Well written.
Interesting storyline. Not the first time I read something like that or see that on tv, but still enjoyable and captivating, it keeps you interested until the end.
Well developed at a good pace.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

It starts with a game. An exercise really, of faith, love, and trust. Write down something you wish your partner could forgive you for, even if it's something they don't know about, seal it in an envelope and give it to them. Your partner will burn that transgression, unread, and tell you it's forgiven. The awkward activity ends the party and begins a nightmarish series of events that leave more than one person dead.

I needed a bit more resolution to this novel, but boy was it a dark and crazy ride. Not knowing what the characters' secrets were meant you couldn't really assess if they were acting out of shock or covering something up. Doubting them all, even wondering if this was going to be another case of unreliable narrator...R.J. Parker knocked it out of the park.

If you want a read that's going to keep you up nights until it's done, this is the book. 4 stars

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book. When I read the synopsis, it thought it was going to be a bit more murder mystery than it turned out to be. I am newer to the mystery genera so maybe I just didn't understand the tropes. It was a good book, I did like it... but I didn't love it.

I thought the character development was very spot on... and I thought the plot was good even though I figured out the end around chapter 13.

Thank you for allowing me to review this title.

It is a fairly ordinary dinner party – 8 old friends, laughter, wine flowing freely and great food. Then one suggests a game. It seems simple & surely there can’t be a problem with trust in these married couples, can there? That is until things spiral out of control and over the next few days the bodies mount up.

I liked the idea of this book. The dinner party is merely a background for the relationships between these couples to play out. Whose marriage is safe? Who has something to hide from their partner as well as their friends? As the book progressed I did wonder if a few things were slightly far fetched but on the whole it worked.

I struggled slightly keeping the 8 main characters personalities separate. They did tend to blur around the edges. A little more definition would have helped in places.

On the whole, though, it was a good solid mystery/thriller with a slightly unusual background.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

'I've been married. I know what a loaded word "fine" is.'

Well, well, well... remind me never to attend a dinner party with Richard J. Parker. His party games start with lies, add in a little betrayal, how about MURDER, followed by suicide, and you know, maybe some more MURDER.

In The Dinner Party four married couples are brought together for a dinner party that leaves them all full; full of doubt, suspicion, and mistrust. No one could have known just exactly how an innocent game of truth would lead to such tragedy.

The narrative hook Richard J. Parker delivers, well, it's not unlike any of his other novels, it sucks you right in, they don't call it a "hook" for nothing folks. I'm not going to lie, I took a picture of the first page on my Kindle and sent it to a friend and said "Oh, this is going to be good!" That's how hooked I was... at first... but at some point it started to get confusing, but not in the suspenseful mystery 'what's going to happen' kind of way. I think for me personally, it came down to the characterization. The biggest issue, there were too many characters, with too little development. I won't get into detail as to what starts happening to these characters, but because there is little personal development with them, I'm left feeling disjointed when moments are meant to offer more impact. Which in the end is why I went with 4 stars rather than 5.

If you're looking for suspense, then look no further, this book certainly delivers. It offers the reader an atmospheric read with short chapters that will leave you saying "Okay, just one more chapter!"

NOW! For the most important part of my review! I want to thank Richard J. Parker for not only allowing me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review, but I also want to thank him for taking the time to personally acknowledge ME (let's not be silly... and others) in his Acknowledgements. I have to say, I've read A LOT of author Acknowledgements, and I have never seen an author thank his readers and reviewers in a more heartwarming way. I can now tell my friends... my FULL name is in a book! What's cooler than that?

I also want to thank NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for also allowing me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my review.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to.

How can a simple dinner party with a group of good friends go so terribly wrong?

Ted and Juliette are having a dinner party with three other couples at their house. As the wine begins to flow, one guest has an idea for a game. The game consists of a truth and a forgiveness. The couples must write down a secret they are keeping from their partner. Without knowing what the secret is the other spouse must forgive them and burn the paper without ever knowing its content. Although most of them feel uncomfortable playing this party game, they reluctantly go along with it. What really could go wrong?

When two of the guests are found dead the next morning, the others are left with unimaginable guilt for many reasons. Could the game have caused a terrible fight which lead to murder? Do they tell the investigators about this crazy game they played?

As Ted and Juliette begin to try and piece the puzzle together, Ted begins to question everyone's motives...even his wife's. Then another death occurs!

What secrets are being hidden and why does Ted feel as is Juliette is not being honest with him? Could this silly game have had anything to do with what is happening to all of them? As marriages and friendships are being tested will anyone survive?

This fast paced psychological thriller hooks you from the very first sentence. The story so well told I gave up trying to figure out who did it and just enjoyed the twists and turns and surprises with an I did not see that coming ending which will make you think...wait what?? Wow!

I will say this...at the next dinner party I attend, when someone suggests playing a game...that is going to be my cue to leave!

Thank you to #NetGalley #HarperCollinsPublishers #R.J.Parker #TheDinnerParty for the advanced copy.

