The Perfect Plan by Bryan Reardon

WOW what a read this was. This book caught me off guard as I was reading. Just when I thought it was going on one direction the author “tricked” me and went to a place I wasn’t ready for. This is a dark psychological thriller that deals with deep rooted secrets between siblings Drew and Liam.

I have to say at times I was lost and confused because the writing was not smooth but I still wanted to know what happened to the brothers and this blip did not stop that. I highly recommend folks who like a good thriller to pick this up but I caution, don’t read before going to sleep. Just saying.

Rating 3.5
Linda C.

The cover alone screams dark and twisty! This one is full of family secrets! One brother has sociopathic tendencies, and the dad is running for governor. What can go wrong?

4 stars!

A fast paced, dark and twisty tale!

Family secrets can’t stay buried forever. Brothers, Drew and Liam, have a troubled family history. Liam struggles to keep his life in control. One day, he kidnaps a woman who works for Drew, who is a powerful politician running for office. This decision starts a wild journey to uncover who is deceiving who.

This book surprised me with how twisty it was. It was a quick, binge-able read that kept me on my toes from start to finish.

Told from Liam’s perspective, it slowly reveals pieces of his dark family backstory. Each reveal turns the story darker and heavier. Drew and Liam had an extremely difficult childhood that was tough to read. There are some extremely tense and manipulative relationships woven throughout this novel that had my stomach in knots. The overall tone of this story is heavy, dark and depressing, but extremely suspenseful, shocking and addictive.

This was a backlist NetGalley title that I wish I hadn’t waited so long to read. I read and loved a previous book by this author, The Real Michael Swann, and though that remains my favourite from this author, this was highly enjoyable and entertaining.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy!

While I enjoyed the different story lines the story itself was very sad. I felt like it wasn't as much a mystery/thriller as I'm used to reading. But it was a very easy read and fast paced it was just depressing.

The Perfect Plan reads more like a true story. It has a dysfunctional family and enough drama to make you stop and think. Well-crafted characters made you feel as if you were part of the story.

Looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.

I’m afraid this one just wasn’t for me. It was atmospheric and that’s a good thing in book but the characters and plot didn’t really hold up for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house, and the author for allowing me an ARC copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the story of cycles of abuse and the tolls it takes on people - brothers Drew and Liam. Drew takes after sociopathic, abusive daddy. Drew is running for governor, and has his brother Liam under his thumb. Then Liam's abduction of a woman who works for Drew and subsequent torture. This story was more analytical and relationship-focused then it was a thriller or suspenseful to me. Little too much explanation at times. I think the author was trying to show that psychological and emotional abuse can cause just as much harm as physical abuse in a family.

This book ended up triggering a lot of emotion for me. I didn't end up finishing it for that reason. However, I did enjoy the characters and the setting. It was very atmospheric and the writing was very good.

Unfortunately I just don’t think this book was for me. I hope that if you read it you will find that you love it. Always give books a chance if they sound good to you, never let anyone else’s opinion sway yours.

If The Perfect Plan was a musical composition, it would set your teeth on edge!

A tormented childhood haunts Liam. His mother was driven to an early death by his father's cruelty and manipulation. His older brother takes sadistic pleasure in eroding Liam's confidence and peace of mind. Physical and psychological abuse abound in their quiet suburban home.

Fast-forward to adulthood. Despite the dysfunction in their relationship, Liam is still emotionally shackled to his brother, Drew. Unable to break the ties that bind him to his past, Liam exists on the fringe of his brother's world. Keep in mind, everyone has a breaking point. It is only when he realizes the next generation may be at the mercy of Drew's twisted agenda that Liam decides to come up with The Perfect Plan.

Reardon's novel will push the limits and keep you guessing until the very last page!

Up front I will say this book was not my cup of tea. I have tried for months to get through it to only stop and pick it back up later to repeat this process a few times. I'm not even sure what it was that I wasn't a fan of but I finally finished it yesterday thankfully. I really didn't connect with any of the characters or care for the plot.

This book goes from adult Liam and childhood Liam. The struggles Liam deals with as a child are very severe. To the point of possibly developing a sociopath. The whole book seems to be him torn between him fighting against doing the wrong thing to him pursuing the wrongful thoughts and actions.

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton Books for allowing me to read this book in exchange for honest review.

This was such an interesting read. It's a thriller, but I think it is more of a character study. I like the way Reardon structures the novel and found my feelings regarding Liam changing throughout the course of the book. It's difficult to write a review for this as I don't want to spoil anything, but I was really engaged and invested in the story. It does get a little repetitive and slow in parts, but overall this is very well-written and engaging novel. I look forward to reading more books from Bryan Reardon.

