Member Reviews

We all know that seemingly perfect family that appear to have it all but nobody knows what's going on behind closed doors; My Neighbour's Wife is a perfect example of things not being as rosy as we think and all it takes is for one mistake, albeit a massive one, and the walls come tumbling down.

I am a fan of Tony Parsons' work having read most of his series starring DC Max Wolfe and thoroughly enjoying them but this is a break from those stories but is no less enjoyable.

The story is gripping and most definitely a cautionary tale of how one "little" mistake can cause so many ripples and affect so many lives in ways you wouldn't see coming. The characters Mr Parsons creates are an interesting mixed bag of those you will love and those you will love to hate, those you will initially like and grow to dislike and the other way around - I love it when that happens!

The pace is good and there are twists, turns and red herrings that will keep you second guessing yourself and totally engrossed and I have no hesitation in recommending this to anyone who enjoys a great psychological thriller.

Thank you to Random House UK / Cornerstone and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.

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This was a fast paced quick read for me however a few parts did feel drawn out. The characters were likeable and it is well written. It’s a gripping read but predictable in parts.

Thank you to Random House UK for this advance copy.

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A absolutely compelling read.
Tara Carver has it all. A loving husband her own company and a family.
On a business trip away from home Tara has a one night stand and immediately regrets the decision it wasn't as though it was the best sex of her life either.
On returning home she tries to put the past behind her but her one night stand will not let it go.
He wants her all to himself even if he has to kill to get it.

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A gripping fast-paced read about love, infidelity and murder.

I really enjoyed Your Neighbour’s Wife, which kept me guessing until the end. While all of the characters had flaws, I did think Tara, Christian, Marlon and Buddy the dog were a likeable family. I loved how Buddy was often included in the narrative, showing how dogs are genuinely part of the family.

One thing that didn’t make sense to me was the title of this book.

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The first 70% of this book I found gripping but I started to drag my heels for the last 30%. I didn’t understand why Tara had a one night stand when in Tokyo when she had everything she wanted at home. It didn’t make sense.

There were lots of twists and turns most of which I figured out before they were revealed. There were also some inconsistencies which annoyed me which I don’t think will get amended before it’s release. All in all an ok read for me. I am still trying to figure out why this book is called Your Neighbours Wife, that’s still a mystery to me!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the opportunity to read an advance copy in return for my honest review.

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This twisty psychological thriller entertained me from the beginning. When Tara goes on a business trip to Japan, leaving her husband Christian and her young son Marlon, something happens and sets off a train of events which means their lives will never be the same again.
Really this is a whodunnit as there is a murder and with a number of suspects it’s impossible for the reader to work out who the culprit really is.
Tara is not a particularly likeable character, she is somewhat self obsessed and spoilt by all around her including her family and close friends. In fact she shows little empathy for her friends, Ginger and Mary and only interacts with them when she needs their help. Mary effectively runs the business, Angel Eyes dating app but receives little back from Tara who gets all the glory including the ill fated trip to the Tokyo conference.
However it is her mistake and weakness in Japan that are set to define the rest of her life. Her meeting with James Caine draws her into a really dark place from where it is impossible to return.
The narrative is told from Tara’s point of view and then Christian’s in alternate chapters but this makes it even more difficult to guess what happened as the reader is not sure who is telling the truth.
This is a stand alone book which works really well. I thoroughly enjoyed Tony Parson’s Max Wolfe detective series and so was excited to read this new novel. “Your Neighbour’s Wife” is an extremely enjoyable psychological thriller which I highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

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Loved the book, the characters felt like people I knew, I enjoyed their views and thoughts as the story moved on. The ending was surprising and I welcomed the epilogue chapter. The story was a trap that is very familiar and the consequences quite frightening. One thing I never worked out was why the book had the title it has?

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An intriguing read. . Not sure I liked the character of Tara but it didn't detract from the storyline In fact it added to it.. I have to admit I was confused by the book title as it didn't seem relevant to the story. An intriguing read full of suspense

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Tara and Christian together with their son Marlon live in the Camden area of London. Tara runs a successful Dating website and Christian, who was made redundant as a music journalist, is now a stay at home parent. They seem to have it all - young, beautiful people with good close friends. Tara's parents Leo and Jen dote on their daughter, but particularly Leo - she is definitely a Daddy's girl.
It all starts to go wrong when at a conference in Tokyo, Tara has sex with an older married man - James Caine and he wants a relationship with Tara or else!
So begins the shattering of Tara's perfect life, but can she rescue it?
The author is an ex music journalist and this comes across in the book. He writes about relationships in books such as "Man and Boy". He has written crime fiction but seems to concentrate on relationships. This book comes across as role reversal with a successful Wife with a less successful partner.. She believes she can have it all with no problems! He describes the relationships well. It is well written and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend. I liked the description of one of the businesses adjacent to Tara's office, it is a vinyl record retailers with the name "The Vinyl Countdown" - brilliant.

