Psychopats are a nice trope in thriller books. Here are very many red flags waved between the main couple in the book. Thrilling!

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher and author for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

“Pearl in Deep” by Faith Gardner is a gripping psychological thriller that delves into the complexities of love, manipulation, and the struggle for freedom. The novel is part of The Jolvix Episodes, a series of standalone thrillers set in the same universe, and it stands out as a compelling read with its blend of suspense, science fiction, and mystery elements.

The story follows Pearl Blackwood, a waitress with aspirations of opening her own restaurant, who finds herself entangled with Christopher McKinney. Christopher is not just any suitor; he’s charming, sophisticated, and a genius in the field of deepfake technology. However, beneath the surface of this seemingly perfect man lies a chilling truth: Christopher is a psychopath. As Pearl falls deeper into Christopher’s web, his mind games escalate, and her attempts to escape only tighten his hold.

The character of Pearl is well-developed and relatable. Her strength and vulnerability are portrayed with authenticity, making her journey all the more impactful. Christopher, on the other hand, is a character you love to hate. His manipulation and cruelty are palpable, making him a memorable antagonist.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the book is its exploration of deepfake technology. Gardner uses this contemporary issue to heighten the tension and raise questions about trust and identity in the digital age. The psychological depth added by this theme sets “Pearl in Deep” apart from other thrillers.

Run Pearl! RUNNNNN!

Even though Pearl knew she was with a psycho, and knew she was getting manipulated, and KNEW she needed to leave. She chose otherwise. Pearl was WAY Deep, yo.

This was fun, but laughable at the same time. Found myself shaking my head, rolling my eyes and smiling a lot. The writing was a little corny, but held my attention, and the short chaps kept it moving along swiftly.

Good popcorn thriller/palette cleanser type.

Im a little late with the review, but thanks to Mirror House Press and NetGalley for the free digital copy in exchange for my thoughts.

Good book that had a few slow parts in it. Nothing that would keep most people from finishing it. Not my cup of tea though.

This was a really tense read and I felt incredibly unsettled at times with it!!
I don’t think the plot was super strong, I’m not even sure what the plot was meant to be, the writing wasn’t great either BUT the use of deep fake was so interesting and overall the book was okay and like I said earlier, sometimes I was so unsettled by what was happening I regretted reading it home alone.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

A horrifyingly real physcological thriller with twists that will take you by suprise and technology you can't believe. The characters are from another world.

Sizzling Starbursts! 😳😯🤯😳🤯

⊰ 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐈𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐫 ⊱

Once again Gardner naaaiiilllsss it!! I cannot believe how invested I am in her books & this series! My fluffer are these plots so delish, spine-tingly entangled with intense thrills. I swear I crave these books by Gardner because of the futuristic-realism AI type plots. The fact there's a true-ism to her designs amps up & bursts with heightened intrigue & terrifying knots along the way that leave you absolutely gob-smacked & utterly thrown.
Pearl is at a mediocre point of her life, until in walks in Christopher. Everything that's intense and wonderful and also involved in DeepFake creations with Jolvix. Together they decide to embark on Pearl's dream - opening a restaurant. But there's a slight hitch, as you see Christopher is a psychopath. And as the mind games begin and Pearl needs to protect herself and daughter at any cost from him, reality has never seemed less real. And Christopher will never let her go.
You'll be left to question everything and dear heavens to stars is this like a firework inside a firecracker! Be ready to grip your book like your life depends on it and keep your favourite food indulgence on hand because hot flamin' cheetos!


Thank you to NetGalley & Xpresso Book Tours for this ARC.
Release Date: Out Now!

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 4.5 / 5 Full Moons! 🌕

I really liked this story of a girl absorbed into a terrible relationship with a self diagnosed psychopath. I did not like that she couldn’t stay away from him even though she knew what he was. I liked the futuristic aspects ie the babysitting robot, and other touches that were eased in to the story like they were the norm. The ending was good with an unexpected reveal. It shows how obsessive relationships can be and the negative aspects.

Pearl is a waitress in a high-end restaurant in San Francisco when she has a chance meeting with Christopher, a handsome and charming stranger who also just happens to be a psychopath.

<b>Pearl in Deep</b> is book 4 in the Jolvix Episodes, but other than the deepfake technology aspect, this one had way less tech and sci-fi vibes and felt more like a straightforward psychological thriller. I love how the books in this series can be read as a standalone and in any order.

