Cover Image: One Fatal Secret

One Fatal Secret

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Member Reviews

This is a standalone thriller. This is a well written thriller with plenty of twists. It starts off slowly but then the tension builds.

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A good read, lots of intrigue and mystery involved. Good characters too.. I enjoyed it and will read more from the author as this is the second book I have enjoyed from them.

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3.5 star rating - life is normal for Ania and Nicole until the day comes when the private plane their husbands are in crashes. After the shock the realisation that certain things aren’t right, weird things are happening but who can they trust? A lively tale which moves along smartly, keeping the reader gripped and turning the pages. Nicole seemed a bit of a dimwit, an airhead really and it took her quite a while to start joining the dots. Told from the wives perspective but it would have been nice to hear what the med had to say! It was engaging and easy to get into and I enjoyed it.

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One Fatal Secret is a real page-turner from the moment you open it to find a company plane vanishes with its pilot and passenger on board. The two wives are very different in how they are dealing with the news and wondering what has happened to Ethan who has not been found.
Enjoyed reading this book although not liking one of the characters - Jane Issac - brilliantly written.

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Oh. That wasn’t a fun experience. This is something I’ve read a few times before and I though that the plot would go in a different way or that it could still shook me but sadly, it didn’t. Not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy! Hope my next read is better!

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Really impressed with a new fresh plot on this one. I felt connected to the characters and felt their emotions. I loved the unpredictability which was a huge winner in my eyes.

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A slow start but thrilling enough to keep going. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

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I struggled getting into this book. It was a really slow start that just didn’t have me gripped. I found Nicole’s character a little unbelievable as she seemed to hardly react to her husbands death which just seemed really odd ! Just an ok read

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Intriguing thriller with a gripping plot. Was it an accident,is all as it seems ? The wives are left bewildered but unbelieving.

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Another great read
Plenty to keep you hooked till the end
A well written story
Can’t wait for the next book
Thanks NetGalley

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Nicole is waiting for her husband Ethan to return home from a business trip to France. He was flying in a private jet owned by his employers and piloted by his friend Conrad. The police turn up and inform her that the plane has crashed. Conrad’s body is found but Ethan is still missing. Ania, Conrad’s wife has never been very friendly with Nicole and when she is informed that Conrad had been taking drugs she knows that cannot be true and begins her own investigations. Was it just an accident or something more sinister? Who can they trust? This is a twisty, gripping read with so many secrets and lies to be revealed. A highly recommended read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Canelo for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

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I received an ARC of this book from Canelo via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. It seems I am in the minority, but this did not work for me. Although the synopsis was intriguing, it was very slow and there were tons of red herrings. I wasn't really eager to pick it up, but when I finally reached around 85% on my Kindle and we STILL didn't get to the climax, I was really wondering how it would be tied up. I found the conclusion underwhelming, plus it only took about 2 pages after waiting for 85% of the book. I also did not really understand Ania and Nicole's friendship or why Ania was so hostile to Nicole at first. There were also random characters that didn't seem to have anything to do with anything, such as Blanka & Irene. This could have been so much better.

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I so enjoyed this twisty thriller. The main characters drew me in and I found it compulsive reading. Very orginal read, immediately stocked it in my bookshop.

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Sometimes your enemies are closer than you think... Nicole Jameson has always been proud of her husband, Ethan. He’s built a successful career in finance, and his employers, the Harrisons, treat them like family. They’re a firm who look after their own, and even gave a loan to the company chauffeur, Conrad, to fund his pilot licence. When the two men are returning from a business trip, the worst possible thing happens – their plane crashes into the sea. No survivors are expected to be found. Nicole is heartbroken, much like Conrad’s wife, Ania. She never warmed to Nicole, but now they share a bond of grief. When evidence is found that Conrad took drugs shortly before the plane departed with him at the controls, the two women begin to wonder if all is not what it seems. But when they ask questions about events leading up to the crash, unsettling occurrences suggest it wasn’t a good idea. Sinister-looking men follow them, the Harrisons are increasingly cagey, and the women wonder if there is not more to this than a tragic accident. But are the most dangerous people the ones they have already allowed to get too close...?

This is another brilliant read from this author.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary review.

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5 Stars from me

I believe this is the second standalone psychological thriller from Jane Isaac, the first being One Good Lie.

