Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC. This is the 3rd book I have read by JP Delaney and I enjoyed it. Each of his books has had a different premise and I like that it has not been the same thing just carefully modified. This book dealing with A.I. and technology was especially interesting to me. I found just the right amount of suspense, surprise, and plot line twists to keep me riveted and reading until late into the night. This is going to be a great summer read.

OH MY GOODNESS! What a wild ride! I love this "techno-filled"story of Abbie and Tim, as they pursue love in the digital age. I was shocked by all the twists and turns, and could not wait to finish the book and find out what the "truth" really is! I did get a little confused by the events of the last few chapters, and had to reread them, but it was totally worth it. Highly recommend this book to ALL readers, I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't get a thrill out of this!

Well developed characters with an interesting story line. Loved the surprise ending. Sci-fi vibe mixed with mystery. Great writing and well edited. Will look for more book by the author.

JP Delaney has become one of my favorite authors in a short amount of time since his release of The Girl Before. Now, with this being the third book under my belt since discovering him, he has my complete attention and this won't be the last book I read from him. The "I'm married to a stranger" trope is certainly one of my favorites, so this was compelling from the get-go. Delaney's writing makes you feel like you're IN the story and weaves you into the story's world. This is a thriller to be devoured, and quickly.

Lou Jacobs's Reviews > The Perfect Wife

The Perfect Wife by J.P. Delaney
The Perfect Wife
by J.P. Delaney (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Mar 11, 2019 · edit
it was amazing

A mother's love trumps everything! Abbie Cullen awakens in a daze and bewildered state .. not sure where she is or why ? The man standing over her professes to be her husband. She slowly starts to recall or retrieve memories. She is in fact both wife to this man ... Tim Scott, founder of one of Silicon Valley's most innovative start-ups, and also mother to their beloved son, Danny. She apparently is a free-spirited artist hired by Tim to be the resident artist at his firm. A romance and marriage followed although they are distinctly different in personality but share a rare gift of creativity.
Abbie is told that she had a terrible "accident" five years ago and through recent technology has been brought back to a sentient life .... portions of her brain and memories have been digitized and transferred to the body of a robot ... a perfect replica of her previous body. She now is an AI ( artificial intelligence) with the capability of autonomous learning. As Abbie Scott-Cullen starts to piece together memories of her life and marriage, she begins to question her husband's motives and version of events of her "accident". Was she brought back out of his love and grief to restore his "Perfect Wife" .... what really happened to Abbie. Tech billionaire Tim Scott reported his wife missing ... Police find her abandoned vehicle near one of her favorite surfing sites near her oceanside beach house. They presume she is dead from a surfing accident with her body taken out to sea. Or, was it suicide from depression and her difficulty to cope with her autistic son ... or murder. Tim was apparently acquitted of her murder.
Tim's innovative start-up was always involved in exploration and development of robots for industry. Starting with crude forms his developing technology progressed in quantum leaps. Not only could they duplicate a robot with a human life-like form, but eventually digitized the human mind and thus replicated his Abbie in robot form.
The narrative untwists and unfolds in two timelines. Abbie, the "Cobot" , is able to inferentially learn and expand her knowledge from the original uploaded memory data ... she autonomously pieces together and expands on her present and past existence. This is presented along with events from a mysterious and unknown insider .... who apparently was present from the inception of Tim's and Abbie's relationship. Ultimately these timelines intersect and collide with unexpected results. At the heart of this gem is a convoluted thriller and mystery surrounded by a smidge of plausible distant future technology ... and sprinkled with misdirection and deceit.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an ARC of this outstanding novel in exchange for an honest review. This is my second and certainly not last exposure to the oeuvre of J.P. Delaney.

When Random House invited me to preview this book, I was beyond excited. I loved The Girl Before, and I was looking forward to seeing what the next great book would have in store. It was a good read, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't love or hate this book. It was an enjoyable read.

