Three parts, four twists, one gripping read

Book Review:  The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
 

There are four books that I've re-read immediately after reading them for the first time.  This is one of them.

Richard is Vanessa's ex-husband and Nellie's fiancé.  The Wife Between Us begins with alternating chapters between Vanessa and Nellie, each detailing their relationships with Richard.  It's obvious that he is a charismatic but controlling partner.  While his manipulations appear considerate on the surface, they are not.  Richard has a dark side that Vanessa is well-acquainted with and Nellie is soon to discover.

Despite the warnings to assume nothing, there is one assumption that I believe every reader will make and it will lead to Twist 1.  I loved Twist 1 the first time I read the book.  I liked it the second time.  It's a good twist; the only reason that I went from loving it to liking it is that we're dealing with an unreliable narrator.  When I read the book again, immediately after finishing it the first time, I was expecting to notice clues that I'd missed the first time. Instead, I discovered that the version of events was inconsistent -- at least it appeared that way.  Going back through my notes now, as I'm writing this review, I'm reminded that the inconsistency was largely due to my interpretation of the narration.  Very little means what you think it means in this novel.  I may give this book a third read, to fully appreciate the dexterity of the authors in leading us astray.

Twist 2 is closely related to Twist 1.  If Twist 1 was clever, Twist 2 is brilliant. 

Readers more attentive than I may suspect Twist 3 as they are reading.  There are a few hints regarding Twist 4.  There's one more revelation that some might count as a Twist but it's fairly small and it didn't have a huge effect on events, so I'm just counting it as a reveal.

Highly recommended!