Wow this was a dark and disturbing in a good way story. The first chapter has you gripped. A loving couple who have done well and worked their way up to the country club and one of the best addresses in town. Teenagers at private school with strict guidelines and consistent routines in life. However, the secrets behind closed doors are so shocking. Such dislikable characters that makes the story. A gripping read.

Well where to start ? This is a tricky review as I don’t want to say too much about the plot as I think this is a book that you need to read without knowing too much about it.

A married couple, with two kids, decide that their life is not quite fulfilled enough so they take up a new hobby together !! To everyone around them they are a normal suburban couple but they share a deadly secret.

The story is told by the husband and I have to admit I really did warm to the character whilst I had a real love / hate relationship with his wife. To start the story was a little slow but the pace soon hots up and we get to know more about the backgrounds of the characters as well as present day. If you are looking for a romance style book you will be deeply disappointed but if you are looking for one twisted psychological thriller then this is right up your street !! Just wait for that final sentence in the book !!!!

Thank you to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Enthralling and addictive, the lovely wife in question is like a turbo-charged Lady Macbeth. Very readable and hard to put down with lots of twists and turns. A great debut!

As other reviewers have probably noted, it’s quite hard to say much about this book without giving a lot away. It’s about a couple with a seemingly perfect marriage. They’re deeply in love, and have two gorgeous children. The husband, our narrator, is frequently in awe of his wife’s beauty and poise. She, Millicent, is successful, charming and focussed. But they share a dark secret, and a sinister hobby, that is rapidly getting out of control.

The book is pacey and engaging, and although none of the main characters should be likeable, there is something compelling about them that keeps you involved and fascinated by the story.

First book that I have read by Samantha. Highly intense and gripping. A real page turner that kept me interested from start to end. Will read more from this author, definitely one to watch

Psychological suspense that continuously plays its cards close to its chest!

Meet a husband, and his lovely wife.
From the outside they seem like your typical average American suburbanites
They are parents to two teenagers, a boy and a girl.
They live in a quiet, upscale neighbourhood.
He's a tennis instructor, and she sells real estate.
But, this husband and wife are DEFINITELY NOT your average married couple.
And NEITHER are their ‘date nights'

Well, this went above and beyond even what I was expecting. And I went in expecting a lot, have been building this one up in my head for months, and was one of the top ten books I was most looking forward to reading in 2019. It’s disturbing, it's shocking, it's ironic, with touches of black comedy. Page one threw me into the story at the deep end, and when the reveal at the end of the first chapter caught me completely off guard, I knew I was in for a rip-roaring ride. I loved the subtle nature of the plot twists, slowly revealing a bit more about the characters, how they were connected, and what factors had shaped them into the people they were. Mounting tension, with secrets gradually unfolding had me swiping through pages at lightning speed, eager and anxious to find out how it was going to end. Were comeuppance/consequences of actions in the cards for the characters, or were they going to live evilly ever after?

I found it clever how a certain character used body language and duplicity, lulling victims into a false sense of security, to lure them. Frightening how easy it was! The family dynamic was as screwed-up as you would expect, highlighting that dysfunctional/psychopathic parents cannot give their kids an ordinary life – the effects of them being the way that they are, are going to spill over in some way.

There were times when I had a fair idea where the plot was going, given the nature of the characters, but the author always took things that one step further, in a direction that I couldn’t have predicted in a million years.

A readable, smooth read, with one POV, and short chapters, but the timeline does jump all over the place from one paragraph to the next, so you'll need to play close attention. Even thoughthis book has been compared to Dexter, it contains little violence, rather it focuses on the psychological makeup and unravelling of the characters. Would make an excellent TV series I reckon. An incredible debut! Samantha Downing deserves all the kudos, hype, and more. Pre-order it today, or the husband, and his lovely wife, will be coming to get you.

I'd like to thank Netgalley, Penguin UK – Michael Joseph, and Samantha Downing for the e-ARC.

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram by NZLisaM.

Wow this book was a real page turner and one that I really didn't want to put down! I'd had my eye on it for a few weeks, requested it on NetGalley, and then put it to the back of mind. Then along comes Valentines Day and the publisher, Michael Joseph very kindly gives it out through a NetGalley widget! I downloaded it there and then and was hooked straight away!

I loved the voice of the husband who tells the story from his point of view. He's family man who loves his kids and adores his wife. He came across as a really decent guy oh yeah and he's also a tennis coach.

His wife Millicent is the perfect wife and perfect working mother. She's one of those women that we all despise but secretly want to be like, you know attractive, super organised with a lovely family.

That's all I'm going to say as you're best going into this one totally blind, as it's superb and there's no way I want to spoil it for. Okay just one thing, clear your diary and find a comfy spot because you are not going want to move once you start reading.

I enjoyed this book. The story is good - fast moving and quite dark. The twist at the end is somewhat predictable - I'm never very good at guessing what's going to happen but I had worked it out. It's definitely worth a read.

Great premise and the twist at the beginning of the first chapter was startling enough to get my attention. I found the other twists a bit less surprising though, and although I continued to the end I found it difficult to fully connect to the characters and aspects of it were very far fetched. On the whole, though, it was very readable and I expect it will be a huge hit.

Two people fall in love, get married, have kids, then realize they don't hate the idea of being serial killers. If this plot summary sounds bizarre and a little bit twisted, then you'd be right. Most of what happens seems extremely far fetched, though the thing that struck me as one of the odder bits of the story is just how much they are hiding from each other. Guess you can't trust a serial killer! All in all, a fun and quirky read.

