Sci-Fi meets thriller. This book is my favorite JP Delaney book so far. I wasn’t super impressed with the last one but I feel that the writing has really improved. I’m not a huge sci-fi robot reader so since the main character was a cobot I decided to keep going since the book was well written. I will be anxious to see what comes next from JP Delaney. I really like that the author isn’t afraid to jump genres, it keeps things fresh!

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of The Perfect Wife.

I was not a fan of the author's previous books so I went into The Perfect Wife with serious trepidation.

If you don't like genre blending, this may not be for you.

It is a mishmash of sci-fi and domestic thrillers and the typical tropes you would find in the latter.

** Minor spoilers ahead **

The story started out well, at first.

Tech genius Tim has designed a robo-wife, Abbie, after his deceased wife, whom he loved and adored. He has filled her brain with social constructs of Abbie, namely info gleaned from social media accounts and the like.

As the robot Abbie adjusts to her 'new' life as wife and mother to a developmentally disabled child, Danny, she realizes the woman she is replacing hid many secrets, most of which will prove devastating to robot Abbie.

I really enjoyed the sci-fi aspect of the book, the rise of A.I., especially considering the modern world we live in.

I did not understand the sci-fi jargon but I appreciated the technical aspects set against the turbulent, sexist community of this particular sector.

But it was difficult to get over the typical archetypes; how constantly the real Abbie is referred to as 'hot' over and over; the fact that Tim is a sexual predator and his wife is oblivious to his defects, the adultering, how Tim kept calling human Abbie 'perfect,' 'She was perfect,' 'She had no flaws,' perfect, perfect, perfect. Ad nauseam.

Barf.

That explains the silly, cliche title; again, another book with the word 'wife' in it. And the year is still young.

I understand from the addendum that the topics concerning childhood autism was from the author's personal perspective and it was a nice touch, but it bogged down the tone of the novel.

There was a lack of urgency and daring; at times, the novel reads like a how-to manual on how to care and nurture your autistic child.

There were no thrills or shocks; I kept reading, hoping robot Abbie would go T-1000 on Tim and everyone else (blame James Cameron, not me for this perspective. Kidding. Blame me.)

There were still things I didn't understand; the human connection.

Why did human Abbie hook up with Tim. Money? Security? The connection is eluded too by the omniscient narrator (the tone of which I found distracting most times).

But, I understand their relationship is not the story. The relationship between robot-Abbie and Tim is.

Readers are introduced to human Abbie in flashbacks, so you never really get to see her, only through other people's perspectives. Yet, you still don't know her. She's an artist; why? How did she and Tim meet initially?

There is not much in the way of character development.

I couldn't sympathize with human Abbie; she felt contrived and phony; an artist, a free spirit, tattooed and wild, gorgeous and stunning, who marries a socially awkward but brilliant man. Whatever.

You're not meant to care about Tim, or maybe you are. The author keeps trying to depict him as someone who truly cared for his wife and son, but its hard to reconcile that man with the misogynistic, foul mouthed predator that he was.

The ending is muddled and open-ended, though I expected that.

It's not really an ending so much so as demonstrating humans are flawed and we make the same mistakes over and over without ever really getting anything right.

You can't correct human nature. We are who we are.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I got an email from the publisher about reading this ARC, I was excited because I enjoyed the author's 2 previous novels and so I downloaded it without even reading the synopsis. Then I started reading and quickly found out this was about a cobot or companion robot that a tech company owner had made to bring back his dead wife and at about 2%, I seriously considered abandoning this book. I hate sci-fi books and books that feature ideas that couldn't happen in real life. Probably the only reason I plowed ahead was that I had previously enjoyed this author's works and I am SO glad I continued on. I LOVED this book. I could NOT put it down.

