Alice, who is the new arrival in a comfortable Cotswold village, has a disturbing agenda. Using the seemingly harmless social gathering of a new book club, she sets about revealing the secrets its members would rather conceal, through the medium of the books that are chosen. This is a page turning psychological thriller with a twist.

Twisty thriller with bells on!

There have been times during lockdown that I have found it really difficult to get 'into' books, so I needed something fast paced and easy to read to get me back onto my favourite hobby.

The Book Club delivered all of that, in an unputdownable format. I was done in just over a day, and wanted more!

This is a creepy, psychological thriller that had me at times literally talking out loud as I tried to tell Lucy to 'change the locks'!

The book follows a small village where a group of friends are joined by a newcomer, who suggests starting a book club. As someone who runs a book club myself, I was eager to see where it would lead to.

What ensues is a disturbingly addictive tale of secrets, lies and revenge, with twists and turns at every moment.

I would definitely recommend this if you like a thriller - you won't be disappointed. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oooooh this is good! I read it in a single day and struggled to put it down. Absolutely addictive, great plot and some interesting characters. 100% reccomended.

This book left me with an unease feeling and a constant need to lock my doors.

Although you know from the beginning who the antagonist is, this fast paced story was really well written and planned!
I found myself shouting at the characters and thinking how could they not see what was going to happen beforehand but I would also find myself in the middle of the twists and turns that the author has set up.

My favourite part is how the book club choices were integrated in the plot. I found it so ingenious! I thought it was such a smart idea that the books were used for the bigger purpose and couldn’t wait to see what book were they going to read next.

I struggled a little bit with some viewpoints and how some of the characters didn’t question the antagonist’s behaviour sooner. I guess that it also shows that some problems only exist because people sometimes don’t communicate appropriately. I was really invested in their relationships and I was hoping that they would end up being somewhat spared.

Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, I believe it was more than adequate for the book and the plot.


I would definitely recommend this book. Even though there were predictable parts, there was a fair share of twists and turns and the story was quite captivating. I can’t wait to see what CJ Cooper writes next!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Constable and Little Brown Books UK for the advanced digital copy of this mysterious book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Fabulous book. Alice moves to a village and suggests starting up a book club, but somehow she seems to choose the book each time and the theme of the book always seems to be particularly pertinent to a secret one of the club is hiding. Alice is nasty, manipulative and unforgiving, but only Lucy seems to realise. I can’t say too much, for fear of giving anything away, but I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Set in a cozy little English village that’s just bursting with inhabitants who are harbouring naughty secrets, this book would make a pretty good pool side summer holiday read. (If we ever get those again!!) Alice is the new girl in town and she quickly sets about making new friends by setting up a book club. But what Alice is really out for is revenge against her new neighbour Lucy ....and she’s more than happy to hurt everybody else around her while she’s at it. You’ll have to read it to find out just how far Alice is willing to go to get that revenge. There were a few flaws in this book to be honest but all in all it was a good read and it kept me interested until the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and to Little Brown Book Group for the arc of this book, which was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

I thought maybe this was a 'cosy crime' book because I couldn't really believe that these people would be so desperate to keep their terrible 'secrets' so close to their chests. OK, maybe you don't want your best friend to know you're sleeping with her husband. But it feels a tad 1950s for a woman to go into hiding for sleeping with a married man, or having an abortion. All it says is that none of the friends were really friends. I didn't get the point of throwing Liz into the mix. It just felt a bit light and flimsy and relied entirely too much of coincidence. I didn't understand Alice/Emily's back story at all - it cast no light whatsoever on her behaviour. It took me 11 days to read this book and it's only 319 pages. Ultimately it was a bit silly and contrived. Sorry, not for me

‘The Book Club’ is an enjoyable and easy to read work in the psychological fiction/ ‘grip lit’ genre.

Main character, Lucy, guilt ridden after a shameful affair with her boss, moves to a quiet village. Three months in, she is enjoying a new small friendship group, only to find that she has a new neighbour..... Cue Alice, instigator of ‘The book club’....

Lucy takes an instant dislike to Alice, who outwardly attempts to integrate herself with the friendship group.

As the book group progresses, Alice, with an impressive use of smoke and mirrors, sets up book choices that create a mutual distrust between the friends.

