Let me start by saying that I was hesitant to read this book. I had read the reviews and wasn't really impressed. I was actually quite surprised by how much I enjoyed the book despite the not so great reviews I had read going into it.

In "The Son" we meet Beth, her husband who is also a cop, Drew, her son Joe, and her best friend and confidant Robyn. Beth is envious of Drew and Joe's relationship and how close they have become recently. She longs for the closeness they once shared when it was just the two of them. She notices that Joe is acting strange as is Drew, so she confides in Robyn. Beth remembers that she tried to save Joe's father Simon from his awful fate with suicide and wonders if Joe is headed down the same path. Robyn convinces her it's all in her mind and to just let things be. Her solution is to throw herself into work at the prison with the Samaritans. She ends up doing some not very smart things like getting a sex offender whom is in solitary moved to the general population along with one of her Samaritans getting out on parole. Once Jamie, her Samaritan who has made parole, Beth's son goes missing and he eagerly jumps to help her find him.

The premise of this book was great, however I think that Wilkes painted Beth too gullible and easy to trust. Every person she meets in the book she quickly trusts and then bad things begin happening. This is where the book lost points for me. It just wasn't believable, Any normal person would have second guessed some of the decisions Beth made instead of jumping head first like she did.

All in all I would rate this book at 3.5 ⭐. Lastly, I want to say thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for giving me an E-ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review.

So you know when a book hits like a nightmare, but in a good way? That's what The Son does. It had some unbelievable moments but fearing your own son being evil incarnate? That's going to hit.

It truly had me whiplashing with some of the twists, and unfortunately, that doesn’t happen too often, so kudos for that!

Was the mom (Beth) a bit much at times? Sure, but that's what keeps the story going, so I’m not mad at it.

This was a unique read that plagued me until I finished it! 3.7 (rounded)

The Son by Elena Wilkes
Storm Publishing
27 September 2023 - Available Now
3 stars

This had so much potential, but it all fell short. The plot was a bit all over the place and quite unclear. While this book is called "The Son," it seemed obvious the plot would be mainly centered around the son in the story and the subplots offering support. Yet, it was all a bit muddled together which disrupted the flow of the story. With that being said, my favorite thing throughout the book is all the lies and stories the MC, Beth, is told. With Beth not knowing who is telling the truth or knowing who to trust definitely encouraged me to finish the book because I wanted to know who was truthful and who was not.
Thank you, Netgalley and Storm Publishing, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review is also posted on my Instagram page (@bibliophiles_elite).

Fast paced and thrilling right from the first pages. Half way through became pretty intense, keeping me guessing to who was behind all the mess the protagonist had gotten herself into. The last few chapters were gasp worthy. All in all, a good read.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

The Son
Suspenseful and Psychological Thriller
This is a suspenseful and psychological thriller which is fast paced intense which has many twists throughout the story. Beth has recently married Drew, who is a police officer and Beth’s 17-year-old son lives with them. Beth volunteers at a prison helping prisoners with suicidal issues and things start to go wrong when one day Beth gets a phone call from a woman claiming that her husband Drew is a bad man.
Beth struggles to know who to believe her husband Drew who is a police officer or her son who is very secretive and seems to be getting into all kinds of trouble. Without giving to much away there are a lot of unlikeable characters in this book and as you read it you will find you trust know one and suspect everyone. A brilliantly written book very suspenseful and defiantly full of twists and turns. The ending wraps up all the loose ends nicely. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

2.5 stars. I really wanted to love this book, but it was a struggle to get into. It took me over a week to finish and that is not my norm. When the book did pick up, it took a turn in a direction I wasn’t expecting. The writing was not the greatest and I felt there wasn’t enough character development. I did become interested around the 70% mark, wanting to know what was going to happen. This was just an ok read in my opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

The Son by Elena Wilkes is a story about a mother's love for her son, and how far she will go to prove her love.

This was a great book. The tension is real from the outset. It is gripping and fast-paced. There are a number of characters, but it was easy to keep track of who's who. I often felt frustrated for Beth, the main character, and i felt that added to the tension of the story. It is well written, and I would recommend.

Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my e-ARC.

Life is going well for Beth. After a whirlwind romance, she is married to Drew, a stable, solid, jovial cop. No more juggling numerous part-time jobs. She has a fulfilling mission helping prisoners as part of the Samaritan program. No more judgment from her mom. And Drew is so good with Joe, her volatile teenage son. So why is she so anxious?

Because something is…off. She gets a cryptic phone call. Drew and Joe are acting strange. Is it her? Although she is competent at her job, she works in a prison. The work environment and the backstories of her clientele are bound to take a toll. Or maybe she doesn’t really know Drew and Joe.

Although wordy at times, overall I enjoyed the book. It was not at all what I anticipated, having read the blurb. It had an intricate plot and a surprise ending.

Unfortunately this book ended up being a DNF for me. I just couldn’t get into it at all. I wasn’t engaged enough to follow the story or connect to the characters.

