Wow, talk about twists and turns! My head is spinning!
This was such an awesome read! I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
Why would a nurse kill a guy in her care that she doesn't know from Adam? Why is she not telling her story? This is not a straightforward story. It is 1 with a lot of layers and just when you think you have it figured out the story is turned on its head again.
It's a story of love and loss; of manipulation and sacrifice. What will you do if you reach your breaking point?

A brilliant must-read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Rose Marlowe is a nurse in prison who has confessed to murder.
Whilst in prison, Rose allows journalist Theo Hazel to visit her to write his story/book.
Theo starts to uncover what really happened with Rose and her life story.
Well paced book and detailed enough to have you thinking and making your own mind up as to whether Rose is guilty or not, with some twists along the way.

“It’s amazing what people are capable of. You can’t go by what you see on the surface.”

Rose Marlowe is a hard working nurse, a loyal wife, and…a merciless killer? This is what she is claiming in this psychological thriller that explores the reasons why a nurse would want to take the life of an innocent patient in cold blood. Theo Hazel is a journalist convinced that there is more to Rose’s story than she let on during her trial. So he visits her behind bars, interviewing her and her close family and friends, hoping to unearth the truth of her story.

I am not even sure what it was about this book that turned me off. The subject matter was intriguing. The concept was good. But I found myself not really wanting to pick it back up and not empathizing with any of the characters. It was a bit far fetched for me and just had too many moving parts. I didn’t align with any of the characters, nor did I feel particularly bad for any of them. As I read I just kept thinking ugh just get to it already 😬. I read A LOT, and I know they can’t all be 5 star reads, but I always struggle leaving less than glowing reviews. I am nothing if not honest, though, so here we are.

Thank you to Netgalley, Canelo Publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nurse Rose is a dedicated nurse, much loved wife and studying to further career. This seems simple enough until you add imprisoned killer to the narrative.

Theo is a struggling journo who just can't let Rose's story go and decides to interview her.

This is an emotional wringer of a story, the end felt slightly rushed but it is a good read

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- A gripping psychological thriller indeed!

<b>PROS</b>
-- Well written and very readable.
-- Past and present merged seamlessly. As did the POV changes.
-- Well paced.
-- Captivating plot that kept me turning the pages.
-- Twists and turns.
-- Intriguing and well-developed characters.
-- Satisfying ending.

<b>CONS</b>
-- A little predictable. I figured out a lot of the "twists" from early on.
-- Theo and Rose's "romance" was a little weak in execution.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

A great read. Rose is a nurse and a self confessed murderer. Or is she? Theo, a writer, sets out to find out the truth. Is Rose a cold blooded killer? If not, why did she confess to a murder she didn't commit? Theo sets out to get to know Rose with the aim of writing a best selling novel that will prove her innocence-but is she innocent or just a good liar? A fabulous read.

Unfortunately I struggled to finish this book. It didn’t seem to hold my attention when I was reading it. I found it a hard slog and was somewhat disappointed with it.

Many thanks to netgalley and J A Corrigan for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

I would firstly like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly this book just didn't live up to it's hype. The beginning of the story drew me in immediately and had me hooked. I found myself very eager to see where the story would go next.
However the more I read, the more disappointed I got. For me, there were 3 parts to the story - part 1 was full of intrigue and promise; part 2 got slower and went off on a tangent; while part 3 was just so incredibly rushed.
I couldn't really make my mind up about how I felt about the characters, and the story just wasn't massively believeable.
This book has been getting some great reviews, so it might be worth a read for some, but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

“When you hear her story will you believe her?”

I was asking myself that all through the book. This was a captivating story that kept you guessing until the very end. And just when you thought you had it figured out, the author gave you another twist. I enjoyed the flashbacks to Rose’s younger life and learning about her past.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good written, intense psychological thriller.

Thank you NetGalley, Canelo & the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

When Rose Marlowe is found guilty of killing a patient, writer Theo Hazel thinks there is an interesting story to be told.

Thus begins the story of Nurse Rose Marlowe and why she killed a patient in her care, Abe Deane.

Rose was studying to become a pediatrician but she falls in love with Daniel Deane and looses a bit of a focus on her career. How she landed up in prison is a story that she tells Theo, who then has to piece together the tale to include Rose's back life, her mother, her husband Miles, and her one time boyfriend Daniel.
What unfolds is a tale that to me was a bit sad and dark and how selfish humans can be.

A dark tale of human greed and selfishness and also an element of sacrifice. This one has many layers to it.

