The Housewife by Alex Kane
Release Date March 17, 2021

Even perfect mothers have secrets…


WOW! This is one bad ass book that is beyond brilliant. What a blurb but the book, oh the book is PERFECT! I honestly do not know what I can even say that will tell you how wonderful the authors writing is. There are three main characters in this novel. Leah, Annie, and Terry all have something that they want to keep……a secret. Can they keep what they took so long ago? You will feel as though you are in the room next to these characters they are so developed. This is one book you NEED to read NOW!


5 +++++ stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Fun mystery/thriller. Good weekend read.

Alex Kane has done it again . An upputdownanble gripping gritty underworld crime book that had me hooked from beginning till the end . The story line was really good and it all flowed easily and came together perectly . I have read a few of Alex Lane books and every one of them has been brilliant . I can't wait to read my next one

The Housewife by Alex Kane was another excellent book. I was hooked within the first few pages, and it totally grabbed me from start to finish but then again I always am when I read her books. Plus, what a brilliant start to this latest book. Three Gruesome Murders within the first few Chapters! WoW..........another fantastic gangster book.

I highly recommend this book and all her books! Brilliant!

Big Thank you to Hera Books and NetGalley for the copy of the book

A gritty gangland thriller, The Housewife is the latest must-read page turner from Alex Kane.

Nobody looking at Leah would guess that the perfect wife and mother has got a whole closet full of skeletons. With an adorable ten year old boy and a doting husband, Leah is like the poster child for a woman who has it all. However, the head of the PTA lives in constant fear that somebody will discover the truth about her past. Leah has gone to great lengths to bury her secrets and nothing and nobody is going to come between her and the life she has worked so hard to build. However, Leah is about to learn that no matter how far you go, your secrets will always find you…

Annie is not your typical gangster’s moll. She has never subscribed to the mantra that she has to be the little woman who does as she’s told and lets the big boys dictate what she can and cannot do. Not afraid to get her hands dirty and to play the men at their own game, Annie is a woman who seems to be fully in control. But what nobody knows is that Annie is a woman also haunted by a devastating secret that if uncovered could end up ruining everything she has worked so hard to build.

Terry is the king of Glasgow gangland and the ruler of all he surveys. Terry has pulled himself up from his bootstraps and worked hard to leave the estate he grew up in behind. Dodgy dealings running the gamut from guns to drugs have made Terry rich beyond his wildest dreams. But the king of the underworld always wants more and no amount of money is enough for him. There is nothing Terry won’t do to continue building his empire as nothing is off-limits for him. Terry is not a man given to weakness or temptation – although he finds it next to impossible to resist any beautiful woman who crosses his path…

When the three of them collide in the most surprising and unexpected of ways, the stakes for Leah, Annie and Terry have never been higher. With everything to lose and the whole world to play for, the only certainty the three of them can bank on is that their lives will be changed forever. Will any one of them emerge unscathed? Or will their whole world come crashing down around their ears?

Alex Kane certainly knows how to build up danger, tension and suspense and she does it brilliantly in her twisty new novel, The Housewife. A shocking gangland thriller that will chill readers to the bone, The Housewife is a spine-tingling tale of dangerous secrets, devastating betrayals and desperate decisions packed with adrenaline and menace that will leave readers breathless. Alex Kane’s characters are larger than life, beautifully drawn and so vivid and nuanced readers will certainly not forget them in a hurry.

Gangland thriller fans looking for their next favourite author – look no further than Alex Kane!

It's always a good day when you have a new Alex Kane to read, isn't it?! I've read everything from this author and I read this in more or less one sitting hence the need for the matchsticks that I needed the next day to keep my eyes open. #TheHousewife is set in a rather rough and ready scheme called Mainshill estate in Glasgow. I knew schemes exactly like Mainshill in the late 80's and 90's, they were chock full of drugs (and yes drugs were sold from the ice cream vans), gangs with a good peppering of murder and violence, thankfully most have changed for the better.

The Mainshill estate is ruled by Terry Reid aka The Bossman alongside his driver and trusted sidekick, Ritchie Jackson. There's no drugs. guns or people trafficked on the streets of the scheme without those two having their sticky little mitts somewhere along the food chain, let's not be fooled into thinking he's just some tin pot gangster, Terry owns casinos and clubs along with several other legal and not so legal businesses. The Bossman doesn't share when he finds out that a rival has been getting up close and personal with one of his most prized "possessions" retribution needs to be done brutally and swiftly.