Very dark, very twisted but a great debut novel.
I really enjoyed this book and could imagine seeing this as a one-off TV drama quite easily.
What a family!! Normal family by day but serial-killer-parents by night. With lots of twists on this along the way.
I was really intrigued to see how this unfolded and wasn't disappointed.
Thanks very much for the preview copy.

Oh, Samantha Downing! You can write one darkly twisted relationship!
Let's hope it's not based on a true story...:)

Who doesn't love a he-against-her plot, right? But this isn't just your usual Mr and Mrs Smith idea - this is more like you rave for them to get away with it TOGETHER first before you realize what's going on. Or rather before all the avalanche of plot twists hits you and you start seeing who's the really twisted one.

A whole new definition to "till death do us part!"

Brilliant, and well-written.

I literally enjoyed it in one sitting and cured my flu along the way.

Can't wait to see what else comes from this writer!

Thank you Penguin for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.

A murder mystery based around a family. This story took many twists and turns and the true murderer was not exposed or expected until the last few chapters of the book. Interesting take on what can happen if you start with just one mistake you try to cover up and the people it affects as other events unfold. This mystery kept me interested until the end of the book, with quick page turning! Easy reading and relatable.

I was excited to receive a copy of this book for review, being hailed as "Dexter meets Mr & Mrs Smith". A married couple with 2 teenage children have an extra curricular activity - one that they are wholly in together - murder. Told from the husband's point of view only, whose name we are never told, we get the background on how he and wife, Millicent met, fell in love and ultimately came to be involved in the nasty business of murder.

I read the first chapter - wow. I was sure this book was going to be a super fast tension filled read, but unfortunately it doesn't quite get there. The characters are very unlikeable, which in itself is fine, but I didn't feel they were developed enough for me to make me want to read more about them. They were one-dimensional and instantly forgettable to me. Millicent particularly with her rules and regulations for the children and family life, seemed a bit too rigid and straight-laced to have this whole other criminal side to her. I felt the narration of all things domestic rambles on a bit - eg. 2-3 pages to describe how the couple climbed a maple tree to say I love you for the first time. I skimmed quite a bit of the book from there on and had to push on to finish it. I have never seen the TV show Dexter but I have heard great things about it, however, I think the characters in the movie, Mr and Mrs Smith were James Bond type spies and not a villainous murdering suburban couple with 2.4 children. Unfortunately this book wasn't for me.

This book is so difficult to review or even to put a star rating on. Because really, all the adjectives to describe this novel have negative connotations. It’s nasty. It’s sickening. And yet, my rating is still decent. I did not hate this book.

There is an originality to this thriller that I don’t think has truly been seen since Gone Girl. The plots have some considerable similarities, though we see everything through the eyes of the unnamed husband rather than alternating between the two. Taking the standard domestic thriller, it turns it on its head by presenting a married couple who masquerade in normality by day and do gruesome murders by night. The twists are truly shocking and there will be moments when you read this that you will just want to vomit or throw the book across the room. I will be struggling with the events for days after this. It’s a lot to digest.

I would say if you are someone of a seriously squeamish or nervous disposition, maybe don’t read this. It’s a lot. This book is a lot.

There are plot holes, of course, and the characters’ actions and behaviours become muddled when they do things that go against established motivation. As a debut novel, it feels a little rough around the edges, a little unpolished. The chapters often end on soap opera-esque realisation from the first person narrator, and Downing relies pretty heavily on just telling the audience what’s happening and the character’s discoveries rather than showing it through events. There are a lot of flashbacks and a lot of arbitrary scenes that don’t add much except padding out things we already know.

Nevertheless, this is a very strong thriller and accomplished debut. It is very graphic and very dark, so if that’s not something you get along with, I wouldn’t recommend it. However, if you’re willing to read a book that takes a very dark turn very, very quickly, check it out. It might take a few more days or even weeks for my full thoughts on this book to manifest, but these are my reactions for now.

Not my usual choice of reading material. Its full of twists and turns and is certainly engaging and will have the reader gripped. Glad i had the opportunity to read it.

A very unusual story but compulsive reading. I found it quite strange that one of the main characters was never named. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing and an excellent ending . Well worth reading !

3.5 stars!

My lovely wife, is about a married couple with two teenage children whom to the outside world look perfectly normal but they're hiding a secret. When no one is looking they're searching out their next victim and then carrying out a murder of an innocent woman.

Let me start of by saying that I read quite a lot of thrillers so it's hard to impress me when it comes to them, I often find them lacking in one thing or another or just to predictable. However with that being said I did enjoy my time reading this book, for a debut novel it was well written, it flowed great and kept me intrugued. The only issues I had was that I was expecting more of a twist, yes I didn't guess the twist in the beginning but I had guessed it part of the way through and given these characters are both sociopaths, it was almost laughable at times when the man was trying to seem like he was someone innocent when he too was evil. I found myself thinking oh crap he's getting caught then I thought, oh yeah he's also involved too. Overall it was pretty well written and if you enjoy characters who are messed up, you'll enjoy this

Totally sick and twisted. This absolute gem of a psychological thriller had me hooked right from the start and I raced through chapter after disturbing chapter long into the night. On the face of it, it is the story of a perfect American married couple with two children, good jobs and a nice home. However the way they introduce excitement into their marriage is truly dark and horrific. As their desires become increasingly evil, they realise they are risking their perceived perfect lives. However it may be too late to stop the shocking chain of events as they spiral out of control. Can they ever revert to normality or will their family be damaged irreparably? Such a clever book with strong characters that encourage misguided empathy. With wonderfully conceived twists and shocks galore, this book will undoubtedly be in my Top 5 for 2019.
Brilliant.

This is a book about a husband and wife who are serial killers. The plot idea was good but I could not connect with any of the characters. The characters are not likeable and I struggled in places to keep reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.