If I could turn back time to read The Perfect Wife afresh again I really would - I loved it. It’s an interesting concept; a robot as a replacement for a missing (presumed dead) wife. It could sound like perfection to some, but technician Tim takes it a level further in A.I. Abbie, making a ‘cobot’ capable of hosting his wife’s memories and feelings, turning the machine into so much more. And asking the question. ‘What makes us human?’ When does A.I. become more than a series of coding? I did feel as uncomfortable as Abbie when she was treated more as a commodity, a thing devoid of rights and personal respect.

The Perfect Wife raised lots of interesting questions and I enjoyed being challenged in my beliefs. I’m not sure if this was Delaney’s intention, but that was my reaction to the story.

Like Delaney’s previous novels it felt quite carefully crafted, weaving through two narratives that always kept me wanting to read just another page (or twenty). The plot is handled like David Bowie turning that ball through his fingers in Labyrinth*, twisting and turning its way through the characters and the pages they inhabit. The perfectness that Tim creates with Abbie is simultaneously at odds with his son, Danny, who has Heller’s syndrome, a profound form of autism. It was insightful for ‘Abbie’ to find a way to communicate with Danny - finding a logical way to decipher what he meant by his repetition of phrases from Thomas the Tank Engine to convey what he wanted for breakfast. I liked the positive way that this showed Danny’s autism; that perhaps Tim was the failure for not seeing what his son was trying to communicate. That in trying to mould Danny through an extreme version of the ABA Protocol and the quite unpalatable school that he placed Danny in, he failed to just ‘be’ with his son. Whether this was as a result of him thinking that perfection in a person can be obtained, or in just wanting the best for his son, is another question waiting for us to debate.

There are so many things just itching to be discussed! But needless to say, this is one of those books that you just won’t be able to put down. I absolutely loved it from beginning to end.

The Perfect Wife is out on 8th August 2019 from Quercus Books - don’t miss it!

I know it wasn’t Bowie himself manipulating the crystal ball, but you get my meaning!

tones of west world brought to life on the pages of this interesting thriller, combining different threads to pull together tot a shocking ending. One of the best reads of the year

Absolutely loved this book! I love psych thrillers and I love a bit of sci-fi, and this was like Sleeping with the Enemy meets Before I Go to Sleep meets Frankenstein! A brilliantly original take on the usual domestic noir storyline, compelling characters and expertly plotted. Highly recommended.

Sorry, just couldn't get to grips with this book. Sure it will appeal to others, but I always deliver an honest appraisal and gave up after only 16%. Just didn't grab me.

Oh my!!! JP Delaney has done it again, another tense and twisty thriller with a slightly futuristic feel. You really won’t be able to guess the ending. Amazing read.

The third book I have read of JP Delaney's and it was just as captivating as his last 2. He has a way of writing which grabs me from the very first chapter and continues to hold my undivided attention until the very last page. This book is about a robotics entrepreneur genius who creates a robotic replica of his wife once she goes missing presumed dead. I am not normally into robotic type things and thought I may struggle with this book a bit but nope I was swept up into the plot until the very last page. An interesting look at one man's desperation to have the perfect wife and one mother's desperation to save her child. Deliciousy creepy with some plot twists thrown in. Thanks to #netgalley for the advance readers copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. I eagerly await another book to devour from JP Delaney. #netgalley #goodreads #kindle #amazon #litsy #tea_sipping_bookworm #jpdelaney #theperfectwife

Thank you for my copy Netgalley! Wow, what an unusual and unique read for this genre! I was expecting your standard ‘behind closed doors’ kind of marriage but it was futuristic! It made me wonder about the future and really did keep me guessing until the end, I had moments where I had to re-read bits because I was like W H A T!!! Great read!

Had I realized this was part sci fi / part thriller, I wouldn't have read it as that is not a genre I enjoy. However I was pleasantly surprised, that I did enjoy the story, but I wasnt a fan of the ending, but this was an ok read.

