At a Glance

Title: The New Husband

Author: D.J. Palmer

Expected Publication: April 14, 2020 by St. Martin’s Press

Page: 384

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Goodreads Rating: 4.17 out of 5

My Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis

“Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you know them.

Nina Garrity learned that the hard way after discovering that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But Glen’s gone–presumably drowned while fishing on his boat–so she can’t confront him about the affair or any of his other misdeeds. A year and a half after the accident, Nina considers herself a widow, even though the police never found a body. Following a chance encounter with Simon Fitch, a teacher from her daughter Maggie’s middle school, Nina finds love again and has hopes of putting her shattered life back together.

Simon, a widower still grieving the suicide of his first wife, has found his dream girl in Nina. His charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal. Nina’s teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been, but Maggie sees a far darker side to this new man in their lives. Even Nina’s good friends wonder if Simon is supremely devoted–or dangerously possessive.

But Nina is committed, not only to her soon-to-be new husband but also to resuming her former career as a social worker. Before she can move forward, however, Nina must first clear her conscience that she’s not making another terrible choice in a man. In doing so, she will uncover the shocking truth: the greatest danger to her, and her children, are the lies people tell themselves.”

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My Thoughts

I’m not sure what it was but I felt I knew what the outcome was going to be from the start. Normally this totally turns me off from the story but in this case I had to keep reading. The writing was amazing and kept me extremely invested. While I figured out the twists along the way, there were still so many more things within the book that really captures the essence of family life and the conflicts. The story was so much more than just the ‘mystery’, it was also about domestic abuse and family ties.

When Nina’s husband, Glen, disappears it seems like Nina never truly knew who her husband was. Now Nina’s new man, Simon, is joining the family, two years after Glen disappears. He’s charming and attentive. While Nina and her son Connor, love having Simon around, Maggie, Nina’s daughter, is not on board.

At first we see Maggie mainly as a 13 year old struggling to accept her new reality. She’s been bullied at school, is having to adjust to a new home, new ‘step-dad’, all while mourning the loss of her father. As the story evolves though, we find that Maggie isn’t just rebelling to rebel, she really find Simon to be unsettling. While Maggie is naive at times, mainly because she’s barely past the pre-teen stage, she has a strong will and follows instinctive rather than any other motive. She’s developed into my favorite character. As the rest of the family continued to ‘turn a blind eye’, Maggie was the one who kept fighting for her family.

Past Maggie though, all of the characters are wonderfully written and portrayed. This book is told through various perspectives from Nina, to Glen, to Maggie, and Simon. Sometimes characters can start to sound to similar to each other but Palmer did a wonderful job of giving each character distinct voices. Secondary characters, such as Ben are also well put together and add to the ton of the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I would give it 5 stars but I just read Little Secrets which is by far my favorite thriller that I have read in a while. This book is clever and tackles tough subjects. I highly recommend it!

This book is out now! If you think you’d like to read this book, get your copy HERE!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on The New Husband. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my copy!

About the Author

D.J. PALMER is the author of numerous critically acclaimed suspense novels,including Delirious and Desperate. After receiving his masters degree from Boston University, he spent a decade as an e-commerce pioneer before turning his attention to writing. He lives with his wife and two children in New Hampshire.

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