Member Reviews
I hate it when people write kids like they all strive for bit parts on leave it to beaver. This corney, depthless, bullshit drivel cannot be the entirety of a teenage person's thoughts and feelings.
This is a great read and a well-detailed plot that kept me engaged from the very start. I really liked the well-thought-out characters and found them to be believable. I cannot wait to read what the author publishes next.
Well written, The Betrayed Wife is one of those books you cannot put down until the very end. Kudos to the author!
I'm sorry. I finished reading this book a while ago and forgot to give feedback.
1 Star.
Review limited to goodreads due to rating.
Kevin O’ Brien books have been a hit or miss with me until this book. This book was just pure commercialized dud! The majority of this book was so bad in its superficial storyline and poor, cookie cutter character development that it took me 1.5 years to read it. Then, I only finished it because I was so close to done for my Goodreads challenge and because I signed up to review it.
This will officially be my last book by this author.
The Betrayed Wife by Kevin O’Brien is a fast paced psychological thriller. The characters in this one, Sheila and Dylan, are married with three children of their own when Dylan’s past comes back to haunt them.
Sheila knows her husband’s flaws but has tried to overlook them for the sake of their children. That is until she begins to suspect she’s being followed and then one day walks into a teen couple in her home. The girl claims to be Dylan’s daughter from a previous relationship shaking up Sheila’s already precarious world.
Having read other books by Kevin O’Brien I knew going into this one that it would fly by at a fast pace and it definitely did which I like. While the book is on the lengthy side it didn’t bother me as much as some with a slower pace although it could have benefitted from shortening a bit. This was also the type that none of the characters were particularly likable and sometimes you want to shout at them but overall I found this one to rate about three and a half stars with some of the authors others being stronger reads for me. .
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Another great read from this author! Fast-paced, clips right along at an enjoyable pace. Thanks for the ARC!
Great book! Couldn’t wait to read it, and it didn’t disappoint! Grabbed my attention within the first two chapters, and then I didn’t want to put it down. Excellent character development - I think that every reader will find a character to whom they relate. I enjoy books where there is character development, and then also a surprise, and this book provided both! Looking forward to reading more from this author!
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What would you do if a teenage girl walked into your home claiming to be your husband's daughter? She's dirty, she's got a mouth on her, she's covered in Goth make-up. Even worse is the young man who accompanies her ...
Sheila has been followed for a couple of weeks. Her husband doesn't quite believe her, even when she shows his the texts about a murdered woman being found. The text also hinted that her husband knows more than he's telling. Someone has broken into her neighbor's house. Someone cut the brakes on her care.
She really wants to trust her husband ... but who is out there trying to kill her? Is his daughter responsible .. or the boyfriend? Or is there someone else?
She's always known that he was a serial cheater, but they have 3 children together and she wants to keep it that way until they are all in college.
This novel has so much going on .... the husband's cheating, the wife's neurosis from something that happened in her past .... the dog next door that never stops barking .... a few murders .... a teenage son who is an expert on all things serial killers ... a teenage daughter who never seems to be seen unless she's on her phone ... and now the 'new' daughter that joins their household.
Although the plot has been done many times before, there are enough twists and turns to keep the reader riveted to the pages. The characters for the most part are not likable in any way. If this is what the author was going for, he succeeded very well. The ending was unexpected, surprising with a terrific twist.
Many thanks to the author / Kensington Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
3.5 STARS
Thank you so much for this ARC! I received this ARC quite a while ago and really had trouble getting into this book after numerous tries.
The Betrayed Wife by Kevin O'Brien was released on July 30, 2019 by Kensington Books. I was given a copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Sheila O’Rourke and her husband Dylan have 3 kids and what seems to be the normal suburban life…too bad her husband is a piece of scum. When 16 year old Eden shows up claiming to be his daughter from a past fling, Sheila tries to be a welcoming stepmom. Eden is a nightmare, and Sheila feels like Eden is out to get her. She’s been getting strange text messages for weeks, and now dangerous things are happening in her home. Will Sheila find out what is going on before it’s too late?
I’ve been really annoyed lately by the amount of books focusing on cheating spouses and partners, but this was slightly different. The lives of these people were so wrecked and dramatic that I kept reading to find out what would happen to them. This whole story felt like a mega episode of Snapped, which I really enjoyed. Every single woman in this book is insane, but justifiably so. Dylan is a piece of garbage and it was astonishing to me to see just how stupid he could be when it came to his infidelity.
