The Perfect Wife

June 1, 2019
Perfect wife, perfect life, right? Not so fast. Delaney (Believe Me, 2018, etc.) returns with a domestic artificial-intelligence thriller. Five years after an accident, Abbie wakes up covered in bandages and surrounded by machines. The catch? This isn't the real Abbie; this Abbie is a cobot, or "companion robot." The real Abbie--a wild, beautiful artist and devoted mother--was never found. Her husband, Tim, a Steve Jobs type complete with God complex and anger issues, owns Scott Robotics, a cutting-edge Silicon Valley darling. Tim has spent half a decade and an enormous amount of resources to bring his wife back. The novel is told from the alternating perspectives of Abbie the cobot, who propels the novel forward, and Scott Robotics employees, who provide a Greek chorus of exposition. Cobot Abbie doesn't just look like her namesake: She has her thoughts, memories, and voice; feels maternal toward Danny, her autistic son; and begins to learn the original Abbie's secrets. But she also is her own person--well, robot. The tension between the inherited and innate is portrayed nicely, and the ethical questions surrounding Abbie are interesting. If robots are capable of feelings, empathy, and pain, should they have the same rights as humans? If not, how should they be treated? There's a particularly heartbreaking scene when cobot Abbie makes a bouillabaisse--without senses of taste or smell--and uses rotten fish bones. With shame and despair, Abbie thinks, "Your stock--your beautiful, elaborate, saffron-infused fumet--was poisoned from the start." To add insult to injury: Artificial smelling technology exists but Tim has cut corners. A fitting metaphor. The twist--or, rather, twists--is genuinely surprising and quite disturbing, but it feels like a slap in the face by taking away what little agency had been given to the female characters. A well-paced page-turner with a sour ending.

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June 24, 2019
This compulsively readable psychological thriller from bestseller Delaney (Believe Me), a pseudonym of British adman Tony Strong, asks some provocative questions. Did Silicon Valley visionary Tim Scott, the founder of Scott Robotics, murder his wife, Abbie Cullen-Scott? Or did the free-spirited artist and devoted mother drown while surfing one night near their California beach house? Her body was never found. Five years after her disappearance, and four years after murder charges against Tim were dismissed due to lack of evidence, a woman sees someone who could be Abbie in a San Francisco computer store. When the woman asks this Abbie look-alike what happened, Abbie says she doesn’t remember. Furthermore, Abbie doesn’t deny that she’s back with her husband. Though the woman is pleased to have confirmation that Tim didn’t kill Abbie, she calls the police to report that the missing celebrity has seemingly returned from the dead. The ensuing publicity has devastating consequences for the resurrected Abbie, eccentric genius Tim, and their now nine-year-old son, Danny
. Delaney keeps the suspense high throughout. The highly unusual setup sets this one above the thriller pack. Agent: Caradoc King, United Artists (U.K.).

May 1, 2019
If androids dream of electric sheep, what do cobots dream of? A cobot is a companion robot that replicates a lost one in appearance and behavior, often to provide comfort for the bereaved. When Abbie wakes from what she believes is a pleasant dream, her husband explains that it was actually a memory upload. The real Abbie died five years earlier in a terrible accident, but he, a millionaire robotics entrepreneur, has created a perfect copy of his perfect wife so they can resume their perfect marriage. It doesn't take the Abbie-bot long to figure out that there are some serious problems in their marriage and that she isn't just a few bytes short of a full upload. How did the real Abbie die? Was she murdered? Is she even really dead? Readers may need to suspend their disbelief at points but will be rewarded with a fresh take on the domestic thriller that will leave them satisfied, although, perhaps, at times, perplexed. Delaney is the internationally best-selling author of The Girl Before (2017) and Believe Me (2018).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 19, 2019

Abbie Cullen Scott disappeared five years ago, leaving behind a son with special needs. Her tech genius husband, Tim, was tried but acquitted for her murder since there was no body. When she wakes up in a hospital bed with no recollection of where she's been for the last five years, she's forced to piece together the remnants of her memory. The warnings that appear on her cell phone and the discovery of things hidden in her bookshelf make her realize something is very wrong. Written in alternating first- and second-person points of view, this latest from Delaney (after Believe Me) thrusts readers into Abbie's new world and the cultish dynamic of her husband's cutting-edge company, Scott Robotics. What is Tim willing to do to make sure he has the perfect wife? VERDICT Psychological thriller enthusiasts will love being floored by page five and blown away by page 91. Discovering the identity of the unknown narrator amid the shocking conclusion is like stepping on a land mine. Readers will crave answers to the questions: Is there such a thing as a perfect person, and how far will science go to achieve one? [See Prepub Alert, 2/11/19.]--K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

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July 19, 2019

Abbie is a talented artist and loving wife and mother who suffered a terrible accident five years ago and is finally returning to consciousness with the help of new technology. Or so says the man who claims to be her husband. From a two-time LibraryReads author.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.