Thank you Netgalley and Canelo books for the ARC

I absolutely loved this book , got really involved with the characters . Lots of twists and turns and kept the suspense going by explaining the story in flashbacks . I hope to be reading more from this author in the future . Definitely a 5 star read

Rose Marlowe is a hard-working nurse, a loving wife, and a merciless killer. Or so she says. Despite her confession, it is hard to believe that this beautiful, kind woman could have killed her vulnerable patient in cold blood. Down-on-his luck author and ex-journalist, Theo Hazel, is convinced that there's more to what happened than Rose is telling, and so decides to visit her behind bars to write her story. His first surprise comes when Rose reveals that the victim was not a stranger to her. As time goes on, it seems that Rose is letting Theo see behind her perfect mask. With each new visit, he learns terrible new things about her heart-breaking past. With each new visit, he becomes more and more convinced that she can't be a killer. But is he trying to free an innocent victim, or falling prey to a calculating murderer?

I loved getting stuck into this, I could just tell it was going to be gripping and emotionally devastating and I was not to be disappointed. We are introduced to Rose, newly imprisoned for murder and then we have Theo, a struggling author who cannot let go of Rose's story. They meet and Theo becomes determined to uncover the truth Rose is desperately trying to conceal. I was completely immersed in this book, the present day chapters are enthralling and then we have flashback chapters as Rose begins to reveal the truth, these are sinister and left me wanting more.

Corrigan ensures there are twists throughout this read, right up until the final page. I would say a lot of them are obvious but that is because Corrigan lies a path of seeds for the reader to follow and I enjoyed joining up the clues to reveal the truth underneath them.

Rose and Theo are two very compelling characters and it was easy to connect to them and want to follow their story as they becomes increasingly immersed in each other's lives. All the characters in this book are integral to the plot and have something to reveal, I loved getting to know all of them and discovering their connected secrets.

'The Nurse' is a very readable and enjoyable thriller. I loved discovering the secrets Rose is hiding. Will you believe her?

Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for an advance copy.

Compulsive and unputdownable thriller.
Rose is a nurse and is in prison for killing a young man. From the outset though, not everything is as it seems.
Rose decides to let Theo, author and journalist write her story and as Theo investigates things become evident that portray a different story.
The story tells itself through Rose and Theo's viewpoint, both in the present and the past.
This thriller is well written and addictive reading.
The story line, although complex, is easy to follow and this is part of the reason that you can't put it down.
Recommended to all thriller and mystery fans.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley in allowing me to read in return for a review.

Rose Marlowe has a story to tell and Theo Hazel is the man she chooses to tell it to. Rose is a nurse, in jail for the murder of one of her patients, a murder she has confessed to. Theo is a writer, divorced after the suicide of his teenage son. He’s living on credit cards and he desperately needs the advance from the sale of Rose’s story. But both Rose and Theo are nearly drowning from unresolved grief and neither one realizes how this to be written book will change their lives.

When Rose was a young medical student, she was betrayed in an incredibly cruel way by an older man. She tells Theo this story, drop by drop, each time he visits her in prison. He has trouble reconciling this self confessed cold blooded killer with the beautiful kind woman he sees before him. He knows he has not heard the whole story so he begins to interview others who were part of Rose’s life. The true story is far different and far worse than anything he could ever imagine.

This 5 star read is disturbing, twisted and sad. You think you know what’s coming but you are wrong. And the final twist at the end of this psychological thriller will stay with you for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley, Canelo and J. A. Corrigan for this ARC.

The Nurse is a compulsive and deeply enthralling psychological thriller with an exhilarating mystery at its heart and one man who stakes his journalistic reputation on his gut feeling about a stranger and convicted murderer. The prologue opens in May 2015 at Queen’s Hospital in Derbyshire where a young man lies - he can breathe and hear but cannot move, open his eyes or speak. He's been brought out of an induced coma and moved from intensive care and is now in the hospital’s high dependency unit. He recognises the nurse by her scent: sweet cinnamon and he associates that smell with the friendly nurse who often chats to him. But this time is different. The person doesn't speak knowing that he cannot be sure who they are until they do. His consciousness begins to slip and a voice speaks the words: ”I'm sorry”. Images begin to flash before him - he sees his wife, her already burgeoning belly taut, the dark skin of her face translucent with happiness, and as his life ebbs away, he acknowledges that his efforts to find the truth have all been in vain. And then he is gone.

Fast forward to December 2015 and Rose Marlowe, a former nurse at the city’s hospital who had once looked after those patients in need of the most care part-time for over 4 years alongside her consultant anaesthetist other half, is on trial. Despite having been nothing but a caring, compassionate and empathetic nurse, wife and mother, Rose has admitted she murdered Abe Duncan but has given no reason as to why and when she eventually does who knows whether her word can be trusted or not. The judge sums up the crime: its premeditation, its callousness, the admission of guilt and the hurt caused to Abe’s family before sentencing Rose to 20 years in prison. The narrative then jumps forward to March 2016. Rose has been in prison for 3 months when she receives a letter in the post; it's from Theo Hazel, a novelist and nonfiction writer who is very much interested in telling Rose’s story. He's a broken man with a marriage to his university sweetheart, Sophie, that has ended in divorce, a deceased teenage son, Elliot, and ever-worsening financial issues.

