By: Rona Halsall
Narrator: Sarah Durham
ISBN: 9781803141640
Publisher: Hachette UK - Bookouture
Publication Date: 07/05/2023
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (ARC)
‘I’m sorry, Sam’s not available,’ says the woman who answers my husband’s phone. I can’t place her voice, so I politely ask who she is. Her answer sends my world spinning out of control: ‘I’m his wife.’
I know I want to marry Sam the moment I meet him. After I lost my beloved mother so suddenly, this charming, softly spoken architect with his deep-brown eyes is just the fresh start I’ve been searching for.
I’m delighted to be expecting our first child before we’ve even had a chance to plan a honeymoon. I want our family to work so I try to ignore his long work trips. I turn a blind eye to the private calls he takes and I listen to his excuses about why the money keeps disappearing from my bank account. After all, he has no idea what I’ve been doing in our house whilst he’s away or how I really made that money.
Then I find out Sam’s got more to hide than I ever imagined was possible. Because my husband is leading a double life. He’s already married to someone else.
But what Sam doesn’t know is that he’s not the only person keeping secrets.
And he has no idea how far I’ll go to protect myself…
A totally binge-worthy, twisty, will-leave-you-gasping story of marriage, guilt and lies. If you love Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins, you will not be able to sleep until you’ve finished every last word of The Bigamist.
My Review
Rona Halsall's latest domestic suspense thriller, THE BIGAMIST, is a wicked twisty game of cat and mouse. Unreliable narrators, no likable characters, and EVERYONE is keeping dark SECRETS!
Who is the bigamist? Emma or Sam? Who is keeping the bigger secret?
The Prologue: Emma is eight months pregnant and looking through home magazines in the doctor's waiting room. She and her architect husband, Sam, are building a large home. She notices a painting in a photograph that is hers. Her artwork belonged to her and was in a storage unit in Manchester, where she left them before they moved to Appleby in Cumbria. How did it wind up on a stranger's wall? Then a strange phone call. Someone claims to be Sam's wife.
Part One: We jump to where Emma and Sam met at a bereavement group fourteen months earlier.
Emma's mum died of breast cancer three years earlier. Then she had a miscarriage. Her husband had a terrible accident, and two months earlier, her mother-in-law had a heart attack when she heard about Zach's accident.
Then she meets Faith and her brother, Sam. She and Faith become friends, and Sam and Emma begin dating. Alice, his wife, died.
Soon she is pregnant. They move into a temporary cottage, and Sam talks her into allowing him to build them a house. They get married. He seems to be spending a lot of her money. Everything is moving too quickly for Emma. Can she trust him?
Part Two Now: Then it appears she is misplacing things. Is someone gaslighting her? Then Emma reads about Sam's past, which is disturbing. Sam is spending much time away from home, traveling with his business. Then there is a fire.
The picture on the stranger's wall is still bugging Emma and the mystery. Who sold her paintings? This relationship is moving too fast, and the couple barely knows one another or knows anything about their past.
Part Three is when we learn about Zach, Emma's previous husband.
Part Four: When you think you know where the author is headed, there is a 180 turn, and then we find out Emma is also keeping BIG secrets, as well as Faith and Sam.
Part Five: Who's zooming who? Who is the cat, and who is the mouse? Prey or predator? All the players come together in this web of deceit, lies, and manipulation, and then five months later.
Greed, money, jealousy, ulterior motives, manipulation, MURDER! Life was dangerous. Accident happens. Everyone has their agenda. How far will one go to protect their family? Why does someone become a bigamist?
MY THOUGHTS: I listened to the audiobook narrated by Sarah Durham for an entertaining performance. However, I thought it was drawn out and repetitive in the middle, and I became bored and ready for it to end. No likable characters, so I was not invested in any of the characters. There was too much drama for me, and the ending felt rushed. This is more of a popcorn thriller and not a complex psychological thriller, in my opinion. I was not blown away. My first book by the author, and I look forward to possibly reading more.
Thanks to Bookouture and Hachette UK for a gifted ALC and an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pub Date: July 5, 2023
July 2023 Must-Read Books
About the Author
Rona is the author of Best Selling psychological thrillers published by Bookouture. Her books have hit the top 100 in the UK, USA, Australia, and Canada.
Her challenge is to find domestic storylines with twists that her readers will never guess.
Born in Nottingham, she grew up near Blackpool and went to college in Leeds. A decade later, she moved to Snowdonia, North Wales where she brought up her family while working as a business mentor. She now lives on the Isle of Man with her husband, two dogs and two guinea pigs.
