This kept my brain working, it actually took me a while to work out which adult character Scarlett had become. Vicki's story was heartbreaking even though it took most of the book to work out what had happened to cause her epilepsy. It was also an eye opener into how living with epilepsy can affect someone's life. I had no idea. David, the ex, just came across as dangerous and seedy, but was obviously a skilled manipulator. This book kept me in suspense and I wanted to know what had happened beyond the end of the main story.

An unusual but very comfortable style of writing gives this novel a very solid base backed up by a very strong, twisty plot.
To say much more would give too much away but the author is certainly one to look out for in future.
Thoroughly enjoyed.

The Dead Ex was another great book by Jane Corey.
Read in a day I could not put it down. I was gripped from page one.
A story of lies and revenge, it left me wanting more.

When revenge takes control there’s no getting out of its way. My Dead Ex is proof of that.

A cleverly thought out and enticing plot teamed with interesting, daring and complex characters give us the escapism we crave. Touching on subjects that many of us would never come across it’s been done with care and empathy which shows in the characters and their troubles.

The Dead Ex gives us it all. Slightly long winded at times, but worth every minute invested into it.

A mind niggling vindictive dark and dangerous malicious chase of time, life and love.

4/5

There is something that I have found with this author and it is that I know I am in for a good read, that it will have some great twists and story-lines. This book was no exception as i was taken into the world of Vicki and her dead ex.

The story takes a route that I didn’t expect and wove it’s way through different timelines. One thing I have come to expect from this author is her ability to hoodwink me completely.

Epilepsy plays a crucial role in this story as it is something that really does have an impact on the character of Vicki. I only know very basics about epilepsy but felt by the end of the book I had a better understanding. For me the author taught me things without me being aware, as a reader I really like this. It is not done in a preachy way, it is done via the character telling others what they need to be aware of when they have to deal with her. It felt as if the research had been done and also understood properly to be part of the story.

The synopsis for this book does the best job of keeping things vague and it is something I am going to mirror in my thoughts as well. There are some curvy curve balls that came my way as I worked the way through the story, and I loved them.

This author gives you not only a great read but also give you something to think about. She has the ability to educate and also weave a cracking story with a mixed bunch of characters that you will love or hate. Believe me when I say you will work out who fits into which list, eventually !

A story of family, life and new beginnings with twists in the telling and I that found addictive, a book I would definitely recommend to readers of crime, mystery and thrillers.

Vicki's life changed dramatically when she began to suffer from epilepsy. Her husband who was supposed to love her has left her fro his PA. She had to change careers to do something where she can be self employed and work when she is able.

Scarlet loves her mother. She is a good girl who does as her mother says and plays the strange games her mother devises. Her life changes when her mother is imprisoned for drug offences.

When Vicki's ex- husband disappears she finds herself caught up in a nightmare. Her epilepsy leaves her with holes in her memory- has she done something dreadful?

At times I found this quite confusing as the story is told in different time frames and at times it is difficult to work out what was going on. However Jane Corry manages to weave the story together leaving the reader muttering-"I didn't see that coming!"

This was an enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for giving me the chance to read & review it.

The Dead Ex was a brilliantly gripping thriller that kept me guessing. This book kept me company during a long night with a poorly baby and definitely helped make the hours go by faster!

The story is told from the point of view of both Vicki, an aromatherapist with a murky past, and Scarlett a little girl who has been used as a pawn for her mum’s drug dealing. I found this very intriguing as it wasn’t immediately obvious why the story was being told from both perspectives. My first view of the characters was that they were, to use my mum’s expression, more to be pityied than scolded. They’ve both had hard lives and have had a lot of different things to deal with. This opinion did change throughout the book as the story unfolds.

I really enjoyed how this story progressed. The author slowly releases little snippets of information about the book and the mystery at a great pace that kept me interested and turning the pages. The reader is aware almost from the start that something is not quite right with Vicki’s narrative and her past which helped add to the tension as I tried to work out what it was. There were a lot of twists and turns which I loved. As soon as I thought I’d figured out what was happening, something would happen to send it in a completely different direction. The ending was brilliant a great way to end this fabulous book.

Huge thanks to Hannah Ludbrooke and Viking Penguin for my copy of this book and inviting me onto the blog tour. If you like gripping, fast paced thrillers with some fantastic twists and turns you’ll love this book!

I have liked author Jane Corry's books, there are generally lots of twists to make it interesting.