Annie Wicks is sitting in the pub knocking back the vodka being watched by Terry, catches his eye and sparks fly between them and before we know it she's turned into Griselda Blanco Restrepo aka the Black Widow, a Columbian Cocaine Medellin Cartel. Ritchie isn't happy that Annie seems to have gotten under Terrys skin and has been brought into the fold to the extant that she has.

As always I'm impatiently awaiting the next book, fingers crossed it's not too long of a wait. I'm a big fan of the short chapters that lull you into a gentle rhythm of thinking that you'll only read one more chapter, yeah right. #TheHousewife is chock-a-block full of twists, turns, secrets and lies, everyone has something that they are hiding, something that could cost them dearly, Alex Kane is fast climbing up my list of favourite authors in this particular genre and I think that there's a few successful authors who should be looking over their shoulders and taking note. If you read Martina Cole, Mandasue Heller and Emma Tallon these books will tick all the right boxes.

Read for an honest review. Thank you to Alex Kane, #Netgalley and Hera Books

P.S. I sat for over 5 hours working on this review & then my battery chucked it and deleted it, some days I could really throw my toys out of the pram.

What a gripping book, I couldn't put it down.

Set in Scotland The Mainhill estate is notorious for crime. Terry Reid is the gangland boss who nearly everybody works for and has his fingers in many pies. His right-hand man is Ritchie the pair go back a long way and their trust is 100%.
Whilst sitting in one of his many bars Terry meets a beautiful lady Annie, he is immediately smitten by her but Ritchie is suspicious of her and doesn't give her the same welcome, which causes conflict.

We also meet Leah who is the complete opposite of the other characters, she runs a jewelry business and is head of the PTA at her son Samuel's school, she is married to Thomas but she has a major secret that even her husband knows nothing about.

This book is full of twists and turns lies and deceit. The characters are great and likeable, the setting is well described so you can imagine where you are reading about helping you enjoy the book even more.
It's a cracking gangland book with some vicious moments.
Well done Alex Kane for writing such a brilliant and enjoyable book, you're a very clever lady.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this excellent book xx

This is a fast read, full of characters and a complex plot, lies and twists will be waiting for you on every corner, ready?
Every family has their own secrets, it doesn’t matter how perfect we are for the outsiders, there are always some skeletons to hide, and Leah is not an exception. She can be the perfect mother/housewife but I don’t think you’ll want to know her secret life; gangsters, drugs, money… the perfect scenario to keep the reader turning pages, believe me.
The story is centered in 3 characters; Leah, Annie and Terry. Their worlds will collide changing their fates forever because in the world of gangsters you never know who are your allies and your enemies.
I don’t normally read gangster stories, but it was easy to enter this book, the characters felt real and Glasgow has always been a grey city for me, so it was easy to see all the action in my mind, like it was real.
This is an interesting and well-plotted story, addictive and real.
Are you ready to meet “The Housewife”?

What a fantastic prologue! If that doesn’t get you hooked, let alone intrigued, I don’t know what will!!!! Jeez Louise!!!!! This fast paced read kidnapped my mind and imagination for a few evenings; a welcome tonic to help escape the shackles of the lockdown world.

Now Kane has a knack of creating a formidable cast in her books, particularly when it comes to the female of the species. The Housewife delivers this as I would expect! Annie’s a feisty woman! A chance meeting opens a door to a new very dark and dangerous world and Annie is loving this new world. She is one helluva woman, embracing the world her new beau resides in and it’s not just for the money he has in the bank.

In contrast, we have the lovely motherly Leah. But Leah has secrets. I was so intrigued by Leah. Who was she hiding from? What was she hiding? Her story made me think throughout and I did worry was this seemingly perfect woman!

The Housewife is definitely the grittiest but the most emotional book I’ve read from Kane. The various story threads intertwined like no other. I was totally blindsided as to where I was going with this. Another cracking standalone read from Alex Kane! If you haven’t tried her books and you fancy something gritty and gripping, you can’t go wrong with The Housewife.