This one was very different than what I was anticipating. Not the thriller/suspense I was thinking it would be, like how The Real Michael Swann was. A slower burn read that focuses on the characters. So make sure you know that going into it! I did love the writing though.

Did I enjoy this book? I enjoyed this book. Some parts of it were slow, but overall this book kept me guessing. I liked how the author told the story of today’s events as well as the past events in alternating chapters. When I started this book, I thought it was going to be predictable–after a few pages I could tell that not all was as it would seem. There were enough twists that I really couldn’t predict exactly how the book was going to end. I thought the ending was very satisfying, though I obviously cannot say why!! The only thing that would have made this book better was if it were told through alternating character points of view. This would have made the book a little longer, but I think some of the supporting characters could have had very interesting chapters. Overall, a good read!

Would I recommend it? I thought this was a good, suspenseful book. I liked the fact that there wasn’t much gore, though there was plenty of violence. This was a very “middle of the road” suspense novel–it wasn’t terrible/predictable, but it wasn’t the best I’ve read of this genre either. Fans of this genre won’t be wow’d, but they won’t be sorry to pick this one up.

The cover for The Perfect Plan is what caught my eye, and the blurb sounded interesting, familiar but still interesting. In reality, the story wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I had a hard time connecting with the characters, which could be because none of them are likable. Granted, I don't think they were really meant to be likable, and that's not necessarily a deal breaker, especially in a thriller setting. However, I wouldn't consider this one a thriller. It's certainly family drama, there's more family drama than you can shake a stick at. There are a few scenes that hint and even almost touch on thriller elements, but this one just doesn't quite get there. My biggest issue with The Perfect Plan was its complete predictability. There are twists, but not a single one surprised me. The story does have a decent mystery aspect with the disappearance of Liam and Drew's father, but it wasn't too hard to guess at least the gist of that too. No two people read the same book, so take my thoughts for what they're worth. If it sounds good, give it a shot. For me, there were just more cons than pros with this one.

I included this title in a crime fiction roundup on my blog and will submit the link to the publisher in the next round of this process.

A somber read that is less thriller and more character studies of Drew and Liam. Their sibling relationship and how they grew up affecting their present day decisions.

Their past created two different types of people. Sociopathy runs rampant with no one to help either of them. While the characters are hard to like, I did feel for Liam. His desperate acts to reach a turning point. What happens when there's no where to turn except for within yourself?

This won't be a read for everyone. However, the writing is distinctive and extremely well done in showcasing the characters within. I'm having a hard time really putting how i feel about this into words. I do think this is a story worth reading. However, it won't be the story most thriller readers are expecting to read.

When I got this from Netgalley the premise sounded slightly familiar. Once I started reading, that feeling went away. The book was nothing that I expected, but, and it's been a long time since I've been able to say this, that was a good thing.

The story is divided into four parts: The Abduction, His Plan, Her Plan, and My Plan. We know that the narrator, Liam, is pushed to his limit. We read flashbacks of an abusive childhood, alcoholism, and violence. Liam has one happy memory with his brother Drew. It's a well he goes back to often just to keep his sanity. Everything else was psychological and physical torture. As a child, Liam lives in fear of his father and fear for his mother. As an adult, he is under his brother's thumb.

What changes in Liam? It takes about 2/3 of the book to get to that so I won't go into it here. I will say that Drew is a politician running for office and very few people know the real him. He has the perfect story of mom dying and dad running off while he finished raising his little brother. He has the perfect wife. He surrounds himself with young staff that understand the voters and how to win.

I was hooked from the first part, The Abduction. It tells you what is going to happen right there in the title but that doesn't take away from watching it happen. You can also tell from the titles of each part that everyone has a different agenda here. I read the second two parts pretty quickly because I wanted to get to the real plan. Liam's plan. That is where you get the real details and find out what Liam really wants.

Not for the faint of heart and not light summer reading, The Perfect Plan is a story of the cycle of abuse and the toll it takes on people. I recommend if you are in the mood for something to think about.

I thought this had a very poor plot. It sounded Interesting at first, but very quickly got confusing and was not well explained. I also hated the characters and thought they had no background or development. This was just not the book for me.

Liam Brennan has always been the screw up brother while Drew has always been the perfect brother. But are appearances all they seem? This book is told in the past and the present so the reader gets the entire story. :Lots of deep dark family secrets are revealed and helps you to understand the characters. This book was a tad too dark for me. The backstory is truly hard to read at times. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.