I found this one really interesting. The story flowed well and kept my attention. I really enjoyed the writing style and the twists and turns. I’ll definitely be following this author to see what other ones they have written! I would recommend this one to a friend.

This is a gripping read filled with intrigue, espionage, and suspense. Berenson adds a different angle to a familiar trope. The title reflects the power dynamic between Brian and Rebecca. Both characters had me questioning who was going to have the final say in their relationship

I have to start with a big disclaimer. The author, Alex Berenson has some very specific views Covid and vaccines that I find harmful. I encourage you to read about this yourself.

The book has an interesting premise focusing on espionage and a kidnapping that brings to mind Taken. It's broken into three perspectives: Kira, the kidnapped daughter, Rebecca, her mother and FBI agent and Brian, her father and NSA coder. Kira's story was the highlight for me. Brian was kind of the worst and even the backstory made it hard to see how he and Rebecca lasted this long.

The plot is predictable and easy to follow, but also easy to figure out. The beginning and end are the strongest, while the middle, focused on Rebecca and Brian's relationship, slows down the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simone & Schuster Canada for the arc of The Power Couple.

3.5 /5 stars

The Power Couple is a thriller. This is my first book by this author.

The book is divided into 6 parts. Some of the story takes place in Washington (D.C), and some of it takes place in Spain (although there are other locations too).

The book starts off in a dual POV. We see Rebecca (the mom) and Kira (her 19 year old daughter). Both are 3rd person POVs.

The family goes on a European vacation and something happens to Kira. This is the main focus of the story.

There were definitely parts of this book that intrigued me a lot. I was fascinated by Rebecca's high profile job. And I was fascinated by Kira's story.

There were parts that were a bit less interesting (we got to see how Rebecca and her husband met).

Part 4 was a totally different 3rd person POV. And that really changed the story a lot. It was unexpected. But it was a revelation.

Overall, there were things that were riveting about this story. But also parts that moved much slower. And honestly the last part was not what I was expecting at all. But it was an enjoyable thriller.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the chance to read an advanced copy of The power couple by Alex Berenson. Rebecca and Brian Unsworth are The couple to be -- a great house, two great teenage kids, Rebecca works in counterterrorism for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Brian is a coder for the National Security Agency. It only gets better when Brian, develops and sells a highly profitable app. Their lives are perfect...on the outside...but Rebecca and Brian have drifted apart, so they take a family vacation, They have a blast…until one night in Barcelona when Kira doesn’t come home from a dance club. She’s gone. Abducted. Over the course of a single weekend, the Unsworths will do everything possible to find her—as Kira herself discovers just how far she’ll go to break free of the trap that’s been set for her. And even as Rebecca and Brian come together for Kira, they realize their marriage is more tenuous than they realized. This was one of those books where the beginning was great, it got you hooked into the story, the action was there...then the author back-tracks to the past. how Rebecca and Brian meet, marry...and the pacing slows down...I really just wanted to get back to Kira's story...the energy picks back up 2/3rds of the way through the book, and the ending was great, but it lost me for awhile. It's a solid 3 star book with an extra half star for the ending.

Rate 4 / A- (86%)

A fast pace and engaging political thriller.
Reading the book I was on every tension to find out what happened. But, the part where Brian is talking about the past, in the beginning, is a little boring but the end is very good. Rebecca is a very interesting character and I loved how she describing the relationship between Brian and children.

It’s the first time that I am reading Alex Berenson and I liked this book. A fast-paced and page-turner that will you guess what happened until the end with an awesome twist. It has some espionage in it and if you find that interesting you can give it try.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the ARC.

A surprising domestic thriller! I loved the premise of this book. It was so different than many books I have read. This will definitely be a book that I will recommend and praise highly.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for my e-copy of this book. I had never read anything from this author before and I went in with some pretty high hopes. The plot line sounded pretty fantastic.

A seemingly perfect couple and their teenage children head off to Europe to celebrate an anniversary. But one night, the eldest daughter is abducted from a night club and the parents must do everything in their power to get her back safely. The beginning of this book was extremely fast paced and kept me engaged and wanting to know more. The middle lagged a little bit for me because it went back in time to the beginning of Rebecca and Brian's (the power couple) relationship. It got a little wordy and not much was going on and I had to power through. I found the chapters from the daughter's perspective to be much more exciting.

There were a few twists but they were a little bit predictable and to be honest, I had most of the story figured out pretty early on. It was still a pretty good story over all and fans of a thriller will enjoy this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

A family vacation in Barcelona? And a teen kidnapping; that sounded terrific.