How many red flags can someone dismiss. Well, if you're Pearl the answer is a million. To be honest, she drove me a little crazy and had me shaking my head repeatedly. The first half of the book held my interest and had me turning the pages, but then my interest waned in the second half until that interesting little twist at the end. I love Faith Gardner's writing and dark humor. Even though this one is my least favorite in the series so far, I still look forward to her next book. Next up, <b>Eve in Overdrive</b>. 3 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Mirror House Press and Faith Gardner for my eARC.

Thank you so much to the publishers and to netgalley for my early read of Pearl In Deep in exchange for my honest review.

Pearl Blackwood works as a waitress at the Sky restaurant in San Francisco. (She meets) After meeting a mysterious man named Christopher who whisks her away on a lavish date Pearl discovers he works for a tech company as an alternative reality specialist. He asks her very personal questions about herself and her job, dodging any questions pertaining to himself or his career. The next day he seemingly ghosts her after one date. Two weeks later Christopher turns back up via a voice-mail apologizing to Pearl and begging her to go out with him again.

What starts as unusual and strange to Pearl becomes more intriguing to her the more she invites Christopher into her little world. She quickly finds out he has a lot of secrets and a very strange career afterall.

Pearl In Deep is a whirlwind romance gone wrong. I was gripped from the very first page. It had me wondering what Christopher's end game was the entire time. I felt like I was Pearl, stuck in this chokehold of curiosity and madness. With every page my heart was absolutely racing, wondering what lies would unfold. Very well written and fast paced. If you like stories about lies, deception, twists and enjoyed the movie Fresh or Elizabeth Haynes' 'Into The Darkest Corner' then you need to read this one!! This is my first time reading from Faith Gardner and after reading this one I did not even realize it but this is part of her Jolvix series which I will now be checking out the rest of! This is book #4 in the series and it can also be read as a standalone. So excited to read more!

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another Jolvix Episode in the books!

Thank you to @faith.gardner and @netgalley for my e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This installment of the Jolvix Episodes follows Pearl, a waitress, as she falls in love with a psychopath. A psychopath who creates deepfakes to manipulate and steal.

This book was a quick start and I was pulled in but by the middle it started to slow down. There wasn't much happening in the middle of the book imo, which is why the pace slowed (and seemed repetitive). There was only one POV as well so that contributed to the slowness.

All that being said, this was a solid installment of the Jolvix Episodes and I'm pumped for the next installment!

Psychopaths Are People Also!

If you aren’t reading the excellent Jolvix episodes by Faith Gardner then what are you waiting for?. These are some of the most fun, tense, messed up books out there. “Pearl in Deep” is the fourth volume in this series and it’s a ride.

Pearl is a waitress in San Francisco and gets chewed out by her manager but all this happens to get noticed by Christopher, a self diagnosed Psychopath who makes her manager apologize in front of everyone. Pearl sees Christopher as her hero and they soon become involved in a relationship. Which of course turns to hell and Pearl soon finds herself in deep. Pearl in Deep? Got it!

She soon notices Christopher displaying possible psychotic behaviors and when she jokingly calls him out he smiles and said, “Yes, I am a Psychopath” Why can't all pycho's be so forthcoming? Wouldn't the world be a much nicer place? Not so much in this book though.

“They paint this picture of the psychopath like every one of us is a deranged serial killer—but most are just ordinary guys like me. Nothing to be scared of. Just a brain that works differently than others. It’s like depression or anxiety or anything else.” - Christopher the Psychopath.

Pearl still falls for him and besides his questionable behavior they become a couple…. Until the wheels start falling off. I still credit Pearl who while making questionable decisions she still ditches Christopher fairly soon before it gets too bad and that is where this book goes off the rails. A good psychopath isn’t going to go down without a fight!

A highlight of this book is the above mentioned support group “Psychopaths are People Also” PAPA for short. This is literally one of the best things I have read in modern fiction. As Christopher makes this men’s only support group who immediately starts putting Pearl in the Ringer.

The flow of the book is outstanding as are all the rest in the series. Short Chapters with a linear plot that goes from beginning to end. No flashbacks, twists, or anything to take away from the tense mind games between Pearl and Christopher.

Highly recommended!

I really appreciate Mirror House Press for letting me review this book and it is out now.

