Beth is married to Drew, a policeman, and her teenage son, Joe, lives with them. Drew and Joe get on extremely well, and Beth feels a little left out, he doesn't confide in her, he confides in his stepfather.
Joe gets into trouble, and Beth steps in to help him, without Drew being aware.
Beth gets a phone call from a woman, warning her about Drew, and telling her that he is a monster. Drew denies even knowing the woman.
Beth is a Samaritan at the prison, and her friend Robyn is the Chaplain. Robyn cannot believe what Beth is telling her about Drew, and of one of the prison officers. It seems just too far fetched.


Beth is a very irritating, naive character. I just wanted to shake her and tell her to open her eyes!
The book seems to be very slow in the beginning, but has a very convoluted plot.
Beth blindly trusts everyone, and they all seem to be the wrong people to trust.
Many twists in the book, but the ending fell flat for me.
2.5/5, rounded up to 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Son by Elena Wilkes was a great roller coaster of emotions. It started off slow and I was struggling to see where it was going and then it flipped and I got hooked wanting to know the ending. I had a feeling about half way through who would be involved in the end and by about chapter 16 I was in a rush to finish to see if I was right. Some of the dialogue between Beth and Drew/Joe felt like the author didn’t know how to write a real argument and I found myself rolling my eyes often. However, overall it was a great thriller that did have me quite hooked. Thank you NetGalley for access to this ARC.

Beth is struggling to manage her unruly teenage son Joe as he continues to withdraw from her. She is married to Drew who tries to help out with Joe as best as he can. Soon she gets a phone call from a mysterious women and begins to question her family.

This thriller starts out slightly slow and takes a while to build up momentum, but it does get there eventually! There were a few twists and turns and I spent a lot of the book trying to work out who was good and who was bad. The story goes down an interesting path but some parts were slightly unbelievable. The book is filled with unlikeable characters who I struggled to connect with. Overall this isn’t one of my favourite books but it’s definitely not a bad one! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn to this book based on the cover! It was a slow start but I was immediately hooked when things started happening that made me question what I thought I knew. Once Beth was sucked into the lies, I flew through the book!

I just reviewed The Son by Elena Wilkes
#TheSon #netgalley

Slow to start with but then gets racey, fast paced and I was unable to stop reading. The main character Beth, has a husband and son but is so insecure! Beth trusts everyone only to find out what's really going on and breaks her. Lots of plots and twists, enjoyable reading. In the end, Beth breaks through and wins and loses

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing

The storyline sounded like one I would usually enjoy but this one fell very flat for me I could not get a feel for the characters and did struggle to get to the end.I hope other readers enjoy but just wasn't for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

Thank you for the opportunity to read the book. This type of twisty, psychological thriller is usually right up my alley however I couldn’t really connect in with the characters and the story was confusing at times. As a character Beth was difficult to follow and at times I really thought that Robyn was a made up character in her head as she just didn’t seem real to me. I like the story line and potential however it just didn’t do it for me.

I’d like to thank Storm Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Son’ written by Elena Wilkes in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Beth is newly married to police officer Drew who’s making an excellent father to her teenage son Joe. Late one night when Drew is on duty Beth receives a phone call from a woman who’s obviously scared saying there’s a man living under Beth’s roof who isn’t who she thinks he is. Who is the woman and who is she talking about, Drew or Joe?

Although the concept of ‘The Son’ sounded interesting it’s very much a slow burner that took me a while to get a feel for the plot but it’s so far-fetched it was unbelievable and I found it difficult to follow as parts of the story were so disjointed. I didn’t like the characters especially Beth who was incredibly annoying running to Robyn the prison chaplain whenever she had a personal problem. If she can’t sort out her own troubles how could she be a Samaritan Listener and expect to help others. The plot had many facets some so disturbing it made me uncomfortable reading about them and although I carried on reading for as long as I could I had to stop before the end, an occurrence that’s rare for me. I hope other readers enjoy it more than I did as I can only imagine the work that goes into writing a novel.

