I absolutely loved The Girl Before and gave it five stars. Sadly I found this novel to be lacking. The writing itself was good but the story just didn’t gel. The characters were unlikeable and I just found it too unbelievable..

Well, this was a little weird. In a good way, I hasten to add; it really did keep me guessing. It was a cat and mouse game all the way through, the journey to the end being dark and twisted throughout.
British wanabe actress Claire has moves stateside to attend a prestigious acting course in NYC. She only has a student visa which limits the amount of work she can do which inevitable means she is always hard up for cash, perennially owing her roommate rent. So, she does what many others have done before, she finds an off-the-books job, and is working, cash in hand, for an law firm investigator in honey traps, filming married men as they come on to her to provide evidence in divorce suits. To be honest, she's pretty good at what she does until, one day, she fails to engage her latest mark, Patrick Fogler. Even worse, the night of her attempt, Fogler's wife Stella, who Claire had broken with tradition and actually met prior to the assignment, is later found dead in her hotel room. Obviously, Claire gets embroiled into the murder investigation and loses her job. But not just that, she also becomes a suspect. With no money now coming in and also with the finger of suspicion pointed at her, she reluctantly agrees to use her skills as an actress to assist the police in their attempts to pin both this murder, and maybe a few others, on Folger; their number one suspect. As time moves on and the investigation proceeds, strange things start occurring to Claire. Is she really working for the police or are they actually working her?
In this book, Folger is an academic, specialising and indeed being a bit obsessed with the works of Charles Baudelaire; specifically his previously banned Les Fleurs du Mal poems which contain some very dark narratives on unhealthy and rather erotic relationships. I did find this side of things a bit too heavy going for me personally but, as they were key to what was happening, I tried to embrace them. Another thing that was a bit different to the norm was the way that certain scenes were played out in script format. I guess because Claire was an actress, maybe the author felt the need to keep reminding the reader of this fact throughout, maybe just to reinforce the idea that Claire was indeed playing a part. Highlighting the fact that she may not be the most reliable of narrators.
As things progress with the story, it becomes evident that things may not quite be as they seem on face value. Claire gets in all sorts of trouble as more evidence and supposition comes to light. Getting help later on from an unlikely source. And then things get even weirder for all involved and it becomes a bit of a race against time to get to the bottom of things once and for all.
I do have to admit to being pretty much clueless for most of the book. I had so many scenarios flitting around my head, possible theories and outcomes but I never managed to settle on anything completely credible. When all was revealed, when the truth did eventually come to light, I sat back with the benefit of hindsight and saw so many things that I had missed or dismissed along the way. If I had been reading a physical copy, I would probably have been flicking back to double check but it's not that easy with an ebook; shame that. Along with that though, there were still quite a few things that were left unresolved for me. Maybe I missed something else but, when I finished, there was just something that didn't quite sit right with me. Maybe the fact that this is based on a previously published novel, the premise of which the author has revisited, reworked and republished - it could be a factor; I don't know.
And the characters... well, they were hard to fathom out for obvious reasons you will discover as you read. All the main players are delightfully complex, their truths and motives not being apparent for the majority of the book. As with all books of this genre, there are many secrets and lies to be found throughout, served with a very generous side-order of duplicitous behaviour. All making it quite hard to connect to any of them.
All in all, a very intriguing plot, the execution of which just fell a little short for me. I see from other reviews that the jury is still out so I guess this is probably going to be one of this year's big marmite books! My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read it.

Wonder book with a great story line. Interesting relationship between the characters and a great ending. Definately a must read.

The Girl Before was one of the books I enjoyed most in 2017. I flew through it, enjoying it so much that I bought it as a gift on more than one occasion. I was really looking forward to Believe Me and couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy.

The novel is well written and fast paced. I had limited awareness of Baudelaire before reading the novel. I had heard of him in passing but not of his colourful life. I loved the fact that the novel could be centred upon a historical figure and yet be such a modern day story.