The Perfect Wife, JP Delaney

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Mystery and Thrillers

This was outside my usual comfort zone, but so intriguing. I found it scarily disturbing, the way IT is growing in leaps and bounds its not quite outside the realms of possibility at some future date. Well, the IT side anyway, though the physical reality of creating something so lifelike isn't so close, intelligent IT is, with developers and programmers getting ever closer to machines that can think ahead of simple programming and learn responses.
The thriller side of it too, is Tim the adoring husband he appears to be, recreating his much loved wife, or are the things Abbie uncovers signals that perhaps theirs wasn't the wonderful marriage everyone seems to think they had. And how did she actually die? Is Tim not telling her to save her the trauma as he says ,or was there more to the story.
I love this kind of thriller where there's lots to work out, where each side of the story seemed plausible. What I didn't like though was that neither Tim not Abbie were particularly likable people. It was interesting reading about Danny and the therapies they tried, but other than to perhaps add a side of kindness to Abbie and provide a vehicle for the events at the end I'm not really sure why it was such a strong part of the novel. It did feel very real, I enjoyed seeing Danny and the issues he faced. Given the authors knowledge of this disability, I feel the problems and various therapies promoted were close to what happens in the real world. What works for some doesn't for others and its finding the one that makes each person more comfortable with the world around them that is so difficult. I do believe strongly in the ethic that disabilities are not something to be “cured”, that its not a case of making people more “normal” but one of helping them fit in, be comfortable and cope with the world around them.
The ending puzzled me. I've gone back and reread it but TBH I'm still not really sure what happened, and that's why I've dropped a star. Its a book I really enjoyed but not one I'd read again.
Stars: Four, An interesting read but ultimately a very disquieting book when thinking of the way technology is advancing, a route I hope it never goes.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

Wow! I must admit that, had it not been for the fact that this is by an excellent author, I wouldn't have chosen it for the title. Perhaps I'm just a tad jaded by the recent glut of so called 'psychological thrillers' that are merely family drama's and most of which follow the same process and which are predictable..
Anyhow, luckily for me, I'm a fan of JP Delaney and this is anything but jaded or boring, or predictable!

It's such an unusual premise, a man creates a clone of his wife, but, this clone starts to think for herself and so begins an intriguing story of suspicion, manipulation and AI. It's not my usual genre and I'm so grateful to JP Delaney, Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview and review this really unusual, fascinating read.

A solid 4* for this emotional, interesting mystery read.

While different to Delaney’s previous works, The Perfect Wife still has this twisted and psychologically thrilling elements of his previous two novels.

Opening up with an upload, Abbie must piece together an event that happened 5 years ago and what’s been happening in the time since. Endless possibilities lie in this Silicon Valley tech based world, and Abbie has little time.

Of course, being a Delaney novel, there’s plenty enough wool to share in the covering of everyone’s eyes with all those twists and turns.

Many thanks to J.P. Delaney, Quercus Books, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Couldn’t put this down. I was hooked right from the start and just wanted to keep reading. Fabulous novel.

I was looking forward to this considering I’ve enjoyed the other books written by this author but I wasn’t expecting this to blow my mind like it did!
It’s current re technology, it’s new as in I haven’t read a book like this before, it’s creepy, it’s had more twist and turns than a maze.

It kept me completely on my toes and just as I thought I knew what was coming - the ball once again was knocked out of the park! It’s more than a page turner, it’s pulls you in and doesn’t let go.

I’m going to reread this just to see if the clues were there now I know the ending, I think the massive beginning was enough to knock you so you won’t look for anymore twists, like a book that has the final scene at the start of the book.

I highly recommend this author and certainly this book, I’m slightly envious of people who haven’t read it yet.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this for a honest review.

I’m look forward to the next book from this author with anticipation, can they pull another one out of the bag..... I know they can!

