A great story, lots of different threads to the story. Some you can pedict, some not so much but very enjoable to read and hard to put down.

The Push is a cross between a psychological thriller and a domestic drama and concerns a group of strangers who originally all meet at an antenatal group held at a local community centre in London as they all prepare for imminent parenthood. The book opens in the immediate aftermath of a tragic incident, or quite possibly worse—murder, which occurred at the last group meeting. Held at Ed and Monica’s five-bedroom, ultra-modern, multi-million-pound home in the South London suburbs, the crew and their new babies come together for a catch-up, and a boasting session, at a luxury barbecue garden party one Saturday in sunny June, and before they know it Detective Alison Hegarty and her partner DI Diana Mendes have been called to the property when a ”fall” from a high, glass-sided balcony is reported. There's blood spatter covering the rockery directly below the ledge and strangely no one appears to have seen or heard anything out of the ordinary beforehand. There are several suspects with a variety of possible motives and definitely enough opportunity to do the deed, so can Alison prove someone committed the crime or will a killer get away with murder?

I found this a compelling, thoroughly enjoyable and cleverly plotted psychological thriller with some police procedural aspects to it and the fact that McGowan takes the time to soundly develop each of the characters was what really made this work so well; if the cast had been neglected then this wouldn't have been anywhere near as deliciously devious as it is very much a character-driven story and none of them are likeable. The large cast consists of people from all walks of life—some are millionaires mixing with those who are working class and often close to the breadline, many of the groups members want for nothing in life and will be giving their children the same treatment whereas others struggle to make ends meet. Some of the couples conceived almost immediately whereas others have been through the wringer. All of these differences and contrasts can often give rise to the green-eyed monster—jealousy. This is a well written, pacy and compulsive read and the investigation kicks into high gear despite attendees playing dumb and the large cast equals a large pool of suspects making this a fun, entertaining and unpredictable story. Many thanks to Amazon for an ARC.

Do you have a secret you hope no one ever finds out? Even from your significant other? What would you do to protect it? With a lengthy cast of characters, everyone has a secret. It reminded me a little of Big Little Lies with a group of expectant mothers.

This book isn’t really about parents or death, but about how alike are we to those around us and who we tell our secrets. In a time in the US when there is a political divide, this book makes you think about what makes us similar or different to those around us and who do you confide your deepest secrets. What is your secret and does your significant other know? Your parents? Your best friend? The older I get, the more I find that my deepest secrets are known only by me.

And the people you spend your time with outside your family and close friends, what ties you together? Is it just work that binds you with your colleagues? Or your block with your neighbors? Are you more alike or different than your acquaintances? As our differences always seem to be amplified, do you ever look for that common nugget?

This books had me questioning all of this in addition to guessing who died and why. I love when a thriller is more that just a whodunnit.

I picked this as it was recommended by Netgalley. I'm glad I did! It is written from so many view points that it gives you different ideas on the guilty party. Jax and Allison are the main people I looked to for answers. I did not expect the ending. I was hoping that Aaron would tell more about the job Nina got for him. A definite good read!

What an odd group of people you meet at this antenatal group (pre-natal in the US). There's 'Jax' 38 and her significant other, Aaron, 14 years her junior, the older couple, Monica (44) and Ed, the young couple, also not married, Kelly (22) and Ryan, the same sex couple, Cathy and Hazel, the asian arranged marriage couple Aisha and Rahul, and the successful lawyers-we-waited-too-long-to-get-pregnant and are adopting a baby couple, Anita and Jeremy. When they all get together a few weeks after the babies are born at Monica and Ed's house and there's a death there that same afternoon, in comes Allison, who is ironically suffering from infertility herself, and her partner to investigate. Early on, the author supplies you with quite the background on these people, uncovering their secrets as the investigation continues. The story certainly picks up as the 'who' and 'why' questions are answered. Fans of suspense/thrillers will enjoy this story.
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I liked this a lot. The multiple viewpoints and jumps back and forth in time could have been confusing, but were handled expertly. There were unexpected twists and turns along the way that kept me reading and an ending I didn't see coming. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

This mystery struck all the right cords for me. Set in suburban London with a unique, multiple-timeline structure, The Push follows a police detective as she investigates a suspicious death at a party for members of a prenatal group. Someone is lying--but who?

The story begins at the party, then alternates between the aftermath, the day-of, and the weeks leading up to the death. While so many POVs could have been confusing, the narrator was always clear and events easy to follow. There were a lot of characters, but they all had a part to play and the story would have been less without them.