The need to suspend my disbelief was evident early on. The premise was a complicated one and the idea that Claire, the protagonist could be so heavily involved in a police operation is obviously unlikely but JP Delaney's skills as a writer mean that you are happy to go along for the ride.

Claire is frustrating and often unlikeable but you are invested in her story the entire time. I would happily recommend this book to anyone looking to lose themselves in a page turner.

Thank you to NetGalley, JP Delaney and the publishers for allowing me to review an advance copy.

An original plot as broke actress Claire is recruited as a honey-trap for errant husbands in New York, working for a firm of lawyers. This however becomes mush more complex and dangerous when she is enlisted as an undercover agent to trap Patrick, suspected of being a killer. As she gets to know Patrick, she is very doubtful of his guilt. This was a can't put down story for me. Plenty of twists and turns along the way. I highly recommend it.

Out of the light and into the dark! For me, this book started off in the light and, honestly, was a bit predictable but then it descended into the dark and twists and turns and obfuscation rapidly became the name of the game. What a Game too, enthralling and just like a spider web, a trap for the unwary (reader = me).

A completely different plot style and I LOVED IT; couldn't put it down until it had raced to the last page. Thank you to JP Delaney for a truly fascinating book.

Intriguing read.

I loved the author's previous book, 'The Girl Before' so I snapped this up when given the chance to read a pre-publication copy from Netgalley. I was really looking forward to it-but then it mentioned in the front matter that an earlier version of this had been published before. I was a little put-off for just a few minutes-but then I started it and it was really very good. Fast moving, addictive and intriguing. The author does mention at the end that this is not simply a reissue but a totally new version, rewritten from scratch.

So, I was in. And was soon totally absorbed reading it. I find his books addictive. Quick, snappy start, easy to get right into, and lots of questions posed to keep you guessing.

This was unusual, slightly different in style-sometimes no speech marks-parts of the book seemed to be constructed like a script-to mirror the character's acting etc. I soon got into the style of how it was written. It was fresh, different.

For the most part it was an exceptional read from this author and I got through it quite quickly-I found it easy to lose myself in it for long periods.

The book builds to intense and surprising scenes. I really enjoyed the read and found it a quick, easy read. I just found the ending a little disappointing. I think this is inevitable sometimes with a crime thriller: you spend so long puzzling out the clues, the possible scenarios etc. then it all seems to be a bit of an anticlimax when you actually get to the end of a book you've been immersed in for a few days, you don't want it to end, but it has to end somewhere. I've already noticed that JP Delaney has another book due out in 2019 and have already added it to my books to read list.

Goodness me I'm still reeling from all the twists and turns in this book! My head was spinning.. Just when I thought I'd figured it out another curve ball was thrown and the ending by then was totally unexpected. A great read

I had loved The Girl Before and was really excited for this but there was just one twist too far for me towards the end.

Believe Me by JP Delaney a five-star read that you will want to trap. What a thrilling who done it, do not start this book if you have anything planned, as you won’t be doing anything once you start, so get prepared to call in sick, cancel plans and get reading. I started the book and was so confused as I didn’t like Claire the main character and that’s usually something I need in a book, I like to like the characters even the crazy ones. But the more you get to know Claire the more you realise even if you don’t like her you can still see where she is coming from. You will be raking your brain for things you may have missed, wondering people’s motives and theorising everything behind the story every moment you aren’t reading. Put everything aside and read this book.

Having just finished this I am not quite sure how I feel about it! The premise of the story is very interesting, an aspiring actress with a troubled past is hired by the police to help them investigate a suspected serial killer. Claire is such an effective actress that she can change her personality to the suit all kinds of different circumstances and she certainly has a dark side. The suspected serial killer, Patrick is an enigmatic academic whose wife has recently been murdered. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, but when Claire and Patrick become involved with each other, I was constantly confused at who was playing who which is the point of the story I guess! It is certainly a very twisty psychological thriller but I found it a bit too convoluted and unbelievable at times.

