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The Wife: A Novel of Psychological Suspense
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"This year's Gone Girl."—Harlan Coben
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2018 | A Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery Book of 2018 | A Crime Reads Best Novel of 2018
His Scandal
Her Secret
From New York Times bestselling author Alafair Burke, a stunning domestic thriller in the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Woman in Cabin 10—in which a woman must make the impossible choice between defending her husband and saving herself.
When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.
Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their perfect life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look—at both the man she married and the women she chose not to believe.
This much-anticipated follow-up to Burke’s Edgar-nominated The Ex asks how far a wife will go to protect the man she loves: Will she stand by his side, even if he drags her down with him?
Azioni libro
Inizia a leggereInformazioni sul libro
The Wife: A Novel of Psychological Suspense
Descrizione
"This year's Gone Girl."—Harlan Coben
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2018 | A Sun-Sentinel Best Mystery Book of 2018 | A Crime Reads Best Novel of 2018
His Scandal
Her Secret
From New York Times bestselling author Alafair Burke, a stunning domestic thriller in the vein of Behind Closed Doors and The Woman in Cabin 10—in which a woman must make the impossible choice between defending her husband and saving herself.
When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.
Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their perfect life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look—at both the man she married and the women she chose not to believe.
This much-anticipated follow-up to Burke’s Edgar-nominated The Ex asks how far a wife will go to protect the man she loves: Will she stand by his side, even if he drags her down with him?
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Recensioni
When Burke opens the novel, Angela Powell is finding out an incident at her husband's office through his eyes. The young woman went on and on about her engagement and he made a comment about being too young to get married and her getting upset about it. You read the police report where she seems suspicious in her nonanswers. You like Angela and you know that she went through something traumatic when she was a teenager, that she was kidnapped by a man held captive for three years before being found with a kid, named Spencer. You don't want her world to explode with a true accusation of sexual harassment. But then you watch as she doesn't mean to help them dismantle that case by blaming the victim.The ADA leaks the case to the press hoping to get more accusations to come forward. And one does. A Kelly Lynch accuses him of raping her. She has pictures of belt strap marks on her wrists and his DNA on her underwear and her skirt. Jason Powell explains to his wife that he had an affair with her but that he didn't rape her. That she was helping him take down her company Oasis which was doing questionable business practices and that he had brought together with some investors. But if they were not on the up and up he had wanted to know about it and to end his relationship with them and to bring them down too.Angela's best friend Susanna senses that she isn't telling her everything when Angela starts to tell her about a bad night she and Jason had, Susanna gives her a paper on when women don't realize they've been raped. Now, things don't look too good for Jason. Burke emotionally manipulates you from the very start making you feel guilty for not wanting to believe the young intern to the very end of the book where a surprise awaits you. To be honest this book pissed me off with its emotional wrangling. But I believe I just didn't like being manipulated to this degree. If I am being honest I would give it two stars for being poorly written, but I think I am letting something that the author did well affect my judgment on this review. I, therefore, give it an extra star for the work she put into it.
The wife, Angela. is our narrator. She is somewhat of a stepford wife loved her husband and son Spencer, but she has a huge secret, in fact several. The husband Jason is a successful author, business man and university professor, he is also a huge flirt. They are living in a dream home in Greenwich Village and their son attends a prestigious private school. Rachel, an intern at work, enters the story with some accusations against Jason and things start to get messy. Angela will do anything to protect her husband (or will she)? The second narrator, Detective Corinne Duncan is relentless and keeps showing up on the couples front door step. She is sure that she will evenutally turn Angela against her husband. We'll soon find out just how good an investigator she is and what Angela is willing to do or not do to protect Jason.
In THE WIFE, Alafair Burke has created the perfect blend of a character driven suspense novel with some police investigation, some legal maneuvering and a lot of family and friendship drama and angst. Burke is a gifted storyteller and creates tension in small ways. The story is very realistic and timely, with all the women coming forward recently. The story is full of twists, some small, some large but not obvious. There are clues throughout the book, and I had begun to piece some things together before they were revealed, but that ending .... WOW! If you love psychological suspense, legal wrangling, questions of guilt and innocence with a twist, then you need to read this book.
