Andy Drake returns to his hometown to take care of his ailing father, where he begins an illicit affair with his former friend Rachel. Someone is watching Andy and he receives a note telling him to end the affair or else. Rachel's husband ends up getting shot. Rachel and her children end up missing. Andy does look very guilty but he sets out to uncover what happened to Rachel and who shot her husband.

This was a slow burn of a mystery. I will read more of his books.

A man is having an affair with his neighbor when a blackmailer reaches out threatening to expose him or face further consequences in Joe Hart’s psychological thriller, Or Else.

I always find that psychological thrillers with a male lead and a male author have a different vibe to them than the standard psychological thriller. There are some male authors who write character-driven psychological thrillers. However, I find that many psychological thrillers written by men and with a male protagonist veer towards action and plot over characters and relationships which is a different (though no less valid) appeal. Or Else fell into that group.

The story revolves around a mystery writer named Andy Drake who has recently moved back to his hometown to care for his father who is struggling with dementia. Andy is also having an affair with a woman named Rachel who was a childhood friend. Rachel and her husband David have two sons and live just up the street from Andy and his father. The affair has been going on for several months, and Rachel sees it as an escape from the emotional abuse from her husband. Andy and Rachel go to great lengths to hide their affair, but it seems that someone in the tight-knit community has been watching.

When Andy receives a note telling him to end the affair with Rachel “or else”, he cycles through everyone in the neighborhood who may know and have a reason to threaten to expose the affair. Not long after receiving the note, Rachel’s husband David is found murdered in their home and Rachel and the kids have disappeared. Andy feels even more pressure to keep the affair a secret, or he risks becoming the number one suspect in the murder and disappearance.

This is an entertaining, but not outstanding thriller. It’s a quick read and an interesting premise. The affair at the center of the story adds tension and intrigue to the plot that fuels buy-in. The reader gets plenty of snippets of Andy and Rachel’s affair in flashbacks that were intended to make us care about their relationship, though I don’t know if that was entirely effective for me. At a certain point I actually forgot that Rachel and the kids were missing (or at least, I didn’t care that much), and that isn’t a good sign as the central tension of the story. For the affair to have stakes, I need to care about Rachel but I didn’t see enough of her in real time to feel that way.

Andy falls into that trope of male protagonists who are portrayed as lovesick and obsessed with an idealized version of the woman having an affair with them. We are told why the affair is justified, but for some reason we don’t feel that it is justified. I suspect that this type of character understandably reads better to male as opposed to female readers. I almost always root for the central couple to make it, but in this case I didn’t. I was more interested in exactly what was going on as it relates to Andy, rather than Andy and Rachel. David isn’t the only murder—there were several other deaths that seemed as though they must be linked. What does the note Andy received have to do with the murders? Is someone trying to frame him or get him to back off? The note reads like a blackmail note, but the writer isn’t asking for anything.

Andy is a mystery writer which is an interesting profession for the protagonist to have. I don’t think he was a particularly good detective in practice, but his writing background would help him to think through a situation framing it how he would write it in one of his books. This process often helps him see where there are holes in the story being told and he needed to look further for a way to explain everything. It also helped him identify a few leads that he otherwise would have missed.

The mystery meanders some, and I worried at one point that none of the things were going to connect in a way that was satisfying for the reader. That wasn’t the case! There is a particularly lengthy scene where Andy has broken into Rachel’s house to look for clues and another intruder ends up in the house at the same time. This leads to a chase that was heart-pounding, but ultimately not relevant enough to the conclusion to justify how much time was spent on it.

Credit to the author that I didn’t guess what was going on and that made the reveal interesting. Sometimes writers have a good shock-ending but it ultimately doesn’t tie back to anything else that happened. This makes the reader feel cheated, because there would be no way to have put the pieces together. Or Else did not have that problem. The ending made sense and it tied to several things that happened in the book. There were a few loose threads that mostly relate to red herrings. There was also a nice twist at the end that was satisfying for the psychological thriller readers (we love a good twist!).

Overall, I thought this was a quick, entertaining thriller that prioritized plot over characters. It had a satisfying ending that I didn’t guess and a nice twist. Joe Hart is a talented mystery author and that was showcased in this book. If you are looking for a quick-paced book with action and solid plotting, this is a good one to pick up. Fans of character-driven psychological suspense may find they aren’t fully invested in the central relationships.