3.5 Stars

What do you do if you find your partner is a psychopath? Meet Pearl and Christopher, one being a psychopath!! Sounds great right? I thought so!

This started out so well as we delved into their relationship and job ventures. I really enjoyed the first third of book to see how it all unraveled. The chemistry was there and I liked the few nods to previous novels. Then second third happened and it unraveled in a way that seemed redundant and had no suspense and the unraveling kind of stopped. It got long winded and Pearl....sigh...Pearl. She just made so many bad decisions. As an example, she needed money but just wouldn't try and get a job and then spend money recklessly while awaiting a paycheck from Henrick which didn't sit well with me

What I liked was the few Easter Eggs to previous novels, love those. As mentioned above I liked the first third a ton. I also liked the final piece with Stormi - that came out of nowhere What I didn't like is after that first bit it fell flat. It turned into more of the usual domestic thriller without the sci-fi element that really makes these novels work.

If I had to rate this one it falls to the bottom of the series. Loved 'Amen Maxine" and "What January Remembers". This just fell a bit short but with that said I'm still all in on this series.

Thank you to Netgalley, publisher and author for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think I went in with slightly skewed expectations as this is being compared to Black Mirror and sci-fi/futuristic thrillers - this is more of a straightforward psychological thriller, and while it is fast paced and the twists are well timed, the scifi elements are light and don’t have much of an impact on the story other than our psychopathic antagonist working for an AI company.

Faith Gardner is my absolute new favorite author! I absolutely adore the Jolvix Series and recommend them to anyone who will listen to me. Pearl in Deep had me hooked from the first page. Another late night staying up to finish it because I had to find out what Christopher had done! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. I'll keep reading and recommending as fast as Faith can write!

Thank you NetGalley and Mirror House Press for the copy of Pearl In Deep by Faith Gardner. This is a standalone novel based in the futuristic Jolvix world. I have enjoyed other books set in this world, but this one was more difficult for me to get into or like. I had no sympathy for Pearl and couldn’t relate to her at all. Christopher did so many over the top things it doesn't make sense that Pearl stuck around. He would have been a better character if we weren’t hit over the head about his ‘condition’ so early in the book and were allowed to slowly realize what he was like. Regardless of the mediocre characters, the book moved at a good pace, but this was my least favorite of the Jolvix books because of the underwhelming ending. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3

What a fascinating synopsis. This book falls under the title of a techno thriller. The set up was mind engaging. Unfortunately, the execution wasn't as good as I would have hoped. The author has a talent for writing, I just wished it could have been brought together better. I know this is part of a series, but it would have read better as a stand alone. Not interested in reading more in the series. #NETGALLEY #FAITHGARDNER #PEARLINDEEP

(3.5 stars.)

Wow, the concept as psychopaths as being "neurodivergent" is a brilliant idea that could really be tapped into.

This book felt to me like two stories. The "first half" and then the "second half". Unfortunately, I didn't like Pearl (the MC). Doormat characters drive me crazy, and the ending was a bit anti-climactic. It also didn't have much to do with Jolvix, really?

I didn't like this one as much as "Amen, Maxine", but I'm definitely going to read the other books in the 'series'! (Each book is a standalone in the same 'universe', and can be read in any order.)

So, the bad news is that I didn't care for this installment of the Jolvix Episodes. These are a loosely related series of light sci-fi books set in the near future. The books in the series deal with technology and how it can be both good and not-so-good depending on which side you're on.

This book centers around Pearl, a server in a restaurant who has aspirations to own her own place someday. After getting chewed out by her boss, a man comes to her rescue and he and Pearl hit it off. Pearl falls for Christopher because he is brilliant, charming, and knows just the right things to say and do. All is going well until Pearl discovers that Christopher is a psychopath. She tries to walk away. Tries to move away, but he always seems to find her and find a way into her life.

I could not connect with Pearl at all, I couldn't figure out what the draw to Christopher was and why she kept believing him even though he was obviously lying to her. I really don't like doormat characters, and she is one for most of the book. Even when I thought that she had finally wiggled out from under his clutches it just never worked. I get that this is supposed to explore the dark side and all of the facets of what is real and what is not, but ultimately it fell flat for me.

I also did not care for the anti-climactic ending. Count me as a resident on outlier island for this book, because I know that so many people really loved it. It just didn't connect with me the way the other installments in the series have. I will still continue to read other books by this wonderful author, but this one just was not for me.