I was a bit disappointed at first because I was thinking, "Wait... I've already seen this episode of Black Mirror." The opening premise is nearly identical: Person loses loved one in tragic accident. Person cannot cope with loss. Person turns to AI replacement of said loved one that is modeled after loved one through input from photos, social media, videos, etc. And, of course, the incredibly lifelike, nearly identical robot as the piece de resistance.

The story lines thankfully diverge, which is why I was able to keep reading and get into the book. I was really looking forward to learning what strange twist was coming, and what had befallen Abbie.

The ending of the book seemed rushed and confusing, though.

**Spoilers ahead - so stop reading now if you haven't read the book**

The bit about Nathan helping Tim to find the Abbiebot seemed like it would have been a good explanation for Tim finding Abbiebot, had it not been revealed that Tim knew all along what Abbiebot was thinking. Clearly, Timbot still had some connection to Abbiebot even after she supposedly disconnected from the Cloud, since he was able to identify when her circuits shorted in the water, and she "died". So what was Nathan's purpose exactly in bringing about the ending? What information did he provide to Tim that he didn't already have access to? And if Tim essentially programmed Abbiebot to run away to his hideaway in Oregon with Danny, why would he need assistance in tracking her there?

I was a bit surprised that the ending seemed to suggest that so many of the workers at Scott Robotics were cobots. The chapters written from the employee points of view didn't seem to suggest that until the very ending. There are also so many references throughout to people choosing to work on weekends or not being in the office after certain hours. If they were all cobots, why wouldn't they be working late at night? Or why would it be remarkable for them to be working on weekends?

The entire bit with Mike/Jenny and the love/jealousy over human Abbie, and Tim's coming onto Jenny seemed really rushed and underdeveloped. The confrontation with Jenny and Mike about their marriage seemed totally unnecessary to the plot. Maybe if those characters had been better developed or involved in the plot earlier in the story, that wouldn't have felt so extraneous. It would have made total sense to the plot just to have Jenny try to help Abbie from simply recognizing how terrible Abbie and Tim's marriage was.

I also thought that it was really odd to have all this supposedly secret discussion between Mike/Jenny/Abbiebot going on in the office. Tim is supposed to be this uber-controlling, obsessive, sociopathic genius, and no one thinks he's bugging the office or surveiling it in some way? They felt comfortable enough to sit in the office for such a long time discussing the background of the plans and trying to rewrite some of Abbiebot's code without worrying Tim was going to come through the door at any moment and discover them?

The worst part about it all though is that I'm not entirely sure what happened at the end of the book. I felt like I missed something. If Abbiebot was able to hand Danny off to the others on the boat, and was only holding a bundle of clothing or blankets when she shorted out, and Timbot knew she shorted out as it was happening, presumably tipping off Tim as soon as it was all playing out, why was Tim wailing in despair? It would seem more in Tim's character to start tracking the boat and recovering his son. Here's hoping Timbot just offs him and takes over. Tim is the living worst.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Perfect Wife in exchange for an honest review.

I had also read The Girl Before by this author with mixed feelings but thought I would give this new book a try after reading about the premise. This book started off promising with the idea of Artificial Intelligence and how it could be used in different areas both in business and personally. Abbie was an interesting character when she was alive but her as a "co-bot" didn't seem to mirror her very well. Tim, her husband was not very likable as he was arrogant and motives were altruistic. Their son Danny who is on the autism spectrum added to the storyline and towards the end his purpose was more evident to the plot of the book.. I really can't say I would recommend this book as it left me feeling like I spent all the time reading it to finish very unsatisfied and confused. Unfortunately I found myself trying to finish just to get to the end.

An empathetic robot - a bit far fetched but intriguing. A relationship between two strong characters and unique individuals - kept me wanting more. At first, I was skeptical and wasn't sure I would enjoy the book - I feared it was too far fetched for my liking. But I enjoy JP Delaney as an author so kept at it. It didn't take long for me to be invested in the story and looking forward to how it would all come together in the end.

