Claire Wright is an actress from the UK. She has a student visa to do acting school in the United States, but she isn't able to work. She is able to find odd jobs that help her to stay alive. One of her jobs is trying to catch cheating husbands in the act. When one husband, Patrick, doesn't take the bait, Claire has to explain this to his wife. Later, the wife ends up dead and the police suspect Claire, but she didn't do it. Then they team her up with the husband to find the real killer. But are the police after Claire or Patrick? Who is telling the truth and who is using their acting skills to the best of their ability?

Thank you to NetGalley & Ballantine Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book kept me on my toes the entire time. I didn't know what was going to happen next. I'm not a person who understands the visa process in the US. So knowing the difference between a student visa and a work visa, I have no idea. I don't know how I would have survived if I was not able to work while I was in school. So I can understand Claire trying to find work where she can in order to survive.

Being a professional cheater catcher is not something I would ever do, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get by. But when one husband doesn't take the bait that Claire throws at him, first she is shocked and then she is happy for the wife. But the wife is not happy and seems scared. She has good reason because she winds up dead. Claire is determined to clear her name as the person who didn't kill her. She agrees to work with the police to find the real killer. But are the police in her corner or working with the husband who they also think may have killed the wife?

You never know who to trust in this book. Who killed the wife and why? Is the husband innocent? Is Claire? What about the police, can they be trusted?

Crazy ride. A quick read that makes the readers wanting to read more and more. A twisty ride about Claire who agrees to play decoy as an actress and ends up on either side of a murder. A great read that you will quickly get through.

I loved this book as much as the first! It was a thrill ride with so many twist and turns. Again second review on this awesome book.

I have just finished reading Believe Me by JP Delaney and oh, do I have lot I want to say!
When I read The Girl Before, I was impressed with the way the author combined the storylines of two different characters and two different timelines. I loved the writing and the character development and the thrilling surprises. I couldn't put it down. It is not unusual for the follow up offering of a newish author to fall short of readers expectations, especially when the first book was so amazing. Well, SmartGirls, Delaney isn't the usual author and this book had me dizzy with all the twists and turns and I mean that in the best possible way.

Claire is a British actress struggling to make it in New York and...

Well, that's about it. I just can't say much more without stealing some of the joy of experiencing this fantastic novel for yourself. I would never do that- you mean too much to me! You will just have to read it for yourself. I recommend making it a book club pick, or at least reading along with a friend. You'll want someone with whom you can dissect all the craziness and unpick all the tangles.
My head is still spinning!

JP Delaney novels are never a disappointment. Twists, turns, and suspense. The strong makings of a quality thriller. I highly suggest just getting into this novel without trying to get much of a summary. Setting yourself up as a decoy to trap cheating husbands? It doesn't get much juicier... until someone is murdered. Excellent.

i am such a huge fan of this author. i was equally impressed with this book as i was with the last one. i love the writing style and flow of the story. I recommend this to anyone who loves a great thrill.

I'm a big fan of psychological thrillers. I did enjoy this book quite a bit. The chapters were quick reads, which meant I just wanted to read one more so very many times. The main character is accused of a crime she didn't commit and wants to prove herself innocent. As so frequently happens in thrillers, the main character finds out information she never could have imagined. I wasn't totally shocked in learning the final outcome, but it also wasn't incredibly clear who did it either; I liked that I was kept guessing until the end.

First of all this book had me second guessing everyone. The way the writer played it is very well in the fact that you really never know who what is true and what is not. If you are looking for a good thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat then this is the one for you.

Be prepared to be on the edge of your seat! Highly recommend this page turner! A++ Could not wait to see what was coming from one page to the next!

I have no idea what took me so long to start to read this book but let me say, I wish I hadn't waited so long. Wow, I couldn't put this book down. I was so caught up in all the little twists and turns and really could not wait to find out how JP Delaney would pull it all together.