The mystery part of uncovering what had actually happened to the real Abbie through cobot Abbie's experiences was good but the added element of her not being human somehow made it more interesting. It really brought up all of the good and bad aspects of what would happen if you created a robot that could reason and have feelings. And since this probably will be happening in real life soon or maybe already is, it didn't end up having the dreaded sci-fi element that I was afraid of. It was like a good mystery to unravel, but with a total unique layer to it. It is the most interesting and unique book I have read in awhile. I LOVED IT.

What a great psychological thriller! Another hit from JP Delaney! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

"She's a miracle of science." Abbie, wife of billionaire tech mogul Tim, wakes up five years after a surfing accident -- only to realize she's one of her husband's projects. Through the miracle of science, Tim has created Abbie to be a companion robot -- a "cobot" -- to fulfill the gap that was left behind by the disappearance of his wife Abbie. This new Abbie is full of memories that have been "uploaded." But the new Abbie feels that something is amiss. She will stop at nothing to fill in the gaps of her memories and figure out what really happened.

Diving into the relationship between the billionaire, nerdy, commanding Tim and the free-spirit artist Abbie kept me coming back for more! I spent the entire book trying to figure out what was going on in Tim's mind and what really happened. A MUST read!

Thanks to NetGalley for this advance readers copy of The Perfect Wife. I was a bit put off when I realized the main character was a robot. But I quickly was drawn into the story line. A deeply satisfying novel of suspense full of twists and turns. I did not guess the ending and it was, to me, a satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend this book.

Another amazing 5 star plus read from Delaney, whom seems to come up with some of the most original, but highly creepy and thrilling plots. This was very chilling, disturbing, and thrilling, but in a gripping, riveting manner, which is sure to have the readers brain broke by the end! I will forever be a fan of Delaney’s and hope he comes up with some more original, but amazing books!
I will be highly recommending in Chapter Chatter Pub!

After getting o few pages into this book I wasn’t so sure I’d enjoy it. A lonely tech genius Tim has created an android to replace his wife. His wife has been missing for 5 years. The android is a ringer. Tim has uploaded all of her (Abby) memories to the android or so he tells her. But android Abby picks up on what’s real and what’s not. Add to the mix a 6 year old son with autism and she has a lot on her plate.

At first I wasn’t sure I would enjoy/finish this book. I am not a fan of science fiction. But Delaney has written ‘her’ in a way that makes her more ‘human’ than most of the book’s characters. I recommend this book!

What makes us human? Our souls? Our ability to communicate? Or empathize? JP Delaney provides a nonstop thrill ride in The Perfect Wife when an AI genius brings his missing wife back as a life-like robot. The reprocussions of this choice has a ripple effect especially when it’s discovered his wife originally disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
I couldn’t put this down. I look forward to recommending it to friends and patrons.

I found The Perfect Wife grabbed me from the start and held my attention throughout. It is an unusual, mind-bending story filled with deceptions. I had to reread the ending to savor the final twists. If you are looking for a modern mystery – this is it.

I'm usually not one to read science fiction novels, and if I had know this would include that genre (Abbie is a replica AI robot of the wife), I'm not sure I would have read it. But I am so glad I read it! While the science fiction stuff was still "weird" to me, the story is so strong that I was able to thoroughly enjoy all of it. Very much a thriller, and mystery wrapped up in the clear obsessive nature of her husband and what he has or has not done with his human wife. It was a book I couldn't put down and really wanted to see how it all turned out. Not a full 5 stars because I thought the ending was a bit hard to understand even after re-reading it two times, so I didn't feel fully satisfied with the finale. Maybe I'll read it again to see if it's more clear.

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney lost me in the first few pages. How many book are out there where someone wakes up and doesn't know who they are? Too many, and with that, and also that the main character was embellished into a robot type, meh, couldn't go on with it.

