This twisty thriller hit a lot of my favourite beats and kept me reading until the bitter end. It played with my mind in an intriguing way and had plenty of moments to make you question what the heck was going on. I really enjoyed the asynchronous times of ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ and watching how the past played slowly into the present. Trigger warnings for sexual assault.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book through Net Galley.

I absolutely love Samantha Hayes books and this one didn't dissapoint
I was gripped from the very first chapter and stayed that way till the end.
Told in then and now chapters with plenty of twists and turns ,a dark and sinister story told in such a away that keeps you guessing throughout.
And what an ending totally brilliant.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC

A gripping and thrilling book that I could not out down, it was dark, disturbing and everything I look for in a thriller

A disturbing prologue that lays the foundations of a book where almost everyone seems to have something to hide and somewhat disturbing chapters give way to an ending that, although partly sensed, is nonetheless spectacular.
The action of the book is simmered but without pause helping to create the perfect atmosphere for your reading. Highly recommended.

A gripping, page-turning thriller with lots of twists. I will definitely recommend to any of my friends looking for a good psychological, thrilling read!

So this book took me by surprise, in the first instance I liked it and found myself quickly getting through the chapters, however as I drew near to the end I got cocky and thought I had figured out all of the plot twists and felt irritated… How very wrong I was!! Great book, unthinkable twists and gripping story. I look forward to reading more from the author!

Rating this book is very difficult.

I struggled to get into it at first as the lead character Jen acts in such a bizarre manner that I just couldn't empathise with her or believe in her as a character. At the end it is explained why she acted the way she did but by that point I'd lost all hope of connecting with her.

The other POV character Rhonda, I'm not sure why she needed to be a POV character at all. We don't find out much about her as an individual in her own right and she only seemed to exist to advance Jen's plot.

I did eventually get into the plot as there are a lot of questions raised during the book and I was actually really looking forward to finding the answers out. For me, the big reveal didn't work. It was impossible to guess the twist as the reader was essentially lied to (Spoiler: A character gendered as 'he' throughout the novel ended up being a girl, with no explanation as to why anyone thought they were a boy).

I can't really say whether I would recommend this or not as there were times when the plot looked really promising and some very interesting themes were explored, but a lot of the execution just didn't make sense.

Also, I work at an abortion clinic. Even if you're a GP, you cannot get mifepristone from a regular pharmacy, it can only be obtained from a registered abortion provider. I accept that the general public wouldn't know this, but some research wouldn't have gone amiss.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them so I was looking forward to this one, and I was not disappointed, it was a real page turner and the twists just kept coming, and in no way was I prepared for the ending. Superbly written, a definite must read.

This was an absolute page-turner, which had me gripped from start to finish. I read it in a day, as I couldn't put it down. Even though I figured out a couple of the twists, that didn't affect my reading experience as I felt compelled to keep reading to figure out if I was right or not.

Samantha Hayes writes beautifully, and is very clever in the way she presents the twists and turns in The Trapped Wife. I loved the split between 'then' and 'now' and the dual perspective in the present day. It gave space for each character to develop, as well as for the reader to discover new information as the characters do too. Whilst some of the characters are deeply unlikeable, Hayes does a great job of ensuring they still remain 'human'. This is definitely a book I will be recommending to everyone!

Jennifer is a doctor who’s life is falling apart. Her husband has gone on a skiing trip with his assistant and Jennifer thinks they are having an affair. They are now both missing presumed dead in an avalanche.
She also thinks that when she was away at a business conference that she was drugged and raped. Now she is sure someone is following her.
I found this story quite unbelievable and slow to start. Most of the characters are extremely unlikeable and there are some horrific incidents.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I just lived this and really wanted to find out what happened next. The start was a bit slow though. Loved the ending and the epilogue it was just brilliant.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own

The Truth…?
Well woven psychological suspense with a nicely crafted cast of characters and a twisting, turning plotline that has the reader wondering what will come next. Who is telling the truth here and exactly which of the cast can be relied upon? An entertaining and compelling read.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL DID I JUST READ?

Wow! This book was SO. DAMN. FABULOUS!

I was lucky enough to get this as an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. Honestly… if you are a psychological thriller fan, what the bloody hell are you waiting for? This book was extremely fast paced and had me gasping in shock many times! The twists were insane and right up to last page!

I LOVE how Samantha Hayes expertly inserted a “Then” chapter that seemed a tad disconnected at first but kept me wondering how the past fit together with the present. And… OMG! 🤯 each “Then” chapter revealed a little bit more detail which created a niggling suspicion about who the cast of characters were and who they are now. I NEVER saw it coming!

I can’t give this twisted book enough crazy, disturbing, creepy, spine tingling stars! I am confident when I say… it is most definitely a MUST READ!

Reading The Trapped Wife was an absolute delight for me. This new to me author managed to keep me in suspense fresh from the start til the last page.
TTW is a mystery/thriller, a stand-alone, gripping story that doesn't let go once I started reading. Simply unputdownable, I had to know what happens next to Jen and her family.
A twisted story that had me guessing, gave me all the feels and at the end had a fitting hea.
I loved connecting with the characters , loved the unique storyline, 5 stars.