Claire is a British actress living in NY. She doesn't have a Green Card, so she's been working on the down-low for cash for a firm of divorce lawyers. Her job is to put her acting skills to use by hitting on targeted married men in bars. The ultimate goal is to capture these men on tape propositioning her. Things change when the wife of one of Claire's targets ends up murdered. The police have an interesting proposition of their own for Claire, and use her Green Card status to sway her. All she has to do is pretend to get close to the main suspect (the dead wife's husband, Patrick) and get him to confess. It seems like a win-win situation - Claire is helping the police to catch a killer, is able to stay in NY, can use the situation as an acting exercise, and ultimately get her Green Card once Patrick finally confesses. The problem is, the closer Claire gets to Patrick, the more doubts she has. Could this seemingly perfect man really have killed his wife? Can Claire trust the police and their motives behind this experiment? Who is the real suspect?

I read The Girl Before and was excited to read Believe Me. I enjoyed it, but I found the premise a little unbelievable. I'm not sure as to what lengths law enforcement would go to try and catch a killer. Either way, it was a good read that kept you guessing. I'm stuck somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars. I'd still love to check out more from this author in the future.

If you are drawn to psychological thrillers that are a cat and mouse twist’em-up leaving you unsure of everyone and anything, then ‘Believe Me’ is the answer to your late night reading.

JP Delaney claims that ‘Believe Me’ was actually a first novel, but rewritten for a new release. In a way, I can see that since as they say an author spends a lifetime on their first book and six months on their second. That makes sense since this book is hands-down better than ‘The Girl Before’.

Claire Wright, a British actress living in the United States without a green card, finds it hard to get work on the stage. Unable to land the work that she loves, she takes on a side job working for a divorce firm setting up wayward husbands.

Claire becomes the suspect when a wife is found dead and the primary suspect is the man that had refused Claire in a bar. This is no ordinary man; he is a college professor specializing in Charles Baudelaire’s writings. Writings that have a very specialized following and which will lead Claire into a world that is both terrifying and mesmerizing. Convinced to go undercover, and playing the role of a lifetime to reveal the professor’s character and previous crimes, the table soon turns and it is Claire that is fighting for her life, her name, and even her sanity.

Told with screen narration, JP Delaney takes the reader through the harrowing mind of a sociopath, but there are parts that are so twisted that you lose track of who is the prey. There are parts intentionally left out in the telling of this story, and it is not until the end, when the reader realizes the full scope of this story, that the truth of who the unreliable narrator is trying to convince.

I was a big fan of The Girl Next Door, so I was excited to read Believe Me, but this one did not work for me at all. The premise is really interesting and there were plenty of twists, but I was so uninvested in the characters, especially Claire, that I just didn't care-- combined with so much of it being so, so unrealistic. I'm not a big fan of characters falling in love in two seconds in any genre, but when said person is possibly a murderer and there isn't even any great meet-cute?? I just wasn't buying it.

Overall, I found it too jumbled with huge things happening that kept getting brushed over too quickly in what felt like an attempt to pack in as many twists as possible. I would have preferred a few less twists, with more development leading up to character's decisions/choices.

I was so excited to read Believe Me when I received it from NetGalley for a honest review. Claire is and out of work actress who also needs her green card. She finds a job with a firm that is trying to catch cheating husbands and her job is to try catch the husband on video. She puts her acting skills to the test trying to catch the cheating husbands. One of the clients ends up murdered and Claire ends up becoming a decoy for the police to try to catch the husband who they feel is the suspect. However, after she meets with the psychologist to learn how she needs to act and things to look for you begin to question who the bad guy is. J.P. Delaney really hooked me on the first half of this book and then we began to go down so many twists and turns that I didn't know what I believed or if I even could believe any of it. I was not a fan of the questionable poetry and pretty much slowed down my reading. I loved the idea of this book and was super excited till about half way through. I was glad when it was over. I do still want to read his book The Girl Before.

Claire Wright is a British drama student in New York who is desperate. She is desperate for cash and desperate to stay in America. She takes a job as a decoy for a law firm to lure men into cheating on their wives. Then she meets Patrick Fogler. His wife hires Claire to seduce him so she can have something to hold over him (for reasons not made clear until the end). Claire agrees to play a role for the cops in order to get more info and evidence on Patrick. But who is the killer and who is the decoy or the prey?

This book SERIOUSLY messes with the reader. I would like to think this is totally an unbelievable scenario. I have a tough time believing law enforcement would let something like this happen. I spent the whole book trying to decide if Claire was the killer, if Patrick was the killer, or if it was a totally different person altogether. I really can't say much more than that without risking spoilers. I kept reading because I had to know the truth of this one and Delaney doesn't reveal the facts until the end.