In THE WIFE, Alafair Burke has created the perfect blend of a character driven suspense novel with some police investigation, some legal maneuvering and a lot of family and friendship drama and angst. Burke is a gifted storyteller and creates tension in small ways. The story is very realistic and timely, with all the women coming forward recently. The story is full of twists, some small, some large but not obvious. There are clues throughout the book, and I had begun to piece some things together before they were revealed, but that ending .... WOW! If you love psychological suspense, legal wrangling, questions of guilt and innocence with a twist, then you need to read this book.
I had a hard time putting this book down!! This book did not disappoint. After reading a few books by this author, I was expecting something, but not what actually happened.
Twists and Turns
I enjoy Ms. Burke's surprises. And I appreciate the fact that even though she is a lawyer she doesn't use complicated language for the average reader.
I enjoy Ms. Burke's surprises. And I appreciate the fact that even though she is a lawyer she doesn't use complicated language for the average reader.
Nach einer schrecklichen Entführung in ihrer Jugend scheint Angela endlich das zauberhafte Leben führen zu können, von dem sie in ihrer ärmlichen Kindheit immer geträumt hat. An der Seite des Wirtschaftsprofessors und erfolgreichen Beraters Jason Powell verbringen sie und ihr Sohn Spencer sorgenlose Tage – bis eine Praktikanten unglaubliche Anschuldigungen erhebt: Jason habe sie sexuell belästigt. Dieser streitet den Vorfall ab und misst ihm keine große Bedeutung bei. Bis eine weitere Frau auf den Plan tritt und Vergewaltigungsvorwürfe erhebt. Dieses Mal scheint die Beweislage eindeutiger, aber Angela hält zu ihrem Mann. Sie kann und will nicht glauben, was die Frauen behaupten, vor allem, weil diese scheinbar auch die Gelegenheit nutzen möchten, mit einer geschickten Erpressung Nutzen aus der Situation zu ziehen. Je länger sich die Affäre hinzieht und je mehr Details über Jason an die Öffentlichkeit geraten, desto mehr wachsen auch Zweifel in Angela, wichtiger jedoch als dieser Fall ist ihr noch etwas gänzlich anderes, das sie vor der reißerischen presse schützen muss.Alafair Burke wählt ein Szenario, das viel Spannung verspricht und Potenzial für zahlreiche Verwicklungen und Wendungen hat, jedoch auch bereits mehrfach als Basiskonzeption gewählt wurde. Im Vergleich zu ähnlichen Stories konnte mich die Autorin nicht ganz überzeugen, was vor allem an der Protagonistin lag, die für mich etwas zu diffus blieb und mich nicht wirklich für sie einnehmen konnte.Der Spannungsaufbau kann überzeugen, immer weiter zieht sich die Schlinge um den untreuen Gatten, immer mehr Enthüllungen lassen ihn in einem immer schlechteren Licht erscheinen. Auch wenn einem die Mutmaßungen, dass die Frauen geschickt seine Lage nutzen möchten, um sich selbst zu bereichern, glaubwürdig ist, kommt er doch nicht auch ganz schadlos aus der Nummer heraus. Aufgrund der gewählten Erzählperspektive bleiben bei Jason Lücken, so dass man nicht sicher sein kann, wie weit er gehen würde und ob man seinen Aussagen trauen kann. Da man sich als Leser immer auf Angelas Seite befindet und sie das offenkundig wahre Opfer ist – gleich in mehrfacher Hinsicht – ist man geneigt, für sie eher Sympathie zu empfinden und ihr Glauben zu schenken. Leider lässt sich dies nicht lange genug aufrechterhalten und man kann daher die letztlichen Entwicklungen schon bald sehr deutlich vorhersehen.Insgesamt überzeugender Plot, der jedoch für mich im Detail bei der Figurengestaltung etwas schwächelt und leider im letzten Drittel zu vorhersehbar wird und dadurch an Spannung verliert. Daher das Fazit: solide Unterhaltung, die aber noch steigerungsfähig gewesen wäre.
