ISBN: 978-1982150310
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: 01/25/2021
Format: Audiobook
Simon & Schuster Audio
Narrated by: Laura Kirman
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
DEBUT NOVEL
A twisty, whip-smart debut thriller, as electrifying as the #1 New York Times bestseller The Girl on the Train, about impending motherhood, unreliable friendship, and the high price of keeping secrets.
Helen’s idyllic life—handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and cherished baby on the way (after years of trying)—begins to change the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be. Rachel doesn’t seem very maternal: she smokes, drinks, and professes little interest in parenthood. Still, Helen is drawn to her. Maybe Rachel just needs a friend. And to be honest, Helen’s a bit lonely herself. At least Rachel is fun to be with. She makes Helen laugh, invites her confidences, and distracts her from her fears.
But her increasingly erratic behavior is unsettling. And Helen’s not the only one who’s noticed. Her friends and family begin to suspect that her strange new friend may be linked to their shared history in unexpected ways. When Rachel threatens to expose a past crime that could destroy all of their lives, it becomes clear that there are more than a few secrets laying beneath the broad-leaved trees and warm lamplight of Greenwich Park.
Categories: #Suspense #thriller #psychologicalthriller #mystery #fiction #domesticsuspense #domesticthriller #covercrush #debut
Praise
"Katherine Faulkner is amazingly talented. Greenwich Park is gripping and haunting and gorgeously suspenseful. I couldn't put this thriller down and can't recommend it highly enough." --Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl
"A gloriously tangled game of cat and mouse that kept the twists coming until the very last moment."
--Ruth Ware, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One By One
"Wonderfully addictive and electric, Greenwich Park gets under your skin from the very first pages and it’s impossible to look away from the tangle of friendships, the haunting of a guilty past, and the unease of a growing obsession. While many thrillers are set in early motherhood, Katherine Faulkner brilliantly explores the anxious weeks before the baby is born, when the tension is as high as our hopes. I can’t wait to read what Faulkner writes next."
--Ashley Audrain, New York Times bestselling author of The Push
"A fantastically addictive read. It's so pacey, and there's a real sense of dread on every page . Fabulously unpleasant characters, and a beating feminist heart ."
--Abigail Dean, New York Times bestselling author of Girl A
"I devoured Greenwich Park in two greedy sittings. The writing is razor-sharp, the characters deliciously problematic, and the ending utterly gasp-worthy. You’ll remember this thriller long after the final page."
-- Robin Morgan-Bentley, author of The Wreckage
"Deliciously dark and deftly plotted. Faulkner mines the seam of guilt beneath her characters’ ‘perfect’ lives with devastating precision."
--Lesley Kara, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rumour
"Brilliantly twisty and full of excellently observed - if chilling - characters, Greenwich Park is a clever and knowing delve into the female psyche as well as a classic, pacy mystery. Atmospheric, aspirational and addictive!" -
-Harriet Walker, author of The New Girl
"Meticulously crafted and deeply satisfying, Greenwich Park has all the hallmarks of a first-class psychological thriller. I read it in two sittings and was left smiling sardonically at the final line."
--Charlotte Philby, author of Part of the Family (Waterstones Thriller of the Month)
"Terrific. Pacey and suspenseful with a nice touch of satire."
--Amanda Craig, author of The Golden Rule
"One of the best debuts I've read in a long time... Intelligently plotted, with several completely unexpected gut-punches along the way, Greenwich Park is both a psychologically complex and hugely entertaining novel - in short, the perfect thriller."
-- Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little Lies and Shed No Tears
"Razor-sharp prose, a properly twisty set-up, lots of unlikeable characters and a strong feminist undercurrent - it's got the lot! I raced through it. Absolutely loved it."
-- Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange
‘Faulkner offers a clever spin on an expanding subcategory of psychological thrillers set during maternity leave… A twisty, fast-paced read’.
-- The Sunday TImes (UK)
"[A] suspenseful thriller...with constantly growing levels of menace, this tension-filled novel will keep you guessing through its final revelations."
--Kirkus (starred review)
“Well-paced debut… Faulkner ratchets up the tension throughout with clever narrative shifts. Domestic thriller fans should take a look.”
--Publishers Weekly
“Talk about suspense! Katherine Faulkner's Greenwich Park, told from three perspectives, centers on a pregnant woman who meets another mom-to-be who couldn't be more different from her. As their friendship develops, they realize they may be more connected than they think."
--Marie Claire's "2022 Book Releases to Get Excited About!"