When I read my first book by this author back in 2018 - The Reunion - I called it one of the best books of the year. No surprise, then, that I jumped at the chance to read and review a pre-release copy of this one, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley. It also was no surprise, at least to me, that I enjoyed this one very much as well, although a titch less than the other one.

The plot is complex enough to be totally confusing, but - thanks to the author's writing skills - it's relatively easy to follow even before all the loose ends start coming together. Readers get a glimpse of a years-ago "friendship" between two school kids that turns evil; then one of Jenn, a recent widow with fuzzy memories of something awful that happened in her past. Then suddenly, we're in her present, as she learns she's unexpectedly pregnant and gets an unwanted visitor named Scott, who makes her skin crawl but won't leave. Chapters shift perspective from one of the youngsters to Jenn to that of her good friend, Rhonda. Tossed into the mix are Jenn's teenage son, Kierin, and Rhonda's teenage daughter, Caitlin.

Questions loom large: Who were those two young schoolyard friends, and are they related to what's going on now? What happened to Jenn (and maybe more important, what really happened to her husband)? Who is the house-crasher and why can't Jenn - a physician, for crying out loud - make him go away? That last part is the only thing I had a bit of trouble with; I'm never been a fan of women who try to rationalize behavior that's outside of what my idea of a "normal" woman would (or, IMHO, should) do - kind of like those idiots in horror movies who run toward a dark alley instead of a well-lit store when a monster is chasing them. By the end, the real reason for Jenn's lack of backbone becomes evident, though, thus changing the opinion I had of her throughout most of the book (whether for better or worse I'll never tell).

All the parts herein are intricately and expertly woven and come together in the end - complete with a couple of knock-out surprises. In short, it was well worth the time I spent reading it. Recommended!

Jennifer is a successful GP and also a mother, but all isn't perfect for her as she recently lost her husband. Then a stranger shows up who she can't seem to get away from, and she is plagued by flashbacks. Jen tries to find out the truth, but it is hard when everyone is lying, even her...

A thrilling story that keeps you turning the pages until the shocking ending. Full of twists and turns, and flashbacks to the past, it is an interesting read that comes together perfectly in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

Bookouture I can not wait to share this with my friends and family!
Because this has to be one of the best books I've read in months?.
Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this awesome new thriller!
Samantha Hayes is back!
I could just read her books all day every day! She is one skilled writing and it clearly shows!
The Trapped Wife was well written, with an engaging plot full of twists and turns and memorable characters with a surprise ending.
If you love psychological thrillers and haven’t read a Hayes book what are you waiting for?! Snap this one up ASAP!
It had me hooked from the start and kept me guessing, double-guessing and doubting myself several times.

Again thank you for this amazing read!

This was different to what the blurb makes it out to be. It's a slow burn domestic thriller about a recently widowed woman whose life is slowly unravels as her family's past comes back to haunt her.

While it has an engaging storyline, I had trouble with the uneven pacing. It's slow with mostly characters I found hard to relate to but the last quarter was a compelling read. Even when I thought I had it all figured it, the author managed to surprise me at the end.

I'd recommend this to newbies of the genre. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the e-ARC.

I was gripped by the synopsis of the book and the pacing made it hard to put down. I found myself constantly coming back for a chapter here and there until I knew the truth.

The Trapped Wife in question is Jen Miller, a well know successful community GP in a small village. Upon recently returning to work after the lost of her husband, flashbacks hit her hard from a night just before his death. Then a mysterious 'stranger' arrives for his appointment and the flackbacks reveal more about that night and how she ended up pregnant.

I enjoyed the dual timelines of the book. I thought it was an interesting way of making the past and present line up. Though it went someway into explaining personal motivations for some characters, it didn't find it wholly satisfying. I am and will continue to be confused why certain behaviours happened or why they were responded to in certain ways.

The story definitely plays on red herrings and misdirection by assumptions. Though some are quite clever others were seemingly pointless and didn't make a whole lot of sense. The book had plenty of twists and turns-most highly predictable and one less so.

Jen's best friend Rhonda is a main narrator throughout the book however I found myself questioning what the point of her POV was. I didn't find Rhonda to be a developed character. She seemed to be lacking and used to further the plot along. By the end she just gets left by the wayside.

One of the main reasons I'm giving this three stars is the inappropriate way serious issues were resolved. As in they weren't. There is a massive plot reveal that would've provided motivation for murder, but it is seemingly accepted and forgotten about in the next few pages.

Characters priorities are skewed which makes their interactions confusing. I assume this was done so twists can happen. Though I do feel it can hardly be called a twist when there was no way anyone would guess with the information provided.

Overall it's difficult to rate, if there was better character development and depth then it would a much higher rating. There are just some issues that are so incomplete it's hard to give it more than a three. I would however recommend it as a quick read.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This author is new to me, and wow was this a nail biter!! If you like psychological thrillers with a surprisingly HUGE twist at the end, then you will not be able to put this book down! I thought I was starting to figure things out at the end, but I was SO wrong! Definitely looking into more books by Samantha Hayes!