Definitely a unique and intriguing story. It takes place over the span of 40 years and gives multiple person POV’s to help understand aka unravel why Oliver turned into the man he was and why he committed this atrocious act on his wife. There were lots of twists and turns and while it wasn’t quite what I expected from the opening line, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this book and found it unusual and unlike any book I have read. It is a good story and easy to read and understand but it is neither a murder mystery, nor a psychological thriller or a whodunit. Despite claims to the contrary it does not deal with a sociopath’s development nor does it explain why Oliver has done what he did.
The story is interesting and the approach is original and unique in that there is no doubt about what crime was committed nor who was the perpetrator. However as a psychologist I found myself finding fault with the author’s portrayal of Oliver as a sociopath and the claims of others that the story sheds light on why he became this way. Yes he is evil and he shows some of the symptoms of sociopathy but he is lacking many aspects of this disorder. He lies and is manipulative and uncaring at times, but unlike a true sociopath he has friends, can be emotional and sensitive to other people’s feelings and is ashamed about what he has done. Contrary to what some readers have suggested there is little evidence from his childhood that his early behaviours were indicative of the sociopath disorder.
Nevertheless this is an interesting story, an unusual approach and an intriguing view about evil and the people who commit dreadful crimes. Scientists have not determined the roles of nature versus nurture leading to the sociopathic personality, so ignore this aspect of Unraveling Oliver and read the story for what it is and forget the claim that it deals with the development of this disorder.

I couldn’t think of a better title for this book. It explains perfectly what this story is about. Unraveling Oliver. Like stated in the blurb the story starts off with Oliver delivering a blow to his wife Alice. The story then proceeds to examine Oliver through the perspective of friends, neighbours and acquaintances. Each character wondering if they had missed some small detail that explains Oliver’s attack on Alice.

I was a little nervous about reading a book told by multiple perspectives. Sometimes I find that authors struggle to have individual voices for each and every character. However, in this case I thought it was perfectly done. The cast of characters were intriguing. Each character saw a different side of Oliver and only by putting them all together could you truly unravel Oliver. Author, Liz Nugent, did an exceptional job of pacing out how his story unfolds. Perspective by perspective we get little glimmers of insight into who Oliver really is.. In the beginning I thought it was going to be a very dark and twisty tale. While it is a darker story I found that the “twists” became too predictable.

Overall, I was really impressed with the writing. It was vivid and captured your attention from the very first line. Even when things got predictable I couldn’t put the book down. Such a great debut novel by Nugent. I look forward to reading more of her work!