Dear Wife: A Novel

A perfectly messed-up story – one that will have you mind-boggled from start to finish. There’s more than a generous teaser above that should quickly grab your attention and push you towards the one-click button. And because I don’t want to spoil this absolutely amazing thriller for any reader, there won’t be many specifics in my review. It’s only fitting that you receive the total impact and the overall effect this story is designed to compel. A DILLER OF A THRILLER! A new-to-me-author, Kimberly Belle kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page through the last. And every sentence moves you forward with meaning, so pay close attention. There is no early reveal and the author expertly crafted it so that when the villain finally steps out of the shadows near the end, it’s SHOCKING AND UNEXPECTED sending chills down my spine. "Dear wife, I found you." Both the cover and the title completely relate to the story. I love when that happens. The simplicity of the cover speaks volumes. Sometimes less is more. I know I repeat this little phrase quite often, but it just seems to fit the bill. An extra special surprise for me was the nod to my hometown in Oklahoma and the River Bend Apartments that reside alongside the Arkansas River. In Beth Murphy’s escape from a marriage made in hell, our determined and revenge-seeking abused wife flees down a road I myself have traveled often to and from home — the Muskogee Turnpike (think Okie from Muskogee). It’s always fun to see your "real" world collide with your "fictitious" one. This female-driven thriller is told at a fast-clipped pace from three different points of view. It’s uniquely clever and refreshing in that it doesn’t have that feel of another copy-cat or recycled storyline. It takes on a life of its own with plenty of twists and turns and gasp-inspiring surprises. Using the practice of deceit down to a fine art, a wide range of characters infiltrate this story — some you’ll find sympathy for – others you’ll find disgusting. But it takes a village to make it a heart-pounding, nerve-wracking and nail-biting spiral of dark suspense. Family and friends, husbands and lovers, saints and sinners – they’re all suspects. Expect the unexpected and trust no one. You’ll find a panic attack with the turn of each page as readers are plunged into a game of hide and seek where the stakes are high – life or death. A good writer makes it all look effortless, and Belle certainly hits that mark. Her writing is concise and simplistic with the use of short paragraphs and a wicked sense of humor thrown in for good measure. There was only one blip on my radar (and it was teeny-tiny). Ingrid’s role captivated me. Especially her barely tolerable (and sometimes laughable) relationship with her brother-in-law in which both have a mutual dislike for the other. Her circumstances, along with her quirky and closed-off personality, seemed to be such a unique and important fixture in regards to her sister, Sabine. I was intrigued and left wondering why she acted and lived the way she did. A little more definition and explanation would have been appreciated. Madly enjoyable with an incendiary conclusion that left me frazzled but content, DEAR WIFE is indeed worthy of all the praise and five-star reviews it’s receiving. In my opinion, it’s better than even THE SILENT PATIENT that I found myself totally absorbed in, or any of all those other so-called current popular psychological thrillers. I’ve already stalked Belle’s backlist. Next up is MARRIAGE OF LIES. There’s no doubt that DEAR WIFE will be among my top favorites for 2019. Highly recommended.

This <b>4 star</b> thriller was impossible to put down! I could not stop reading!! <b>SUMMARY</b> This book, told from the points of view of Jeffrey, a man whose wife has disappeared; Marcus, the police detective assigned to find Jeffrey’s wife and <I>Beth</i> (her alias), the woman running from her husband. The story opens with “Beth” hightailing it out of town while her husband is away on business. She is terrified of what will happen if he catches her. Beth has spent months meticulously planning her escape complete with a new identity and a trail of false leads for him to follow. As the story progresses, she recounts the years of abuse she suffered and how she finally got the courage to leave. Even when it finally looks like Beth has finally found a safe place to hide, she is constantly looking over her shoulder with the certainty that he will find her. It sort of reminded me of Julia Roberts in <i>Sleeping with the Enemy</i>. Jeffrey and his wife had gotten into a huge fight, which ended up getting physical, just before he had to leave town for a work event. When he returns, she is missing and no one has any idea where she went. Of course, with their rocky marriage and the hint of abuse, Jeffrey is suspect #1 on the police’s list. Since he’s a very unlikeable guy, it’s hard to feel any sympathy his predicament. It’s even kind of fun to watch him being the prime suspect. The third point of view comes from the detective assigned to the case, Marcus. Marcus is working nonstop to find Jeffreys missing wife, Sabine. He and Jeffrey clash pretty immediately. All the evidence points toward Jeffrey, his iradkic behavior is not helping him, neither is the fact that he won’t tell Marcus anything about what happened to Sabine. It’s quite a <i>cat and mouse</i> game, Beth continuing to hide all the while she is certain she will he found out. <b>WHAT I LOVED</b> I LOVED the plot! It was so well written and the suspense kept me reading as often as I possibly could. The twists were fantastic! All good thrillers need a couple great twists and surprises. This one had a couple excellent ones. I loved how cleverly Beth thought out the plan and how she had several tricks up her sleeve. I also loved the way each of the characters ended up showing their true colors eventually. It was very satisfying to read. <b>WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE</b> There were no specific things in this story I didn’t like or found annoying but I didn’t whole heartedly love it enough to give it 5 stars. In my opinion, a 5 star book has to be spectacular. While this was a good book and was very fun to read, I cannot say it was amazing enough to be a 5. <b>OVERALL</b> I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers, specifically domestic thrillers. You will not be sorry.

