You Should Read ‘The Wife’ by Alafair Burke

Whoa. Holy shit. I enjoyed this book WAY more then I expected to. This was my first read by Alafair Burke. Why I have not been reading her before is a huge mystery to me right now. You just earned a fan Alafair!

Angela was living her wonderfully boring life with her husband, celebrity economist, Jason and her son Spencer. Then one day an intern accuses Jason of sexual harassment and then more accusations abound. Angela just wanted a boring and normal life as she has her own connection to a famous crime. Jason took Angela and Spencer on and Angela thought she had finally found her peace. Each spouse has their own secrets but which secret will do the most harm?

I think part of my hang up on reading any of Alafair Burke’s previous books was my unfounded assumption that her books were stereotypical formula thrillers.  To be fair; there is some truth to that.  I think any suspense/thriller has to follow a certain formula to work.  Suspense/thrillers need to have certain parts in order to work.  What makes The Wife stand apart from the rest is that the story is incredibly believable and smartly constructed.

This story can easily be pulled from the headlines as sexual assault, rape accusations and the “he said/she said” are the main story lines. What I loved about this book was that Burke has constructed a very believable situation built that is well executed and keeps you guessing until the very end. You feel immense empathy for Angela.  You are wondering who can be trusted.  You are champion the awesome SVU detective who is like a dog with a bone trying to get to the truth. You hate her asshole husband Jason and are hoping he gets what is coming to him.  You adore her son Spencer and wise beyond his years personality.  This is a high end suspense/thriller and I am still reeling from the end of the story. So many things come together and all I can say is “holy crap.”

I won this through a Instagram giveaway by the publisher Harpercollins.  It comes out today! January 23rd.  I am so excited to have had the opportunity to have a “sneak peek” read.  I look forward to more of those opportunities!