The Son had so much potential. A mom, her 17-year old son, and a new husband. Based on the title alone, I would have thought this book would be focused on the son.
However, the MC was the mom, playing detective through many twists of the legal system, prisons, cops, and trafficking. There was SO MUCH going on that I really struggled to figure out the main plot until 3/4 of the way through the book.
Overall it kept me intrigued, but just wasn’t for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this early release in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 27 Sep 2023

Beth has spent all of her son's life as a single mother. Now that her son Joe is 17. she has finally found love again in her new husband, police officer Drew. After so many years of working and struggling to provide for her son she is now readjusting to being a stay-at-home wife and mother. While Drew insists there is nothing wrong with Joe and promises to keep an eye on him, Beth can't help but wonder if there is something they aren't telling her. She has always been told having a father figure around will be crucial to her son's wellbeing. And while she does see the bond between them growing, she still can't shake the feeling something is wrong. Now with more free time on her hands she starts to volunteer at the local prison as a Samaritan, a non-prison associated individual to help counsel and advice prisoners having mental health issues. Making fast friends with the prison Chaplin Robyn, she starts to feel like the prison is, and odd choice, a second home. But when her son comes to her in trouble, she unravels a much larger, much more dangerous conspiracy all around her. This book was a little slow and a bit hard to get into.
Thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and the author for an ARC. All opinions are my own!

Very disappointed, it was super slow and had so many unnecessary parts. I thought it was going to be a psychological thriller about a son's weird/bad behavior, and it turned into a suburban mom playing detective and doing dumb things that should have gotten her killed in 5 minutes.

Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book before its release!

This book is about a mother, Beth, whose 17 year old son, Joe, has been acting out and she is reassured by friends and her husband that his behavior just has to do with his age. She hasn’t been married to Drew for very long. But he’ seems to have taken on the role of stepfather pretty well.

As Joe continues to move farther away from Beth she starts to notice some things don’t feel right and starts to question and get suspicious about Joe’s whereabouts and what he’s up to. When Beth finds herself digging more she starts to question even her husband.

This book is an easy read and it was suspenseful. There were a couple twists that surprised me. But I felt like the writing in some spots were somewhat amateurish. There were also some instances that just seemed so unrealistic to me, as a wife and a mother. But other than those issues the story was entertaining enough to keep me reading. I never felt bored when reading this book.

It is sometimes difficult to be a mother. You want to believe that you have done your best to raise a responsible, kind individual only to learn they are nothing like you believed. Beth thought just those thoughts about her son. She thought she had not done such a great job but he was a teenager and maybe with her love he could become a well rounded adult. What she did not know was enough to send her into chaos. I think she had the best intentions for her son but due to her own unresolved issues, she missed out on some clues that would have set her on a different path. Beth was very vulnerable and those people who prey on that kind of person were only too happy to exploit her goodness. Once her eyes were opened, she resolved to be a different person. Was it too late?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this advanced copy. This one was slow at first, had some twists and turns. It was kind of hard to believe it could happen, but maybe that's just me. Overall a decent thriller

This honest review is in exchange for an A.R.C from NetGalley.

This book started out as an exciting thriller and I didn’t want it to end. Unfortunately the last quarter of the book was disappointing and very disjointed. The first three quarters of the story were well paced and understandable but something changed and everything seemed to be all mixed up and all the characters were combined in the storyline and nothing seemed to make any sense.

I was disappointed with this book and would not recommend it to my book friends.

The Son was an interesting read that kept me wanting to keep reading, although I couldn't warm to thee characters it was a book I enjoyed reading.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for the ARC #TheSon by #ElenaWilkes. This was a roller coaster of emotions for me as I have a son and would do anything to protect him. Highly recommend this book!!

Well this definitely is a thriller in all senses of the word. The subject matter not easy to read at times. Beth is married to Drew, a police officer, a man she feels is the perfect husband and step-father. Her first marriage didn’t end well and before she met him, she had raised son Joe as a single mother, determined he would not turn out like his father.
Beth works in the prison service with the inmates. She assists chaplain Robyn, supporting vulnerable prisoners who might be tempted to commit suicide. It’s clear that Beth’s commitment is total, both to her family and her work, which includes the Samaritans. She's someone who is prepared to go that extra mile to get things done. However, recently she has noticed Joe seems distant and moody, and if that wasn’t enough to deal with, she now has suspicions that Drew is having an affair.
The Son is harrowing in places as it deals with grooming, trafficking and drug dealing. Beth is pulled into situations she never thought she would be facing as she tries to save Joe. Added to this, the author has cleverly woven a story where you are never quite sure who is friend and who is foe.
A dark and twisty tale.
My thanks to Netgalley, Storm and Lena Wilkes for an ARC of The Son in exchange for an honest review.

😵Twisting plot but, oh, the heroine🙄

I can't say this book was one I enjoyed all that much despite the complex suspense that kept me constantly wondering "can things get any worse for Beth and her secretive teenage son Joe?" The introductory blurb made me believe that it was a good fit but the actual book did not live up to my high expectations. The plot has plenty of thrills and twists but I think it lost points with me due to the characters and I found it a challenging, slow read.

I think the story's inability to cement my interest can be blamed on the main character and narrator. I just could not understand Beth's lousy decision making. Again and again, her impulsiveness and readiness to trust and rely on the wrong people had me rolling my eyes. Beth did not inspire my sympathy and that, for me, made The Son less enjoyable.

The other characters had little depth. I think the single point of view put the total focus on Beth's thoughts and motivations and the other characters never got a chance. I also found the ending flat.

2.5-3🌟stars.

Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.