A great debut book.
Natalie has blackouts from when she was raped years ago and her husband is a good support when she keeps receiving accusing letters who she thinks it`s from the rapists wife.
When her husband is accused of rape himself who does she believe especially when the woman is found murdered and her husband had been out running.
The blackouts leave Natalie in strange places and she cant remember anything even she woke up in the forest the woman was murdered so who is the guilty party?
Loads of twists kept me reading wondering who it was and I never guessed and It was a great ending.
Definitely kept me on the edge of the seat.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review

A brilliant read a great paced book.

Will the real Natalie step forward just when you think you know who did it yet another turn. Didn't see it coming

Thank you S.M Govett cannot wait to read more form you

Natalie has spent ten years trying to get over the set of events which changed her life forever.

The the moment her boss assaulted her. The the moment the jury declared him innocent and her, a liar.

The memories continue to haunt Natalie, and in her attempts to block out the past, she often wakes up with no memory of where she’s been – or what she’s done.

So when her husband, Ryan, gets accused of the same crime, Natalie comes perilously close to the edge.

Natalie wants to believe him. But when the body of the young woman who made the accusation is found in the woods near their house, Ryan becomes a prime suspect, and Natalie realises she can't trust anyone - herself included


This is a cracking debut and most definitely a novel that’s right up my street. First of all, it’s very well written with the dual points of view flowing well. Natalie‘s perspective is sensitively approached although you feel her trauma and its after effects and obviously sympathise with her. There’s a lot of pain in Stratton‘s point of view too, and she has a lot going on in her life as well as a taxing job. I like the partnership of Stratton the police detective and ‘Fastrack’ a.k.a. DC Bradley as their chalk and cheese which certainly makes for interesting reading which positively crackles at times. All the characters are well portrayed, feeling authentic and believable.

If you enjoy stories about wives standing with or against their husbands, unreliable narrators, and fast-paced reads, then this book is definitely for you. It will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat throughout. A must-read for fans of twisted, suspenseful thrillers!

A five star psychological thriller that will stay with me for a long time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House fir an advance copy in return fir a fair and honest review

Told from a dual POV, I wasn’t sure about the book as I found one of the main characters irritating and unappealing. Without any proper context or explanation it was hard to be sympathetic. There were lots of twists and turns which were plausible and a (for me) totally unexpected ending. 3.5 ⭐️rounded up to 4.

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This was a great book and I highly recommend it.

It’s very well written and keeps you guessing all the way through. A few times I thought I’d solved it only to be thrown off track again. It’s very well written and fast paced.

The whole story is shrouded in mystery even the main characters take a while to understand and reveal the story.

This is a very interesting thriller which has some strong female characters and at the heart of it the story of a woman who has suffered a traumatic experience and how this episode has affected the rest of her life and that of others involved.

Natalie and Ryan are a couple who support each other. After Natalie accuses her boss of raping her and he is subsequently found not guilty her life implodes. Years later she and Ryan are living a good life when he is accused of the same crime. Is the wife of the man who allegedly attacked her years ago sending poisonous anonymous notes and terrorising her? Could her own husband be a rapist?

Told in different voices by Natalie and the detective on the case there is a good balance and blur of information so that the reader is taken on the journey but kept guessing about the outcome. This is well written and the characters are vulnerable and interesting to find out about. I was edging towards what the outcome may be but was surprised and enjoyed the ending.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunities to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ideal for fans of slow burn, complex psychological thrillers. I liked the two viewpoint characters – Natalie, still coping with trauma; and Stratton, a police detective still coping with a family tragedy.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
Upon publication, I will post the blurb and this short review on my blog and on GoodReads.

A must read!

This was a really well paced thriller that literally thrilled! I read a lot of crime fiction/thrillers so have gotten used to figuring out the plot before the end but this one kept me guessing right up to the reveal. The characters were well written and developed and the plot was interesting without being over the top for anything.

I loved it and would highly recommend!

