The synopsis for A Perfect Wife suggestes this is a story of one woman trying to work out what had happened to her before her accident, and uncovering the relationship she previously had with her husband. This is correct, but I was surprised at how little the synopsis mentions any kind of sci-fi element, which actually is a prevalent part of this story. It’s not usually a genre I read a lot from, but I really enjoyed The Perfect Wife – which is lucky, as I loved JP Delaney’s first two novels so this had a lot to live up to!

It’s definitely different to what I expected, but it’s a really interesting premise – Abbie wakes up after an accident and discovers she’s an AI robot, a replica of the ‘real’ Abbie who died, and created by her tech-loving husband. He says she’s proof of how much he loved her and missed her when she died. But is everything as it seems?

The first quarter of the book really pulled me in – it’s intriguing and surprising. The book then takes a slightly slower pace, but the details revealed are still really interesting. We learn more about Abbie and Tim’s life ‘before’ and what secrets Abbie may have had herself. It gets a bit mind-bending as you realise more elements to the story which makes Abbie almost an enemy of herself – I liked this part (you’ll know what I’m referring to when you read it!) but it did make my brain hurt a bit!

One drawback to this book, however, is that the characters themselves are quite one dimensional, meaning you don’t feel like you’re reading about real people. Obviously Annie is a robot so her character is going to reflect that. However this did mean I struggled to properly empathise with some of the characters, or connect with them.

The way it’s written – altering perspectives between someone telling the tale of life ‘before’ and a perspective told from Abbie’s point of view, almost as a creepy observer, can be confusing at times as it switches quite suddenly, but I found I followed it quite easily and really enjoyed finding out more about Abbie’s previous life.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a pyschological thriller with a sci-fi twist.

A huge Thank You to The author, The publisher and Netgalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for a unbiased review of these works

BRILLIANT, GRIPPING AND DOMESTICALLY TERRIFYING!

This was a brilliant read which had me totally gripped throughout. It was heartbreaking in parts, and a frightening version of what could be.

When I started this book and realised it had an element of Sci Fi, my heart sank - not my usual read at all. However I am pleased to report that it was a very entertaining and unusual read and I loved it. I really felt for Abbie the bot and was rooting for her (which to me is a bit bizarre!) and found the ending satisfactory. So, surprisingly to me, I do really recommend this book.

Absolutely gripping twisty tale of love, obsession and artificial intelligence. Clever and cool (but the scenes where the “cobot” removes her face left me feeling a little bit queasy!)

The Perfect Wife is a fast paced science fiction thriller. When a young wife disappears, her husband and robotics inventor constructs an android in the likeness and with the memories of the missing woman. An exciting and frightening.read.

I have to admit to requesting this book purely on the basis of knowing the author's previous work - I hadn't read any information about this particular title before I picked it up. In this case, I think that was probably a good thing, as the synopsis wouldn't have sold me that this was 'my kind' of book!

I was expecting a regular psychological thriller, so the AI concept threw me a bit to start with and took a little time to get my head around, but I ended up loving this book! The whole concept is gripping and the story is well-paced and well delivered. I particularly enjoyed the writing around autism - it's rare to find an author who captures that world so accurately.

All together, whilst this didn't turn out to be the thriller I was expecting, I found it to be a very interesting look at the concept of 'humanity' and was completely caught up in the story.

Thank you, Quercus Books, for giving the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A domestic suspense thriller with a twist. Tech genius Tim Scott recreates his missing wife as a cobot (companion robot) complete with all her downloaded memories and personality. But the new Abbie senses something is not quite right and begins unravelling the mysterious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of old Abbie. A devoted mother to her autistic son Danny and adored by her loving husband Tim. Did a depressed Abbie leave or has a possessive Tim killed her? A gripping and compelling read.

A captivating and thrilling read. From early on, I thought I could tell which direction the story was going and how it was potentially going to end, however, I was completely blindsided! An excellent read for 2019!

This is my first book by JP Delaney.

The story is a mix of a psychological thriller with sci-fi. I finished the book in less than 12 hours. The chapters are cobot Abbie in present and in the past, it is real Abbie. I appreciate how the author has used precise descriptions of the locales, the beach house, or the house in the city.

The storyline, description of settings are elaborate. The author used a subtle theme of controlling behavior of spouses. The twists and the turns are interesting.

But, there are two major issues.

