3.75 Stars
A riveting story!

The story follows Joanna and her family. Joanna was suddenly abducted one night. When morning came and Joanna still wasn't home. Joanna's daughter voiced her concern to her dad. But he brushed it off. After a few days, he still doesn't seem that surprised. Why was he so calm? Why wasn't he worried?

It honestly took me a while to get into the story. There are multiple POVs, the story jumps between the past and the present, and the voices sound too similar. It was hard differentiating which character was who. It wasn't until around 40% in that I got into the rhythm of things. I couldn't put the novel down after that.

Would recommend it to fans of thrillers.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Elisabeth Carpenter, and Bookouture Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

Although it took some time to get into, ultimately The Family on Smith Street kept me on my toes, anticipating what was to come next. With a fairly unique premise, the story follows a woman who is abducted, her daughter, husband, as well as a serial killer who’s been terrorizing the streets for years. All of these point of views intersect at the end of the story in a pretty wild way. Filled with twists and turns, Carpenter does a great job keeping your interest and I am grateful to Netgalley for an Audio ARC in exchange for my honest review :)

I’m not sure why, but I just could not get into this book. To me the narrator was difficult to understand.

HOLY CRAP!!
This book was phenomenal!
And…being as we live on Smith Street…I’m happy we’re not in the same country!!
First I’ve read by this author…
The book starts out in the late 80’s (I believe) with a murder or two…
And progresses thru time until present day.
We follow the lives of Alex Buchanan..who grew up as pretty much a loner…(No surprise there)…and his mates that he met thru the years…From a young age, thru college. Not a lot of friends, but one does stand out…his friend Simon, who seems to have it all, and have it all together.
It’s told from alternating POV’s with some of the story told by Alex. And trust me, his whole perspective is creepy!
We have his schoolmates, a couple of friends, and eventually his wife, as he grows up.
And we have the unique perspective of seeing the story through a killers eyes (or head, or mindset…however you want to phrase it.)
Later, James is introduced, and he is married to Joanna, and they have a beautiful girl, Scarlett.
One night when Joanna is walking home, she is abducted! This unravels a whole new story inside the story! Scarlett is a wreck, but James does NOT want to call the police right away. But finally, he does.
Lots of characters in the book. Lots of little sub-plots. Lots of twists and turns!
And totally amazing stuff!
Triggers: Multiple murders and abduction.
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!
I did not see this one coming!!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC of the audiobook. Release date is soon… 8/14/23!

Alex killed his mom. But dad went to jail and took the wrap for it
Joanna is missing. Has been taken from the street while walking home. She is being held captured in a room. Her husband and daughter are looking for her. Husband thinks it's someone from his past that may have taken her.

When Alex is in college, a woman is missing
No one knows what happened to her
His college friends think he had something to do with it
Everyone is hiding something
Somehow, the 2 different timelines may have something to do with each other

Book Title: The Family on Smith Street
Author: Elisabeth Carpenter
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Release Day: August 14, 2023
Format: Audio Book
Rating: Storyline 4.5⭐️, Narration 5⭐️

Synopsis: There’s a killer on our street, and I’m his next victim.

I love living on Smith Street, with its neat houses and friendly neighbours. It’s a safe place for my daughter Scarlett to play outside. Somewhere, my husband James says with his slow smile, nothing bad could ever happen. But he’s wrong. There’s been a killer hiding here for years, and – when I turn the corner by my home one night to find a hand over my mouth and a needle in my side – it seems I’m his next victim .

I wake in a dark, windowless room, head pounding, trying to work out where I am. It looks weirdly familiar, until I realise with horror that it’s just like my room. Someone has been spying on me so successfully, they’ve recreated everything in terrifying detail.

I must know the person who has taken me. But who on our calm little street could have concealed their twisted nature all this time? As I desperately filter through memories for clues, trying to find anything that might help me survive, my stomach drops as I realise that if they’ve figured out who I am, then I will never, ever see my family again.

Because even if I do get out alive, the nightmare will have only just begun…

A completely compelling and page-turning psychological thriller perfect for fans of My Lovely Wife , The Serial Killer’s Wife and The Housemaid .

My Thoughts: This was a thrill ride of a read that I couldn't stop listening to. This was told in multiple POV and alternating timelines. I am not normally a fan of past and present, however the transitions were flawless in this story and narration. I had so many guesses throughout and Elisabeth kept me guessing with plot twists that I didn't see coming. If you are a fan of Lisa Jewell or Frieda McFadden, you will love this psychological thriller!!!


Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

The Family on Smith Street was an okay story that kept me guessing but I really wish I'd read the book rather than listening to an audio version because the narrator's voice (especially for male characters) really grated on me (sorry) Even without that factor though I found the characters really unappealing and there were far too many of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC opportunity!

I really wanted to like this book. It has fantastic reviews. I am sorry to say I unfortunately could not connect with this book and did not find myself entertained by it. I wasn’t invested in the characters- and while the plot has potential to be exciting, I didn’t feel that I needed to know what happened next.

This review might be due to the audio book narrator. While I’m sure her voice and inflection would work for others, I believe it contributed to my inability to connect with this story. Perhaps the paperback would have grabbed me more. I will certainly give this author another try. I do wish I could give a better review.

Wow I really liked this. I listened to it all in one day on a really long car ride and it kept me interested the whole time. Some twists, lots of suspense. I will definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Family on Smith Street for me started as a confusing mess but then slowly started to make sense and by the end I really liked it.

I love books that have multiple POVs. This book is one of them but unfortunately that’s what made me so confused early on. It was multiple POVs and multiple timelines with a lot to try to remember.

