This was diabolical and a really fantastic read! I loved the pace, the twists and the characters. I am new to Matt's books but will definately read again! 3 stars

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

REVIEW TO FOLLOW.

Katie lives in Minnesota with her husband, Jack and two young children. On the outside, they appear to be the perfect couple, living in the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood. Inside, they are anything but. A Good Family was a quick read for me. Although I found some of it a bit unrealistic, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley, Tor Publishing Group and the author for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Good Family follows Katie, a reserved and observant woman who finds herself embroiled in a mystery that puts her life in danger. As the story progresses, Katie comes out of her shell and becomes a strong character that is easy to root for.

One of the things that I liked about the book was the suspense. The author did an excellent job of building tension throughout the story, and I found myself eagerly anticipating what would happen next. I also enjoyed the friendship between Katie and Noah, which provided a much-needed respite from her interactions with Jack, who frequently tried to gaslight her.

However, the other characters in the novel did not feel fully fleshed out and detracted from the reading experience. For example, Katie's rich friends who lived in the Country Club were quite tokenistic and lacked depth. They were the typical white ladies who got drunk on wine and complained about their stale marriages and not being able to fly business class all the time. While that is entirely valid, it could have been done with more nuance.

Furthermore, I felt like the plot was quite random and did not come together in the end. For example, I expected the Bagman sub-plot, Jack's mystery, and the random flashbacks to Katie's childhood to add up, but they did not. This was a missed opportunity to provide a more cohesive and satisfying story.

Despite these criticisms, I found the ending to be largely satisfying. However, I wish that it wasn't info-dumped on us.

Overall, A Good Family is an enjoyable read, especially for those who enjoy slow-burn domestic thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The book was well written and kept my interest. I felt like I saw the twist about the bomb shelter from the start of the book, however I did not anticipate what would occur in the bomb shelter. I thought the characters were well developed, however I felt that Noah’s character was oddly described. The writing style seemed to change when describing Noah. I thought it was a great thriller and loved the flashbacks to Katie’s life with her parents and brothers.

Book Title: A Good Family
Author: Matt Goldman
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group –Forge Books
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: May 30, 2023
My Rating: 4.2 Stars!

Katie and her husband Jack Kuhlmann met at a University of Minnesota hockey game where they were students. When Jack spots Katie he is impressed and asked his friend Adam ‘Bagman’ Ross “Who’s that? Soon after this comment, Adam goes to the concession stand returns with three bees in a cardboard box. Adam gives one to Katie and points and states – 'that guy'.
Jack asks Katie out and now they are married and have two children twelve year-old Elin and eight year old Kaleb.
They live in a home in Edina, Minnesota on Browndale Street in an area called Country Club. The homes are stately. The Kuhlman’s were able remodeled after Jack earned a big bonus.
Kate believes the house is obscene and looks like an embassy.
But Yes! Life is good and far from the simple life style she had as a child when she was orphaned after her parents and twin brothers were killed in a car accident. She was raised by her grandparents who were both teachers but loved skiing and passed that love unto Katie.
Katie ended up good enough to earn a scholarship for her good grades and her skiing ability.

Jack should be happy with his dream house however; recently he is touchy, even angry as well as secretive. Katie fears he is having an affair. He however he is concern about her relationship with a log time ski buddy.
Out of the blue Adam ‘Bagman’ Ross comes for a visit as he is in Minnesota on a business trip. Jack is so delighted he offers Adam their guest apartment over the garage. At first Adam refused but ends up taking advantage of the apartment.
Hmmm it appears there more to Adam.
Oh Yes!!!

Story kept me curious. There are twists I was expecting but was clueless as to what was really going on.
WOW! That ending!!!!

My first Matt Goldman and I am anxious to read another

Want to thank NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group- Forge Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 30, 2023

This was a well done domestic thriller. Nothing completely wild or out of the ordinary for this genre, but it did hold me in suspense throughout the second half so kudos to that!

A good read for when you want to turn your mind off for a while and totally sink into another world.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

Katie and Jack have money, a gorgeous house, and a great family. Katie thinks everything is great until Jack starts to pull away from her and the kids. As she learns that things with his work are looking very shady, she leans on an old friend, Noah, for support. As Noah helps her investigate what’s going on with Jack, Katie realizes she has opened a can of worms.
💭Thoughts💭
I read this book so fast, I just had to know what was happening! I guess you could call it a slow burn, but extremely cliff hanging. The only thing I didn’t like was that I felt like we jumped right into the story with no real connection to any of the characters. I also felt like the random time jumps to Katie’s childhood seemed disjointed. Overall though, a really great and suspenseful story with fantastic writing.
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⌛️Favorite Moment⌛️
My favorite moment was when Katie decided to check her house for cameras and secret entrances. She was so smart and it felt like I was in a spy movie.
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🎉 Theme Ideas 🎉
Katie and Noah spend a lot of time warming up from skiing with a big mug of hot chocolate. Have a hot chocolate bar with all of the fixings: marshmallows, candy canes, whipped cream, you name

I really enjoyed this book. To me, it’s a cozy, beach read or a curl-up-with-a-good-book-on-a-rainy-day read. I didn’t really see what was coming until the very end of the book, probably about 80-85% of the book, so it really kept my attention. And then the ending just flew by for me.