I will admit I had a few of the twists figured out, but the end still held surprises.

Be aware: infertility, child loss, and post-partum depression are prominent themes.

When an afternoon lunch ends in a tragic death, the police officer on the case will have to confront six couples about what they did or didn’t see. As the officer tries to press people for information, her instinct raises the alarm on the fact that the death was more than just an accident. Author Claire McGowan brings together an interesting cast of characters in a plot that doesn’t quite gel in her newest book The Push.

At the age of 38, Jax is expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Aaron, who is 24. Jax has received a lot of flak from her mother and whispers in public about the apparent age difference, and she pretends not to care. But of course, deep down, she does.

She’s going to handle this like an adult, though, so she signs up for a prenatal class with Aaron where they meet five other couples who are expecting. Well, four couples and a woman, Kelly, who offers the explanation that her boyfriend really wanted to come but couldn’t make it. Jax can’t help but feel a turn of sympathy for Kelly who looks young and scared.

The attitude of Nina, the woman leading the classes, doesn’t help ease Kelly’s anxiety. In fact, Nina seems to be doing a fantastic job of elevating everyone’s fears, real or imagined, about what childbirth and rearing are all about. If Jax was apprehensive before, she’s downright worried now. Aaron tries to comfort her, but because he grew up in the foster system he has no frame of reference for what a stable family is.

It doesn’t help that recent events make her feel like she’s being targeted for some unknown transgression. Someone messes up her files at work. Another time the milk bottles she and Aaron have delivered are broken and the glass strewn over their front doorstep. Then mysterious emails show up at work that lead her supervisor to recommend taking maternity leave early.

When her pregnancy puts her health at risk, the doctor tells her she has no option but complete bedrest. The prenatal group is Jax’s only contact with other adults, yet she hates going there too. Monica and Ed, the upper class, upper crust, couple of the group set Jax’s teeth on edge. When Monica invites everyone to a post-delivery barbecue at her house, the only reason Jax accepts the invitation is because she doesn’t have the energy to say no. All of the members of the group show up at Monica’s house, and within hours one of them is dead.

The police come to investigate, and DS Alison Hegarty knows in her gut that the victim didn’t fall off the second-story balcony. Someone pushed the person off. As Alison starts her investigation, all the while navigating her feelings about her own infertility, she realizes all of the group members had something to hide. The pushback she receives from her commanding officer pressures her to use her wits and old-fashioned detective work to get to the heart of what really happened and why.

Author Claire McGowan gives readers insight into a variety of character types yet struggles to make them seem like well-rounded, three-dimensional people. Competing mysteries might make readers forget which one should take precedence: the attacks on Jax or the death at Monica’s house. The narration gives the sense that both are important and connected while also trying to remain coy about it.

The biggest mistake in the plotting comes in giving readers information the characters don’t have. Once readers find out key pieces of the mystery, the rest of the story becomes an exercise in patience to wait for the characters to catch up. Also, the handling of certain scenes will inadvertently reveal the truth behind some red herrings, making the book much less fun to read.

Despite all this, the construction of the plot will compel some readers to stick with it to the end. For those who want a fast mystery to read that doesn’t require a lot of personal investment, this might be good to pick up. For everyone else, I recommend readers Borrow The Push.

“Why was everyone in this group hiding something?” thinks the detective investigating the death of a pregnancy coach. Somehow, when the six couples from a childbirth group get together to celebrate and introduce their newborn infants, group leader Nina DeSouza falls from a balcony onto the rocks below. Or was she pushed?

The story unfolds in flashbacks told by the detective and different women in the group. Pregnancy and motherhood are the themes. Detective Alison and her partner Tom want desperately to have a baby but she is infertile. Anita and Jeremy treasure a grainy ultrasound picture of their future daughter who they will adopt from a surrogate. Kelly and hotheaded Ryan are together because of a surprise pregnancy. Aisha and Rahul are expecting after only a year of a possibly unsuccessful arranged marriage. Hazel tells the group that her partner Cathy is pregnant after artificial insemination. The gorgeous, modern, glass and stone house where the accident happened is owned by the uptight Monica and her wealthy second husband Ed. Their baby daughter and Chloe, her daughter from a prior marriage live with them. Although each of the women has a voice, Jax dominates. She’s 38 and her partner Aaron is 24. This will be their first child.