In one timeline you are following who you assume is a killer and then in a present-day timeline you are following Joanna who is being held captive. In that time line both her husband and her daughter are looking for her and her daughter finds out a lot of unsettling details that bring us to the conclusion.

The timeline where we are in the past was not as interesting as the present. A lot of those details are needed but I wish it would have been delivered better.

The twist and turns as you get to the end make this a worthy read.

Ok.. i listened to this book in ONE sitting today. I’m so glad I was off and able to listen to all of it and not have to put it down. And I actually got housework done and barely remember doing it thanks to how incredibly entertaining this book was. So that alone makes this a high-rated book for me 🤣

I’d like to point out, before I get into anything else, that I absolutely love thrillers with British English writing. I love the turns of phrase compared to the American versions and there’s just something about it that makes me feel like im on a dreary London street in a coffee shot trying to figure out “who dun it?” But thats really neither here nor there when it comes to how well this book was written.

I have been on a huge thriller kick in the last few months and very rarely do I come across one where I dont pretty much figure out the “twists,” but this one threw me for a LOOP. To be fair, I DID figure it out but it was at one point while reading and i easily dismissed my theory because the red herrings were so well placed. There was like 5 different times I thought 5 different people did it and when I found out how it all came together? IT WAS SO GOOD. I fell in love with the characters, and absolutely loved Scarlett.

Another thing? Very rarely does anyone write the person who “did it” in such a way that I feel both remorse for them and a sense of Justice that they got caught. I almost didnt want them to get caught— thats how entertaining and well written they were. I actually felt like they deserved to get away with it just based on how they were in the now.. and looking back at it, I totally should have been able to definitely figure out what was going on.. all the hints were there.. but I just… totally didnt. And to say I was entertained was an understatement.

This is one of the best thrillers Ive read all year, and I’ll absolutely be listening to more from this author

First of all, the narrator did an outstanding job. The story started out strong but it lost steam when there were too many scenes going back and forth, I also felt that there were too many characters. I kept getting mixed up on who was who. I did stick with it and appreciated some of the twists.

The Family on Smith Street
Elisabeth Carpenter
3 Stars

For me, there were too many characters and too many different stories going on it was hard to follow along. I kept finding myself saying "who?". Maybe it was because this was an audiobook so I couldn't remember who's POV I was in. I was thinking this was going to be more about the kidnapped woman at the beginning. Any time I was getting invested in one POV it would change to another one and I couldn't keep up. I did like the story and concept. It is a great read otherwise and the twists and turns kept me wanting to keep moving forward.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book, both the story and narration.
Story first... the characters are well written and developed quite quickly so you start to feel for them right away. The character of Scarlet (a teenager) is especially strong and maternal instincts toward her were felt quickly. The clumsiness of adolescence is well captured too via Scarlet's closest friends.
Scarlet's family is the focus of the book with chapters interchangeably being from a different timeline or character's point of view. The story is gripping and interesting with all the twists ans turns needed for a real thrill ride.
Now onto the narration; the narration was good but due to the previously mentioned different chapters being from different perspectives there were a few moments of confusion. The narrator is female and she did well with the male voices but they did all sound very similar. I feel I would have enjoyed this more had I actually read the book as those moments of confusion could have been rectified by flicking back a couple of pages to remind myself who this chapter is about. Don't let this put you off though, it's is a great story and really well narrated just need to concentrate (and maybe keep notes) 😉
Many thanks

I enjoyed this audio book, the narrator did a really good job of getting across the multiple POV'S. I did figure out some of the twists but overall a good thriller and would check out more from the author in the future.
Thanks to Netgalley for sending me this arc in exchange for my honest review

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one. There were too many characters and too many POVs. Based on the synopsis, I was expecting the focus to be on the kidnapped woman but her POV was minimal. The story kept jumping back and forward in time almost every second chapter and I couldn't get invested in any timeline. The narrator did an okay job but her 'scared' voice was so grating I had to mute the story for small parts. Luckily for the author I seem to be in the minority.

THE FAMILY ON SMITH STREET by Elisabeth Carpenter, is a riveting psychological thriller, narrated from a dual first person perspective, over an alternating time line.
This novel captivated me immediately. This is my first Elisabeth Carpenter book and I can't wait to read more of her work!
If you enjoy a page turning psychological thrillers, filled with intrigue, twists and turns, and the inner thoughts of a psychopath, this is definitely the book for you.

It took a lot of chapters to get into this story and even then I was still confused at times. I persevered to the end; eventually all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. For me, this was a bit of a miss. (2.5 / 5)
I had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. The narration, by Sarah Durham, is clear, well paced and easy to listen.
Thank You to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version of this this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was interested in this book due to the description! I listened to the audio book for this. The narrator (Sarah Durham) did a good job trying to make her voice sound different for the 3 different characters. I enjoyed that this book is told from 3 different perspectives and throughout different times frames. It was a slow burn for me. I did finish in one day (listening makes that easier). At one point I thought the one character was believable until the twist came. It was a bit of a shocker. There weren't many twists or surprises for me in this book. I was hoping for a juicier narrative with more intense scenes. Overall it was enjoyable and I like the view point of Alex, that is something I long for in many thriller/mystery books! Just wish the twists were more abundant/ less predictable for a seasoned reader!

Copied from Goodreads: “The Family on Smith Street” is an engaging domestic thriller. Though the “twists” are expected if you are a fan of this genre, the plot was not diminished. Each of the protagonist’s voices were well-characterized and represented. I am in awe (and slightly scared) of Carpenter’s first person portrayal of the sociopathic villain.

Many thanks to Bookouture Audio via NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.