This is my second book by K L Slater and I am not disappointed. The subtitle reveals that the MMC is married to two different women and is living a deceitful dual life. Richard Askew is married to Olivia and have a three year old son. Their life takes an unpleasant turn when Richard goes missing while taking his son on an outing and the police is only able to find a very frightened three year old Maddox.

11 years later, Maddox is now a teenager who lives with his mum and they can barely make the ends meet. That is until Maddox is contacted by the infamous Brandon who offers him a forbidden task in exchange of a huge sum.

Kait Hatton is pregnant with her first baby and is concerned that her husband is keeping secrets from her. Digging through, she finds herself discovering secrets she will regret.

I totally liked the plot building and character development throughout the book. It represents the imperfect but realistic characteristics of humans. There are a few mistypes but I believe that will be rectified in the final book. To be honest I was unhappy with Livvy and Rich's activities throughout the book but the climax made it somewhat better. Ending wrapped up in a bit of a hurry but glad it ended well. Recommended to all thriller lovers in this fall season!

The story starts with Liz, eleven years earlier. Her husband and three year old son had left to go to Frog Hill to fly the new kite they had bought him for his birthday. But when they don't return, Liz goes out searching for them, only to find her husbands car parked in the car park but no sign of him or their son anywhere.

Maddox, the son, is eventually found later in the day by the police, hiding in a den on the hill. There is still no sign of Rich, Liz's husband, but as the day goes on, it seems as if Rich disappearing is something Liz and Rich had actually pre-planned. But why?

We're then taken to the present day with Kait, who is in the later stages of pregnancy with pre-eclampsia. Her partner Daniel appears to be a doting father to be, but Kait has noticed some changes in him since she became pregnant, including the fact that he seems to spend more time out of the house than it. Kait finds a note that falls out of Daniel's pocket that turns her life upside down as the story unfolds.

We also follow the story of Maddox in the present timeline. Who searches his mums laptop after she made a cryptic comment to him about money being no object soon. He finds something on her laptop that really concerns him - but what did he find?

The author has a brilliant way of just giving enough information without really giving any information at all, whilst keeping you absolutely gripped on what's going to happen next. I was completely in the dark about what was actually going on for most of the book and just when I would think I was starting to figure it out, another twist was then thrown in which would send me down another path of questioning.

This story is not at all what it seems from the offset. It's an incredibly fast paced thriller with so many twists and turns. It's very easy when reading this book to say 'just one more chapter' multiple times! I would definitely recommend this book for anyone that likes to be kept guessing right the way through.

The queen of psychological thrillers, K.L. Slater (a favorite author) is back with her latest domestic suspense, THE MARRIED MAN. This twisty and secretive tale, with a past shrouded in mystery, will keep you on the edge of your seat.

About...

Set in Nottingham, eleven years earlier, Liv's husband Rich disappeared after going out with his Maddox (age three) to fly a kite. The son was found, but Rich never returned.

Liv has tried to keep them afloat by working two jobs to cope with the loss and financial struggles.

Now, four years after Rich has been declared dead, things do not go as expected. She expected money. Money for her son's future. You cannot be declared as presumed dead in their country until you have been gone for at least seven years. (no body has been found).

Her husband had put them in danger. What is going on? They had a plan. He broke the rules. But who will pay the price? Is he playing her for a fool?

Has someone made a pact with the devil? A triangle?

Nothing is as it seems. Who is guilty, and who is innocent?

My thoughts...

With alternating POVs from Liv, Kait, Maddox, Rich, the Nottinghamshire police, and different timelines, the author weaves a complex web of characters and misdirection. Each has secrets, greed, and motivations, making it a compelling read.

The plot is full of suspense and tension, a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns. Everyone has their agenda and hidden secrets, keeping you guessing and eager to uncover the truth.

Recs...

THE MARRIED MAN is for Slater fans and those who enjoy Frieda McFadden, Emily Shiner, and Miranda Rijks.

Thanks to Bookoture for a digital advanced review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

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Pub Date: Nov 1, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
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I really enjoy KL Slater thrillers, and this one surely did not disappoint! We meet Liv, whose husband disappeared after going kite flying with her 3 year old son 11 years ago. She still is not satisfied with the reality that he is probably dead. There was definitely a sense of urgency throughout this book that left me continuing to wonder what was going to happen next. We also meet Kait, who is pregnant and married to a wonderful husband, who suddenly gives her several reasons to question if he is hiding things from her. As the perspectives shift, it kept me guessing how each of their stories would resolve and how and if they would intertwine at some point.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy of this book.