I’m glad I stuck with this book. The writing style threw me off at first. It’s written in an abrupt way that I initially struggled with. My digital copy on Kindle also included the audiobook, and switching to that helped a lot. Stylistically it still wasn’t my favorite, but that’s a matter of personal taste.
This is a solid mystery with a lot of moving parts, and other than my annoyance that it took the lead character far too long to figure it out, altogether this was a good book.

Or Else by Joe Hart is a captivating and mysterious tale that starts with a forbidden romance. Andy Drake returns to his hometown to care for his ailing father. Across the street, childhood friend Rachel seeks comfort in their secret affair.

When Rachel's husband is found murdered and she vanishes with her children, the plot thickens. With intriguing subplots, fast-paced action, and well-developed characters, this old-fashioned whodunit keeps readers hooked. The unexpected twists and growing body count add to the satisfaction of this solid mystery. Joe Hart's writing promises great things ahead. A highly recommended read.

Or Else! This story will twist you and turn you, but will also make you say “uh?” The MC is a mystery/thriller/horror writer but doesn’t know how to flush out clues. He does better than the police but that’s no saying much.

There are a lot of false leads and the MC pulls leads out of thin air at times. He gets stuck and can’t see anything else for a bit. Other than my thoughts that he should be able to piece clues together better, this story is well written and will keep you hanging in until the end.

A slow paced red, and whilst enjoyable, the words didn’t leap off the pages and it took me a while to finish this. Characters were hard to connect with.

This was a slow, light mystery that I felt was somewhat lacking. I couldn't connect with the characters and ultimately didn't care what happened to them. This author has far better books.

A little slow but still pretty good.
The story contained the things that make a good book. A good mystery, thriller. It holds the interest and keeps you turning pages.
There was something that I didn’t like but I can’t seem to put my thoughts together on it so suffice it to say it did fall a little bit short.
Overall it was a quick read with a lot going on. A bit predictable for me but that is usual.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Hmm. This is twisty! That revelation floored me! Fellows, that made a mark! So good!

Cheers to Netgalley for the copy!

Was it my favorite book of Joe Hart? No. But for the most part, I liked it. The plot was very similar to other books I've read.
But other reviewers liked this a lot so maybe it's me. All in all though not a bad read.

Thank you Netgalley for my free ARC! Solid book but not much to write home about. It was predictable but still a fun read. I rate the book a 2.9

This book was a great whodunnit type of story. The main character Andy moves back to his hometown to take care of his father and starts a relationship with Rachel, a childhood friend. However she is a married mother of two and her husband is found shot to death. Rachel and her children also disappear. The plot is fast-paced and the ending will surprise you. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

This was such a satisfying read, a solid whodunit. The pace was quick from the very beginning, and the story kept me engaged until the very end. Would definitely read more by this author

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thankyou #netgalley #joehart #thomasandmercer for the arc copy of this book for a honest review .
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- first person book.Slow paced for me.
Novelist Andy came back to his hometown to take care of his dad, they reunite with an old friend Rachel. The one that I like about the story is when they had a chance to get back together , Andy accepts Rachel with a baggage . (2 children )
Anyway, that was the time Andy recieved a lot of letter to not be with Rachel or else. But then he ignored it until an incident was happening to the hometown and they pin point it to him, until Rachel and the kids were missing .
Easy to read book with a well light mystery to it. If you are a fan of deep thriller with a lot of murder going on this book is not for you. Recommended for first time reader of thrillers/mystery.

❤️Shaye.reads

When author Andy Drake returns to his hometown to care for his father, an affair with a childhood friend begins to bud. Rachel is caught in an abusive marriage, struggling to maintain the facade of a perfect life. As things heat up between the two, an anonymous note warns him to end the arrangement.

Mysterious deaths, threats, and the vanishing of young kids causes everyone around them to believe Andy is the culprit. This face paced thriller will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

It seems Rachel and Andy aren’t the only one keeping secrets in town…

📌 Pub Date: April 1, 2022

I was given a copy of this story to read; but thoughts and opinions are all my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the chance to read this book!

This book kept me guessing until the very end. I was hoping to be more interested in the story based on the book description and little tidbits of clues throughout the book though.

Maintains a steady page turning pace.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Explorations of paranoia and guilt, and a mysterious cabal of neighbors lead to a very fast paced mystery from Joe Hart.

Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

In general I liked the book, but I prefer the family conflict that the protagonist has than the mystery plot. I did not like the end and who was the culprit.

My first read by this author.

This was an easy and quick read. It was enjoyable and had great character development.