I very much enjoyed the switch from past to present as well as the creativity with the numbering of the chapters to keep me easily aware of where I was in time as I was reading. The character development throughout the book was nice and to my satisfaction, kept me wondering for whom I was rooting in the end.

The style of writing was enjoyable and the book had a good pace to it. I'm still not convinced that AI can go as far as this book took it but who knows...look how far we have come!

It’s finally ☀️ and warm!! And by warm, I mean 45 degrees 🤷🏼‍♀️ I just finished The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney (thanks @netgalley) and I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I picked this book up originally because I’ve heard great things about JP Delaney’s books, but I was worried about the robot theme. And I was so pleasantly surprised!! This book had me hooked from the start, and kept me enthralled all the way through. I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as sci-fi or thriller (honestly not even sure what genre it is). Regardless, add this one to your TBR!
Have you read any of JP Delaney’s books? What are some of your recent Netgalley requests you’ve been pleasantly surprised by?

I didn’t really think I would like this book, it seemed a little sci-fi for me, but I have read other book by this author and liked them, but it was really different in a stepford wives kind of way with a lot of twists and turns. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I was very excited to have the opportunity to enjoy an Advanced Reading Copy of “The Perfect Wife” for an honest review via NetGalley.com. From the very beginning I was intrigued by alternating voices of the characters in the story. As the story unfolded I found myself trying to guess what happened in the past and what’s going to happening moving forward. I also continuously changed who I believed and who I was “rooting” for to be the misunderstood victim and/or villain. It’s difficult to talk very much about the story without spoilers. I will say I remained engaged throughout its unfolding and anticipated an ending that...well not certain how I thought it would end. I did have a few questions left unanswered, but maybe that was the plan.

I will say this book has me thinking even more about our current dependence on “smart” everything and the future of technology. I’m not sure we’re ready for where we’re headed. Thank you JP Delaney and Random House for allowing me to read this novel. I will look forward to your next great read.

Sci-fi definitely isn't an interest of mine. But a thriller with sci-fi bits? Score!

The mystery of what happened to Abbie combined with the what-ifs of replacing lost loved ones with robots kept me intrigued through out the book.

I do wish a few loose ends had been tied up at the end. However it still left me satisfied.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the chance to read this early.

Tech billionaire Tim Scott's wife is dead, or missing, or...

Abbie Cullen-Scott has disappeared and nobody is quite sure if she has committed suicide or been murdered or run away. Her husband uses his tech company and brings her back to life in the form of a cobot (a companion robot). Has he created a replacement for the wife he loved so much? Is he just using her as a proto-type to launch his next AI money maker or is this something else entirely?

I found the plot to be very well paced, even with 2 distinct time lines. One timeline told from the point of view of Abbie, the cobot, who at first learns as chunks of memory data are uploaded or retrieved and later her learning becomes more organic and autonomous. The second timeline is told from the point of view of an unknown insider that's been with the tech company from its earliest days. The intersect of those timelines resulted in and ending that was – WOW. Not what I was expecting.

This is a very interesting story that has the reader thinking about what it is to be human, while stretching the boundaries of the possible with self-aware AI. The peeks into the world of life as a parent of a child on the autism spectrum and the pathways of learning and understanding and teaching are also very thought provoking.

There is enough detail given throughout that I was convinced that I could see what had happened, only to toss that theory aside and come up with a new one over and over. The end was so full of twist after turn after false start and doubling back that the pages just could not turn fast enough.

I would recommend this to readers who enjoy thrillers, mystery and a little light sci-fi. Overall a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Abbie comes to and has no idea what has happened to her. Then, when she is told, she has to wonder if it is true or not. Proof shows maybe it is true that she has died and is being resurrected as Abbie version 2.0.AI is the way of the future...or not. Picture an AI made to be exactly like someone, down to the words, ideas and ability to think and feel. Is it/he/she human? How would you interact? When you find yourself rooting for the AI over the people you know you have a good story.