Abbie wakes up, at first thinking she has been in an accident and then realising that she is the android copy of her husband's missing wife. This sounds like the start of a techno-thriller or science fiction adventure but the story is neither of these. It is a close and detailed look at the emotional relationship of a husband and wife.

What can, on the surface, appear to be pure, unconditional love may well be much more complicated. When a person is put on a pedestal and revered for their perfection it is hard to accept that they have their own mix of good and bad qualities that makes each person unique.

If the adored person is no longer around and you had the opportunity to create the perfect facsimile would you be tempted?

Abbie and Tim's son Danny appears to me to be the perfect metaphor for this broken relationship. For the first few years of his life, he is the perfect, beautiful, adored child but then a developmental disorder makes itself know and Danny begins to display a form of autism.

The story requires close attention. Different voices tell the story in different time periods. And if you, the reader, have an ah-ha moment part way through the story you have been fooled. Continue reading to find out what is actually going on, it is very different from what you assumed.

In my review of The Girl Before, I mentioned how much I disliked the way controlling, abusive men always seem to win. To shut us down, to ruin our lives. And, after reading the blurb of The Perfect Wife, I thought that was what we were going to get again. I was wrong, partially at least.

If a man creates a robot of his missing presumed dead wife, what's the first thing we assume? That he has created a sexbot, something that will bow down to his every whim and obey him like his human wife wouldn't. But, again, I was partially wrong. Robot (or "cobot") Abbie is created without genitals, and with human Abbie's consciousness. Tim, her husband, says all the right things about autonomy and free will, but, later, we learn that, while he might believe AI should have such things, he doesn't believe human women should.

Tim is a piece of shit, quite frankly. He's one of those nerdy guys who never really interacted with women, who believed they were "nice guys" and put into "the friend zone" by those horrible, slutty bitches. How dare women have the ability to choose who they sleep with.

I was disappointed by the female characters in The Girl Before. But in The Perfect Wife, Delaney reaches into his feminism and brings out some gold dust. The Madonna/Whore concept, the problematic institution known as marriage, the misogyny in male-dominated industries such as tech, all of these feminist themes are woven through the story in a convincing way.

I disagree with reviewers who have slated this book for being more "sci fi" than psychological thriller. In the age of Black Mirror and Westworld, where science fiction isn't really that fictitious at all, The Perfect Wife is perfectly placed. It crosses genres, of course, but in a world where most people have an AI in their homes, on their phones, in their cars, how sci fi is it really? And just like Black Mirror and Westworld, The Perfect Wife encourages readers to consider the blurred lines between human and robot. Tech companies are trying to create AI that are more realistic, more intuitive, but not quite self-aware (we've all had nightmares about Skynet, right?). Would I treat Alexa any differently if she looked like me, rather than a cylinder? Food for thought.

Thank you to Quercas Books and Netgalley for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review and feedback. I was already a huge JP Delaney fan so had been eagerly awaiting this book. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Completely captivating and eerie, I found myself finishing it within the day. JP Delaney takes a deep look at just how far AI might possibly be taken in this sci/fi thriller mix.

A very interesting concept, the development of which I hope never happens as clever as the story was. The idea that this storyline could become a reality is a daunting one.

A great read and well written.

Masterful writing, like Delaney’s previous books. Gripping - one to read in one sitting lest you have to pause and spend your time thinking about the story anyway. Highly recommended.

This really is modern book. It is humorous as well as innovative. The idea that the detective work will be undertaken by a technologically created version of the lead character's lost wife is done extremely cleverly. Apart from that,the actual storyline of the missing wife could be a traditional detective story without the modern additions. This book breaks new ground and is very well contrived and delivered.

Tim has lost his wife Abbie and five years later has a clone made using his wife's memories to make her as lifelike as possible but with a few alterations to make her the perfect wife.
The clone is finding it difficult to fit in and as more and more memories come to her she begins to look into what actually happened to Tim's wife.
This is a thriller that makes you think about the way technology is evolving.
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.