If you need to see someone else go through some drama for awhile, this is definitely a book worth picking. It was part Big Little Lies, part Basic Instinct, and part Maury/Jerry Springer.
🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars
I’m a fan of Kevin O’Brien’s because he always delivers a twisty, thrilling tale that I end up staying up late to finish. The Betrayed Wife is another winner, far more than just an average affair-turned-bad story.
Sheila left Portland - and all the drama from her past - in Portland, or so she thought. Suddenly a 16-year-old girl turns up claiming to be her husband, Dylan’s daughter from an affair and weird things seem to be happening around her. Is Sheila headed for another mental breakdown, or is someone really messing with her?
There’s some nice twists and turns that certainly kept me guessing until the end. As things unfold, O’Brien takes several threads that he developed throughout the book and weaves them together, creating an entire picture which wraps things up nicely. The multiple storylines really keep things interesting and the author uses multiple perspectives to move things forward.
The book seemed to fly by.
I liked Sheila, she was a likable “Start over” story, but I thought she was a little naive. Dylan’s a pretty awful character - it’s apparent pretty apparent early in the book - and she just keeps trusting him and doing whatever he says. C’mon girl! Respect yourself enough to lay down the law! I also found myself drawn to the kids in the story, like Eden and Sam.
Overall, this is another great addition to Kevin O’Brien’s canon and fans of thrillers and mysteries will enjoy it.
Really well written with a twisty premise. I thought I had it figured out but nope! :-)
The psycho in this is level 8 crazy.
Thank you for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
What crazy fun that was! I remember smiling in the beginning and thinking this Shelia is a nut, but I didn't know the half of it! One of the best books I've read this year.
This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.
this book is full of secrets, twists, stalking, betrayal and lies. Your typical thriller. I quite enjoyed this book. It is very fast paced and I couldn't put it down.
This is a psychological thriller that fans will love. I found it a little to violent for my taste. Especially with young children around. Sheila and Dylan have moved to Seattle and things in their marriage seem to be getting better. Then Eden, a 16 year old arrives claiming to be Dylan's daughter. This story has good characters and a story line that is probably more common than not, you just don't hear about it. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Sheila and Dylan are married with 3 kids. Dylan is the husband you love to hate, while Sheila is the forgiving, semi-insane wife.
It appears Dylan's infidelities are coming back to haunt them when Sheila starts receiving anonymous texts and feels herself being followed. Then a daughter that Dylan didn't know he had shows up at their door, and even worse things begin to happen. Women connected to Dylan are dying and someone is out to get Sheila now too..
The Betrayed Wife was a hard to put down thiller! Good luck figuring out who is the real 'betrayed wife'!
Thank you to NetGalley. Kevin O-Brien and Kensington Books for this read!
Meh. It was okay. Kind of reminded me of the same old plots we see on Lifetime Television for Women. Not a bad book, just tired of this particular plot.
2.5*
I’ve been looking forward to this read one for some time. Being somewhat familiar with the author Kevin O’Brien’s books over the years, I always wanted to read one, but somehow never had the opportunity. Until now…let’s do this!
To be honest, I came away with mixed feelings. At over 500 pages long, I feel it could have been just as effective (If not more so) trimming about 200 pages off of it. That said…for its size I must admit it did read fast! And my curiosity was piqued to see how this one would end.
I don’t think I’ve despised all the characters in a book more than those in this one. Well, with the exception of the teenage son. The only sensible, sweet one in the bunch! I think he needs a new family!
I struggled with the wife Sheila and what she tolerated! The oddest things seemed to bother her while blatant OMG moments were stuffed under the carpet. Ugh…frustrating!
It was those moments that prevented me from loving this book.
A buddy read with Susanne!
Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Books and Kevin O’Brien for an ARC to read and review.
This is a suspense thriller, with the emphasis on suspense. Shelia O’Rourke has a real problem with her playboy husband Dylan. Although they move to Seattle to get a new start, Dylan is still up to his old habits and is chasing a woman that he met at the gym. Meanwhile, Shelia feels that she is being stalked and is getting some really weird text messages. The action ramps up when Eden, Dylan’s illegitimate daughter, shows up desiring to live with the family since her mom died and she has no one else to turn to. The really weird things begin to happen after sixteen year-old Eden’s appearance. Is she bringing trouble to the house or was the household already being threatened because of Dylan’s constant philandering? This is the question that kept me reading. There was not as much suspense in this book as I am accustomed to in O’Brien’s books, but the read was satisfactory and twisted enough for his fans to enjoy it. The plot is twisted and addictive and with a real surprise at the end.