29 March 2015

Book Review: His Other Life by Beth Thomas

"He was hiding a terrible secret . . .

Grace’s new husband Adam seems like the perfect package. Good looking, great job, completely charming – almost too good to be true . . .

So when Adam suddenly disappears from Grace’s life, she is left bewildered and heartbroken. And with a lot of unanswered questions.

As she tries desperately to find him, Grace opens a Pandora’s Box of secrets and lies – and starts to learn that Adam wasnt so perfect after all.

What shameful secrets was her husband hiding? Is Grace in danger? And can she survive the truth? However terrible it may be . . ."

Rating: 4/5

You can buy His Other Life as a paperback or an eBook now.

I received this eBook to review through Netgalley. I hadn't actually read anything by Beth Thomas before, but had read a few other blogger reviews that told me this would be a book I would enjoy. It's a bit of a thriller type story, nothing I would usually go for but I have to admit - I was hooked. I wanted to find out what Adam's secret was, and why Grace had been such a doormat for so long, and Beth Thomas certainly kept my attention captivated throughout the book.

Grace and her husband Adam seem to have a pretty happy life together. They have a nice home, good jobs and a solid marriage. However, when Adam leaves home one night after telling Grace he was going to fetch them a takeaway, she's completely stunned. Adam seems to have vanished without a trace - and Grace hasn't got a clue why. Grace tries to find out where he could have gone, but she knows nothing of her husband's personal life so doesn't really know where to begin. As she starts to come to terms with her husband's disappearance, she starts to discover things that shock her, and that Adam wasn't the man he had led her to believe. Will Grace be able to survive once she learns the terrible truth...?

Obviously, I can't give too much about the plot of this book away because part of the fun of reading it is discovering things along with Grace. I have to first of all say that I found Grace to be a bit of a strange character. She seems to accept the fact that she knows absolutely nothing of her husband's life, his friends, his family, and simply plods along in her marriage. For me, I found this a bit strange - why would you accept not knowing anything about the person you love most of all in the world, and let them start to separate you from your own family too. It would send warning bells to any normal person, yet Grace didn't seem to question it. We don't of course see much of Adam, but he was a character I didn't like at all, he just seemed creepy and as the story went on, I liked him less and less.

The supporting cast in this book were very good. Grace's best friend Ginger provides a little comic relief to the book - she's always there for Grace and was a very supportive friend, there when she needed her the most. Her brother also plays a big part in the book, policeman Matt is the opposite of everything that Adam is and I loved him, he was a sort of knight in shining armour character that the book needed. Grace's parents also pop up, and they certainly help Grace along the way, although we are very much following Grace throughout the book.

There's nothing gruesome in this book, nothing scary so it isn't one for fans of the hard-hitting grittier thrillers, this is still very much women's fiction, but for me it was perfect. I don't like anything remotely scary, I have a vivid imagination and I can't relax if I read something scary, so this is a thrilling as I get lol. I really enjoyed the mystery element to this book, trying to piece together what Adam was up to before Grace did, and while I did see a few things coming, there were a few that had me stumped, and I enjoyed the surprise of the story unravelling as it got to the end of the book. The story was really well written, making me feel both frustrated yet sorry for Grace, and I hated Adam even though I barely knew him! There's a few red herrings along the way, I wasn't sure what to believe at times, and I thoroughly enjoyed the read, from start to finish! I really liked this book, and will be picking up more from Beth Thomas.

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