First the narrative, it was a very confusing climax. However, I had puzzling thoughts after finishing the book. The author narrated the present by someone in 2nd person and a random person talks about the past who remains anonymous throughout the book. That perplexes me as a reader.


Second the characters. The book focuses on Abbie and there’s no background or depth to any of the other characters. A reader doesn’t understand the motivation for any of the actions. Even Abbie’s character lacks depth. She pops up in the past, someone in the background is narrating about her. Abbie is an in-house artist in a tech company. But there is no background. Why she’s working there or any other such info was just amiss.
The concept of the book is its scoring point. The writing kept me going to finish the book along with the robot technology.

I will give the book 3 stars. I was a little disappointed with the book.

Thank you, Quercus Books, for giving the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Different. This book is a mixture of a few things-Stepford Wives included. I am not a lover of Sci-Fi so this aspect put me off slightly. Still a clever, well-written book with an interesting plot. Recommended.

This is a very strange concept, very like something you would see in Black Mirror (a TV show on Netflix).

Abbie wakes up in hospital with no memory of how she gets there. Her husband Tim is by her side, but he looks different. Not just tired but different.

But Abbie is soon told by her Tim that she isn’t really Abbie, but a “Cobot” created by her husband to bring Abbie back from the dead. She looks like Abbie, Abbie’s memories (or dreams that she was having before she woke up) where uploaded (to her hard drive presumably). Tim even shows Abbie how to peel away her skin to see her perfectly smooth robot structure underneath.

Whilst Abbie the Cobot wants to be like the real Abbie, she struggles with daily things. She cannot eat or drink. But also, the real question for Abbie the Cobot is, what happened to the real Abbie?

What comes out is a clever plot line taking in the moral aspects’ dealing with Tim, Abbie and Tim’s marriage, Abbie the Cobot’s struggles with her life now. Cleverly taking in taking in the moral aspects’ of uploading a person’s memories to a robot. Abbie’s family are horrified that Abbie’s “being” has been uploaded to a robot with neither Abbie’s, or her family’s permission. Abbie’s and Tim’s son Danny brings in an excellent slant on dealing with an autistic child.

What develops is a very creepy and entertaining novel, cleverly depicting that you never really now what is going on behind closed door that stayed with me long after I had finished it.

An odd book set in the future. It is thought-provoking, but I found it difficult to get into and nearly gave up.
I know others who think this is an amazing book, so please don't go on my comments as others loved the story and said it was so much better than Stepford wives. Just not my cup of tea.

I’m sorry, I seem to be in the minority but I’m afraid that this book was not for me. I only read a couple of chapters as I was expecting a psychological thriller not a story about a man who has created his dead wife as a robot.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercia for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really struggled with The Perfect Wife. I tried to persevere with it but gave up after a few chapters. Sorry I felt it was too strange for me.

We start with Abbie waking up in a hospital... Of sorts. We realise she has died and has been brought back as a cobot. Artifical intelligence created her into a robot or more her husband her creator did. He owns a multi million pound company and believes cobots are the future and strives to create them for various industries.

Has Tim created the perfect wife? Rewritten the past?

We meet Abbie as she tries to adapt to this new form, however it is hard to accept when her husband shows her the robotic frame underneath when he peels back her life like face. Through his loss after her death he has succeed in bringing her back... Or has he?

Amongst this we learn of the wealth, the robots, their child Danny who struggles with autism and the co-workers who around them also keep secrets.

What follows is the 'new' Abbie realising all is not as it seems with this supposedly perfect marriage. She begins to have thoughts of her own and stumbles on how the real Abbie has not just died, but vanished. What follows is a thriller of twists as she tries to outplay Tim, and work out what actually happened to Abbie.

Who should she trust?

If you do read this - please read the acknowledgments at the end as it gives you an insight into the plot and how ABA is linked to JP Delaney in real life.

Fascinating insight into the future world of AI and robotics, good read with some nice twists - would recommend!

A great premise, I liked the AI idea and twists. But I didn't enjoy reading in second person perspective at all. This unfortunately damped my reading experience.

Wow I really enjoyed this book, it made such a difference reading something different from the usual. It was full of suspense and you really were hoping the wife was dead so the replacement could live her life . Very unusual book with a great ending.

I almost gave up on this book when I first started reading it due to the sci fi element of the cobot. However, I stuck with it and I was glad I persevered. The cobot element added another dimension to a relationship/thriller which made it new and different for me.