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What do you do when your perfect life spins out of control. Tara Carver seems to have the perfect life. She's a loving mother, wife and a business woman who runs her own company. Bur what sor of woman is she really? Because in one night of maness, she puts all this at risk. Suddenly her dream life becomes becomes a living nightmare.

The first half of this bok was gripping but it seemed a little far fetched in the second half. Tara ia a sucessful business woman while her husband, Christian, becomes a house husband. Tara goes away on a business trip and makes a huge mistake by having a one night stand. Some but not all of the story was predictabe. The characters were flawed. There's a few red herrings thrown in to try and keep you off the scent. The pace is fast in the first part of the book then it dips a bit in the middle. Thankfully it picks back up it picks back up again as we race towards the end.

I wold like to thank #NetGalley, #RandomhousUK #Cornerstone and the author #TonyParsons for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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When Tara makes a stupid mistake on a business trip she had no idea what havoc she is about to inflict on her family. Christian her husband, is devastated when he discovers the truth. Not from his wife though, from Caine the man she made the biggest mistake of her life with. Determined to have her at any cost Caine bombards her with messages and threats until someone eventually snaps. The question is who?
This is the best psychological thriller I have read in a long time. I was convinced I knew who did it but as the story progressed I changed my mind several times and was still surprised in the final pages. The perfect can't put down read.

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Your Neighbours Wife by Tony Parsons Pub Date 7/1/2021
Tara Carver has a perfect life with her husband Christian and son Marlon, but with perfection comes complacency.
Tara runs a prestige dating site with her friend and co-worker Mary. Tara is the "face" but knows Mary is the real genius behind the concept and reason people use the site to find their "Forever Love". Christian had worked as a specialist music journalist before the market collapsed. The couple decided that he would stay home to bring up their son Marlon and be with labrador Buddy.
Tara is invited to speak at a conference on new businesses in Tokyo. Meeting James Caine there was the beginning of her nightmare. After an earthquake shakes her confidence, they share a few drinks, and in an alcohol-induced state, she ends up in the arms of James and shares a one night stand.
Tara returns home only to find that James is not satisfied with one night. He starts stalking her and refuses to let her go, even turning up at her workplace and threatening to reveal details of their encounter to her husband unless she agrees to an ongoing affair.
Tara's life begins to spiral out of control, and she's left feeling panic-stricken. She tells her best friend Ginger, but nothing they think up shakes James off. During this time, Christian changes from gentle, perfect husband and father to someone entirely unrecognisable whilst Ginger and husband Spike are not who they appear to be.
My thoughts:
I did not warm to the alternate chapters, being the differing POVs of Tara and Christian. The chapters were relatively short, and as a quick reader, I found the switching distracting.
The plot was sound in principle but pretty far-fetched. I couldn't understand why Tara had decided to have a one night stand in Tokyo in the first place when it was clear she is in a loving relationship.
Sadly I found the ending dissatisfying, and I felt it didn't tie-up with the final chapters. I also wondered how the title was decided as it bears no significance to the story.
I want to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and author Tony Parsons for a pre-publication copy to review.

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I haven’t read. a Tony Parsons book for a long time and I will definitely read more again now.

A well written psychological thriller told from both the husband, Christian and his wife Tara’s points of view.

I do enjoy books where the chapter are a different charter it makes them easy to follow. I would have liked to see a bit more about Christian.

A good read

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Tara has the perfect life, yet risks it all for a one-night stand. When that momentary lapse of madness starts stalking her, and refuses to let her go, her life quickly starts to spiral out of control, and she’s left feeling scared and helpless.

This is the first book I’ve read by Tony Parsons, and I have to say, I think he handled the idea of infidelity, and the associated emotions experienced by both parties, very well. I would have liked to see more from Christian, the husband, instead of a few pages of how sad he was.

Told from differing POVs via Tara and Christian, this was a pacey and interesting read. However, I felt there were a lot of needless red herrings, which actually left a few unanswered questions.

The characters are good, and the plot if far-fetched as a whole, but individual aspects work very well.
I am torn between a 3 and a 4 star review on this one – I enjoyed it and it did have me guessing a fair amount; however, bits of it dragged and the ending just didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the book.

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A terrifying storyline, so good I wondered if it was based on fact!

Tara runs an up-market dating site. She and her friend and colleague Mary – set it up. Tara is the "face" and to all intents and purposes the general manager, but Mary is the real genius behind the idea and reason people use the site to find their "forever love".

Christian, her husband, had worked as a specialist music journalist before that market collapsed and the couple reached the decision that he would stay at home to bring up their son Marlon.

Tara is invited to speak at a conference on new businesses in Tokyo. While there, she experiences an earthquake that shatters her confidence. She thought James Caine was simply being protective towards her after the earth-shaking violently beneath her – unfortunately – he has other plans for her.

