A 3-star, entertaining thriller – Your Neighbour’s Wife by Tony Parsons could be your next read.

The plot:

Tara Carver seems to have the perfect life. A loving mother and wife, and a business woman who runs her own company, she’s the sort of person you’d want to live next door to, who might even become your best friend.

But what sort of person is she really?

Because in one night of madness, on a work trip far from home, she puts all this at risk. And suddenly her dream life becomes a living nightmare when the married man she spent one night with tells her he wants a serious relationship with her. And that he won’t leave her or her precious family alone until she agrees.

There seems to be only one way out. And it involves murder…

It’s quite pacey – I read it in a few sittings

This book really defines a ‘popcorn’ thriller for me – it was moreish and entertaining, something which you’re entertained by without having all the gruesome elements and not particularly mind-blowing. A particularly good read if you’re interested in getting into the thriller genre.

I read a lot of thrillers, so I did find this fairly predictable – a couple of aspects did come as a surprise, but it wasn’t jaw-dropping as you could sort of see it coming – it just felt like an ‘ah okay, next page’ moment. Now other people that I’ve seen read this have said it’s got lots of shocking twists, so I’m just putting this down to being my most-read genre.

At 425 pages, it does appear to be your longer thriller, but chapters are super short. It jumps between our two protagonists, Tara and Christian, and although I didn’t spot huge differences in their voices, I did find it interesting to see into their minds and thoughts.

The writing wasn’t hugely special, but you felt like you were there more for the plot. It covers the topic of relationships incredibly well, throwing in a murder to shake things up. It makes you think about everything that could go wrong after a one-night-stand.

There were the odd comments which didn’t sit right with me as a reader, and the characters were unlikeable (I believe this was intentionally done). I couldn’t sympathize with the protagonists because of their behaviours, which made the ending a bit disappointing.

It’s quite pacey – I read it in a few sittings. Lots of conversation and the way the character’s thoughts are embedded makes those pages turn.

I also really enjoyed the stories which went on in the background – one in particular was shocking, and really gave this an extra star!

Overall, a good more-ish thriller, but if you read a lot in the genre, don’t expect any huge plot twists.

Your Neighbour’s Wife, Tony Parsons, RRP £12.99 (hardback); Book Depository

Pages: 425

Publisher: Century

Genre: Thriller