The Married Man is another brilliant psychological thriller by K.L. Slater and I flew through it. The novel opens with a chilling scene when Rich, father to three-year-old Maddox and husband to Liv, disappears while on an outing with his young son. For eleven years Rich has now been missing, and Maddox has grown up not knowing what happened to his father the last day he saw him, when he was a toddler. But now Maddox’s life and his mum’s is about to be thrown upside down and the truth about what really happened to his father threatens to rise to the surface.

This book was tense right the way through and I was so intrigued by what happened to Rich. We know Liv is hiding something about what happened, and that Maddox has been kept in the dark all his life. K.L. Slater brilliantly tells the book from three different points of view, Liv, Maddox and Kait. I loved how K.L. Slater explored Liv and Maddox’s relationship, which we begin to see is strained, and Maddox is beginning to fall in with the wrong crowd, which is concerning to those who know him. Kait, who is pregnant, is starting to get suspicious of her husband, Daniel, and she is beginning to wonder if he is the man she thought she knew and fell in love with.

I loved how K.L. Slater flicked backwards and forwards between the characters and she gives each of them a unique voice. We understand who they are as K.L. Slater probes deep into their fears and what is driving them. I really wanted to know what it was that Liv was hiding, and these secrets kept me turning the pages. As I got to the end of each chapter, I wanted to keep reading until I got to the end. K.L. Slater delivers twist, after twist.

The Married Man is definitely one of my favourite books of this year. It will keep you guessing right the way through and utterly immersed in the story and the characters. K.L. Slater has written another winner, I highly recommend it.

Just wow! The amazing KL Slater does it again. She knocked this one out of the park. Fantastic characters and great plot lines kept me totally engaged and flipping pages late into the night. Packed with secrets, lies and family ties. This book was dark and twisty, I loved every bit of it. Would love to read it again for the first time. Big 5 stars from me.
Thank you NetGalley, KL Slater and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

11 years ago Liv and Rich had a good marriage and a son. Then Rich went missing. They had plans and now it seems to be unraveling.
Kait is pregnant and her husband is acting strange and keeping secrets. She finds a note and investigates, Does he have another family and having an affair?
The story is told from a couple POVs but you do know who the POV is.
I thought I knew what was going on but then there is a twist and a couple of them I was like wow, I didn't see that one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ebook to review.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book seemed exciting from the blurb but I was confused as there were a lot of characters and timelines. The book was written well and the pace was good. It did have a couple good twists which I loved. I will be checking out more from this author as my interest is now peaked. Recommend everyone read it!

It took awhile to get down to the bare surface of this plot. I had to keep scraping layer after layer after layer off.
So many lies and not to mention betrayals and then double betrayals.
I didn’t feel sorry to what happened to the major liars because they got what they deserved.
I did think Liz was quite foolish to wait that many years for a vague promise. It shows what lengths people will go to for money.
I felt the sorriest for Maddox because he missed out on a parental relationship but then again that was probably a good thing.
Try to unwind this knotted up plot!!

I always make a point of reading KL Slater's books as I always have enjoyed reading her thrillers. The Married Man is her latest thriller and is the story of two women Liv and Kait. Liv's husband Rich disappeared eleven years ago and it appeared to be Liv have helped him to disappear. But then Kait's husband Daniel looks like a mirror image of her husband Rich. Has Rich married again? Meanwhile, Liv's son Maddox start distancing himself from his mother as he believed that his mother is hiding secrets from him and start befriending a mysterious man.

This was a fast-paced thriller and a page turner. The writer as always keep the reader on the edge and the unexpected twists and turns at the end of the book was great. The entire story is told in the POVs of Liv, Kait and Maddox and we know that Liv and Kait are holding secrets which is revealed in the end. However, in my opinion, I didn't really enjoy this thriller book as much as I did with her other thrillers although as I mentioned earlier the pacing was great.

Overall this book worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Enjoyable read with plenty of twists, however as it was getting to the climax near the end, i felt there was a lot of new character introduced and you really had to pay attention. Would still recommend.