So, the first part of the book which was set in Barcelona was very good and looked promising. I enjoyed the story leading up to the kidnapping and Kira’s storyline.

Then the author chose to go back in time and tell both Brian and Rebecca’s dual storyline, known as the Power Couple. Through their family life and careers, we learn about their lies and shenanigans and how it could have set the motion for a kidnapping. However, that changed the fast pace of the book in a negative way for me.

Finally, we get back to Kira and the conclusion which came to be the thriller I had envisioned.

However, the second part of the book fid not keep my interest and I struggled to finish the book. I must add that I am not generally a reader of espionnage tales.

First for me from this Author.
Interesting with the espionage going on and the family dynamic. You have to keep reading to know what its all about. Kept me interested. And you do get the full feel of knowing the family.
3.5 stars

Thanks to the Author,the publisher,and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

This was a roller coaster of a read. My first novel by Alex Berenson and it did not disappoint. A tale of marriage told by each person giving it depth and really made you think about how what you believe about a person may not be as it seems. A bit of espionage and mystery weaves through the story to explode in the end. Great read!

Thank you netgalley for this arc

The Power Couple by Alex Berenson is the first novel that I have read from this author. It is, at its heart, a tale of espionage, although a large part of the story falls firmly in the genre of a domestic thriller.

Rebecca Unsworth works for the FBI in counterterrorism, and her husband Brian is a coder for the National Security Agency. By all outward appearances a successful couple, Rebecca and Brian treat their two teenaged children to a family holiday in Barcelona. Shortly after arrival, daughter Kira goes missing following a night out at a club, and her parents are left wondering if this is a targeted kidnapping given their positions with the US government, or if Kira has had the misfortune to fall in with the wrong people while asserting her independence from her family.

The first part of the narrative was, for me, very reminiscent of the film Taken, in a good way. But as the story progresses, we are drawn away from this engaging plotline in order to more fully explore the Unsworths' marriage, and the events that have preceded their Spanish holiday. While I found the bulk of the narrative to be mired in simply too much background information, I remained anxious and impatient to return to the kidnapping plot that initially drew me in, so as to discover Kira's ultimate fate. Overall, this is an intriguing premise, and one with enough twists to keep you turning the pages. 3.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC to read and review.

I have not read this author before and I was very pleased to received an ARC from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review.

Went in with such high hopes but the book is less about espionage and more about the "power couple" and their relationships: to each other, to the truth, to their family, to their work. Unfortunately, I did not like either character and, truthfully, came to hate one of them.

The teens in the book are different and much more likeable but take less narrative space than the parents. The story is described as "fast paced" and I would argue that there are some passages that are fast but overall the story moves quite slowly and with some repetitions.

Like many a story before it, I was hit by how American-centric the book is, highlighted by the way foreign police are always portrayed as either useless or a little Clouseau. When you are not from the USA, these things become more obvious, perhaps, and definitely more grating.

So would I recommend it? Would depend on the person, really, but overall it would be a no from me.

Thank you NetGalley & Simon Schuster for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest review.

The story starts in Spain where Brian & Rebecca Unsworth are vacationing for their Anniversary with their 2 children - Kira & Tony. The narrative is split between the couple and Kira, and jumps between past and present. The focus of the story is on Kira's kidnapping and the past that might have led them there. The book definitely kept me intrigued and it was a fairly quick read. It was filled with domestic challenges, espionage, and suspense, all things that I enjoy reading.

I was a little disappointed with the character development and the depth of the story. I didn't love the characters and I was rooting for neither Brian nor Rebecca.

Overall a quick read with great pace and suspense that left me wanting more.

“The Power Couple” is a look into a modern marriage and the challenges of parenthood, sex and love.

The main players are the Unsworth : Rebecca works in counter-terrorism for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Brian is a coder for the National Security Agency they live in a suburbs of Washington DC with their two teenage children. The story brings the family to Barcelona on a well-deserved holiday but things take an unexpected and frightening turn when Kira, the daughter, does not return home from a night out at a dance club....What happened to their daughter?....and from then on we follow the couple's quest in finding their daughter. What a gripping read filled with intrigue, espionage and suspense.

The author spins his story around and brings you back in time for both parents retelling how they came together. We see Rebecca as a young woman driven by her career and wanting all on her own term and a young man settling for years as a supporting husband to an overbearing wife. No wonder resentment was brewing....Along the way the power couple come face to face with some truths about their union they have been ignoring for a long time. Eventually their suspicions of each other turn into a secret plan to end the marriage....In the final chapter the drama ends in a splash.... This portion of the narrative has quite a bit of info dump and not much of a warm tone in the voices.