As the story progresses, we find ourselves asking: just who is creepy Alice? Why the insidious intent towards the friends?

I really enjoyed the plot and characters in this novel, the character of Alice in particular was utterly fascinating - an intriguing and dangerous blend of paranoid and clever manipulation.

The ending surprised and delighted me! There is really nothing I can fault - the pace and length of story were bang on, and it lends itself equally well to readers who like to ‘binge read’ in a matter of hours, as well as those (like me) who prefer to dip in and out of their chosen reading material! This is definitely a book I would recommend for a thrilling and twist filled read!

My thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

This was a really intense and gripping book that created such a tense atmosphere I had to remind myself to breathe! I raced through it quickly, I didn't want to put it down, and the end of each chapter left me wanting to read on. A sign of a fantastic book!

You will be wary of joining a book club after this read
Lucy has moved to a small Cotswold village to escape her life, she quickly makes friends with Tom, Maggie and Rebecca and over home made bikkies and pub lunches they all lead an idyllic life
Of course every one of them is harbouring a secret about their past or present life
Enter Alice, who moves in next door to Lucy, Alice knows exactly who Lucy is and wants revenge...and if she finds out the secrets of the other 3 in the ‘clique’ then the more the merrier and so via a Book Club where she chooses books to match their ‘crimes’ chaos suddenly arrives, and life will never be the same for any of them
Initially I found the book a tad confusing but then ‘in this current life’ does it take much for any of us to have a wandering mind? once I concentrated and forgot the C word I loved it, the characters are a dream, Alice deliciously evil and with not 1% of a sniff of a redeeming feature, a wonderful ‘love to hate’ baddie, the book goes between present and past and the plot was really cleverly done and the atmosphere well built
The fact that Alice was suspected early on dismissed all the ‘C’mon you must know’ and made the ‘proving it’ even better
A great find
9/10
5 Stars

The Book Club by CJ Cooper
I rate this book 3.5 stars
EVERYONE IS HIDING A SECRET. ONE OF THEM IS MURDER!
A small village, a group of neighbours, a bunch of secrets and a new book club with a big dash of drama.
Good characters that are well described, l loathed Alice right from the beginning. A great build up pace from the beginning to the end. Clever twists and clues thrown in along the way. An all round entertaining psychological recommended read!
With thanks to Netgalley,the Author CJ Cooper and the publishers Little, Brown Book Group UK for my chance to read and review this book

As a huge book lover this book jumped out at me! The book club .. perfect!

Alice is a newcomer in a small village, after meeting her neighbours she suggests they meet for a book club! Sounds innocent enough?

The storyline was fabulous! Very clever and I didn’t see the ending at all. You knew throughout that Alice was here for a reason but it was expected as to why she actually was there!

I liked how each neighbour had a secret and a story to tell and their lies were revealed through the book club meets!

At time’s I found the writing style quite long winded, there were some fairly long sentences and sometimes I found them too much but overall I really enjoyed the story and it kept my attention!

Thank you NetGalley and little brown book group!

Tom, Rebecca, Maggie and Lucy are neighbours and friends. Each hiding their own secrets.

When Alice moves in, they welcome her into their group and are soon involved in a book club together, which just so happened to be Alice’s idea. But Alice is not there to make friends. Alice is there for revenge and everyone is going to pay a price!

This was an absolute page-turner and I could not put it down! Fast paced and will make your blood run cold!

Cannot recommend strongly enough-spine chilling read!!

Great book, engaging and completely unpredictable. I haven’t read anything by this author before but I definitely will be looking out for more books of hers

I was so gripped- I raced through to unravel the mystery of Alice. It was so totally gripping, it kept me turning page after page to get to the end!
The author wrote this book very cleverly and it will hook anyone right from the start. Ironically it’s definitely a book that I’ll be recommending to my book-club!!

This book is so cleverly written. I loved the way the scandals unravelled. Such a seemingly harmless group unfold in to this powerful psychological thriller. The book was such a gripping read, I flew threw it.

Lucy moves to an idyllic village in the Cotswolds to escape a failed affair with her boss back in London. She’s hoping to leave her old life behind her and start anew somewhere peaceful, far away from prying eyes. And then her new neighbour Alice moves in. Lucy decides straight away that there is something wrong with Alice, that this woman cannot be trusted. But, when a book club is suggested, all Lucy can do is sit and watch as her friends are manipulated and secrets are exposed. It turns out that things in the village are not as quiet as they seem.