I picked up The Housewife by Alex Kane with high expectations as every single book she has written has been a five star read for me. This book is no different! In fact if we could give 6 stars I would!
Set in Mainshill Estate in Glasgow and focusing on three main characters and some lesser ones we are thrown into the action immediately with the prologue of his story. We are introduced to Terry Reid a vicious Glasgow gangster who will spare no-one who crosses him and Annie who has walked away from her life and right into the life of being the girlfriend of Terry.
Leah, is a mother who has a secret that she is desperate to keep hidden from her son and husband as her world would be destroyed. These three are on a collision course that will alter their lives forever.
A really gritty, whirlwind of a ride from start to finish. One that has your heart hammering in your throat. Alex Kane is not afraid to bring the violent world of a gangster to her books and doesn't shy away from the violence that we all know does happen. Her descriptions of Mainshill Estate and the people on there are rooted in reality. The desperation, poverty and spiraling into drink and drugs as a way to escape the hopelessness is there for all to see.
A gangland crime thriller that is at it's best. One that keeps you reading with the drama and danger over every page. With enough double-crosses, murders and the testing of loyalties packed in to keep anyone busy for a few hours!
Thank you to Sarah from Books On The Bright Side Publicity, Hera Books and NetGalley for the copy of the book.

The Housewife by Alex Kane

Twisted twisty tale of gangland violence, love, and betrayal with secrets and lies and surprises for more than one in this story I was gripped by from beginning to end. The story takes place over a ten-year span and flips between the past and present. This is not one of my favorite ways to have a story told but, in this case, it made for riveting reading.

What I liked:
* The dark gritty reality of the characters in the story.
* Knowing that this way of life is all too real for many.
* The unpredictability of it all.
* Not knowing who to trust…if anyone.
* Wondering if anyone would come out okay in the end.
* The writing, plot and ultimate outcome.
* Being invested in the story.
* Wondering about the backstories of some of the characters.
* It made me think and care.
* Knowing that I have never and will never be in a story like this one…except when I read one.

What I didn’t like:
* Knowing that children are born into lives like some in this book and the choices they make or are pushed into making.
* The people that I was meant not to like.
* Knowing that there will probably never be a time without gangsters, drug dealers, murderers and all the rest.

Did I enjoy this story? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

This is another superb read by this author. I’m not going to go into the storyline as the blurb gives you enough of a tease. I will say this is a well written story that had me on the edge of my seat. It sucks you in from the start.

I pretty much read this in one evening. I just couldn’t put it down. It’s one of those ‘just one more chapter’ stories. Can’t wait to read more from this author.

If your looking for gangland thrillers then I highly recommend this story.

5☆ An Unputdownable,  Gritty and Suspenseful Gang-Lit Thriller!

Wow what a start to a book. Three Gruesome Murders within the first few Chapters!

The Housewife is a gritty read full of secrets, dangerous liaisons and twists galore and it hooks you in from the very start.

There's so much going on with this book, so many juicy twists and character plots they weave together seamlessly.
I'm not going to go into the plot for risk of spoiling it but what I will say is this book is set around several characters stories each story complex, dangerous and Thrilling, you can't help become embroiled in the underbelly of their lives.

Kane is one of my favourite Gang-Lit Authors and she never disappoints. Her books are always exceptional, Highly Compelling, Gritty and Suspenseful.
The Housewife was an unputdownable read and if you adore Gang-Lit Thrillers, then I highly recommend you grab a Copt ASAP!

I have been a fan of Alex’s work for a little while now. In fact I have been a fan ever since she released her first book called ‘No Looking Back’ in 2019. Since then I have read, reviewed and loved each and every book that she has released. I read the synopsis for ‘The Housewife’ and it certainly sounded like the gritty, dark and fast paced story I have come to expect from Alex. I wasn’t to be disappointed because I absolutely loved ‘The Housewife’ but more about that in a bit.
It took me next to no time to get into this book. In fact I was drawn into the story from the moment I clapped eyes on the cover and read the synopsis. As soon as I started to read, that was it. I knew that I would be unable to put this book down at all. It was as if the book had developed a hold over me and it was a hold that I wasn’t willing to break. My Kindle wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I was intrigued by the characters and by the storylines and I had to keep reading to see what happened. I finished reading ‘The Housewife’ within a single day, which is pretty good for me.
‘The Housewife’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Alex Kane. She certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draws you into what proves to be a compelling read. ‘The Housewife’ hits the ground running and maintains a fast pace throughout. Reading ‘The Housewife’ felt like being on one hell of a scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way. I found ‘The Housewife’ to be a gritty, scary and gripping read, which kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Housewife’ and I would recommend this book to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Alex’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

My first book by Alex Kane - and I sincerely hope it's not my last!

