someone else. So don’t copy their behaviour!
Which is why I don’t think that the concept of the Pact was useful.
I really like the story and got more and more horrified as the story went on. And the final chapter was completely unexpected.

This is a totally absorbing, sinister and thought provoking book. Jake, the narrator, an upcoming psychotherapist is about to marry Alice, who used to be a rock singer and songwriter but gave it up when she started to become well known, and trained to be a lawyer. Just before the wedding she is part of a legal team that wins a case for Liam Finnegan, a retired folk rock singer and now a very successful businessman. At the celebration gathering afterwards she impulsively invites Finnegan and his wife to the wedding, and they accept. As a gift they receive a locked box with a note saying that all will be explained when they return from their honeymoon.

On their return they meet with Vivian, who opens the box, which contains the marriage pact, which they must both sign, and a book containing all the rules and regulations of the Pact. Despite their misgivings they sign the document. They are supposed to read the book, but for the most part they both just skim through it. All is well for a while, but then they are invited to a party with other members, and from then on their life slides downwards. Alice receives notice that she is to be punished for a 'crime' against marriage that neither of them think she has committed. For her first crime she has to wear a locked bracelet that monitors her in some way. A short time later she is accused of something else, and is taken away from home in chains and a straightjacket, to a former prison in Nevada, where she undergoes a trial, and receives various punishments. Both Alice and Jake want to leave the Pact, but it seems there is no way out. Then the punishments begin for Jake, and they are far more viscious and cruel. They are trying to make him confess to a crime he has not committed, and he refuses, and the further coercion to persuade him is awful. He still refuses.

Shortly after he returns home Alice is once more to be punished, for adultery, again something that has not happened, but there is circumstantial evidence for, and they decide to run away. Sadly they are caught, and Alice is taken away for punishment. Jake has had enough, and takes a long and tedious journey through several plane trips to ensure he is not being followed, to Ireland to meet the founder of the Pact, Orla, to demand that they are allowed to leave. He learns a great deal in his meetings with her, finding out that all is not as it seems.

Jake returns home, and they are invited to another gathering, where they are given two choices, to lead the group into a new more enlightened age, or leave. I will not give away the ending, but the reader is left to wonder whether they have made the right choice, or whether it will destroy them.

This is an excellent read, very thought-provoking, wth extreme views of how marriages should be. The first person narrative by Jake adds to the edginess of the story. If I was to find a criticism it would be that Jake sounds older than his forty years, maybe that is what becoming a psychotherapist does for you! I found the book almost impossible to put down, it is an excellent read. There are elements of the Stepford Wives, and the motto of Animal Farm also springs to mind - "All men are equal, but some are more equal than others".

One of the best psychological fiction books of this year. Wish I could give more than just 5 stars!
Kept me gripped right from the very first page and didn't let go until the last. Fantastic!

An original plot based around the idea of a secret society whose purported aim is to help your marriage prosper and succeed. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Jake and Alex find themselves invited to join "The Pact' via a wedding gift. At first they find the cloak and dagger a little quirky but funny and despite warnings to read the "manual' they assume they will get by.

Buy each other gifts every month, go on trips every quarter, always answer your phone when your spouse calls. Simple tip that any marriage might do well to follow. But these tips, alongside many others, are compulsory and an entire system exists to ensure that member follow these rules.

After some slip ups reveal the darker side to the group they are now contracted to Jake and Alex swing between trying to get out of 'The Pact' and living with it but something seems to be determined to make them fail and they fear what the price of that failure might be.

The story is often tense and the allure of the ideals of 'The Pact' are often difficult to argue against until Jake and Alex experience what at first seemed to be a wonderful gift becoming something of a curse.

The ending is unpredictable and is likely to keep you thinking about what exactly it means.

Highly recommended

This book was pretty creepy at first but fizzled out fairly quickly. The ending was very weak and a let down. By the end of the book I greatly disliked every character.

I found the book quite slow but I wasn't able to give up on it. I needed to know how the story turned out. It's a good book but a little slow paced for me.

This was a chilling expose of the darker side of human nature in the pursuit of perfection. It felt I was I was inside a combined extension of 1984 and Robocop.
I was really caught in the excitement of joining this select organisation and feeling trapped with no way out.
The descriptions of the correction centre and the events happening were gripping.
I rushed through as I just wanted to know how the main couple coped in the end.
Right up to the last pages I was gripped. I was really hoping for a dramatic end. However, I felt slightly let down by its predictability.
Will I see marriage in this way in the future?

Wow! This is the first novel by Michelle Richmond I have had the good fortune to read and review and I was completely drawn in. In fact it took over every spare minute I had as I frantically read to the end, desperate to reach a satisfactory conclusion and a way out for the lead characters..
The plot is a chillingly disturbing read which focuses on newly weds Jake and Alice.
However, the opening chapter introduces us to a battered and bruised Jake, who seems to have become a part of some violent secret society, as he is returned battered and bruised to an isolated airport runway. Flashbacks then fill in all the gaps as we discover the couple's involvement in The Pact, a highly secretive and unusual society which promotes and values marriage and staying married at all costs. Initially the values upheld by The Pact seem attractive and the couple are drawn in, having been given membership as an unusual wedding gift, but quickly discover things are far from the ideals they hold dear. The Pact is merely a front for something which has taken a more sinister turn of events and Jake and Alice find themselves on the wrong side of it when they begin to question the values and morals followed by those in leadership. Parts of the story are scary and frightening, particularly chapters focussing on Jake's time in Fernley where he is relentlessly and horrifyingly tortured. Although this made it hard to read at times, it also meant that I read with sheer determination to see justice metered out to those who deserved it.
The book is well written and eloquent and makes the reader think deeply about the values of marriage and relationships, with some interesting and well researched facts interspersed throughout the action. A most unusual and interesting 5* read which I highly recommend.