I read A LOT & have become fed up with all the books flooding the market in the suspense/thriller genre that are anything but suspenseful or thrilling. More often than not they use some kind of a bait & switch plot that is supposed to shock us & give us a twist we never saw coming. Ya'll have read that description in a hundred reviews & blurbs right? Ugh. But this book here is the real deal. The book I read right before this one was "The Silent Patient" which had such huge accolades & tons of five star reviews that I just had to read it to see what all the hype was about. But that's all it was in my opinion; hype. It was a well written novel, but it was very slow & also used a sort of trickery to make the twist so "shocking & unbelievable." Meh, didn't love it. But "Dear Wife" had my heart pounding all the way through it & I kept flipping back pages looking for clues as I read. The main character Beth is very relatable & I was rooting for her the whole book. I figured out part of the twist at around 50%, but I still read as fast as I could to find out how the character pulled off what they did, & there was still other parts of the mystery to be revealed. I liked how the ending tied things up & I didn't feel like any of it was not believable, or that there were any strings left hanging. All in all, a very entertaining & suspenseful read, & in my opinion it was much better than "The Silent Patient." I will definitely be reading more of Kimberly Belle & will recommend this book to my friends.

Belle has taken the premise so skillfully done in the book Gone Girl and infused her own intricate surprises to make an equally enjoyable novel. Great story. Intriguing characters,

Sensitivity warning: Domestic violence and lots of f-bombs. I felt an immediate connection to the story initially. There’s alternating perspectives, which is great because we get to see what Beth is doing and the bread crumbs of her intentions, and we also get to see the effect of Sabine’s disappearance on her husband Jeffrey. There’s another perspective, the detective Marcus, which I found initially random, but also interesting. In the beginning, I felt that the author’s writing style was as easy as breathing. The pages turned effortlessly for me. I got Gone Girl vibes, so I didn’t let myself breathe too easy because I felt like I was waiting for a swift kick of surprise. I had seen in some comments that there’s a twist, so my mind was constantly observing the angles, looking for things that didn’t fit. This novel took me longer than usual to get through. I liked the premise, but I found that my interest started to wane by the middle. There were a couple times I had a twist in mind; one became implausible, but at 72% I thought of another. Once I was certain I knew what was going on, I read more quickly to see if I was right. I was right, but there was slightly more to the story. If I hadn’t figured out the big twist, this could have been 5 stars for me. Even if I had and the story had held my interest more in the middle, had felt more thrilling along the way, I would have been inclined to give more stars. There’s nothing wrong with the story, and I applaud the author for giving clues along the way for the astute reader (as opposed to a bait and switch to force a twist). It’s just that my expectations were set for something fast-paced and/or shocking based on blurbs and some reviews. I’d call this one a slow burn for me. The reason for 3 stars is because I felt sad when the novel was done. There’s resolve, but a couple different factors just didn’t sit well with me in the end (I won’t say what, to avoid spoilers).

This is my first book by Kimberly Belle and I was impressed. The plot was interesting and the book was hard to put down. I’ll be reading more from this author!

This one will keep you guessing until the end!

It had a good story line.At some points I think it carried on too much but was good! It was easy to follow and for the most part kept me engaged I did love the ending!

It was a great read with some great twists and turns. Like this author and a first time read. Will get more of her books.

Fantastic thriller. Although the author unwraps the mystery half way through, the suspense of how will it end makes it hard, to put down. A must-read if you are confined :)

I loved this book, an exiting domestic thriller that left me shocked with each new twist. So well written & hard to put down.

When you've written a bestseller it's hard to beat it a second time, but doable. When that second book is just as good as the first reader knows they have found an author whose work they can trust to be great every time. I genuinely had no idea how Belle could pull off another twisty novel but this one had a shocker of an ending that I believed I knew would end only one way, yet she ripped the rug from beneath me at the last second I totally floored me. Another absolutely brilliant psychological thriller. I can't wait to see what else Kimberly creates.

I enjoyed the first-person narrative immensely; the characters are engaging, the plot well thought out, and yet I was ready to give only three starts until the twists and turns got more twisty and turny. I can definitely recommend this book.