Thank you to @NetGalley for allowing me to read this before it officially comes out, and thanks to #mattgoldmanauthor for writing such a good story.

The characters felt flat and undeveloped, and the plot dragged until the last third or so, at which point it became ludicrous.

It was alright, especially that I love suburban settings, but something about the characters and the mystery in this one didn't click with me. I wasn't exactly thrilled, but the book was interesting enough to finish.

The last 2 hours of this book were great...but it took the author a long time to get there. I almost gave up on this book but I had to finish to find out what happened. There was too much of "nothing" going on until the end.

Katie and her husband Jack Kuhlmann had first met at the University of Minnesota hockey game and had been together ever since. They both have two children, Elin and Kaleb. They’d recently remodeled their home after Jack raked in a huge bonus when his company developed a sodium-sulfur battery that powered electric vehicles without a glitch.

When a college friend of Jack’s, Bagman, aka Adam Ross, shows up unannounced at their home. According to Adam, he works for a company that sells insulation products; he’s been assigned to Minnesota where Jack and Katie live.

When Katie’s friend cancels on their ski outing, Katie decides to go alone. There she runs into a man named Noah Byrne, a civil rights lawyer whom she met the previous winter at a cross-country ski race.

Lately Katie’s husband Jack has been acting weird; he’s been cold and distant and snaps at Katie. All of a sudden he’s no longer interested in sex. Plus he hides from his own children. Katie suspects Jack is having an affair and is determined to get to the bottom of it.

An interesting domestic thriller. Would recommend.

Thank you to Matt Goldman, NetGalley and Forge Books for the arc of this book.

I really enjoyed this slow-burn domestic thriller and quickly searched for more books by this author. The premise of the story is intriguing and the characters and mystery kept me hooked. Some reviewers wrote this read requires a suspension of belief but I found the mystery to be satisfying and worth the wait to discover. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Whoah! This one took me by surprise. I am not usually a mystery or thriller fan. I tend to avoid the Gone Girl and Bib Little Lies type of fiction. But this one had me fooled, starting out as a well-off family story with a failing marriage thrown in for good measure. And then we're off! Katie is married to Jack and the mother of two young children. They live in a McMansion house in a suburb of Minneapolis. She is a survivor of loss, being the only one left in a family of five after her parents and twin brothers died in an accident.

I will not confuse you here by telling you the details of the plot. Just brace yourself for a humorous and fast-paced adventure. But unless this genre is one of your favorites, prepare to suspend your disbelief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forge division of Macmillan.for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun thriller! This one reminded me of The Golden Couple and any Chris Pavone novel. I read it in two days! I'm currently vetting titles for our 2023 Summer Reading Guide, coming this June, and this one is a strong contender.

Page-turniing, kept me enthralled. The beginning was a bit of a slow burn, and I honestly was afraid I'd picked up some chick-lit romancey book. I was quite suprised when suddenly there was suspense I wasn't expecting.

Reflecting, the slow burn was needed. The reader needs to connect, personally, with Katie. I needed to be "taken in" by the good guy that everyone loves. I needed to be upset when Katie was upset. Characters needed to be fleshed out just enough that you "knew" them.

I really enjoyed this quick read. It's really well-done.

Goldman delivers a story with intrigue, mystery and emotion. There were parts where….well…yawn and parts that seemed farfetched but the author has a captivating writing style that compelled me to keep reading and I was rewarded with a twist I didn’t see coming. As a whole I liked the story and how Goldman wraps up a solid ending.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

A Good Family is one of those thrillers that you feel anxious to understand what is happening! This was such a good read and I had a hard time putting it down because I was so invested in the storyline! I need to read more from the author immediately!

Katie and her husband Jack and their two children live in an affluent neighborhood in Edina, Minnesota. Having been orphaned at a young age, Katie is grateful but a little overwhelmed by the overindulgent lifestyle she know finds herself living. Yet all is not as “perfect” as it seems in her marriage when she begins to notice her husband Jack acting a little bit odd. He is constantly on his computer and checking his phone and then suddenly there are occurrences when he disappears and is no where to be found even though his car and phone are still at the house. Adding to her stress, Jack’s old college friend suddenly shows up and adds more disruption to Katie’s household. The first half of this novel had me intrigued and wanting to find out what was behind Jacks “disappearances”… But the story started to drag and get a little confusing and I found myself anxious to get to the end. There was a twist, but it was a bit anticlimactic and somewhat ridiculous. The writing was good and I did enjoy most of the novel so I gave the book 3 stars.