So much deception. Each couple at the party is dealing with secrets that threaten to destroy their relationships. And each couple comes face to face with those secrets at the party. That honesty cause events that will lead to Nina’s death.

The Push is more psychological drama than thriller. It is a brutal, realistic look at pregnancy and motherhood. New mothers so often want to do what is expected and what is pictured in magazines - everything early motherhood is not. Jax and her jealousy, her body issues and her depression perfectly illustrate that. It is a satisfying, well-plotted read. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and Claire McGowan for this ARC.

This is a great crime thriller,
It took me a while to get into it due to all the different character names but it really pulled me once I’d got everyone worked out in my head.
All we’re told at first is someone has fallen from a balcony, but were they pushed?
We don’t even know who it is until half way through the book so it all adds to the mystery.
There’s a group of people attending a neo-natal class and then a party after the babies are born, which is when the death happens.
The chapters alternate between the past and the present investigation and it’s clear people are lying.
Alison has to work her way through all the lies to find the people who were with the victim before their death, and it’s not easy.
I loved the way the truth was finally revealed and definitely didn’t guess the identity of the person who pushed the victim over the balcony.
This is a unique crime thriller that well and truly had be hooked.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

For my full review, please visit my blog.

The Push definitely made it onto my list of favorites of 2020, even though I probably won't be able to re-read it for a couple years. Now that I know what happened, I feel like I need to give myself a break until I can kinda sorta forget what happened and who did it.

Luckily, this book had several twists, because that helped it's not being horribly predictable. Right when I thought I knew what was going on, and even who died, something would twist and I'd be confused again. This confusion made me stick with the book, because I HAD to know what happened!

My favorite parts of the book were when Jax was narrating. She was so relatable, and I didn't feel like throwing a vase at her. Jax definitely made mistakes, especially in her relationship with her partner, Aaron, but she didn't let herself wallow in self-pity for long. She made her bed, and she was determined to lay in it and make it work.

Monica drove me crazy. You'll see what I mean when you read the book. She is a little bonkers, and determined to be perfect at everything, even though she's anything but perfect. She's all about how things look on the outside, even when the inside is a dumpster fire.

A reunion party celebrating six couples from a baby group should have been a happy occasion. But nothing goes according to plan ... some are celebrating, and others are filled with sorrow. Then someone falls from the balcony of the luxurious house where the party is held. The investigation into the fall that results in a group member's death reveals secret after secret and has the police asking if this "fall" was an accident.

The lead investigator, Alison Hegarty, has a nightmare case. A large number of potential suspects, and every one of them is hiding something. With the alternating POVs, you learn a good bit about all of the couples as the investigation unfolds. The list of possible suspects doesn't narrow quickly due to so many in the group being so evasive about what actually happened at the party and the events leading up to it. Interestingly, you aren't even sure who fell to their death until the middle of the book. The Push kept me engaged in the book with the "whodunit" aspect, the mystery around who the victim is, and the plot twists (some predictable, some not as much so).

I would have enjoyed The Push more if the characters were more likable. The majority of the characters are lying to their partners, the group, and the police. Because there's so much depth given to each character's backstory, you learn a lot about each one. I found myself not always caring about the individual characters because they were unlikable. Many of the characters were examples of what could go wrong during the happy, but potentially stressful, time of pregnancy and adoption. So, maybe that was the author's intent? Regardless, I commend the author for using the story as a vehicle to share a more realistic view of pregnancy and its challenges.

Overall, with its interesting plot and fast-paced writing, The Push is an enjoyable read -- more of a mystery than a thriller.
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Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the early copy of The Push. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.⁣

The storyline of this novel was interesting, and I loved the lead detective, Alison Heggarty, but I felt the pacing was wrong - too drawn out - and this made it easy to see the two major plot twists (Aaron’s parentage and Chloe’s real relationship) and therefore solve the mystery.

All in all, a good character-driven novel, but just too slow for me.

DS Alison Hegarty has a problem on her hands- who pushed someone off a balcony during what was meant to be a celebratory barbecue. You won't know who was killed until about half way through the book, by which point you might have decided to give up because, let's face it- most of these characters are unappealing. There were six couples at the party, all of whom have a story- and secrets. This moves between them and Alison and it goes back and forth in time as well. To be honest, this might have been better with fewer characters; it certainly would have made it easier to keep track of who goes with who etc. That said, I found myself engaged and turning the pages. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'd like to see more featuring Alison.

