Even though I guessed the twist in this book early on I still enjoyed it. Well written, interesting storyline and a nice easy read.

Spoiler-free summary: I definitely suggest sticking through it with this one and just going in with the knowledge that Mark is an incredibly insufferable narrator. The ending is worth it!

(Stop reading if you don’t want to read my theories—they are spoilers :3)

Ooh ho ho.

Make sure you stick with this one, friends. The first 37% of it is insufferable whining—so much narcissism and pathetic moping from a rather infuriating narrator that I was literally mocking his long-winded monologues as I was reading. The narrator is the only actual Cunt in this novel (though he certainly likes to think everyone else is the asshole instead, of course) and his utter lack of empathy makes you wonder if he’s even human at all, or if we are reading some strange simulation story. It’s not—don’t worry.

Because of the narrator, I came to the conclusion early on that I might not be a target audience. A lot of the characters are parents and/or want to be—I am vehemently child free, finding solace in Phil (who, of course, is mocked for his choice, even when he wasn’t rude about it to Ed when they were out and looking at Ed’s photos of his daughter)—so the constant moping over being childless was grinding to read on. I found it a struggle to care for his sorrows at all, but that ends up being kind of the whole point to the novel. I knew I needed to see it to the end, and, I must iterate, I’m glad I did so.

But, when I found out about the attempted murder victim and the fact that our self-proclaimed “good man” was involved in a hit-and-run, I was immediately drawn in—for the first time. My first thought was, hell yeah, I knew this dude had to have experienced something absolutely fucked to get him to this level of “I’m better than everyone else!” while also low key hating himself.
My second thought was how it had been a good two chapters since he had a monologue wallowing in self-pity over some random child he happened to see.

The story progresses quite quickly after this point and I’m glad I stuck with it. I wasn’t quite sure what the twist would be, and I didn’t buy that the Phil affair was really what Eliot Steven had plotted for us dedicated readers. I considered, at first, that Mr. Hamilton was mad hallucinating—after all, there was little to prove this girl existed, and his only hold was a creepy scratched in note on a park bench. However, when the cops suggested it could be a drug thing, I pushed that away. It was too easily fed to us. Then, I started to theorize that Alice was in cahoots with Clyde, especially with how strange he was acting. Boy oh boy was I not expecting the ACTUAL twist until he gets the phone call at the pub!

I definitely suggest sticking through it with this one and just going in with the knowledge that Mark is incredibly insufferable. The ending is worth it, and I’m still reeling!

This book exceeded my expectations in so many ways and I truly enjoyed it. Eliot Stevens is brilliant and is so good at keep the reader on their toes. The minute I thought I had the story figured out, the next chapter would change everything. That is something I loved, as it is something that a lot of thriller novels lack. The entire novel is also very well written and the plot is unique.

Mark and Cecilia are a married couple who seem to have it all. They have a lovely group of friends, good jobs, but their marriage is indeed broken. The loss of their child broke not only their marriage, but their bond and love that they once had for each other. One day, Mark meets Alice, the perfect woman for him and his new obsession. He is at a crossroads and is stuck debating if he should create his ideal, picture perfect life with Alice and leave Cecilia behind. Only, leaving her is not as easy as he may think, as she knows a haunting secret that would ruin his life forever and is not afraid to use it against him if he tries to leave.

There are so many twists and turns in this novel that I can't spoil, but the book is truly a rollercoaster. The storyline is constantly evolving, making The Woman on the Bench such a fun read. I absolutely recommend it!!

Love and romance...marriage and the other woman...intrigue...mystery...this author has written a story that is fiction but reads like nonfiction. It could happen. It does happen. The red herrings abound. Secrets...lies...friends and foe...this book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the electronic copy. Although it moves slowly at times, it does come to a resounding ending. I look forward to more books from this talented author.