Leah is the perfect mum, wife and head of the PTA. On the surface a fine, upstanding member of the community - but her closet is stacked with skeletons. Annie is a gangster's moll and one who is happy to work and play in his world, even to the extent of getting her hands dirty - but she has a secret eating away at her. Terry is the gangster boss and rules his gangland with a rod of iron but every man has a weakness and his is women. As all their lives collide, expect fireworks . . .

Wow! This is one of those books that, just when you think you've got a grip on things, you turn the page and realise you really haven't. There is so much happening that my brain really didn't have space to ponder over events as I was too busy just keeping up. Glasgow is my local city which gave this one added bite for me. Great characters, expertly developed with a gripping storyline plus lots of threads twisted together made this a stimulating and vibrant read and, as I reached the final page, a very rewarding one too. Definitely recommended and easily earning all five sparkling stars!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley and to Sarah Hardy for my spot on this tour; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I really don't know what can be said about this book without giving anything away. What a superbly written, gripping read this turned out to be.
Where do these authors get their ideas. First class.

This isn't your typical gangland thriller, this is a gangland thriller with a twist.

Annie walks into the life of Terry, a hard man, a well known face in and around Glasgow, Terry has his hands in many pies. Terry pretty much falls for Annie right from the start to the contempt of his driver Richie. He is very much against this new relationship. Is he feeling a little left out or is it just because he's just ended one relationship suddenly.

Leah is married to Thomas and mother to Samuel. Her 10 year old son is her world. She will do anything for him, but Leah is keeping a secret and her perfect little world is about to come crashing down around her.

When worlds collide things can only go very wrong.

Addictive read.




Alex Kane is certainly making a name for herself in the Gangland Crime book world. Certainly an author to follow. If you haven't read any of her books I can thoroughly recommend them. Well worth reading.
This was certainly a book I struggled to put down, another one that as you get nearer then end you want to stop reading just so you can make it last a little longer, but you are too far into this read that it's impossible to slow down or put it down.

The Housewife is a gritty, compelling gangland thriller by the wonderful Alex Kane, who never fails to deliver a truly addictive novel.

The story begins with the chilling scene of a woman being buried alive by an unknown perpetrator. She attempts to escape, but the man is able to catch up with her easily and she quickly realises that she is not getting out of this alive.

Then we meet Terry Reid, he is the head of Glasgow’s most notorious gangsters. When Terry meets Annie there is no denying the immediate attraction between them, however Annie has her own secrets hidden away.

And then there is Leah, mother to ten year old Samuel and a devoted, loving wife to Thomas. When events from her past start catching up with her she realises that it is not only her life that is now at risk, it is also endangering the life of her family. When all of this complex characters are brought together, you know there are going to be some troubling times ahead.

This book was so incredibly addictive from the very beginning. I love the authors writing style and the ways in which they brought the setting to life so vividly in my mind. The characters were well developed and unique, each of them sharing their own stories which added to the thrill of this fascinating novel. Each character we encounter throughout this book has their own individual personalities alongside their obvious flaws, which in turn makes them more realistic to the reader.

The storyline itself was intricate and perfectly structured, adding the ideal amount of tension and suspense as the story begins to unfold. I found this book so incredibly captivating, and it was impossible to put this story down. Gritty, dark and thrilling to the end, this is the perfect thriller.