In One Fatal Secret, the book closely follow the life of Nicole Jameson - I enjoyed the tight central focus on her as this forced an allegiance with her even though I had no idea of her trustworthiness, while the rest of the story played out around her.

As such, I found myself deeply suspicious of pretty much every other character. Even though I wasn't entirely sure how much liked Nicole, the situation that developed around her was not of her making and willed her to carry on.

Two people I was very unsure about were Ania and her best friend although they grew on me as the story developed. The Harrisons however, well, charming and helpful on the surface but definitely a couple whose words and actions I scrutinised.

Nothing prepared me for the depth of corruption and depravity though, Jane Isaac crafted a suspenseful and exciting tale that gifted many surprises along the way and I really enjoyed it.

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This book had a unique storyline which grabbed my attention. I felt it dragged a bit in the middle and I struggled to relate to any of the character. The ending was good

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Nicole and Ethan a successful couple with two children, things soon change when Ethan fails to arrive at a family birthday celebration

When Ethans boss informs Nicole that the jet flying Ethan back from a business trip has crashed into the sea she is devastated but when investigations raise suspicions around the pilot Nicile starts to think things are nit as they seem

A standalone thriller that eill keep you guessing till the end

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One Fatal Secret by Jane Isaac was Sooooo good especially as it's a standalone psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns throughout I was gripped from the very first page and ended up having to finish it as I wanted to see what happened! This book was Excellent and I loved it especially as you felt you were apart of the story.

I highly recommend this book. It was excellent.

Big Thank you to netgalley, the author Jane Isaac and the publisher Canela for an advanced ebook copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

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An enjoyable and easy read from an author I look forward to reading.

This was a good thriller that kept me engaged throughout. The plot was intriguing and the pace was just right but the characters weren't particularly likeable and the excitement just wasn't there for me unfortunately. The first half of the book was great but things waned a bit in the second half before increasing again towards the end.

Overall, a good easy-to-read thriller and thanks must go to Canelo and NetGalley for enabling me to read One Fatal Secret and share my thoughts.

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One Fatal Secret is a standalone psychological suspense-thriller from English author Jane Isaac. Having previously enjoyed her D.C.I. Helen Lavery police procedural series, I was delighted to be selected as an early reader.

The book is set around a fascinating premise - two very different women are drawn together following a plane crash over the English Channel, in which both their husbands have been killed. However, questions are raised about the causes of the crash, and the remains of only one of the men are found. Was what happened simply a tragic accident, or was the crash the result of something shady going on at the finance company both men worked for?
"A month ago, she'd have screamed and hollered if a man had accosted her in the street and bundled her into a nearby vehicle. But that was before the crash. Before life changed irrevocably." (Loc.62)
As both Nicole and Ania begin to question the "official" narrative of what happened to their husbands, Ethan and Conrad, events occur that reinforce their shared belief that there's more to the story than they're being told. Each notices mysterious strangers hanging around, apparently watching their homes. Nicole is approached by a man purporting to represent intelligence services, and she notices signs that her home has been broken into and searched. Ania is seriously injured in a deliberate incident while tracing Conrad's last movements prior to his death. Should the women walk away with the generous payouts their husband's company is offering, and leave the issue alone for the sake of their own and their children's safety? Or must they follow their shared determination to get to the bottom of what really happened to Ethan and Conrad, and why?

One Fatal Secret is a solid psychological suspense-thriller, with strong female characterisations and a developing relationship based around a shared search for justice. The story draws the reader in right from the first page, and I found myself becoming really engrossed in the plot and characters during the first half. However, I felt that the narrative lost momentum somewhat during the second half, just when the tension should have ramped up, following an earth-shattering revelation. The ending also seemed a little contrived and rushed, and perhaps just too tidy, after such a gradual build-up. I was left waiting for a last thrilling twist that just never came.

Jane Isaac is also the author of three well-regarded police procedural series, featuring D.C.I. Helen Lavery, D.C. Beth Chamberlain and D.I. Will Jackman respectively. She's previously penned one other standalone psychological thriller, One Good Lie.

I'd recommend One Fatal Secret to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers based around character relationships, as well as an engaging plot.

My thanks to the author, Jane Isaac, publisher Canelo and NetGalley (UK) for the opportunity to read and review this title.

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