This crime novel is full of twists and turns, with hardly a reliable narrator in the whole bunch of characters. The topic couldn’t be more timely. Jason Powell is a well-known economics prof at NYU and author of a best-selling book on “how to maximize profits by following guiding principles of morality and equality.” He has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by one of his interns, much to the surprise and disbelief of his wife Angela. Angela hates publicity in any case; she wants nothing more than to have a quiet life with her secret, traumatic past well hidden. But now that is all about to change.When another woman comes forward more formally to charge Jason, the case is investigated by Detective Corrine Duncan, a very competent woman who trades findings and insights with the prosecutor. As with any “he said, she said” case, it is difficult to tell who is telling the whole truth, but each and every character has a reason to lie, and when a dead body suddenly turns up, everything about it takes on a new, sinister turn.Discussion: I have not previously read books by this author, but I certainly intend to remedy that lapse. The author is a graduate of Stanford Law School and now teaches criminal law and procedure at Hofstra Law School. She worked as a judicial clerk, a trial lawyer, and as liaison to the police department, and clearly knows what she’s talking about. She presents the legal aspects of the book in a clear way without making those portions sound like an infodump. I also liked her portrayal of the female detective, who is well-rounded, strong, and intelligent. And of course I’m a sucker for a book with twists you don’t see coming.Evaluation: This entertaining crime novel will keep you turning the pages, and will delight you with all the plot complications you didn't see coming.
The WifeAlafair BurkeMY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️PUBLISHERHarper AudioPUBLISHEDJanuary 23, 2018NARRATORXe SandsA timely and gripping psychological suspense novel that will leave you gasping for air. SUMMARYHe makes a mistake and she may pay the price. All Angela wanted was to live a quiet life, maybe get married, have another child, and most importantly, stay out of the media limelight in order to avoid the press about nightmare that was her past. But six years into her marriage to Jason, a brilliant NYU economics professor, that dream began to crumble. Jason, handsome and well-dressed, had already become a media darling when he published a best selling book, developed a podcast and started a very successful corporate consulting firm several years ago. But it was when a intern in his consulting firm made an accusation against Jason, and another woman comes forward with a more troubling charge that their perfect life implodes. Jason says he is innocent of the charges. Angela wants to believe him, and but she really wants this all to just go away. Coming to her husband’s defense will put her and her troubling past in the media spotlight again. She’s not sure she can handle that. REVIEWOne of life’s pleasures is a book that you begin reading with no expectation and in the end it just blows you away. The Wife is a skillful crafted and cleverly layered thriller that will definitely keep your head in the book. The investigation into the accusations against Jason, Angela’s troubled past, and her strained marriage all coalesce to draw you in, but it is the final chapters that will have you gasping for air. Alafair Burke’s storytelling is impeccable, and she has created just the right amount of tension within each of the multiple layers of the story. Her writing is smooth and easy to read, and Jason and Angela’s characters are well-drawn. I really appreciated Angela’s strength. Surprising to me that this was my first book by Burke, who is a best-selling crime novelist, a professor of law and a legal commentator. She is impressively the author of two series of crime novels featuring strong women as the main character. How did I miss those? Word on the street is that this newest novel, The Wife will soon be made into a major motion picture. Can’t wait!
