I opted to read this book purely on the basis of having previously read, and been utterly captivated by author J P Delaney’s previous novels. I got quite a surprise to find this one going quite so far down the artificial intelligence line.....A massive departure from my usual grip- lit genre of choice, but the quality of writing had me stick with it. This novel, I suspect will appeal to a spectrum of readers as character development is so good - I felt I could ‘get these characters’. While I haven’t been converted to sci-fi, my high opinion of this author is intact and I am eagerly anticipating to future works of this author.

When I started this book I wasn't sure I would get into it as the idea was kind of weird. But, once I started on the back story I found it really interesting as well as wanting to know what had happened and what would happen.
Unusual tale but worth reading

I absolutely loved ‘The Girl Before’ and ‘Believe Me’ so when I saw that J.P Delaney had a new book out I knew I HAD to read it.
The Perfect Wife follows the existence of an AI called Abbie and was a fascinating read. It was completely unique and in visual and unlike anything I had ever read. The storyline kept me hooked from the start and I read the book in two sittings.
I would highly recommend this book to others, especially fans of ‘Gone Girl’.

5 years ago Abbie died.
Abigail Cullen-Scott disappeared 5 years ago, presumed drowned. Her husband Tim, multi-millionaire founder of a Tech company, was charged but found innocent of her murder. Now “Abbie” has reappeared.
A truly unusual thought provoking read. Slightly too wordy in places with too much description and not enough action.
What vision does Tim have and can memories be trusted?

Abbie is an AI or “cobot” created by Tim Scott at his robotics company. What is odd about her is that he has made her into the image of his missing wife, complete with her looks and memories. When I started reading the Perfect Wife, I did get a slight sense of déjà vu as on the face of it the initial premise did resonate with a book that I had read previously and thoroughly enjoyed. As I got further into the book however it took on a more sinister vein.
As the book takes you between the years prior to Abbie’s disappearance and the present as the AI starts to integrate into family life you get to see that maybe all was not rosy in the Scott household. Tim is actually quite controlling both at work and at home and as the AI starts to download more memories and piece together bits of her human life you start to wonder if her disappearance was all that it seemed. Was it an accident as originally believed five years before, was it staged, or was it something far worse??
Despite being a robot…albeit a highly intelligent one, I did find myself kind of liking Abbie as she tried to connect with Danny, encouraging him to make decisions and dealing with his autism in the best way she could. In some respects, the fact that she was a robot helped with this as it didn’t matter to him that she was different. She also wanted to find out for herself what happened on that fateful night especially when she started receiving text messages from an unknown person.
I am not normally a fan of sci fi but when it comes to AI it does make you stop and think. In a world where we are always looking to cure illnesses and finding a way to preserve life the chilling statement made by Tim about Abbie’s memories living on and people essentially becoming immortal as technology progresses and downloading the data into the next new improved generation of AI maybe fiction isn’t far away from possible fact. I can understand that in certain aspects of life robots are essential but when it comes to human interaction and caring is that a step too far and if not, what does it say about us as a society? In the Perfect Wife, Delaney does throw these questions into the face of the reader whilst also providing suspense and mystery. If you are a fan of his previous work or love books that make you wonder about what is possible in the world of technology, then I think you will love this.

As I started reading I thought hat I wasn’t going to enjoy it as AI isn’t really my thing but the book is about a lot more than that and I thoroughly enjoyed this book once it got going. The plots twists kept me hooked.

I was first introduced to JP Delaney when I read The Girl Before (which I thought was awesome). The Perfect Wife is even better. I'm now a JP Delaney fan and looking forward to reading more of his work.

Psychological thrillers are one of my favourite genres, and this particular one managed to be not only be a great read but also original. I read the whole book in just one day. I just couldn't put it down!

Simply one of the best books I have read. I have followed this author since they wrote the girl before which I really enjoyed. This book was not the sort of thing I would normally read but I gave it a go because of the author and I’m so glad I did. You’re hooked from page 1 when Abbie wakes up in what she thinks is a hospital. Her husband Tim is a dark character and you get to learn more about how sinister he is through the chapters. I like how the book goes between past and present, it gives a real insight the character Abbie and my mind kept changing about her. I found the ending to be a little confusing at first, it was certainly a bit rushed but because I enjoyed the book so much I reread the last few chapters again and it made perfect sense! The ending doesn’t disappoint. Read this book! It’s great

I enjoyed this book, it was original and different.I really don't want to spoil it for anyone else so will not be able to say too much.I liked its unpredictability and I liked the main character and felt sympathy for her.Thanks for the ARC for an honest review.