No doubt this is a fast-paced and captivating thriller I enjoyed quite a bit. Written to tease and keep you focused till you reach the last word. Indeed this glob-trotting adventure is one that kept me on my toes till the very end and along the way gave heart pounding and nail- biting moments....

As for the characters they have some flaws and borders on the stereotypes but this did not annoy me too much since I gave my full attention on the development.

This is an entertaining read.

When Rebecca and Brian and their two young adult kids Tony and Kira head for Europe to celebrate their parents’ 20th anniversary they could never have guessed that 19 year old Kira would not come home one night after meeting a guy in a bar.

By the next day, Kira still hasn’t returned to her family. Her parents, an FBI agent and an NSA coder / “hacker” are wanting to bring in the big guns for this investigation while the smaller police branches still wonder if the daughter just went home with a boy and will likely turn up.

Rebecca, the FBI agent, goes through, in her mind, the cases that she has been working on and if someone would want to hurt her daughter. None of it makes any sense.

The author gives the reader a good background on both Brian and Rebecca to help understand their particular dynamics. Rebecca has been accused of being overly dedicated to her job and not her family and Brian hasn’t really put forth any real effort to find a job that both satisfies him and helps to pay the bills.

The tension between the parents runs hot and cold and both wonder what the other is thinking about their relationship and if their partner is being faithful.

Giving the reader insights and history for the parents was a great character -building strategy. Tony, the brother, played a minor role and I found him much more difficult to build in my mind. Kira’s character reflected what I would expect of a 19 year old girl thrown into these situations.

Egos play a big part in The Power Couple and I enjoyed that there are 2 climaxes in this book.

Lastly, the pacing was moderate and kept me wanting to read more.

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonschusterca for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Power Couple is out February 9, 2021.

A truly engaging read that took me on a much wonder rider than I anticipated. What I enjoyed the most was the development of the characters along the way. I felt by the end that I never really knew them at all even though I’d witnessed so much and it was all down to their unpredictability. The plot was wonderfully done and though I guessed a couple of tiny things, overall it was surprising and an enjoyable ride. I’m not usually a reader of many thrillers or mysteries but this book held me hostage!

How well do you ever really know someone? You can’t know every little thing about them. Do you? Your neighbour. Your best friend. Your kids. Your husband. I’ll wager you don’t know them as well as you think you do. Alex Berenson, in ‘The Power Couple,’ to be published February 9, 2021, probes the possibility that of all relationships, spouses keep the most dangerous secrets.

This fast-paced and exceptionally written domestic thriller appeals to readers immediately; it’s an armchair journey through the sun-drenched streets of Catalonia, Spain and ends up in the aquamarine waters of St. Barts, French Caribbean. At this time in history, a chance to experience travel, though vicariously, is a welcome treat. Rebecca Unsworth is not someone you want to mess with; after all, she works for the FBI’s Counterterrorism Department and is the mother to two teenagers. She can sniff out when something’s gone awry and knows a cover-up better than anyone, just ask her teenagers. Her husband, Brian, is a coder for the National Security Agency and has developed a profitable app in his spare time. Having devoted himself to raising their children in their formative years, he thinks he knows them better than his career-driven wife. When they make time to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary as a family in Spain, their life suddenly becomes much more difficult. Their daughter, Kira, is kidnapped from a nightclub and both parents pull out all the stops in an effort to find her and secure her safety. Can their modern marriage withstand the pressure of a kidnapping? Who will fold first? Will the secrets remain hidden or will they come to light? Most importantly, is Kira found?

My heart pounded for the first third and the last third of this globe-trotting espionage adventure. The middle third is a necessary and important part of the novel, don’t allow yourself to skim pages. You’ll want to know the ‘why’ and you’ll miss it if you pass over the slightly humdrum life events. This is my first Berenson novel and I love how he sets up the storyline with a bang and then slows down to give you more information and then ramps it up at the end. He created refreshingly strong female characters; they were well developed and neither of them allowed the men in their lives to make them a victim. When it mattered most, Kira was composed, level-headed and clever. Her smart, edgy comebacks made me smile. She’s her mother’s daughter and she knows how to ‘work’ men. Rebecca didn’t get this far up the corporate ladder without knowing how to take charge and, although an ocean away from home, she flashes her badge and doesn’t let anyone push her around. Patrick Swayze said it best in ‘Dirty Dancing’ – “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” Rebecca may have put her career first, but she knows her daughter best and proves it.

If you love giving your heart a good workout, this is the read for you! A five-star, nail-biting, rollercoaster read.

Thank you to Alex Berenson, Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.