Oh, Alafair Burke, you have outdone yourself with your new novel, The Wife! Brilliant, addictive, full of twists - and that last line ending? Perfect!I was hooked from the opening line: "In an instant, I became the woman they assumed I'd been all along: the wife who lied to protect her husband."The husband, Jason, is a celebrated public figure. When one of his interns makes an accusation against him, the foundations of his public and private lives begin to crumble. His wife, Angela, has secrets in her past that she wants to keep out of the public light. And she doesn't want her son exposed to any of it. What will Angela do to keep that secret? To protect her husband? Her son? Is Jason guilty? Or is he the victim of a campaign to discredit him and his work? Ahh, a delicious premise and one I couldn't wait to dig into!The Wife falls into the genre of 'domestic thriller'. This has fast become a favourite for me. I love not knowing who is telling the truth, the possibilities of whodunit, the turns and twists that jump out of a chapter to surprise me, and unexpected endings."To know something, he argued, was not the same as to be certain beyond all doubt. And to believe something was definitely not the sane as to know it."Burke's characters are so well drawn, coming alive in my imagination. Angela is portrayed as a sympathetic character - but does she deserve it? I was happy to see Olivia Randall in this novel. She's a high powered defense attorney last seen in Burke's previous book, The Ex. (And I hope we see her again.) The dialogue flows easily, the plotting is addictive and the prose are so very 'readable.'The Wife benefits greatly from Burke's legal background. (Burke teaches criminal law) The case, the police investigation and the legal machinations are so well portrayed and unfold in a believable manner. Suspense, mystery, police procedural and some social commentary - The Wife has it all. This is one you're going to want to pick up. I loved it!
This book is in the vein of Gone Girl. In fact it even gives a shout out to Gone Girl in the book. Angela and Jason seem to be living the perfect life until Jason is accused of sexual harassment. All of a sudden nothing is as it seems as secrets from the past threaten to consume them both. I love a twisty story and this book served up the shocking revelations right up until the last page.
I have always been a big fan of Alafair Burke's father, James Lee Burke and now I'm a big fan of Alafair Burke! This is her second book that I've read and she really knows how tokeep you reading! Angela's husband, Jason, is a public figure who is accused of sexual harassment by one of his interns. Angela, has secrets in her past that she needs to keep out of the public domain as well as protecting her son. This is a timely book since the accusations have been coming out against men, especially in the entertainment business and the #MeToo movement that this has created. Are the charges against Jason real or manufactured? And, in the end, will it actually matter to Angela? This books holds your attention until the very last word. Excellent!
This was a good suspense novel and had me interested from the beginning. As the book went on, I found that I really did not care for Angela and Jason, the married couple at the center of the story. I liked them less and less as I continued to read. Basically, a successful, well-known husband, Jason, is accused of sexual misconduct by one woman, quickly followed by rape charges by another woman. Who is telling the truth? Meanwhile, Angela has her own backstory to tell which oozes out bit by bit. It certainly was intriguing. At a certain point, I had difficulty keeping characters straight (attorneys, cops, etc.). I didn't really understand Angela's actions in the last few chapters; however, all was revealed at the end. I do recommend it as it's not your typical boilerplate marriage in turmoil novel.
The Wife by Alafair Burke is a 2018 Harper publication. How well do you know your husband? It’s that all too familiar, and oft dreaded question posed by law enforcement when it appears ones husband may have been leading a double life. Angela, just like many other loyal wives, swears her husband isn’t capable of murder, and even gives him a rock-solid alibi. But, deep down, Angela’s insecurities, traumatic past, and the mounting evidence against her husband, Jason, has forced her to take a good hard look at the man she married. This book is just the kind of thriller I love and never seem to tire of. I openly admit, I’m a big fan of this author. However, despite my bias, I truly believe this book would have been highly successful no matter what. But, I must admit, the precision perfect timing of its release gave the story an added boost of power and a ripped from the headlines type of atmosphere, it might not have benefited from otherwise. For authors these days, it’s more of a challenge than ever before to put a fresh spin on familiar plots or to keep their material fresh and original. Jaded readers, like myself, can often see a twist coming a mile off, which might be why some authors are trying to keep readers off balance by throwing in a multitude of over the top shocking twist and turns. But, that gets old in a hurry, and is more about shock value than true writing ability. So, it takes a very skilled author to weave a complex, clever tale around a timely storyline that will keep readers engaged, add in a nice balance of well -timed twist and turns, and top it off with a stunning conclusion they never saw coming. But, that is exactly what Alafair Burke has done with this story. Usually I enjoy analyzing the plot and characters in more detail, maybe build up a little enticing curiosity about the book, but, in this case, it’s best not to say too much. But, I want to stress that this is not just another story about a woman standing by her husband after he’s been accused of misconduct. Trust me, there’s a lot more to this twisted tale than meets the eye! This is a very clever, well thought out, skillfully constructed thriller I can’t recommend highly enough. It’s early in the year to start making a ‘best of 2018’ list, but I think it’s safe to say this one will definitely make the cut. 5 stars