This book had twists, but they were so convoluted that I got lost in the by-lanes of suspense. Vicki loved her husband David, even after the divorce, kept stalking him. He was married prior to her and got married immediately after her. He was one creepy, perverted womaniser, I don't know how he ran his company when he had ex-wives, affairs, new wives, new affairs. And then he disappeared. Vicki was booked under suspicion by the cops. When the new wife died after an argument, Vicki was thrown in jail and incarcerated for 20years.

And the past is revealed...

The author Jane Corry has used her previous experience as writer in residence of a high security prison and has gone into the details of prison and being prison governor in this plot. Those parts did go on and on...

I didn't like any of the characters, each one had their own agenda, their own secrets. Written in points of view of 3 women, Vicki, Scarlet and Helen, the book intersected their lives and their reasons to be. Sadly by the end of the book, I couldn't care less what they did with their lives, how they screwed it up further.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Dead Ex. This psychological thriller is a true page turner that kept me guessing after each page. I had not read the previous novels by Jane but feel that she will be an author added to my favourites list. With a missing ex husband and a few sub plots this book kept me gripped. This would be a fantastic holiday read if you are going somewhere where you can read without interruptions and savour every paragraph. I loved it.

I have read ‘My Husband’s Wife’ by Jane Corry and thoroughly enjoyed it. ‘The Dead Ex’ did not disappoint. It was a highly enjoyable read.

The plot is well constructed with the main character, Vicki, being involved in all three parts to the novel. As a central character she is flawed which made her compelling and I found myself wishing her well. In addition we meet Scarlet and Helen during the course of the story. Although these characters seem disconnected initially, there is always the feeling that they will join up and they certainly did.

Vicki has epileptic seizures and this part is handled sympathetically but clearly by the author leaving the reader in no doubt how devastating this can be to those who suffer.

This novel is full of lies, deceptions, affairs, rape and evil, which I couldn’t put down.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK and Jane Corry for my ARC in return from my honest review.

Brilliant read. Highly recommended.

This is my second read by this author. Before I say anything I need to say how much I love this authors covers. Each cover is truly amazing.

Vicki is devastated when just after being diagnosed with epilepsy her husband leaves her for another woman. When David goes missing police suspect Vicki.

We get the point of view of three female characters. I’ve got to admit I couldn’t work out how they connected.

This is a well written story that had me gripped from start to finish. Plenty of twists and turns had me in a tizzy.
I can’t wait to read more from this author. I highly recommend this read.

I really enjoyed Blood Sisters and My Husband's Wife, both also by Jane Corry, so I was excited to read her newest releases, The Dead Ex. I wasn't disappointed - this is another gripping read which kept me guessing and had plenty of twists and turns along the way.

The story switches from person to person a lot and sometimes I was unsure who was talking, but I do love stories that move away from just one perspective and show you the thoughts and feelings of additional characters; though I felt that at times it could have been bit clearer as to who is speaking, overally I still felt that this novel employed this technique really well, and it allowed me to really feel like I was getting into the heads of some of the characters,

Vicki is definitely an interesting character, shall we say - I personally loved her but there are definitely elements to her character which don't seem quite 'normal' (or what most people would deem as normal, anyway). In fact, there are a wide range of characters which were great fun to read about.

There are some shocking parts to this novel, and some parts which are quite hard to read (and made me feel pretty angry) which added to the heightened sense of tension throughout. I loved that Jane Corry really plays with your mind, making you feel sure of one thing before suddenly changing it all up. This novel was also less of a thriller than I expected, with far more character development meaning it was a bit more of a slower read than I anticipated, but I personally really enjoyed this. I don't want to give too much away but I definitely enjoyed The Dead Ex and feel it makes a welcome, if different, addition to Jane Corry's selection of addictive novels.

Really enjoyed this book. I liked the alternating chapters told from different character viewpoints and felt it worked really well. It kept me hooked and intrigued and I certainly didn’t know how it was going to turn out. I read this book in a couple of sittings and would definitely recommend it

Sadly I struggled with The Dead Ex! I found it slow going, the alternate narratives were at times very confusing and I just couldn't connect with any of the characters!

A clever psychological thriller which kept me guessing the whole way through - I felt this was a slow burner which definitely got going in the second half. I was unsure how all of the threads and narratives would come together in the end.

It was a rollercoaster of a read with a great twist at the end which made the book very satisfying. It was a quite moving book and the story of Scarlett is incredibly sad.

An entertaining read and which kept my attention until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

"The Dead Ex" is the third novel from Sunday Times Bestseller, Jane Corry, the Queen of the twisty read. It is the first of her books that I have read, the rest are already on my TBR list. The advance praise from some of the best writers in the business draws you into reading it.