I found this one a bit tough reading, it wasn't the style or plot but the subject matter, very intense. Perhaps needs a trigger warning.

A real page turner that kept me reading until the small hours. At the start we know something terrible has happened at the post-birth meetup of a baby group, but we don’t know what or to whom. Really well plotted and lots to keep you guessing here, and I very much enjoyed it.

Six couples join a baby group to learn about what to expect and get together for a party once their newborns enter the world. Unfortunately, something goes terribly wrong at the party and DS Alison and her partner are left wondering if it was an accidental fall or if it was a murder.

Told in many different points of views from past to present, this domestic thriller is easy to read and keeps your attention. I did find it a little confusing with all the different people to follow along and really didn't find many characters likeable. Maybe because I'm not a mother, I didn't find it relatable, but I did enjoy the drama filled environment McGowan presented. I liked the suspense of not knowing who was involved in the accident, and liked how it ended, even if it was a little predictable.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

6 couples from diverse backgrounds join an antenatal group. They meet to see the babies a few weeks after the last group meeting, at the poshest member of the group’s mansion. Someone dies. Did they fall, or were they pushed? In this story, we time jump from weeks before the births, to weeks after, from multiple different character points of view. The reader is finding out who died and how it came to be.

What this story did well: The author had a lot of characters at play, but she was quite good at reminding you who was who. The 6 couples at an antenatal group gone wrong was an intriguing premise. I enjoy the multiple points of view.

Why I gave it 3 stars: I didn’t particularly like or relate to any of the characters. They were all sort of awful humans in some way or another. I wasn’t invested in their fates. The big reveal(s) were easily worked out well beforehand.

My opinion could be completely different from your experience, should you choose to read this book. Don’t let me discourage you!

Thank you to Claire McGowan, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to review.

The Push by Claire McGowan is a suspense thriller which starts off at a party, and one of the guests is dead. An antenatal group which meets at the local hall includes six couples getting ready for their newborn babies all due around the same time. The six couples could not be more different, socially, financially, the only thing that ties them together are the babies. When the babies are born, wealthy group member, Monica, decides to have a BBQ to show off their newborn and their elaborate McMansion, while keeping their teenage daughter behind the scenes. Monica plans everything so its just perfect, but when the group starts to spiral, someone falls from the balcony plunging to their death. Step in DS Alison Hegarty, herself struggling with her own infertility, as she begins her investigation with the members of the group, she is convinced this was not an accident. The secrets every one of these new parents hides are about to be exposed, whether or not they like it. Someone knew these secrets before the party began, and as the story unfolds, the truth will come out for each one of them, but is it enough for one of them to commit murder?

If you are a fan of Big Little Lies, you will really enjoy this novel. The story unfolds from the ending, so you know where you are headed, just not sure how you will get there. You find out about halfway through who the victim is, and I had an idea about who did it and why, but I was still surprised by the twist at the end, so keep reading. The characters secrets were all pretty interesting and a little coincidental they all end up in the same group, but it worked. Most of the characters were like able, the chapters go back and forth and Jax seems to stand out as the main character. Jax is one of the older mothers-to-be, with a very young boyfriend that is the father of her child. He past is one of many secrets it seems she would like to keep hidden, until someone is obviously out to get her, causing her to step back from her job at a charity. The other characters touch all types of secrets, addictions, affairs, overseas adoptions, and then there is Monica, who isn’t really likable at all. Shows you money can’t buy you everything. The novel comes together nicely, with a very surprising whodunnit at the end.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer Publishing and Claire McGowen for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was the first book I read from Ms. McGowen and I really enjoyed her writing style.

Each of the six couples who bring their young babies to the party become potential murder suspects and we must not forget the teenager as another potential suspect.
This story introduces us to the six couples, their babies and their families, jobs and individual quirks. At one stage or another, every single one of them becomes the prime suspect, only for the writer to introduce more information (investigated by the detective sergeant who cannot have children) to further complicate matters.
Most of the couples have a reason for being involved and mostly it includes something to do with having kids, adopting kids or losing kids.
The story takes us back in time as the build up to the party. It's only later the reader realises it served them with several clues which led to the death being investigated. Telling the story from the viewpoint of a different character every chapter didn't confuse the story, but added to the tension. We get to see how the newborns and the potential for new kids changes people's lives.
This is a most enjoyable read, it flows easily and kept me wanting to turn the pages. I'll go check out this writer's other books as she was new to me. I hope to continue to be impressed.