Abbie needs to find out the truth, but genius hubby Tim is not going to let that happen if he has his way. Danny, their autistic son is a large part of the story, along with how to help those with autism.

Good story! I like it when I have no idea what is going to happen! Thanks NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

This is the second novel I have read by JP Delaney (the first was Believe Me) and it seriously floored me! I loved reading Believe Me and was expecting a novel along similar lines, but The Perfect Wife completely blew me away.

The combination of AI in tech with psychological thriller created so much suspense and unforeseeable twists and turns. Reliving Abbie's memories as they were beginning to come back combined with the point of view from Tim's office "employees" was such an interesting way to experience the narrative. I was so invested in Tim and Abbie - and Danny - that I couldn't put the story down!

Great concept; the book grabbed me from the first page and it didn't stop. Unfortunately, I had some issues with the way it all wrapped up---a few things happened that I didn't feel were fully explained. Really enjoyed reading something with such a different premise, though, and will read more by this author for sure!

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review!

When that book you are initially unsure about blows you away, there's no better feeling! I have enjoyed JP Delaney's prior work but when I saw the mention of robots in the description I immediately went "ugh." However, I was feeling a bit stale on my thrillers and decided to try something different. I was hooked from the very beginning on Tim Scott and his "wife" - Abbie Cullen-Scott. Tim, a Steve Jobs esque Silicon Valley CEO has created a robot version of his dead wife. Um ok. But, as Delaney says, this is NOT a techno-thriller or Sci-Fi, it's a psychological thriller with an AI element - which plays out incredibly well.

The Perfect Wife is full of twists and turns that I did not see coming but fit with the storyline and characters perfectly, not one that leaves you saying "that was so out of left-field it didn't work" - and that was just what this book needed to keep it grounded in normalcy.

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this book but I can urge you to pre-order it for August!

I received an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Just finished The Perfect Wife. I was skeptical at first about the plot, but, wow, was I wrong! Part thriller, part mystery, part Sci-fi, all woven into a wildly entertaining and satisfying story that doesn’t get bogged down in artificial intelligence tech details or unnecessary plot lines. Definitely a 5 star read.

Abbie wakes in what she believes is a hospital room and tries to remember what must have happened. Her husband assures her that everything is all right, but she knows something is different. Something is very different. Her husband, a tech savvy genius, has engineered the perfect wife to take the place of his missing (presumed dead) wife (also named Abbie). So why does she have Abbie's memories, and why does she suspect she should be terrified of her husband...

Highly recommended!

I loved this book! It wasn't at all what I expected, but it turned out to be one of my favorite books I've read. It's a psychological thriller, sci-fi mystery, all mixed into one. I've never been a huge fan of sci-fi reads, but this book has changed my mind. The plot hooks you from the start, and just when you think you know what's going to happen next, you're thrown for a loop. I couldn't put this book down, and read it in a matter of days. The author touches on not-too-far out of the realm of possibility with this story about artificial intelligence, and the hunt for the truth will keep you turning every page trying to get to the end as fast as you can, because you're dying to know as well! Every hunch you have will be turned on its head! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good suspense, thriller, mystery or sci-fi read. This is my first read from JP Delaney, and now I want to devour more of her books as fast as I can! Even though the book has a sci-fi, futuristic element, it examines the complexity of marriage and the pedestal spouses put each other on in a way that really makes you think. So the author manages to examine one of the most important relationships layering yet another genre in this already layered book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the past to present writing style, that allowed me as a reader to be on the edge of my seat, gain more insight, and be put on the edge of my seat again, trying to connect the dots each time. You will not regret picking up this book, and you won't be able to put it down! Thank you Net Galley, and Random House Publishing Group and Ballantine Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.