This is an amazing and compelling book which had me in its thrall from the first page and I had to put life on hold to complete this in order to know the mystery surrounding Rachel, who gatecrashed into Helen’s life. Who is Rachel? Why's Helen bumping into her everywhere? Why does Rachel want to be friends with Helen? What’s her ulterior motives? Is she innocent as she appears?

This is the story of siblings Rory, Helen, and Charlie and their spouses/girlfriend Serena, Daniel, and Katie respectively. The first two couples ‘friendship goes back to the way past.

I found Helen gullible, lonely and vulnerable. She meets Rachel at prenatal class and this event spiraled life into chaos. She tries to keep her new friend at bay but Rachel infiltrated and is having a strong hold. Helen is daft too, otherwise who opens their life to a random stranger. I can’t help feeling sorry for her and at times wished she would wake up and smell the coffee.

OMG, everyone in this hiding something. It was fun to watch their secrets unravel and they scramble to cover them by making mistakes upon mistakes and being pulled deep into abyss.

Loved the whole book but the icing on the cake is the last chapter which amazed me how they were able to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. I was astonished at their machinations, talent in carrying out the whole scheme in the open while being appearing as innocents. I’ve relished this part just for these people’ sheer audacity.

Though this book is the debut for Faulkner, her writing prowess is evident in each chapter and the clever way she crafted the story. Though I had my suspicions on a particular character based on their demeanor but couldn’t guess the motives as Faulker constructed the plot tightly and didn’t give much away until the final brilliant twists.

This gives deep insight into how low people could stoop to, how ruthless they can be, unscrupulous to trample anyone on their paths, takes the manipulation to a whole new level.

Overall, I would highly recommend this slow burn and riveting thriller that keeps you at the edge of the seat.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the arc in return for an honest review.