Angela Powell seems to have it all on the surface, a loving and successful husband, an awesome and caring son, and a wonderful home. Looks can be deceiving. The first inkling Angela has that something is wrong is when her husband Jason seems blase about a sexual harassment claim filed against him by one of his interns. This is quickly followed by a rape claim by a woman that Jason actually had a sexual relationship with for the better part of a year. Jason eventually comes clean about the ongoing nature of his relationship with Kerry Lynch, but he told Angela it was only for a few months and she later finds out it was closer to a year. Although she has some doubts about the claims lodged against Jason, she does believe in his innocence until Kerry Lynch goes missing. It was bad enough during the discovery for the criminal and civil claims lodged against Jason that there was a possibility about Angela's past being revealed, now it seems a foregone conclusion. She wants to protect her family but how far can she go to protect her husband. Does she even know what he's capable of doing? Does he know what she's capable of doing? How far will either one of them go to protect their secrets?I love reading anything by Alafair Burke and I was not disappointed with The Wife. I plowed through this book in one sitting, stopping only for tea and food breaks, talk about a page-turner. Initially, I thought that Angela was a mousy wife and being oppressed by Jason and that seems to be exactly what Ms. Burke wants you to believe. Angela has had a difficult life (no, I'm not going to reveal her secret past, read the book!), but she's moved on and is quite happy with Jason and their son, Spenser. Their lives seem to be crumbling down around them and Angela isn't quite sure what, if anything, she can or should do to protect herself, Spenser, and Jason. The reader is given brief insight into Angela's past, her relationship with Jason, the investigation and legal difficulties, and Angela's mindset throughout much of this. I enjoyed all of the characters in this story and only wish we could have gotten to know Angela's mother and her son, Spenser, a bit better (read the book and you'll understand). The big questions throughout this book are what did Jason do and was it legal or illegal. Yes, obviously there's quite a bit more than that going on, but in this era of #MeToo, The Wife is quite timely. I found The Wife to be a taut psychological thriller that contained lots of family drama and internal struggles along with the criminal/legal cases presented.
Everything about this book was fantastic!! I couldn’t put it down! The twists , the turns, for something so complicated it made for such an easy read. Descriptive but just right. Emotive, but not over the top. Everything was perfect.
Gosh , i Love this book?? . Engrossing from the first sentence to the last. I’m not kidding.
Great thriller, with mystery about a couple and all that good stuff.
Great thriller, with mystery about a couple and all that good stuff.
Wow, I am totally in the minority here with my review. I thought this book was a hot mess, and I truly did not like the way the mystery was wrapped up. This was my first Alafair Burke book and my last.
Well written and could not stop reading till the end
Great book. Ending surprised me! this was a good read.
For about eighty percent of this book I would have said the villain was one person; then I got a little inkling that perhaps things were not as clearcut as they appeared. Whew, Alafair Burke really surprised me with this one. I really can't say much about the plot without giving things away. Suffice it to say that there is adultery, kidnapping, murder, criminal lawyers and, yes, suspense.
It was amazing. A perfect breezy read with the best plot twist and character development. Give it a chance, you won’t regret it.
This started well for me: did Angela's husband Jason sexually harass his intern or was it all a misunderstanding? Then the plot thickened with a rape allegation from another woman. After that it all went on for quite a long time and I began to lose track of whose lawyer was whose. The gradual revelation of Angela's traumatic teenage experience was interesting (in a sickening way) and the chapters from the perspective of Corinne the sexual violence detective varied the narrative nicely.Unfortunately the ending was a bit too twisty and morally ambivalent for me and I stopped really rooting for any of the characters. Nevertheless an engrossing read.
I LOVED this!!! I've never read anything by Burke so I'm very happy to see that she has other books. I was totally surprised with how this "mystery" worked out and Burke, with her prosecutor background, knows what's she's writing about. Almost couldn't put it down!