This is a great psychological thriller.
It’s been eleven years since Liv last saw her husband. Rich had to leave due to some serious financial problems and due to a deal he did to get him and his family out of trouble.
This left Liv alone with her son Maddox and she’s found it hard to make ends meet over the years.
Rich told Liv that he would arrange for a substantial sum of money to be paid to her and their son, but on the day that the payment is due, she hears nothing.
Liv is furious but soon has other worries as a woman contacts her asking about her son.
This is a twisty psychological thriller that did get a bit confusing towards the end with more and more characters being involved, but it’s a great read.
Thanks to Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

THE MARRIED MAN is an excellent thriller that I really enjoyed. You will be glued to the pages from start to finish. There are lots of characters and plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes. Also this story had a really great ending! This one checked all the boxes for me, so I can highly recommend it!

Many thanks to Bookouture for my gifted copy.

This review will be shared to my Instagram account (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this eCopy to review
My first K.L. Slater book and it didn’t disappoint! Running to read more now.
This book was brilliant, I couldn’t put it down. So many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. One of the best books I’ve read this year.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this eCopy to review

The Married Man is a gripping psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story revolves around a woman (Liv) whose husband (Rich) disappeared eleven years ago, only to reappear with a new wife. Liv must navigate a web of secrets, lies, and danger as she tries to protect her son (Maddox) and uncover the truth about her husband’s disappearance.

Told through multiple perspectives, readers can delve into the thoughts and motivations of the main characters. As Kait investigates her husband, she is led to Liv and all the plot twists and secrets are revealed.

The novel explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the lengths people will go to protect their loved ones. The psychological tension is palpable, and the suspense keeps you guessing until the very end. Slater’s take on the psychological thriller genre is fresh and engaging, making the story both thrilling and thought-provoking.

I'm a big fan of K. L. Slater and have loved every book she has written. I found this one a bit harder to love but intriguing nevertheless. There were lots of characters, several timelines and numerous plots going on so I did have to pause now and then to check who was who and where they fitted into the story. Also, I didn't particularly like any of them so I didn't have a favourite person to root for. Despite all of this the book is well written with a clever plot and lots of twists. Often confusing but still a good read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for my honest review.

Meet Rich he has the perfect life, he's married to liv, has a 3 year old son, maddox, a beautiful chocolate box cottage & a property investment business things couldn't get much better until he meets calab. Calab is like a celebrity in the property business & he takes rich under his wing promising him great things. 1 day rich takes maddox to fly his kite but rich & maddox don't return home & of course liv is beside herself with worry,thankfully maddox turns up but where is Rich?
Fast forward 11 years & Rich has been declared as presumed dead & liv & maddox have grown to live with this, maddox is doing well at school & is excelling at football, he is generally a great kid, but this changes when he meets Brandon a county lines runner who offers maddox things beyond his wildest dreams, but are these things real? And what has maddox got himself into? And can liv stop maddox before it's to late?
Meet Kait and Daniel, Kait is currently pregnant & has been ordered to rest as she is showing signs of pre eclampsia & Daniel owns his on personal trainer business who likes to go above & beyond for his clients, however with so much time on her hands kait is growing suspicious of Daniel, is he really going to see his clients? Is his business the only thing that is worrying him? Kait confronts him but he insists everything is fine& she starts to believe it's just the pregnancy hormones that are making her like this until one day he drops a bit of paper with a strange code on it, so she does some digging & finds its maddox school information, but why does Daniel have this? What does Daniel want with maddox? And is this all linked to whatever happened to Rich 11 years ago?
This book was one of them that once you started you couldn't put it down, it flits back and forth between the characters to hey their side of the story so you see it from all angles, and the twists when it all comes together make you go omg! K L Slater has done it yet again & wrote a blinder of a thriller that I urge all thriller lovers to read!

The author is great but this book fell flat for me . There were a lot of characters with a lot going on . It wasn’t for me , but could be for you if you enjoy complex mysteries. .Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

This has everything you would want from a psychological thriller--characters who are not always what they seem, secrets and lies, unexpected revelations, breathtaking twists, and the whole lot moving at a terrific lick. It is gripping from start to finish.

I loved the beginning of this book, the ending I was not in love with but overall a good book. This author is usually a hit with me so I'll continue to look forward to more books from KL Slater. :)