I have to say I was a little disappointed by my first foray into Corry's novels. I was an addictive and on the whole, easy to read, but the multiple points-of-view made for a complex and sometimes confusing narrative. I felt I had to consider things a bit too much as I prefer my thrillers to be light and not too taxing in order to relax. I carried on with it as I wanted to know how the different characters were connected and how the story concluded.

Some of the subject matter explored was rather sad. There is no doubt that this is a clever story with many interwoven threads. The combination of the confusing narrative and unlikable characters made for a book that I liked less than I thought I would unfortunately.

I would definitely try another Jane Corry title in the future and will attempt to read her previous two in the hope that I enjoy them more than I did this.

Many thanks to Penguin (UK) for an ARC. I was not required to post a review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I was sent this book a while ago after requesting it on Netgalley and lately I have been seeing it everywhere so I had quite high hopes for it. Unfortunately this book did not meet my expectations and I found it lacking the tension required to make this a stand out thriller.

The story is interesting. The main character, Vicky, is under suspicion when her ex husband David goes missing. Vicky doesn’t think she had anything to do with his dissapearence but suffering with memory issues as a side effect of her epilepsy medication, can she really be sure she had nothing to do with it?

We also have another character’s story running alongside Vicky’s. Scarlett, a little girl who has ended up in foster care after her mother gets sent to prison. Scarlett has had a tough life so far, being used by her mother to sell drugs and being introduced to various ‘uncles’ and unfortunately things are about to get worse for her.

Throughout the book I found myself to be more interested in Scarlett’s story rather than Vicky’s. I found Vicky’s chapters to be slightly repetitive and a little bit boring. The action and intensity needed to hook you in just isn’t there.

The police come across as bullies, barging their way into Vicky’s house and searching through her things without a search warrant and Vicky doesn’t seem to want to help herself by always holding a little bit of information back. She also seems to treat her medical condition as some sort of dirty secret, assuming people will think less of her when they find out and feeling as though she has to relocate everytime they do.

As the story nears to an end we do find out more to explain Vicky’s strange behaviour but it was too little too late for me as I had already half lost interest by then.

The ending feels quite far fetched and although everything is tied up and all character links are revealed, it does feel a slightly rushed.

This is a cleverly written book and once things have been revealed you can see the clues were hidden there all along. Unfortunately in my opinion it lacked the mystery and intensity that is needed for a gripping thriller and as the book world is currently saturated with this genre this does little to stand out.

I loved the cover, I loved the concept but something just didn't work for me and I was gutted. Vicki is an unreliable protagonist, she has epilepsy, her seizures, and medication mean at times she can't remember what happened... so how can she be sure she is innocent? From there the story is split between two characters experiences which I felt were rather disjointed as the connection between the vastly different stories was unclear for the majority of the novel. That being said my curiosity was piked enough to see me reading until the link was revealed and I was intrigued to see what become of them both in the final chapters. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout and this novel it had all the hallmarks of a brilliant thriller - revenge, a missing ex, an unreliable lead but its execution wasn't flawless.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for sending me this in exchange for an open and honest review.

I just found this confusing, jumping between the past and present.
It left me unsure about the characters and not really caring.

Vicki has been left deeply hurt by the end of her marriage to David, couple this with an attack that has left her suffering with epilepsy and it is clear that she lives a difficult life where she is trying to move on, but sadly struggling to do so. When the police arrive on her doorstep to tell her that her ex is missing Vicki is devastated but quickly finds herself the prime suspect. With secrets in her past and a memory affected by her medication will Vicki be able to prove she had nothing to do with his disappearance? As events take an even more sinister turn and the evidence continues to stack up against her Vicki is desperate to find out the truth and get her life back.

This has all the ingredients for a great book, there is mystery, suspense and some painfully flawed characters, and it is a good novel - but for me it falls short of being great. The story is written from different points of view and with differing timelines which works to an extent but it doesn’t always flow well and at times can be a little choppy. That said I forged on as I was intrigued to discover the outcome which, to be fair, was unexpected. What I will say about the ending though is that it was a little drawn out. I kept thinking, ok that’s it, then there would be another little chapter tagged to the end which didn’t always feel necessary.

I do recommend this book despite the above negative points. It is a complex novel and would be great to read on holiday where you have no distractions. Like I say it is a good read, it just didn’t blow me away. It would be a four star review if it wasn’t for the slightly bumpy writing style.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Penguin for a copy of #TheDeadEx in exchange for an honest review.