The Quiet Wife by Diane Saxon is a twisty, tension filled domestic suspense story full of drama and intrigue.

Soriah and Gilly are college friends doing the college thing, until Gilly betrays Soriah and Soriah suffers from a traumatic event. Two decades later Soriah is living a quiet, contented life with her husband. Suddenly her past collides with her present sending her quiet life into a tailspin. As she is left reeling from the deception of those she thought closest to her, her family bands together and rallies behind her and propels her forward.

The story moves quickly and is told in past and present. The story had me hooked from the beginning and kept me quickly turning the pages. The pacing was perfect with twists thrown in at the right pace. Some of the characters were likeable and some were downright evil. It was a good mix of the two. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the advanced copy

The cover and title are instant grabs for me. I’m a very avid psychological thriller reader, have read dozens. I had high hopes for being invested in this but it just didn’t happen. I gave it about 20% into the novel before I gave up. The plot twist is obvious, and I didn’t need to continue to figure it out. I found the writing to be rather simplistic. Perhaps others will find it more enjoyable than I did.

The Quiet Wife by Diane Saxon was another excellent psychological thriller from start to finish with great twists and turns throughout that will have you gripped from the beginning till the very end. I love the way Diane writes all her books, she has away of bringing you into the story and you always end up wanting more, this book was no different - it was excellent!

I highly recommend this book, a great holiday read.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for the digital ARC copy.

A very interesting book indeed.Lotsof twists and turns, if you love psychological thrillers you will enjoy this

thanks boldwood and netgalley. All thoughts are my own

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from Boldwood Books.

This is a very cleverly plotted book, told in easy to follow flashbacks between present day and 20 years ago, we follow Soriah in her life now and flashbacks to her teenage years. In the present day she is in a fairly unhappy marriage, her stalker is being released from prison and she thinks she is already being followed. And throw a pregnancy into the mix. So she has a lot going on! However as the story unravels with great tension, we find that Soriah is not as innocent as she projects.

A real page turner! I also loved how Luna the cat saves the day at one point😻

My favourite quote:
"......In the hope that we drift rather than tear apart."

I typically often read books based on the cover before knowing what the description is, and this one did not disappoint. I love the fact that the main storyline was relatable as this is something that many women have dealt with. He had an obsession with her, but she wasn’t interested. Her best friend convinced him that she was playing hard to get and that she secretly wanted him, too. After he kidnapped her with the help of her best friend, he beat and raped her trying to convince her that things would be different if she let him love her. Fast forward 20 years, and she never divulged her secret to her now husband. In fact, she often keeps things bottled up, and this has proven to be her biggest issue. It comes back to bite her when she starts receiving letters and flowers from an unnamed person that seem to be as threatening as they look. What noone knows is that the rape she endured resulted in a child that she gave up for adoption. With her rapist beling released after serving his time for his crime against her she is convinced he is back to finish the job only she is met with skepticism when she realizes that it could be the long lost baby she gave up.

Found this book very hard going, very slow and really not to my taste. Characters were not believable and found it hard to understand the situations the author talked about.....at great length. Not a book I enjoyed at all
Many thanx to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book

It was obsession twenty years ago. More than that actually. Much more. Today, it is stalking. Soriah has overcome unspeakable trauma and is now living a carefully ordered life. Happily married to Marcus, although perhaps wanting more, events of her past will soon come crashing back into her life in the present.

At just seventeen years of age, Craig’s obsession with Soriah led him to unforgivable as well as unforgettable behavior. Why couldn’t she love him back? Fast forward a couple of decades, and Craig, still fixated on Soriah, has been released from prison. As Victim Support Services informs Soriah of Craig’s release, her fragile peace and comfort are shattered.

The evidence of Craig’s stalking is undeniable. Meanwhile, Marcus is away on business, leaving Soriah to deal with challenging circumstances. Factor in a secret from her past, Soriah must find a way to navigate her present, especially as her life takes even another turn.

This captivating read was thrilling from start to finish, especially with the surprising twists along the way.

Many thanks to Boldwood Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Didn’t enjoy this at all. The story dragged, the characters felt lifeless, and I kept checking how much I had left. Definitely not for me.

Woe, just wow! Every time I thought there could be no more surprises or betrayals POW, I got hit by another one. I felt like I was back in grade school in a dodge ball tournament, being bombarded from every direction by whammos.
Soriah was a very strong character for all that she was forced to endure in this book!!
Betrayed by most everyone she comes out the other side,
With “friends” like hers one doesn’t need enemies.
This book put me through the wringer!

