This is an outstanding psychological thriller with emphasis on the thriller. Imogen is the 2nd wife of Phillip, a controlling and abusive policeman. Separated, she is trying to make a new life for herself and her son, while maintaining some kind of status quo with her ex for her son's sake. Events, however, lead her to a place where she finally feels she is standing up for herself and fighting back, and that taste leads her to want more. Unfortunately, Phillip does not react well to being told "No".... And into the complicated fray enters the first ex-wife and the current girlfriend. And all H*** breaks loose, and keeps crashing and banging all through the book. It is an absolute humdinger of a roller coaster ride.
What really makes this a cut above are the in-depth characterizations of all three women and Phillip. You come to know very quickly and very deeply your fellows in crisis, and this foursome become very close. Who to trust and how far? These characters are believable and flawed, with hidden strengths and talents and need. The story starts fairly slow, but builds and builds right to the very end. I highly recommend it.

This book started out slow and picked up speed a third of the way in I pitied the three poor women in that they kept making the same mistakes with this crazy narcissistic man! The decisions they made had bad consequences but they kept making the same bad choices over and over! I don't know if this is realistic. I liked that the author kept us guessing until the very end on how the husband died but it took so long to get there in my opinion. Overall I enjoyed the book and it kept my interest and would recommend it to others.

This was a well-written, engaging story. The characters were developed in a way that made you care for all of them...all the women, anyway. A great read!

4.5 stars.
I thought this was a great fast paced read, from page one. I definitely got entwined and truly thought it was a great thriller and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Will be reviewing more thouroughly in Chapter Chatter closer to date of release!

Divorces are often messy and Imogen's is no exception. Her husband, Phillip, is abusive, controlling, and determined to make things as difficult as possible. And now he has given Imogen an ultimatum: get out of the family home in two weeks or I'll take our son away from you.
The book starts out with a funeral and then the days that lead up to it and some of the years before. Phillip abuses his power as a police officer and has the other cops on his side everytime Imogene had filed a complaint. Now seeing how he treats his new girlfriend she is out for revenge and including his first wife. Some things were funny but most of all I really despised Phillip and he had what happened coming to him. Now the 3 women have come together .

This is a fast paced story of a not so nice man and the women in his life (ex wife, estranged wife, and now girlfriend) who want to take revenge for how they were treated. Phillip is abusive and threatens his soon to be ex wife with losing custody if she doesn’t do what he wants. When Phillip accidently falls, Imogen takes advantage and locks him up. Team in with the other women they decide how to handle the situation. A great read even with the darkness of domestic abuse. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy.

Heartfelt, funny and a purposeful book - the author really got into each character and made them real.
The unneccessary suffering that each woman went through from the same controlling, abusive man was a little hard to read at times, but it always rang true. I think that many women will see something of themselves in these characters and situations. The reader will be rooting for these three women and the ending is so very satisfying!

Lou Jacobs's Reviews > The Exes' Revenge
The Exes' Revenge by Jo Jakeman
The Exes' Revenge
by Jo Jakeman (Goodreads Author)

M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review
Jun 01, 2018 · edit

really liked it
Read 2 times

An emotional tour de force .... featuring the opening scene of a funeral of Philip Rochester .... police officer and sneeky physical and psychological abuser. The funeral sets the tone... with the reactions and thoughts of the three woman afflicted by his presence in their lives. A dark and richly satisfying thriller told in remote degusting events leading up to the eventual show down. It involves Ruby .... the supportive mothering long time ex-wife ... a free spirit , flower-child who was the first to taste Phillip's bitter medicine. Who is thrust into an unexpected encounter with both Imogen - the present day wife facing an impending messy divorce, and Naomi - his most recent gorgeous trophy girlfriend. Imogen in an unexpected bold move to protect her 6 year old son, Alistair, is able to lock her tormentor Philip in the basement of their home with shackles and hand cuffs. The other two woman are serendipitously drawn into the situation. A novel and satisfying denouement ensues with unexpected twists and turns ... and builds to a justifiable conclusion.
Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this marvelous Debut novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book was even better than the description! Imogene was a great strong character who was fiercely protective of her son Alistair, and I surprisingly also really liked Naomi. Ruby, Phillip’s first wife, took some getting used to although she redeemed herself in the end but she definitely isn’t my favorite character! I also loved Imogene’s friend Rachel, who is definitely a keeper! I loved that she saw through Phillip’s deception and saved the day somewhat. This was a great revenge story with a few plot twists thrown in to keep the reader on their toes. Definitely a book worth reading!