Really thought provoking ..... In a quest to find the perfect marriage we see our 'friends' join what seems an innocent group advocating marriage
Dark - twists - turns that will keep you griped until the end ....

Would you truly do anything to make your marriage work? Will rules and regulations help you to fulfill a lifetime of happiness? The pact offers you the chance to find out, will you sign up for it?

The pact was an interesting book which kept me gripped all the way through. It's a book that leaves you thinking long after you have finished it. I will be recommending it to my book group

The Pact overturns everything we've ever thought about the commitment of marriage. We all know about marriage - even if we're not married ourselves, we know so many people who are. Couples are selected to become members of The Pact - an exclusive group of people all committed to the enduring state of marriage. Jake and Alice are one such couple, presented with membership to The Pact as a wedding present. They sign up willingly - they're committed to their marriage after all. However once they've signed on the dotted line, things move on. They're presented with The Manual - an all encompassing guide of laws and rules which they must adhere to: buying each other monthly gifts, booking trips to spend time together... sounds good so far. However, when identified as behaving contrary to Pact rules, there are consequences... innocuous enough daily fitness sessions and counselling... up to intense and traumatic physical and psychological torture. What is the intention of Orla, the terminally ill leader of the Pact? How do Jake and Alice fit into her succession plan? This is a gripping and intense read, at times chilling and uncomfortable, at all times drawing the reader on to find out what happens next.

An intriguing novel about signing a marriage pact that puts a newlywed couple into a marriage cult.

I found that the Marriage Pact was really hard to put down. It is told in first person by Jake who is a psychologist who recently married Alice. The marriage pact is basically joining a marriage club, where there are parties and you can get advice from other married couples. There are some rules in the pact, you must buy your spouse a gift each other and take a vacation together every 3 months. It sounds simple, but there is major punishment if a rule is not followed or your actions are negatively impacting your marriage.

It's a very interesting concept and I enjoyed reading about Jake and Alice's struggles with the pact. I didn't love the last 25% of the book and wasn't satisfied by the conclusion.

A really interesting plot, it was great to read something a bit different, very creepy yet intriguing. I'm annoyed at myself for not guessing a twist towards the end of the book but I was so consumed by the rules and punishments that it didn't occur to me - but I guess that's a good thing!

The ending fell a bit flat for my liking but up until that moment it was a real page turner with likable characters who you were rooting for throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, Michelle Richmond for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 rounded up to 3.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Newlyweds Alice and Jake are a picture-perfect couple. Alice, once a singer in a well-known rock band, is now a successful lawyer. Jake is a partner in an up-and-coming psychology practice. Their life together holds endless possibilities. After receiving an enticing wedding gift from one of Alice's prominent clients, they decide to join an exclusive and mysterious group known only as The Pact.

The goal of The Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact. And most of its rules make sense.Always answer the phone when your spouse calls. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly. Plan a trip together once per quarter. . . . Never mention The Pact to anyone.

Alice and Jake are initially seduced by the glamorous parties, the sense of community, their widening social circle of like-minded couples. And then one of them breaks the rules. The young lovers are about to discover that for adherents to The Pact, membership, like marriage, is for life. And The Pact will go to any lengths to enforce that rule. For Jake and Alice, the marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare.


I didn't go into this book with any expectations.. the synopsis sounded intriguing and I enjoy a good thriller, but there was only about 20% which I found thrilling. The first 55% of the book nothing really happened. I get that the author was trying to build the suspense but for me it just didn't work.. I was just bored. But I don't like to give up on a book so I carried on. I'm glad I did carry on because eventually things did start to happen. I liked that part of the book. I also found the ending to be a disappointment.. although whilst reading it I couldn't figure out how the author was going to finish the book and I definitely didn't see that ending coming, it was still a let down.
I also found it a bit weird that this book is written from the point of view of Jake. And although there were a lot of thoughts from Jake, I don't think the character development was very good. I had no connection to either Jake or Alice and to be honest I couldn't have cared less what happened to them.
I don't know if I found this book disappointing because of the actual book or if it's just because I was in a book hangover after my last book being a perfect 5 stars.

A proper, well observed thriller, with compelling, vividly drawn characters

An intriguing page-turner which kept me guessing and reading to the very end!

The story is told from Jake's perspective. Alice and Jake enter into a marriage pact to show their commitment to their relationship. Alice is sent away to work on her commitment to their marriage. The pact suddenly becomes sinister. Is it a cult? A dictatorship? An old college friend warns Jake about the pact, saying the only way out - is death!

Eventually Jake and Alice become more secure in their relationship. I wasn't quite sure I was happy with the ending. The characters had grown. The pact was evolving, but without Jake, Alice and Orla, will it, truly?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.

I would definitely recommend reading this book.

This is a creepy and sometimes disturbing book .I found it quite a slow read .The subject is very original though,would you want to belong to The Pact.? It reminded me of the Scientology Cult .The book seemed a bit too long but nevertheless it was a thought provoking read .

I think that the idea behind this book was good, but the style and way in which it was written could have been better. I was really reading to find the great reveal and it was what I thought anyone so in that sense it was quite predictable. The Marriage Pact is about a newly married couple who sign up to The Pact, a wedding gift that they receive, without quite knowing what they are getting themselves into. There was lots of lengthy text, chapters were often descriptive without really holding my attention. That being said, the idea was intriguing and it made me want to finish the book to get to the slightly disappointing ending. I feel like there could be room for more... maybe a slightly improved sequel...