Tim Scott, prodigy of Silicon Valley, has lost his wife and is since mourning. But he wouldn’t be one of the richest and most admired IT specialists if he wasn’t the one with visions. And now his dream has come true: a cobot, perfect replica of his wife Abbie, lookalike and fed with memories of former wife’s life. As soon as the public becomes aware of this technological milestone, strong opinions collide: how do you treat a robot who looks, speaks and behaves like a human? Who do Abbie’s memories belong to? And why would someone prefer to live with a machine if he could have any woman in the country? For Tim the last question is easy to answer, but this is something he would never tell the public or his new partner. He mission is far bigger than just building a perfect copy of Abbie.

“The Perfect Wife” is a stunning combination of science-fiction novel and thriller. I especially appreciated the perspective taken: together with recently awaken cobot Abbie, we learn our way around the world of Tim Scott and only bit by bit gain knowledge about the seemingly perfect marriage he and Abbie had. There is a second voice adding information somehow from the inside Tim’s company, yet it takes until the very end to understand where this voice comes from. Many unexpected twists and turns keep suspense high and the more the action advances, the more you ask yourself what your position is when it comes to artificial intelligence.

Creating the perfect partner has been mankind’s dream forever, already in the old Greek tales you find the example of Pygmalion and throughout our history, this has always been a vision. Now, our technical knowledge and the means seem at a point where this could be possible. I found JP Delaney’s idea quite realistic and not too far-fetched after all. Machine learning has been around for a couple of years now and more and more humanoid robots inhabit our world. We even talk to them as if they were humans and Siri, Alexa and the like have become a normal part of our life.

There is another aspect I found particularly interesting: Tim’s and Abbie’s son was diagnosed with autism and the cobot seems to be much more capable of understanding his ways of communication than human beings. They share some similarities in how their programming/brains work which leads me to wonder if with the help of machines, we could facilitate life for many people suffering from this or similar disorders.

All in all, a suspenseful thriller which raises the most relevant questions of our time and surely mirrors our human hubris. Something we definitely must reconsider.

A very clever page turner set in the world of AI and bots. Sci fi is not my usual genre but this has so many strands to it, it is hard to define - psychological thriller, domestic, autism. I had to keep re reading the ending to make sure I got it.

Well, its original!
Abbie wakes up in hospital, she has no idea why, thankfully her husband is there, lovingly watching over her, after they reunite Abbie starts to question what happened and why she is in the hospital, she feels kind
of different
And that’s because, Tim explains, what she is experiencing ( her memories ) are ‘downloads’ and she is a ‘living robot’!
Yes, I wondered too if it was already time to stop this and move on BUT it fascinated me, it was written in a serious tone not comic and so I carried on, kinda shocked and kinda intrigued to know more
The story is then split and told in 1 part by the Abbie bot and 1 part by anon employees of Tim’s multi billion pound tekkie business where how the 2 met comes to light and many other insights into the mind of Tim (and of Abbie) are shown to the reader
Narcissistic Monster or legendary inventor, as you read on you will discover the answer
And Abbie bot!?, well her narrative leads you to think she is real, its most bizarre tbh
Then the question of where is the real Abbie and.....well to explain more would end up with this review even more jangled!
And thats how the book left me, jangled, uncertain of my feelings toward the book and its Bot and what I had just read
More worrying is that a lot of what is featured in the book is either happening or will be soon in the future, maybe 😃
A big part of the book is based around their son who has a very debilitating form of Autism, the author without doubt has family experience in this and thats borne out in the acknowledgments
Unsettling, odd, challenging yet enjoyably different
Hard to know what to mark this one but am going with
8/10 4 Stars

# The Perfect Wife # Netgalley
Phew now this is some book, when I read the synopsis it was rushed as my 2 yr old granddaughter came. So in all honesty I hadn’t read it correct Ho boy am I glad I did, this would have intrigued me but not sure I would have read it to be far. Yet it’s one of the most fascinating books I have read, I was mesmerised by it. Absolutely phenomenal, I have been taught a lesson in reading this book that in reality you might not actually fancy a particular book. However just a tiny miste by getting distracted. I couldn’t put it down. Some books you don’t want to put down. This one I genuinely couldn’t if I had have wanted too. So I haven’t slept I just started and finished in one sitting. There a lot of twists and turns, and who does Abbie !!!! Trust Tim her husband or his partner. I can and will say it’s a explosive ending. However it does leave you deep in thought. In some parts you genuinely do not know who’s telling the truth who’s lying. I absolutely loved the book. It was bloody brilliantly written, addictive. With a fantastic storyline. I did actually wonder if there would be a book 2 because either way, it would work also if no book 2 then that’s phenomenal too. I really really think you will be missing out, like I almost did. Boy am I glad I didn’t. 5 stars are not enough

I loved the title of this book but didn’t think it was going to be my sort of book after the first few pages. How wrong could I be? It was exciting, thought provoking and well written. A lot of books follow the same formula - this one definitely doesn’t.