My Review
A deliciously dark debut thriller.
Author Katherine Faulker's domestic psychological thriller debut—GREENWICH PARK grips you early on with its many twists and turns. The suspense will keep you listening/reading as we are introduced to its mysterious and imperfect characters with a strong sense of foreboding and tension with a keen sense of urgency to unravel the secrets.
From past — ten years earlier in Cambridge to present with Helen's pregnancy countdown to the finale one year later.
Set in a posh London neighborhood near the park, meet Helen, married to Daniel, a good-looking and successful architect. They live in this beautiful Victorian home they are renovating in an upscale neighborhood.
However, it is the summer heat, and everything seems array and unsettled. Helen has had many miscarriages, and now she is pregnant again. She is fearful and wants this baby desperately.
Early in the book, Helen receives a letter from someone in prison wanting her to know the truth. You are hooked.
Told from three points of view, we meet Helen and her husband, Serena, her college best friend, married to her brother, Rory. Serena is an artist and very sophisticated, and Helen feels insecure around her. She is also expecting, and they were supposed to all go to prenatal classes together, but it does not turn out as Helen had hoped.
Roy and Daniel are business partners. Kate is another friend and childhood mate, an investigative journalist, and dates Helen's brother Charlie off and on.
Helen hopes this time she will carry full term. With the high-risk pregnancy so has taken a medical leave from her advertising job. She has wanted a baby for so long and had many miscarriages, she does not want anything to happen to this baby, so she is fearful all the time.
Helen wants to be excited about the pregnancy and enjoy her beautiful home and planning for the baby. But Daniel is always too busy, distracted, and not very supportive and often does not show up for the prenatal classes.
However, Helen meets Rachel (another single gal) at the classes, who strikes up a friendship. She is daring, fun, and definitely is not a rule follower. She is not very maternal and acts pretty wild and careless for being pregnant and expecting.
Helen is lonely and quite shy since they are opposites, but Helen soon warms up to her since she is desperate for friendship, which gives her someone to hang with. Rachel is also pregnant, but Helen does not know much about her. She always seems witty and somewhat daring. Her baby daddy appears to be married and not in the picture.
However, Rachel is always everywhere Helen goes. Helen thinks it is strange and does not entirely trust her. Rachel appears to be a master manipulator, and as you listen to the audio, you can feel the sense of desperation in Helen's voice.
Helen is receiving strange phone calls about refinancing a mortgage, clippings, laptop, Daniel seems distant and secretive, and he is not showing up or being supportive of her or the baby. Rachel seems to be getting too involved in Helen's personal space.
Then Rachel shows up at Helen's door, and soon she is moving into their guest room. Daniel is very uncomfortable around her. What is going on?
The journalist, Katie, is covering a case of sexual assault and tells Helen she does not think Rachel is being honest with her. Between everything that is going on around Helen, she is beyond paranoid. Is she being gaslighted or kept in the dark about something? Nothing going on around Helen feels safe and secure. Everything seems unsettling and fearful.
Nothing is as it appears in the London neighborhood, and lies are about to be unraveled. There was a past crime, and someone knows. You must read the book to learn all the juicy details and find your way through the maze of secrets and lies.
The past and present collide as dark secrets abound and an unreliable friendship and marriage. A cat and mouse game that will have you bouncing back and forth with multiple narrators to the twisty conclusion. Once you think you are at the end, the author issues a final knife twist.
A deliciously evil twisty debut. You may think of the book and movie, The Secrets She Keeps by Australian international crime thriller master Michael Robotham (I loved the book/movie and one of my favorite authors).
You suspect something menacing, something dark and sinister that lies below the surface with hidden secrets, but you are unsure how all the pieces and characters are connected. The author controls the narrative and gives you just enough to keep you in the game and wanting more.
Not many redeeming or likable characters (even though Rachel was wacky); however, fans of domestic suspense and authors Alice Feeney, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell will enjoy. I look forward to more from this author!
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Laura Kirmans for an engaging performance! I loved the front cover, which drew me in immediately.
A special thank you to #NetGalley and #Simon&Schuster Audio for an audio ARC.
Blog Review Posted @
@JudithDCollins #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 /of 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟
About the Author
Katherine Faulkner, an award-winning journalist, studied history at Cambridge. She has worked as an investigative reporter and an editor and was formerly the joint Head of News at The Times (London). She lives in London, where she grew up, with her husband and two daughters. Greenwich Park is her first novel.
