Cover Image: The Bigamist

The Bigamist

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Not enjoying it but can accept the story. I read some chapters and cant force to end up. Maybe its not my cup of tea but it doesnt mean this book is not worth to read. Keep up the good work, author! Will have to read another works from this author too…

Was this review helpful?

This book I read in one sitting. I was totally blown away by it. What Mary endured was simply horrific. But it also give a stern warning to anyone thinking of online dating to be extra careful and vigilant when you meet someone.
So well written. Highly recommend it
Thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for gifting me this book

Was this review helpful?

This was interesting and intriguing and dealt with some difficult subjects. It evoked some mixed feelings in me towards the characters and I wasn’t sure what I thought at times

Was this review helpful?

An excellently written account of a truly horrible situation. I can't believe Mary Turner Thompson lived through this and was strong enough to share it with the world. I hope if helps other people who may find themselves in a similar situation.

Was this review helpful?

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

Was this review helpful?

A wife's worst nightmare - finding out her husband has another family...and a few more. Part of the reading is frustrating - you just want to keep screaming, "RED FLAG! RED FLAG!" But, who is to say you would see all of these things when you are in the middle of the situation. It is an interesting and absorbing rad.

Was this review helpful?

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. This is a book every woman should read, very well written

Was this review helpful?

Never got the chance to read and review before it had been archived but still have this included in my TBR!

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
I have very mixed feelings about The Bigamist. I appreciate Mary Turner-Thomson sharing her experience of finding out that her husband is a con man who had another family. However, I can't for the life of me figure out how she was able to ignore the numerous red flags that were right in her face. I started off feeling a lot of sympathy for her then became irritated that she continued to want a relationship with this man even after she found out about his other life and that he had wrecked her financially. It's an interesting story/cautionary tale about not believing everything you see.

Was this review helpful?

Ok this was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a psychological thriller-sure this had thriller elements but you can not say this is a thriller. This is more like a fiction with a little off pacing. But this felt a good non fiction.

Was this review helpful?

What a shocking true story. I commend Mary Turner Thompson for being so brave to share this. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

Was this review helpful?

You want to believe that nothing like this could ever happen to you. It only happens to women who are desperate and don't know any better than to let a man turn their lives into a 20/20 headline. Then you read Mary Turner Thomson's story and have to think "could it have been me"? Her story is incredible. As we read the stories Will Jordan told her and the consequences he faced when caught, you have to wonder.
A fascinating read that will keep you turning pages, right up to the disbelieving end.

Was this review helpful?

Sadly The Bigamist just wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with the characters and DNF before the halfway mark .

Was this review helpful?

What an incredible woman this author is!. After putting up with this unforgiveable treatment for 6 long years, she finally finds the strength to leave.
This is such an intense, emotional read, made even more gut wrenching when you know it is a true story.
A fantastic, informative book that will no doubt help others.

Was this review helpful?

Got to the half way point but didn’t continue. Repetitive but worst of all, how can someone be so gullible and not even check anything out. More flags flying than a village fete! Yes you can feel for her up to a point but she would’ve saved herself an awful lot of trouble and money had she been a bit more “canny” and a little less lovestruck. It also reads as a self published book which isn’t to say there’s anything wrong in that but this book needs to be condensed by about two thirds.

Was this review helpful?

This book was a memoir of sorts about an extreme version of gaslighting. She had her life taken control of by a smooth psychopath. Instead of just being taken in completely, she finally fights back and writes this book as a way to educate others about the dangers and to educate about what is possible. There were parts in the book where I definitely questioned her sanity and thought that she was somehow just weak and a push over. I am glad the last part of the book went back and described the techniques used and how she even questioned herself, I thought the book was well written and extremely shocking. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

I pick this back up by chance looking for a quick read and was quickly in engrossed right from the first page! This book is about a lovely intelligent woman conned by a sociopath. It’s easy to judge someone when you hear how you fall for a conman but when I read this I realised that I too could easily be taken in. It’s an extraordinary story

Was this review helpful?

I picked up this book as I was reading a similar book called Twenty Years a Stranger, in both a woman’s life is blown to pieces by a call out of the blue. Having being in an emotionally abusive relationship myself I have a particular interest in reading about other people’s experiences. Here Mary receives a telephone call that tells her that her husband Will Jordan has been married to another woman for fourteen years and they have five children together. This is a fascinating insight into how deceivers like this work and how they wear their partner’s down. Will has been doing this for 27 years with several different women. It makes us think about the people we trust and whether we can truly know the person we live with. We always think that we are intelligent, strong women who wouldn’t be taken in like this, but it can happen to anyone of us.
It was a hard read. I was glad that he was caught and put in prison for his crime Mary was still left in terrible debt and bringing up his children alone. I was horrified and frustrated to know that when released from prison he changed his name and went straight back to a dating site looking for his next victim. It also worried me that Mary had gone to some length to find this out. I worried that she might always be influenced or defined by this experience rather than becoming her own woman. I imagine the book was very cathartic to write and I think that’s what it was truly for.

Was this review helpful?

You really couldn’t make this up! I find it hard to think that people are taken in by so many lies, but obviously they are. It shows how intelligent women are manipulated at their most vulnerable and can fall victim to such a conman.

What struck me was that he was messing so many people around no wonder he wasn’t able to have a job as such. I wonder how he managed to keep the CIA spin on it for so long, as to me this was the most far fetched aspect of the story.

Such a brave woman to have to deal with all that, three young children and bankruptcy too. It’s a lesson to everyone that people are not always what they seem.

Was this review helpful?

Interesting book. True story that makes it even crazier. Single mom falls in love and marries a very convincing con man. This leads to bankruptcy, legal issues not to mention a host of other issues. Heart goes out to this woman, and her children, and all the other women duped by this man.

The books is a memoir, but it is written devoid of emotion, almost to the point of being boring. I found myself getting frustrated with the writer for ignoring so, so many warning signs. She was ghosted so many times, did not check out anything he said...some lies, especially his work stories, were completely over the top, and willingly took money needed to feed her family, and gave it to him. The hardest for me to understand was when she heard he was a pedophile, she still allowed her around her/their children. Yes, I understand that it’s easy for me to say this when I’m on the outside looking in, and know what’s going on. I can only assume that ‘Will’ found her most vulnerable and used that to his advantage. But, in some ways, she allowed it to happen and escalate.

Thanks to Ms. Turner Thomson, Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

Was this review helpful?