Beautiful Bad

December 15, 2018
A perfect family creates a perfect storm in Ward's (The Making of June, 2002) psychological thriller.Maddie and Joanna have been best friends since they met as American high school students on a summer program in Spain, when each recognized a kindred, adventurous spirit in the other. They end up employed in Eastern Europe at a time of civil unrest. In their tiny apartments, they drink wine and dream about all the ways they will change the world. Then Maddie's world actually changes the moment she meets Ian, a British soldier working as a bodyguard. Despite the instant attraction, the timing never seems right for them to begin a relationship--first he has a flirtation with Joanna, and then Maddie finds out he has a girlfriend, and then she ends up returning to New York after the tragedy of 9/11. As the years pass, Maddie and Joanna have a falling out. Maddie finally reconnects with Ian, who's made a ton of money in private security, and they marry and have a son. But Ian is dealing with severe PTSD; Maddie fears the growing effects of paranoia and alcoholism on her husband. When she suffers a fall while they're on a camping trip, other people begin to ask questions about Ian's behavior, too. Maddie loves Ian, but she'll do anything to protect her child. The stage is set for an explosion of violence that will destroy the family. The novel actually begins with the aftermath of this violence, and the story is then told out of sequence as chapters alternate between Maddie's past and present. In this post-Gone Girl and -Girl on the Train world, any savvy reader knows that no narrator is ever remotely trustworthy, and no narrative that moves around in time is ever offering the whole story. Instead, the truth will be slowly dropped, piece by incomplete piece, into the reader's lap until the final twist reveals all.Shamelessly manipulative.

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February 1, 2019

In 2001, Jo and Maddie are best friends living abroad in exciting (if somewhat dangerous) circumstances. When Ian, an attractive and dashing British army bodyguard, enters the scene, a subtle change creeps into Jo and Maddie's easy friendship. Ian and Jo have a barely hidden animosity, but no one will tell Maddie why. As Maddie gets closer to Ian, she disregards Jo's warnings about him and increasingly pushes her friend away. Nearly two decades later, Maddie and Ian are married with an adorable and precocious toddler, Charlie. A mysterious camping accident leaves Maddie scarred physically and emotionally, which leads her to begin writing therapy. Through Maddie's sessions she starts to realize secrets and emotions that were buried for years, and then she recalls a vicious murder. Ward (The Making of June) uses each chapter as a way to guide readers through the beginning of the relationships of Maddie, Jo, and Ian, usually through Maddie's point of view. Some chapters skip forward to the "Day of the Killing," divulging enough information to pique readers' interest but also to keep them guessing. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoy suspense novels or thrillers, as well as fans of Paula Hawkins, Ruth Ware, and Liane Moriarty.--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2018
Travel-writer Maddie met soldier-of-fortune Ian almost 20 years ago in the war-ravaged Balkans. After a lengthy and tumultuous relationship, they are now married and living the family life. But when Maddie begins a writing-therapy program after an accident leaves her face badly scarred, we are drawn into her burgeoning paranoia?Or are her fears legitimate??based on Ian's erratic behavior. This is a well-constructed thriller with strong appeal for millennials, but the premise seems a bit contrived. Although we are taken artfully through a no-one-is-who-you-think-they-are?and, most likely, no-one-is-who-they-think-they-are?narrative, the idea that two badly damaged people who filled up rooms with their worldliness, their big words, and their general aura of disdain would expect to find contentment in simple domesticity off the beaten path in Kansas strains credulity, even before murder comes to farm country. Still, the brilliantly conceived and presented conclusion would do Patricia Highsmith proud. Expect plenty of promotion, too, as this debut novel is being advertised as 2019's The Woman in the Window.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)