LOVED this book!! Y’all about a sit on the edge of your seat, never even came close to figuring out the ending thriller! This book combined the tech and art worlds seamlessly while at the same time totally blowing your mind psychologically! Such a great mind trip!9

“ The Perect Wife” is JP Delaneys newest book and my first reaction is wow.
The story begins with Abbie waking up and not realizing she is no longer the same person she remembers. Her wealthy, driven husband has brought her back to life. We all wish for that kind of love and devotion don’t we?
The story is told from an alternating point of view - unknown narrator giving the story of how Abbie and Tim met and fell in love and ultimately struggle with their sons autism and Abbie herself as she adjusts to her new life and regains memory of who she was before.
The twist at the end is totally unexpected and I loved it.
This is a unique, entertaining story that not only fans of mystery can enjoy but those who like thinking of the future with AI as well.
Thank you #netgalley and #randomhiuse for the opportunity of reading and giving my thoughts on a truly different kind of tale that has me thinking on questions raised in the story on what truly makes us alive?

I had read this author's previous book Believe Me and did not like it. I found this book to be an improvement. This book was an interesting thriller with a twist ending.

Wicked good! As science moves forward in robotics, it is inevitable that someone out there will try to replicate a loved one in robotic form. And if you are the head of a big robotics company and your beloved wife has died, well why not? THE PERFECT WIFE tells the story of Abbie and Tim, both before and after Abbie went missing, presumed dead, and Tim recreated her as a cobot (companion robot). THE PERFECT WIFE does a great job 0f examining the ethics behind creating "human" robots while giving us compelling characters and a good story. It also explores the difficulties and joys associated with raising an autistic child and the ethics surrounding the treatments for autism. Very interesting read.

JP Delaney's recent work, The Perfect Wife, is a bit of mystery, sci-fi and thriller, and certainly a novel that makes you think about the possibilities, as well as the downside, of turning our world into a place run more by emotional AI then humans.

Abbie Cullen Scott, wakes up one day, and finds while she is herself in her head, she is in the body of a robot. Her husband Tim will not tell her what happened to her, before he put her mind into the robot she is now, but he does tell her loves her and he is thrilled to have her with him. So begins Abbie's new life, as she is brought back to her home with her son, Danny. She slowly begins to learn both about her life, and about the life she led before, in the actual body of Abbie Cullen Scott. She starts to uncover secrets that Abbie had, and enlists help in uncovering some of the secrets she left behind, but has to give more of herself than she would like, in return. However, she has to do, what she has to do, to figure out what has happened, and what she must do about it.

The story is told from the perspective of Abbie, opposite what appears to be the voice of someone who works at Scott Robotics, Tim's company. Abbie reports from the present, as she is learning about herself and about the human Abbie Cullen Scott, while the other voice provides the backstory of Tim Scott and Abbie Cullen's unlikely romance and marriage.

This book is well written and grabs the readers attention quickly. I found the end to be a little hard to follow and fully grasp, and I might have to go back and read it again to see if I can make full sense out of it. Regardless, a good read.

The Perfect Wife is a page turner!!!
Read this book in one sitting.
Absolutely loved it. Looking forward to more from this Author. Highly recommend😊

In the world of modern technology and Artificial Intelligence is it long before we see the cobot, or companion bot come to life. Is life the proper word? What if you perfect spouse goes missing and you work in the technology world how do you move on? If you are Tim Scott you create The Perfect Wife, a AI cobot who is an exact replica of your wife.

JP Delaney is incredible. What an intriguing subject. The writing was fabulous, I got so attached to "Abbie" and couldn't wait to find out what will happen next, all the while trying to figure out who was actually telling the story. At times I thought it was Abbie, but then I thought it might have been someone she was friends with but when all was over I was shocked. A few times I thought I figured out how the book would end, but I was never even close.

All the characters took on such a persona that I liked all of them....even the ones I deemed to be threats or the enemy.

What makes us human? Who can you trust.? What would you do for you child? This was a very surprising story line to me. I think JP Delaney has set the gold standard for thrillers. Delaney has proven consistent with this book and past offerings. Well done!

I will leave a review on Amazon under name of Connie

Thanks for granting me access to this book