He manages to nab an advance and a book deal after using his power of persuasion and begins visiting Rose regularly. He initially wants to get to know her and to gain her trust so she will feel at ease opening up for the first time about the ordeal and has the same questions as everyone else. Did she genuinely carry this out and if so what inspired her to murder? If she is such a cold-blooded killer then why would her husband choose to stand by her despite the public abuse he received for doing so? Is what she's telling Theo the truth? Is Rose an angel of mercy, or angel of death? Far from the standard, run of the mill thriller, Corrigan has penned a riveting medical-based mystery that grips you like a vice from the get-go. The Nurse is at once twisty, dark and suspenseful, but also genuinely heartbreaking. You will wonder how Rose, an intelligent and compelling woman, came to be where she is, and as she reveals her secrets layer by precious layer, you will finally understand. A clever, deftly woven, character-driven debut featuring a thought-provoking unreliable narrator. Highly recommended.

Fast paced, edge of the seat read. Lots of twists and turns. a very enjoyable, entertaining thriller. Thanks
NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was disappointed with this, I struggled to finish it, it was overly unnecessary complicated. I didn't like any of the characters and the ending wasn't a surprise.

A few pages in, and I just knew this was going to be a 5 star read. Don't you love it when that happens?
I absolutely inhaled this book. Read it in 2 days and obsessed about it when I wasn't reading it. SO gripping and twisty, I couldn't put it down.
There were lots of characters, and a few times I had to check who they were so I could follow the plot developments, and I did work out some of the twists, but this was fantastic.
Rose and Theo were amazing characters, with many layers that gradually got revealed to us as the story progressed.
Highly recommend! Go and read it!
Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this copy for review.

I love the opening line to the blurb: When you hear her story will you believe her? From the outset, I was on my guard, not knowing who to trust. Should I be rooting for a woman – a nurse, no less – who has purposely killed someone in her care? But then, as Rose tells her story to Theo, those dramatic headlines fade into the background as she tells her story in her own words. Suddenly, it becomes very easy to see her as a victim too. But of whom? And, throughout I still felt I was being led down one blind alley after another … until the ending pulled the rug out from underneath me. Wow!

So, what’s it all about?

Rose is in prison, convicted of murder, a charge she neither denies nor defends.

Theo is a writer who desperately needs a good hook to convince his publisher he has another book in him. Rose’s story, he hopes, will be enough to secure him a new deal.

Told from dual viewpoints and timelines, it pays to take note of the date as you start a new chapter.

To be honest, it did seem a bit far-fetched that Rose would tell him her story, especially when she had so little to say in court. It made me think whether she’d be telling him the truth or just a version thereof. Even Theo had to admit she was holding something back, but nonetheless her story was fascinating. How she went from having a real desire to do well in med school and become a paediatrician, to pulling out of her course to instead have a child with Daniel, with whom she had fallen in love. Well, OK, life happens and plans change … but things changed again – significantly, drastically, unimaginably – when she went into labour.

Rose’s story was a rollercoaster of highs and lows as twists and turns came from every angle; my impression of her and other key characters spun on a sixpence many a time (apart from Ed, I never liked him at all!) leaving me unsure as to whom I could believe. My one reliable source was Theo; as he got to know Rose better he grew ever more certain that she hadn’t killed anyone. Although, he was clearly smitten with her too which begged the question whether Rose was playing him too.

Rose’s character was complex yet endearing. All along it felt as though she had a true vocation for the medical profession, and that even from a prison cell she was protective of others. She allowed Theo permission to speak to her mother and closest friends rather than have it appear that she was hiding anything. And to maintain a sense of balance he spoke to the victim’s family too. Eventually, pieces of the puzzle came together to allow the reader to better understand why Rose did what she did … or to at least think you understand her 😉

Whilst I felt the final twist was well delivered, my overall impression was that this was more a slow-burning thriller with many layers. Some layers you add, others you remove. A most intriguing read and, at times, heart-breakingly sad.

At first this seems to be the straightforward story of Rose, a nurse working on a high dependancy unit . She is now in prison after killing a patient. The story is deeper than first appearances imply. She is approached by awriter about writing a true crime story and initially refuses to meet him. Both their pasts are revealed piece by piece and towards the end, the story is unputdownable.
The technique of the writer doing research into the past works well and there are a couple of twists in the story along the way. I liked Theo and most of the other characters. Rose was, in some ways, a closed character. The characterisation and conversation are believable, though I am not really sure about a couple of the interactions (for example with the police woman)
Thank you to Net Galley for a great read in exchange for an honest review