I have just read Believe Me by JP Delaney. Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.
Claire a jobbing actress is struggling to find work in New York when she finally gets work as a honey trapper for a firm of solicitors. It is when she is on her latest assignment that the wife of the husband she was trying to entrap is murdered.
Police are sure the husband is guilty and enlists Claire's help in trying to trap him. Things do not quite work out as she falls in love with him and soon realises she is in danger as she has been lied to by the police. I loved this unique story and characters. A real page turner, I did not want this to end. This is my first novel by JP Delaney and it will not be the last.
#BelieveMe #NetGalley

This. Was a very interesting cat and mouse story, Claire is an a actress acting a part to catch a sadistic murderer.
All the time a book was quoted which did get a bit too much.
The murderer was caught and was very interesting how it was found out.
An academic and an actress and how they worked together.

Wow ! what a roller coaster of a ride this book is .You never know what is true and what isn't , a real psychological thriller .The story is about Claire a British Actress living in NYC trying to make ends meet and get a green card so she can work bona fide .The story is so clever it draws you in and has you hooked .I loved The Girl Before and I loved this book even more .Part of the story is told as if Claire is talking directly to the reader and part is written as if it was a play .Quite a different way of writing which I enjoyed ,it enables you to understand the character more I think .The other characters were also very believable .I really enjoyed this book and would give it 10 stars if I could .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and Ne Galley for the review copy in return for an honest review .

Claire Wright is a british born orphan studying acting in New York. Working illegally for a Law firm entrapping errant husbands, she finds herself involved in a murder, when one of the wives ends up murdered. Was it the husband Patrick or is Claire guilty?
A local detective Frank Durban blackmails Claire into helping them try and prove Patrick killed his wife. Plenty of twists as you don't know who is trying to trap who. Add a cynical forensic psychologist in Kathryn Latham and you are never sure what is truth and what is fiction!
The author of "The girl before" has produced another tense thriller. Highly recommended. See my full review on Euro-Crime website. Thanks to Netgalley for my review kindle download.

"Just for a few moments you become someone else. And that's the best feeling there is in the world."

The main character is either an actor "behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances" or a straight-up liar. In either case, we know we have an untrustworthy narrator on our hands from the outset. We're told right from the cover of the book not to trust her, so we don't.

This thriller is well-paced and moves swiftly from scene to scene. There is a particular rhythm the book succumbs to approximately 40% of the way in, where we know each time what Claire is likely to say or do and then how her minders will respond and send her back in to the next situation. I got used to the dialogue I could predict would happen between Claire and Kathryn particularly.

The book keeps you on your toes, not knowing whether the threat anticipated will be realised and I liked not knowing where it might come from.

There was a chapter of the book that was timely, given the #metoo campaign with a sleazy producer. I would have liked this section even more if it had been more subtle - the grey area is so much more troubling than the overt acts of the producer. But that's my opinion, of course!

Overall, an easy summer read.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Quercus Books and JP Delaney for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, but I have to say I was a little dissapointed when the killer was revealed. The book was very well written but I did struggle to connect with the main characters, trying to follow the emotional roller coasters they were on was sometimes just too exhausting! I would recommend this book as a good holiday read as I suspect it would be easier to read in longer spells than the 20 minutes a time I was reading it in on my commute.

Another first class Psychology Thriller by JP Delaney..
Claire Wright is a struggling actress in New York without a Green Card. Is she acting this part or not??
We are taken on an exciting journey with Claire and Patrick, the suspected wife murderer.
The ups, downs and unexpected twits keep us guessing right to the end.
Excellent, gripping reading.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. It took me a while due to good sunny weather. This book was by far the best one yet. The characters and the storyline was absolutely brilliant. I got a bit frustrated with Claire at times, but obviously didn’t realise until the end as to why. She really got into character. The twist at the end was good, I honestly was not expecting Patrick to be like that. I had Henry pegged for the killer. I will be recommending this one to all my friends.

Disturbing, addictive, it raises the question of whether we ever really know another person. I found parts of the dialogue where there were no quotation marks confusing . Was it Claire's imagination or a real conversation? I had to keep reading to the end, but I am not sure I liked it.