Swallowed this book, hook, line and sinker. Totally messed with my mind and the twists were just intense. This was a very very very intense read right from the first few chapters.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

▪️Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads, One More Chapter & R.J. Parker for the free advanced digital copy. This book is available on October 18th!
.
.
🌟BOOK REVIEW

▪️MY THOUGHTS
✔️This book got me with the synopsis! I tend to enjoy books with connected relationships and all the drama!! It reminded me a bit like I Know What You Did Last Summer in the sense that you know someone is hiding something and you don’t know who to trust. The pace of the book was quick which made it a very easy read. I didn’t love the ending, I felt it was a little rushed but other than that the book was very entertaining! Please note that this book deals with murder, suicide, drug use & adultery.
.
.
▪️TITLE RUNDOWN
Dark secrets
Intertwined
Nervous
Nightmare
Engaging
Relationships

I enjoyed this one. It didn't blow me away or anything, and it was quite far-fetched, but it kept me entertained throughout. 👍

Oh read this one on 48 hours. What a cracking read. A light hearted thriller, that’s easy to read and is very addictive. Likeable characters with an unusual twist. Loved it.

Easily read and digested, I enjoyed this book very much and will be looking out for more from this writer.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review for 'The Dinner party' by R. J. Parker
Was available to read and review on NetGalley, unsure if still is.

This book wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be about as I found quite a few reviewers mentioned. However, I still enjoyed the storyline which was filled with lies, murder, twists, suspense, games and more. I wasn't expecting the ending which was good but could have been that little bit better. Unlikely many who said they found the characters unlikeable I actually thought they were quite a good mix and although the storyline was a bit far fetched it could still happen. I would recommend to fans of suspense and mystery novels and I gave it 4/5 stars in Goodreads due to the fact that it definitely had that bit more potential there.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Dinner Party by R.J. Parker. At first I was skeptical about reading this only because this seems to have been the premise of several books and movies lately but I was very pleasantly surprised. This book was the best of its kind that I have read and I found myself sad when it was over and wishing it would have kept going. Had me on the edge of my seat. Most definitely recommend this one.

The premise of The Dinner Party is excellent. Four couples attending a dinner party decide to play a game, revealing secrets and scandals. Later that evening a wife is found dead and her husband missing. I was hooked. The story itself is a little uneven, the beginning is psychological, the middle a bit procedural and the ending rather slasher like. I stayed with the story, but was a bit disappointed by where R J Parker took me, I wanted more suspense to the ending. The characters were hit and miss for me, I was hoping for a bit more dimension. I'll admit the Dinner party kept me reading.
3.0
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

I'm not quite sure why I liked this book as much as I did. It's certainly flawed and the whole premise of the Truth Game seems contrived solely for the plot, but still, there was something about it that kept me turning the pages to discover what happens next.

A group of couples all decide to play a game over dinner in which they write down a secret in secret and then burn said secret without ever revealing the secret while their partner forgives them. Follow me? Yeah. It's pretty pointless.

Yet the game results in death, lies and betrayal, which is where the fun starts. I defy anyone to guess what happened to trigger all this, and although the characters seem pretty one dimensional, I enjoyed the plot enough not to care.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

I loved the concept of The Dinner Party but the execution of the book left a lot to be desired. The characters were one-dimensional and barely distinguishable from each other. And the ending was just a mess. This book had a lot of potential to be intriguing but I was left bored and disappointed.

This is a tough one to review.

In theory, this book contained some things that I typically love in thrillers; a dinner party, old friends reuniting and a murder plot. I can't say I didn't enjoy the book at all, because I was certainly gripped and kept picking it back up. However, a few things just didn't quite work for me.

In this type of thriller I personally prefer a realistic plot. A lot of this was just too far fetched in terms of how characters responded to certain situations. On the other hand, there was a considerable chunk of the book where there was constant action which, while not entirely believable, did satisfy my desire for thrills.

The ending was what really let this down, though. There was no sense of shock or satisfaction or anything. It kind of makes me mad that i spent so long just to be disappointed, you know?

It was a middle of the road book for me, but either way I am incredibly thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy.

So... conceptually, The Dinner Party was there. Basically, there are four couples who are all friends and come together for dinner parties every so often. At their dinner party, one suggests playing a game where you write down a secret that you have from your partner and then your partner burns it - without reading it - to forgive you and reaffirm trust.

The concept is there! But the story was lacking. It felt like there was a dependency on having so many characters to keep the story moving, rather than the story being engaging throughout. There are several interesting plot points, but the time in between them just read like filler that wasn't really necessary.

That said, I was super intrigued to find out what happened, so I kept reading. The ending left something to be desired, though.

Overall - 2/5 stars. Too much filler, too many characters, solid concept.

This was such an amazing read that I couldn’t put it down. It went everywhere with me. To the doctors office, the dentist, the eye doctor. IT WENT ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE. I was so sad when it ended that I immediately went and bought more books from this author!