If you like psychological thrillers then this is the book for you. It's a fast paced dual perspective that kept me guessing and even when I thought I'd sussed it out I wasn't right. Loved this book and would definitely read more by this author.

Great debut read that really keeps the reader on their toes with plenty of twists.
The subject matter is dealt with perfectly, and the character of Natalie is portrayed really well she's a very complex girl, that's for sure.
It was hard to predict the outcome, and the ending was a surprise.
It was an easy to pick-up read that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph Penguin RandomHouse for the Arc.

What a great book this was . I loved the dynamics between the new detective and the woman detective and was hoping for romance 😉😣. The story had plenty of twists and turns and just as I thought I’d found the culprit it went off in another direction. I hope there will be follow up books with these characters. I would definitely recommend this book , I give it 5 stars

Natalie’s world is coming down when she starts receiving letters similar to ones from 10 years ago when she was raped and went to trial and now her husband is also accused of the same thing that happened to her 10 years ago. This book keeps you guessing on who the killer actually is, you keep thinking it’s one person and the story heads that way then you’re thrown another way completely. I enjoyed the ending and totally didn’t see it coming.

A solid 5 🌟

Believe was a fantastic debut thriller! It ticked all my boxes as a reader, well written and kept me guessing right until the very end! My views on who might be the guilty party switched back and forth as the story went on.

The chapters are written from the perspectives of Natalie, whose story is at the centre of the plot, and Stratton, the detective working on the case. There is quite a lot of internal monologue which was really effective with the stories that unfolds for them both. It also covers some difficult topics sensitively.

Huge thank you for the ARC which I thoroughly enjoyed!

There are plenty of mysteries featuring an unreliable narrator – but “Believe me Now” is most definitely among the stellar examples of this subgenre. Its protagonist is Natalie Campbell, a post-traumatic stress sufferer who has lapses of consciousness and who has worked hard to rehabilitate herself, supported by her loyal husband Ryan. Just when she is starting to make progress, the traumatic events of the past seem to repeat themselves: whereas it was Natalie’s boss who was tried for (and later acquitted of) of sexual assault, the same accusation is now levelled at Ryan. Can things get any worse still? Natalie soon finds out they can when Ryan’s accuser is found murdered …

If this account of the novel sounds sensational, I am not doing “Believe” justice, because despite all its serious, very dark themes, the novel is very well written and as a reader, you will find yourself questioning your assumptions on multiple occasions. My thanks go to NetGalley and to the publishers for the free ARC that I received that allowed me to review this book and produce this unbiased book review.

Believe by SM Govett
Published by: Michael Joseph Penguin Random House
Publication Date: 19/6/25

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NO SPOILERS

A great debut thriller. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged and an ultimately satisfying conclusion. Definitely an author to look out for.

Thanks to the author, publisher and to netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A really good thriller with twists and revelations that kept me intrigued and guessing until near the very end. The book is well written with a variety of engaging characters. I thoroughly recommend.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review and to the author for a riveting read

Really enjoyed this and didn't have a clue who was responsible till the end

Liked the way it was all viewed from each characters point of view.

Lots of twists and turns and a surprise at the end!

Wasn't sure about this book at first, took me a while to get into the storyline.

For me personally it wasn't a fast paced thriller read which I was expecting but overall I enjoyed it but unfortunately not one of my favourite reads

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for this ARC.

This was a great debut novel which I had the opportunity of reading via an advanced copy courtesy of NetGalley. I enjoyed the book and really couldn’t predict where the story was going until near to the end.

I was asked by NetGalley to review this amazing debut novel.

This had me on the edge of my seat this had me form the beginning - this tells the story of Natalie Campbell who was assaulted and now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suffering blackouts as a result of this. Husband Ryan is accused of her crime. Detective Helen Stratton is investigating her case. Natalie is unsure of her husband innocence and both are essentially bothered by past traumas . They weave through a challenging, puzzling and scary case.

Wow this was such a good read and due for publication June 19 2025