The Book Club perfectly captures the uneasy, shivers-up-your-spine, constantly-looking-over-your-shoulder feeling of having your every move watched. It even managed to put me on edge when I know I have no creepy neighbour watching me so have nothing to fear! Alice is the perfect antagonist, so cold and calculating that throughout the book you are poised, waiting for her to finally reveal her true nature, and praying that the characters will realise the type of person she really is before it is too late.

I did sometimes struggle with the different viewpoints within the book and didn’t always find them necessary to the main plot. I found Lucy’s point of view more than adequate for witnessing Alice’s manipulation of her friends, particularly since she always knew that Alice could not be trusted and was driving herself mad with how she could reveal it to the others.

Also, I found it so frustrating reading these characters fall into Alice’s traps. If only they had spoken to each other more so many of the problems could have been resolved! But Alice does know this, and even addresses how her plans could fall apart if the others shared their issues directly. And so, although the characters’ actions sometimes had me rolling my eyes, questioning how they could be so stupid, it felt realistic. My frustration was because I was so invested. I could see where the story was going to end and hated watching these characters act just as Alice wanted them to.

Throughout the story the book club is used as the setting for Alice to expose the characters’ secrets which I thought was inspired. I absolutely loved how the books were used to represent each secret, thereby encouraging the characters to debate the morality of different indiscretions. Though I hate books being used for such nefarious purposes, I do firmly believe books can tell you a lot about a person and therefore loved seeing how the author incorporated this into the story.

I would definitely recommend this book - perfect for for lovers of psychological, suspenseful, thrillers.

I hadn't heard anything about this book but was totally drawn in by the synopsis.

"The book club was her idea, of course. Alice's.
It was her way into our group. A chance to get close.
I knew from the day she arrived that she couldn't be trusted.
And I was right.
Because Alice didn't come to the village for peace and quiet.
She came for revenge."

Alice is new to the area and is out to uncover all the secrets within this group of friends, and encourages them to start a book club to achieve this - with the help of the context from the choice of books that they read. I enjoyed this book as I do like a good thriller, however I am only rating a 3 star as I did find the beginning a little slow. Overall I fab idea for a thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the chance to read it in return for an honest review

HE BOOK CLUB by C J Cooper ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Now I knew nothing about this one but the name and premise drew me in:



EVERYONE IS HIDING A SECRET. ONE OF THEM IS MURDER.



The book club was her idea, of course.

It was her way into our group. A chance to get close.

I knew from the day she arrived that she couldn't be trusted.

And I was right.

Alice didn't come to the village for peace and quiet.

She came for revenge.

*Spoilers*

Whilst I didn’t dislike this book I just found that it jarred with me all the way along. The main character Lucy was ok but some of her decisions throughout the book make me think – do you want to invite trouble?! For example when faced with the murderer upstairs in her house and knowing she has come to hurt her; instead of leaving she choses to go upstairs and confront her? Really Lucy??! Also the pace of the story is quite slow, at times I was thinking “come on, move along”. There is quite a bit of padding with the stories of the other members of the book club which has little bearing on the final outcome. In fact Lucy’s affair with her married ex-boss is mentioned throughout the story but has little connection, really with the actual revenge. I guess these things are there as red herrings but really I just thought they were annoying. Ultimately I was interested enough in the book to carry on reading and was interested to find out what the murderers motive were – however like the book itself I found when it was finally revealed it was just a bit of a damp squib.

One of the marketing reviews said “Tightly plotted, edge-of-seat gripping” unfortunately for me I cannot agree; it was ok at best.

I've quite recently joined a book club so this seemed like the perfect read. So far I've not noticed any members with motives ...but as I said early days!

This was a very enjoyable read but I could have done with a bit more development of the main characters each of whom had his or her own secrets waiting to to be exposed - and because they were perhaps a little underdeveloped I tended to get Maggie and Rebecca confused in my mind. I wanted to know how the various situations that were created were eventually resolved, so ultimately I was just a tad unfulfilled when the book ended, I would have liked a little more.

Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed the read and would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.