The Housewife is the latest standalone gangland thriller from Alex Kane, set in and around the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The prologue begins with an unidentified woman being buried alive by an anonymous perpetrator. She manages to make a run for it but he is onto her before she can get away. She realises she's a dead woman. He is determined to make her pay for her past sins. Meanwhile, Terry Reid, aka The Bossman, the most notorious, feared gangster in Glasgow is on the rampage and hellbent on avenging those who have done him wrong in the past. Alongside him his trusted driver, business partner and confidant Richie Jackson, Terry had tracked down drug dealing rival Frankie Conway who was out for a stroll with his bodyguard on a warm Sunday morning near to Govanhill park. Terry shoots him three times in the head before turning the gun on his minder. Frankie had gotten involved with Terry’s fiancee, Kora Anderson, when he had been out of the country and it was all caught on CCTV from Terry’s nightclub. Kora had it all as Terry's significant other: a stunning, sprawling mansion with a pool and all of the luxury designer clothing, bags and shoes a lady could want, so it was killing Terry to know she had been sleeping around behind his back, but the fact that it was with his sworn enemy made it even more unbearable. Elsewhere, the Whitelaw family - 22-year-old Lee, 16-year-old Maisie and Freddie - have grown up on the dangerous Mainhill Estate with their heroin addict parents Rosie and Cammy. Maisie has just discovered she's pregnant by 20-year-old Galzo, but Terry is in no mood for compassion, that's if he's even capable of feeling empathy, and believes it's high time their debts were paid. Meanwhile, Leah Martin, mum to 10-year-old Samuel and wife to Thomas, is on a night out at The Balness Inn pub.

She makes a drunken confession in front of the group of friends she was playing a game of Never Have I Ever... with. She admits she's dabbled in drugs, specifically speed, and this shocks her girlfriends. Leah can't shake the feeling someone is watching her in the pub. The drugs admittal leads to an even bigger, more deadly shocking secret. She claims to have stolen £20,000 and the owner of that money wants it back. Elsewhere, 32-year-old Annie Wicks is knocking back vodka when a mysterious stranger, who claims to own the place, begins to talk to her. It's Terry. They're both instantly attracted to one another and he asks her back to his place along with his friends to continue the merriment after sharing a kiss in the bar. Each of these people has dark, sinister secrets that are ready to send them to hell in a handbasket, so who will survive the cull? This is a scintillating and enthralling read right from the start with plenty of exciting developments and a real feeling of being caught up in Terry's thirst for revenge. It's gritty gangland crime at its best and with several equally interesting plot threads, you find once you've picked it up there's no putting down. It's a story full of intense drama with imminent danger seemingly lurking around every corner. There's an endless array of tested loyalties, betrayals, murder, double-crosses, alliances and shifting allegiances and there is violence and tension as the plot races along barely giving you a moment to breathe; for the majority of the time my heart was simply pounding, and I noticed myself turning the pages more and more rapidly and anxiously. A cracking, fast-paced gangland crime thriller with a palpably tense atmosphere, an action-packed plot and the setting of the Estate which draws you in instantly. More please, Alex!

Wow what a read. If you like the gangster crime genre then this is the book for you. Terry Reid runs Mainhill and takes no prisoners. One day Annie walks into his pub and into his life. In the blink of an eye Annie is a gangsters moll and living this complicated life with Terry. Annie is hiding something from Terry. Will she ever feel comfortable enough to tell Terry about her hidden past. Gripped from page one this is a fab read and I give it five stars.

Last September I was delighted to be given to read an advanced review copy of The Angels and so you can understand my excitement when I heard about the release of The Housewife and Alex Kane did niot disappoint me and has continued to write amazing, strong, emotive characters that once alive come alive from the pages of the book and settle in your head and become meshed into your thoughts.
2021 certainly seems to be the year of the Scottish crime books as this is the third one I have read in 2021 that has been based in Scotland and each one of them has been brilliant.
Alex Kane is becoming another household name in the world of gangland crime fiction as her stories are always very detailed and bring real-life issues to the fore. It is a difficult to go into further details here as I do not want to give the plot away too much and there are a number of twists and turns that really keep you turning the page and once again the author has managed to bring us a story where you cannot wait to get to the next chapter and get to the end but also one that you never want to end and she has really tapped into this through the great character progression. Also the main characters are very strong males and females and it is great to see that mix of strong characters in both genres.
Personally there is very little I can fault with this book. I am not overly keen on the title or book cover but please don;t let my comments put you off.
Gritty gangland crime meets psychological thriller.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Hera Books and Alex Kane for providing me with an electronic advanced review copy of this book in return for a honest, unbiased review
#TheHousewife #NetGalley
The book is published on the Kindle on 17th March