The perfect wife by J.P. Delaney.
Abbie wakes in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. The man by her side explains that he's her husband. He's a titan of the tech world, the founder of one of Silicon Valley's most innovative startups. He tells Abbie she's a gifted artist, a doting mother to their young son, and the perfect wife.

Five years ago, she suffered a terrible accident. Her return from the abyss is a miracle of science, a breakthrough in artificial intelligence that has taken him half a decade to achieve.

But as Abbie pieces together memories of her marriage, she begins questioning her husband's motives - and his version of events. Can she trust him when he says he wants them to be together for ever? And what really happened to her, half a decade ago?

A fantastic read with some great characters. What a twist I didn't expect that. I couldn't put it down. 5*.

When Tim, an COE for an AI company,idea his wife he starts a controversial project - he creates a robot of his wife. Abbie-bot has all the memories and feelings that Abbie had, but she can tell that something isn't right with Abbie's disappearance.

This book had me from the go! After two pages I could tell it was going to be a "Black Mirror" sort of thing. And I'm going to be honest, Black Mirror freaked me out. This book however was amazing! So many twists and turns. A real psychological ride! The character development of robot Abbie was brilliant. I loved going through her thoughts with her. The aspects of this novel are well researched, coding and autism. I cannot fault it. The ending took my breath away, three times in fact. Just as I was getting over the first "no way!" moment I was hit with another and then another. This is definitely going on my to read pile to read again!

This turned out to be a much better and deeper book than I envisaged when first starting to read it. The title gave the impression that it was either chic lit or a love story but it was a whole lot more than that. It's a fascinating scenario where Abbie has been created in the image of Tim's missing wife, she is a robot that looks and feels like a human. Tim ironically appears like a sort of Mark Zuckerberg, a genius in his field of robotics, although a little unwordly and geekish at the same time, but has made millions from setting up and running Scott Robitics. Abbie is a wonderful character and you easily get drawn into her path of research to find out what happened to the real Abbie,. I found the whole book really fascinating, you get to see the whole story and background to Abbie's disappearance through the eyes of robot Abbie, the humanAbbie and one of the members of staff at Scott Robotics. I loved it. from beginning to end and highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.

This was a chilling read. My first book by JP Delaney, this story amalgamated sci-fi with a thriller. Tim lost his wife Abbie and created a cobot of his wife which had the memories of his missing human wife. The cobot started behaving like a human exactly how Abbie would behave.
Soon the cobot Abbie started to figure out that everything was not as it was presumed to be.

The author's style of writing though different and difficult to follow initially soon was Gripping as the story progressed. The book explored artificial intelligence which is one of my favorite topics. Though a bit more technological than usual, it was still fun to read through it. The twists kept my interest going as the secrets were revealed layer by layer.

Overall, a fun fantastic read.

The Perfect Wife is chilling, disturbing, intriguing and thought provoking in equal measure. Tim, founder of a tech company has built a cobot (companion robot) to replace his wife Abbie who disappeared five years ago as he is struggling to come to terms with his loss. To all intents and purposes he has used his experience and knowledge to create a replica Abbie that is entirely convincing yet at the sane time completely sinister. As a technophobe I can’t quite get my head around interacting with a robot as you would a human being but the writing is such that you almost forget Abbie is a cobot.. However much this is a work of fiction, developments in AI make this type of scenario a distinct possibility which adds, I think to the chilling nature of the book.
The plot line switches between the current day Tim living alongside cobot Abbie, and the past when the real Abbie still existed with an unknown colleague narrating how Tim and Abbie met and their life together before she disappeared. To some readers this may be confusing, although for the most part I didn’t mind this style of writing. The author uses the cobot as a way for the reader to uncover the reasons behind Abbie’s disappearance and to question whether or not she is still alive. As the story develops it becomes obvious that Tim is not a likeable character, he’s very controlling and it seems strange that Abbie has left their son Danny behind. Danny is autistic and attends a special school which believes in quite extreme techniques designed to ‘coerce’ the children into more socially acceptable behaviour. Obviously the author having personal experience of autism ( an autistic son) makes reading some parts of this book quite upsetting but also very informative at the same time. I think this adds another dimension to the storyline as there are comparisons to be made between the way an autistic person may interact socially and certain elements like empathy for instance that are missing in the cobot. I found it interesting that Danny and cobot Abbie had a good understanding/relationship and their interactions were both heartwarming and funny.
I found The Perfect Wife compelling and one of the most thought provoking novels I’ve read this year. There are a couple of clever twists with a brilliant one at the end although I did find the ending quite confusing and had to reread a few times to make sure I understood what was happening hence my giving four stars instead of five which I originally was going to give. I highly recommend and thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read ahead of publication.

Wow! This book has more twists than a rollercoaster! Without wanting to give anything away, this book is amazing, so unique and covers such a range of topics that really intrigued me and had me gripped the whole way through. Leaves you pondering what it is that really makes us human!