In Elena Wilkes' psychological thriller, The Son, readers are immersed in a world where trust is scarce, and the boundary between reality and deception blurs. The story centers on Beth, a newlywed, and her 17-year-old son, Joe, whose seemingly ordinary family dynamic quickly unravels into a dark tale of secrets and lies. As Joe's behavior becomes erratic and his bond with his mother weakens, Beth's concerns are dismissed by her husband, Drew. However, when Beth receives an anonymous phone call revealing unsettling information about Drew, she is thrust into a world of doubt and suspicion. The novel delves into dark themes such as child abuse, sex trafficking, and deception, keeping readers engaged with its complex web of misleading clues. While it has pacing issues and polarizing characters, The Son offers a thought-provoking exploration of a mother's determination to protect her family despite facing disturbing revelations.

I am afraid that I didn't like this book. It was very slow and I didn't like the characters, I can only hope other readers feel differently and enjoy it more.

The Son by Elena Wilkes

This type of genre is right up my street but by the first chapter or so I wasn't very taken by Beth as a character, and as a reader , that is quite important to me ( unless they are the baddie )
It is quite formulaic with a troubled teenager bringing trouble to the door.
A few twists along the way but agree until a fair way in it's not a fast paced read.
I did guess the big reveal but I prefer to have got a little further in the book before sussing it out.

This is a slow starter but a fast paced finish. I liked the twists - some were easy to spot earlier than their reveal but then I gave myself a metaphorical pat on the back for spotting them. The Mum was at times so pathetic that I got quite irritated with her but I’m still confused as to whether one of the other characters was a goodie or baddie. I kept thinking I’d read something similar before but can’t remember what - I actually checked to see if The Son had been previously published under a different title, but couldn’t find anything.

3.5⭐️
When I first started reading this is was a bit slow to get into but as it got closer to the middle of the book I couldn’t get enough of it.
You think you have it all figured out and then you get towards the end and what you’ve guessed it not at all what happens. I enjoyed this book a lot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this ARC. I was completely intrigued by the premise, however I hen I started reading it just seemed to go so slowly. It almost reminded me of Lucinda Berry’s “The Perfect Child”. Not the premise so much, but the writing style. Definitely check your trigger warnings. I feel this book would have been better with a more interesting beginning. The mom just seemed real weird in the beginning.

This book was ok. Lots of confusion about what was going on. I’m still confused on whether Drew was a good guy or bad guy.

While the plot of this book kept me captivated, at times I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character. I did think this was a unique book that had a lot of potential to be exceptional, but the ending didn’t pack as big of a punch for me as I was hoping. Overall I did enjoy this book!

I will say that readers should possibly check the trigger warnings before reading as the last couple chapters may be too graphic for some.

Thank you so much for this arc!!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review. From reading the blurb I expected The Son to be an average thriller so I was completely surprised by how the book started. A really detailed and compelling story that had so many levels. Lots of information to digest and remember in order to follow the story and attempt to solve it! I did have an inkling at the twist but even that was more complex than I originally thought. A really good psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. 5 stars from me.

First and foremost “trigger warning”. Without giving away the most interesting part of the book, if you read, be prepared to read some troubling circumstances involving children.

The Son by Elena Wilkes, has the potential to be a good thriller, but I feel the way the story unfolds is a bit lackluster. It was very slow up until the last 30% of the book. It was hard to get in to and I had a hard time connecting with the main character Beth. At times I found my self re-reading paragraphs because it seemed too hectic and all over the place. I honestly couldn’t see where it was going.

Given the extremely slow burn, I will say, when the story finally picked up, it picked up and I needed to get to the end to find out what happened. The ending is what made it worth finishing. After being interested reading the book’s description, this one unfortunately did not meet my expectations.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing got the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for a chance to read an early copy of this book. I was able to relate with the story as I have a 17 year old son who at times can be complicated. It started slow for me. I’m usually patient with that as sometimes it is used to build the story, but I found myself a bit impatient here. There were a couple of twists which I did enjoy. I think I can’t get past the Moms character. She is so beyond naive. I wanted to reach into the book and shake her. But, that may have been the point of the author. Overall I did enjoy this book. The topic is every parents nightmare of your child being used and the author did a good job displaying this.

I'm usually good at picking up on plot twists but this book kept me guessing in the best way.
This is a TRUE psychological thrill ride any reader of this genre should get in line for happily. Absolutely amazing!