Review is posted to goodreads and linked below.........................................................................

This was a very good book with lots of twists and turns. Thanks Netgalley and Berkley for the advance copy!

The author has come out of the gate with a bang. I have to admit this is more of a novel for the female readers, but she led me along with intrigue, twists, and turns of the plot. The antagonist, Imogene, is an abused spouse of a supposedly well-liked policeman, or copper, as they say in England. Philip, her husband and protagonist, uses both physical and mental abuse on Imogene. There is a divorced wife and a current girlfriend who play important roles in the story.

This book is crazy. We read about this horrible man Phillip and at his funeral are three woman who are all exes, two were ex wives and the third his girlfriend or mistress. Not one of them is really there because they are sad he died no, this man was abusive and held info on them as blackmail. As you read you can't believe what you are reading and what these woman went thru and had to do just to survive..Totally a page turner.

The author has come out of the gate with a bang. I have to admit this is more of a novel for the female readers, but she led me along with intrigue, twists, and turns of the plot. The antagonist, Imogene, is an abused spouse of a supposedly well-liked policeman, or copper, as they say in England. Philip, her husband and protagonist, uses both physical and mental abuse on Imogene. There is a divorced wife and a current girlfriend who play important roles in the story.

Throughout the novel, Imogene, the protagonist, is desperate to separate from her husband and keep him away from their son, who she is afraid will be hurt by Philip. She is afraid to contact the police because they have a reputation of hiding domestic abuse when the cop is the guilty party. My only complaint is we know she survives and Philip dies because the novel opens with his funeral. Still, the story moves and the author's writing provides the description and detail that puts the reader in the story.

This book presents a nice twist on the concept of vengeful ex’s. I enjoyed the story line and characters. Lots of twists and surprises through out the novel. Highly recommended for your beach read list this summer.

Woman fall for men who are charming and sometimes they turn into Freddy Kruger. A divorce is a nasty thing and this book is incredibly dark and twisted. You won’t be able to put it down.

One the first books on my shelf is The Ex's Revenge by Jo Jakeman. What started off as me reading for about an hour before I went to bed ended up becoming a read until 3 am session. This book was an amazing read that had me saying just gonna finish this chapter, to I cant go to sleep yet - not after that

The Ex's Revenge is a wonderful read with suspense, very few predictable moments and a lot of wait did that just happen?? I enjoyed the journey Jo took me on while I followed Imogen, Naomi and Ruth through the past individual hopes and dreams and acceptance of what was instead of what should have been.

The Ex's Revenge is a tale of domestic abuse with several plot twists and a dramatic ending well deserved for all parties involved. It is not exactly poolside reading but it is turn off the phone Friday night well into early Saturday morning read.

https://kaylynnsreality.blogspot.com/2018/05/i-started-reading-again.html

A much darker story than I anticipated. I thought it would have some humor but I was wrong. The story is well written and believable bur it made me want to yell at the women for taking such abuse and being afraid to fight him legally. Loved the ending!

Love a good psychological thriller, especially one set in Britain, and this was a very good one. Three women who have a lot to gain by the death of their ex make nice for the sake of efficiency. The ending was brilliant; karma to the rescue once again.

In oven, Ruby, and Naomi are great friends. They are such great friends that' they are going on a road trip together. Friendship what could be better.
Except, these women are all exes of the same man. No, they didn't always like each other. In fact, they disliked each other very much. Until the psychopath man, that was their ex went ballistic and tried to kill them.
Great read, clever concept. Characters work well together.
5 Stars