Plenty of twist and turns in this psychological thriller told through various timelines fast paced and has a good conclusion would recommend

This book is about Soriah and it’s set in two timelines. The first is 21 years ago when she’d just started college and the other is the present day when she’s working and married to Marcus. The story draws you in right from the start. Soriah has so much going on in her life you won’t want to put the book down. It’s definitely a one more chapter type of read. If you like psychological thrillers then this is the book for you.

New to me Author but will definitely read more of her books. This book was so good I couldn’t put it down. Every time I thought I knew what was going on I was wrong. Great character development & plot twist.

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Everand and Fable.

I have a whole list of go-to psychological thriller authors whose books are immediate 'must reads', Saxon is one of those authors. Her books have never disappointed.

The Quiet Wife is a story of obsession, secrets and lies. It's fast paced, engrossing and I couldn't flip the pages fast enough.

It switches from chapters set in current day and back to the days that preceded the kidnapping. I do like being able to look at things from the bigger picture, making my own theories and assumptions as the story advances, waiting for Saxon to deliver that one final twist, then realising I'd got it all so very wrong.

Great characters, a dark plot with sinister undertones and suspense in spades.

This is an equally disturbing and addictive thriller. You literally won't be able to put it down . There are multiple POV and timelines but it's written in an incredibly skilful way and the issues within are handled well. The twists and turns don't stop until
the very end and you are literally gripped until the last page

This is an excellent read and one that I finished in almost a single sitting; the story is compelling.

Soriah tells her story which starts 21 years in the past when she attends the local college. She is a nice girl who works hard and is a good athlete. Her friend Gilly is clearly jealous of her, but it is the obsessive love of Craig that starts at this point in her life and ultimately shapes the future of them all.

Told along a dual timeline with the college year and the present time, we hear about the shocking events that quickly escalate and how they could at so many points have been halted and avoided. In the present time Soriah is still suffering from the effects of the past and the reappearance of people from then lead to even darker times.

The story is so well told that the reader is drawn in and suddenly hours have gone by! Great characters that are full of depth, many complex and unlikeable making a hugely entertaining story. I felt very uncomfortable at some points waiting for the terrible consequences to unfold, but the author leads the reader through so well, helping us to understand the world through the eyes of the different personalities.

This is a great thriller and one that I would definitely recommend.

This is a quick read. The style of writing is engaging and keeps you reading. I did find the twists were predictable but that in and of itself doesn’t spoil a book for me.

Something about this fell flat. I think there was something missing to explain why some of the things occurred. Without that obvious why it made some of the incidents hard to connect with.

I also never understood why the main character kept her past from her husband.

There is a lot of trauma in this novel. If you are a sensitive reader you should definitely check the trigger warnings before grabbing this.

Overall, if you like quick read thrillers you will find this one interesting.

My favorite character is the cat. I loved the whole book. It was a little predictable, if you read the author, but still fun and twisty. I think any domestic thriller reader would enjoy this one.

The Quiet Wife is a gripping and emotionally charged story woven in a unique way. Diane Saxon crafts a narrative that pulls the reader in, especially through the complex character of Soriah. Her choices and emotional blindness to certain aspects of her life make her both frustrating and deeply compelling. At times, you want to shake her for her naivety, yet as her past unfolds, you can’t help but feel protective of her. The trauma she endured and the way it shaped her decisions add depth to her character and the story as a whole.

Saxon does a fantastic job of balancing suspense, emotion, and character development, making this a book that lingers in your mind even after turning the last page. While there were moments of frustration with Soriah, they only added to the realism of her journey. Overall, The Quiet Wife is a thought-provoking and engaging read that I would definitely recommend to others!

Scarily thrilling!

Soriah has a past - like most of us - but hers was quite terrifying. She had a stalker who pursued her resulting, finally, in a court case and him being sent to prison. Now married, neither her husband, friends or colleagues are aware of what she went through and that's how she likes it, but Victim Support Services have just informed her that her stalker has been released and she is terrified. When weird things begin to happen, the past begins to creep into her life . . .

It's always a treat to have a Diane Saxon novel on my list and this was a fantastic read Tense and complex, I was hooked from the first to the very last word. It's not all straightforward, there are a few twists and turns along the way all of which had me gripped. Easily worth all five stars and my highest recommendation.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley.