Member Reviews
Thank you to netgalley.com for the ARC.
This was a page turner thriller. Set in England with a woman who on paper has the perfect life, but in reality has a history of insecurity, parental loss, and infertility. All these factors come into play throughout the story.
While I sort of figured out the twist ahead of time, it was still a good story and fun to read.
Overwrought thriller full of unlikeable characters. And all the unlikeable characters make endlessly baffling, terrible decisions.
Took me a bit to get into this since the plot moved quite slowly. Characters are somewhat unlikeable so it was difficult to become invested in their outcome. I did stay with it until the end to find out where the author was going with the storyline.
A little bit too convoluted and slow… then the last 25% hits you like a ton of bricks. Pacing issues aside, this was an enjoyable read. Perhaps a middling thriller/mystery, but enjoyable none the less. It stands to be seen if this one will be memorable enough to remember in another few months.
This one delivered on the suspense.
'Greenwich Park' begins with a letter to Helen, the main character, written by someone who has done her wrong and seeks to explain themselves. We don't know who the letter-writer is, because then the action flashes back to about a year earlier, and a complicated story gradually unfolds involving the complicated past of Helen, her husband Daniel, her brother Rory and his wife Serena, a past stretching all the way back to their days together at Cambridge.
Helen and her sister-in-law, Serena are both pregnant, expecting babies within weeks of each other and Helen has plans for them to attend the same pre-natal class. When Serena and her brother fail to show up for class, as well as her own husband, Daniel, Helen meets the enigmatic Rachel, a young woman who inexplicably attaches herself to Helen and thereafter seems to just ... keep showing up. Everywhere.
The mystery of who Rachel is, and what she may have to do with the two couples unfurls slowly, revealing things about them all that Helen didn't know. What made this a good suspense read for me was the realization that much of the "action" was happening in Helen's imagination. While there were definitely the usual strange discoveries and secrets and surprises that are every suspense novel's stock in trade, for much of the book these were relatively subtle until finally the big climactic moment. And once that moment comes, though I should have been expecting it, I did not.
Finally, I think this author did a great job of using imagery. Not so much so that the book leaned into the realm of literary, but just enough that it avoided being campy, the way some domestic suspense books can be. The writing was stellar, and the characters layered and believable. Even the hapless, Helen, who from the very first chapter reveals herself to be somewhat self-delusional, manages to remain sympathetic and never veers toward pathetic.
I liked this one a lot. Great upmarket domestic suspense, with just enough to keep you guessing till the very end. Recommended.
My rating:⭑⭑⭑⭑
Greenwich Park is a story with a lot going on. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the way it was told. I liked the ideas, but the delivery fell short at times. There are multiple storylines at play, and I found each one twisty, revealing more and more. This novel is packed with drama and unreliable narrators that sometimes add layers to the plot.
I’m looking forward to more from Katherine Faulkner.
Wow, very impressed by this book! I prefer reviews that are not plot synopses, so I'd just like to say that this is a mystery, thriller, and domestic suspense novel all rolled into one, and has surprises at the end, which I loved. if you're an avid reader of thrillers, sometimes figuring out the twists will not be too difficult, but I didn't see some of these surprises until the author made her final reveals. Great plotting and use of red herrings to lead us down a merry trail only to have the truth jump out at the end! Heartily recommend this for those who love thrillers. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.
This book was not for me. I have been trying for months to get into it but I couldn't get past the fifth chapter.
Very twisty, original thriller. There were enough curveballs and red herrings to keep it interesting, and the ending was VERY satisfying. Although some scenes and descriptions were a little longer or more detailed than necessary , overall this is a fast-paced read. Highly recommend.
I really liked the Slow Burn! What initially drew me in was the cover, but I thought it was really well plotted and there was payoff there. I didn’t quite see the comparison to girl on the train but I think that’s over used. I would say the decision to tell the story based on how many weeks pregnant the protagonist was was an interesting choice but it was one that worked for me. This was very entertaining and atmospheric- reminiscent of my favorite author, Lisa Jewell!
I seriously loved this book because I thrive on drama... but only when it’s fictional! This was my first book from Katherine Faulkner - not sure if it's a debut - but it will absolutely not be my last!
Greenwich Park was exactly the book I needed at exactly the right time. I’ve been struggling with my reading over the past month or so. So I decided a thriller that I could get lost in was just the ticket. And this fit that bill! It’s not necessarily a book that I will remember forever and ever, but it’s one that I was able to get lost in for a few hours. None of the characters were especially likeable and I feel that there were just a few too many characters in general, but the plot kept me engaged throughout.
I honestly couldn’t get past 60 pages of this book. It was pages and pages of descriptions and the story was going nowhere.
Rachel and Helen meet on their first day of prenatal class. Rachel is an odd duck that doesn't seem to dial down her louder-than-life personality or her drinking, despite her pregnancy.
Helen is wealthy, refined, and intensely lonely. Although Rachel is not the BEST option for friendship, she seems to be the only one with time for Helen at this stage in her life.
These aren't the only two viewpoints the reader experiences, though, because we also have Serena's perspective, Helen's sister-in-law.
The problem is that Rachel is so unsettling that Helen is starting to wonder if she is worth the trouble.
This month, it may have been the repetition with Just One Look, but the unreliable narrator due to alcohol/drug consumption feels like a tired thriller trope.
Faulkner also includes many details that seem to echo her investigative journalism background. In the courtroom scenes, for example, it shines. However, in other aspects, like plot setup or details of their room, it slowed down the pace.
Greenwich Park had a promising start with solid characters and the perfect backdrop but lost its pace as you hit the middle and end of this cat-and-mouse game.
Billed as the next The Girl on the Train, it did deliver on a binge-worthy popcorn thriller with a great audiobook narrator. The oh-so-strange Rachel is what held my intrigue, and the ending provided a satisfying twist. This won't change your life, but it was an excellent palate cleanser between heavier reads.
Trigger warnings- Pregnancy and infant loss, rape.
This was an amazing debut thriller! It kept me in the edge of my seat and guessing most of the time. I really felt for Helen and the stuff she was going through. Can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!
I have been reading quite a few debuts in the last few months, and another standout for me has been Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner. This was a bit of a slow burn, but I enjoyed every second of it and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the twist and how it ended. I also really enjoyed the element of female friendships, but as far as likable characters go there are not many. I loved Helen's friend Katie who is also a viewpoint in the book, but everyone else including Helen tended to get on my nerves. This in no way affected my rating of the book, but I thought it would be helpful to point out since not all readers love stories filled with unlikable characters. I loved finding out that Faulkner is an investigative reporter, and I thought that really shone through in her portrayal of Katie.
I thought Faulkner made some really fun choices in the layout of the book, and I loved that it was broken up into how many weeks of her pregnancy Helen was at. This is the first time I have seen that layout, and I thought it was very unique and a nice change of pace. I also happened to love the audiobook which is narrated by Laura Kirman. I thought she did such a great job bringing the different characters to life, and I was happy to see she is going to be narrating several more audiobooks I plan to listen to. I definitely could have listened to this straight through and the audio is only a little over 10 hours, so it goes by pretty quickly. The only thing that I didn't really like was the extent of detail the last chapter goes into. I didn't need the author to explain every little thing that happened, but I did appreciate the closure and I think a lot of readers will like it. There was one part that I really loved though, and it was the perfect end to Greenwich Park. I felt like I was right there in the home and the book, and there was an atmospheric quality that I loved. I've seen many readers liken this to a Lisa Jewell novel and I am certainly inclined to agree.
Thank you to the publishers for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I received an eARC of Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner from Gallery Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
5 stars! I absolutely adored this book! Everything I expect in a thriller was flawlessly crafted by Katherine Faulkner in this fantastic read! I look forward to reading her books in the future! Highly recommend!
Greenwich Park is an engaging domestic thriller about a pregnant woman named Helen who befriends a woman named Rachel at her prenatal class. As the story unfolds, we learn that Rachel is not necessarily who she has led Helen to believe she is… or that she is not there for the circumstances she had Helen believe. Rachel’s ties to Helen’s past lead everyone down a dangerous, twisting path where decades-old secrets will finally come to light in order to figure out who Rachel is and why she’s really there.
What happens when you meet a new friend at a prenatal class? The two of you are going through the same exciting things so it is kismet right? Not so fast... I loved this thriller by newcomer Katherine Faulker. I will admit at times it started slow but man was it incredible.
Big thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy.
I was very excited to read this book—that cover!—and it satisfied up to a point. Somewhere after the halfway point (when a major twist happens, you’ll know the one) the story just went a little south. It doesn’t help all the characters here are connected in labored and precarious ways; keeping up with them all and their relationships with each other was a bit confusing at times.
I also found the author would occasionally switch from present to past tense seemingly at random (or, at least, it wasn’t done effectively) and it was really jarring. An editor really should have cleaned that up.
Still, this is a worthy, twisty domestic thriller for those who like this sort of thing. I promise you won’t see all the revelations coming. A fine read.