Tony Parsons' has perfectly captured manipulation, lies, and murder through such passionate, well-defined characters that you honestly can't help but wonder if it's not a true story.

I had no option but to race through the book wondering how such a stupid mistake could cause so much hurt and so much devastation in people's lives.

The storyline made me question why do we think that a tiny bit of fun in an alcohol-induced state is just going to be just that – fun? Why don't we stop to consider consequences? I might have finished the book, but I'm far from finished mulling over the story.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

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I haven't read a Tony Parsons book since the nineties when I remember Man and Boy and Man and Wife, so I am a bit behind the times!
This psychological thriller had me up most of the night.
I enjoyed the twists and turns and the conviction that I knew who the killer was, only to have my thoughts overturned by the next revelation, casting my net of suspicion far and wide until every character, bar sweet and sensitive 5 year old Marlon and labrador Buddy, were caught in a tangled mess. I had to change my mind several times, the author got me in that much of a fix, and I suppose this is what kept me reading, to end the suspense once and for all!
This is the sort of book that also upended my initial impressions of a lot of the characters too. I really empathised with Tara, panic stricken and desperate to undo the damage of one disastrous decision she made before her marriage to Christian is destroyed, her home, her boy, her business, all ground underfoot, until a point when I decided she was actually more selfish than I originally thought. Christian morphs from gentle, perfect husband and father to someone else entirely and best friend Ginger and her husband Spike are not at all who they appear to be at first.
I think the reason I could not award 5 stars for this book was because of the way I felt as I read. Yes, it was gripping and yes it was well written, and yes I could easily feel the tension and unease, but ultimately I felt disappointed and sad at what we humans do to one another. We can aim to control or exert our power or influence over another, we can deceive and lie and be unfaithful, we can scheme and blame and obliterate what is good. We can allow anger to take over, obsession to take root, and we can convince ourselves that someone else is responsible. I was simply left with a sense of hopelessness that anyone can truly feel and love and act in selfless ways, as all the main characters, in some form or another, harmed themselves, someone else or tainted the good.
Just how far does someone go to protect who and what they love and can we ever be motivated by anything other than our own distorted wishes and desires?
Definitely worth reading, but you won't necessarily feel great about the human race by the end of it.

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I really enjoyed this book! I loathe cheating, so I thought this book was a great cationaury tale on why you should not cheat! It was chilling, thrilling, and shocking! Well written, unputdownable, and absolutely riveting! While using something that has been written aboutyt a bunch of times, I still found this book to be quite unique! I highly, highly recommend this completely chilling thriller!

Will buzz around platforms!

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Your Neighbour’s Wife
Tony Parsons
Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Random House UK for this review copy. This is my unbiased review of the author's work and style.
The plot lines abound on the book cover and in the Good Reads website so I will not labour them here. What is good, in fact very good, is that Tony Parson’s has once more moved on in his writings away from the strange cases of DC Wolf series. I say strange because DC Wolf is just that a DC – not a bag man, not a senior office just a junior member of an increasing technically limited serious crime squad.
However back to the new / old Tony Parsons writings. I read “Your Neighbour’s Wife” in the hope that this much vaunted author would come up with something new. I was not disappointed it is new. Infidelity as an impulse to murder, to cover one’s own unfaithfulness, that is new if a little unbelievable. This book was not for me. I couldn’t build any empathy for the characters and I really didn’t care who dun it.
The writing is OK, the pace fine but there is an irregularity in the story line that nearly lost me especially in the middle - I wondered if the author was more interested in the word count than the plot.
So, for the quality of the writing three stars and the originality of the plot it gets four stars from me – more generous than my review implies because I realise that my enjoyment was marred by my own prejudices’.

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3.5 stars rounded up to 4. This was a good psychological thriller which I did enjoy but I didn’t love it. Felt it started off well but lost my interest slightly in the middle. It had plenty of twists and turns but I struggled to like the main character Tara. I would however definitely read more by this author.

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Tony Parsons seems to have gold dust at the end of his fingers, because irrespective of the type of book that he writes he often comes out a winner.

This book is like the perfect combination of his DC Wolfe series, and his more heartfelt earlier novels such as man and boy. The story follows Tara Carver, a entrepreneur who has set up her own dating app, Angel Eyes. She herself as found love with Christian, the perfect husband, in a beautiful house in Camden with their seemingly adorable son, Marlon and their dog Buddy. Everything seems perfect. But with perfection comes complacency and when Tara travels to Japan for a Tech conference she meets the enigmatic James Caine who gives her three pieces of advice for a conference talk, "be sincere, be brief and be seated".

What then entails is a story of murder and heartbreak and everything in between.

The characters are rich and vibrant and humanly flawed. The story takes you on twist and turns and when you're 3/4 of the way through the book and you think it's all over, there's so much more left to come. And the story is about family, and responsibility and love. And what happens when we let down those we should have been cheering for from the beginning. I finished the booking wondering what happens next, and for me that is always a great way to end any book.

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