If you are a mystery/thriller fan, I would highly recommend this one. Four out of Five stars for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine/Random House for providing a copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Woah. This book was one heck of a crazy ride. I'd previously read a book by JP Delaney and loved it so I couldn't wait to check this one out. It definitely kept me guessing. It was hard to tell throughout who could be trusted or believed. Claire was quite an unreliable narrator. With her attempts at an acting career and her seeming delusions I wasn't quite sure what she said was to be believed. The intermittent parts written like scripts made me feel even more that way. Some of the plot and the twists were a bit over the top, but it all kept me entertained and on my toes. I definitely didn't see most of it coming.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book.

Couldn’t put this book down. Although I didn’t particularly like any of the main characters I had to find out what happened. I had previously finished The Girl Before, by the same author. Although this wasn’t as good as that book I enjoyed it and was very satisfied with the ending. .

Claire, a British actress, is trying to make a new start in New York after an affair with a co-star ended in scandal. Without a work permit, she has to take acting gigs wherever she can, including playing the part of a seductress to help a PI catch philandering husbands. Then one of the clients - the wife of a professor of French literature and expert on Baudelaire - is found dead in the same hotel room where she met with the PI and Claire just hours before. From there, the book becomes a lesson in the double-cross, but until the very end, it’s not clear who’s double-crossing whom. I will attempt to describe my phases of reading Believe Me without giving more than very vague spoilers.

Phase 1: This is a gripping serial killer thriller. The cops think the professor may have killed before, inspired by the violent and obscene poetry he studies.

Phase 2: This book requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. First, there’s the drama about hiring an actress to go undercover, which I know from reading a New Yorker article is a real thing. Second, there’s Claire’s acceptance of the forensic psychologist’s assertion that

The suspect would be encouraged to reveal various aspects of his personality, which could then be compared with my profile of Stella Fogler’s killer. If the two match … Well, it would strongly indicate that suspect and killer are one and the same.

Which, as a psychologist, I know is total bullshit, and no forensic psychologist would ever say that. But, I’ll try to suspend disbelief because it’s an enjoyable read otherwise.

Phase 3: Yeah, I see who the real psychopath is here.

Phase 4: Oh, I was so wrong. But WTF is actually happening right now?

Phase 5: Wait, where did that guy come from? Oh, red herring land.

Phase 6: Dude. Wow.

Here’s another great thing about this book, in which no one might be who they seem to be: Neither the book nor the author are, either. Believe Me is the rewrite of a novel published two decades ago. When the opportunity came to reprint it, it got a whole new life instead.

And JP Delaney is a pseudonym for a writer “who has previously written bestselling fiction under other names.”

Again: Dude.

Read if: One plot twist is not nearly enough for you.

This book was a real mind-screw!

As soon as I thought I got a hold of what was happening - BOOM - twist. I really loved that it was so twisty but made sense when you went back to look at all the clues. I can’t say much more for fear of spoilers.

The basic plot follows Claire, a young woman who is studying acting and takes work as a law firm’s cheater trapper. When one of her clients turns up dead, Claire has no choice but to join the police to try and coerce a confession from her possibly sociopathic husband. But then Claire starts to develop real feelings during her fake relationship. And then things get complicated.

I loved that you couldn’t get a handle on either of the two main characters- especially Claire - because it gave the book such mystery. I really enjoyed that. Could Claire be just a really good actress? Maybe. Could she be insane? Possibly. The ambiguity is amazing.

And as I said, the twists were great. It was surprising, but came together perfectly.

Overall, fans of twisting psychological thrillers will love this book. It’s a grade-A read for thriller fans everywhere.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley.
The first 2/3 to 3/4 of this book was pretty dang good. The last part was too over-the-top for me. It was just like the extra inch of frosting on the top of a Gigi's cupcake. Why is it even there? The only purpose was to launch the book into an extra level of shock, which instead of leaving me breathless, left me more confused. Not confused about what happened, but confused about the author's purpose. I mean, you had a good thing going.... I like a BAM! ending, but seriously, come on....