The wife we know is a fast read thriller.
Mainly told from the husband's point of view, we follow his search for finding his wife and stepdaughter, who suddenly disappeared, following a heroic act of his wife which became viral on social media and national news. Diving into his wife's past to try to understand what is happening and where she might be, Luke realises that there is actually very little he knows about his wife, and that the more he uncovers, the more he might be in danger.
Even if this was a very fast read, and I wanted as much as Luke to discover the truth about his wife, I thought the book would have been better if we would have been given the opportunity to dive more into Ashley's story through her point of view.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Title: The Wife You Know
Author: Chad Zunker
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Mystery Thriller,
Pub Date: February 27, 2024
My Rating: 3 Stars!
Pages: 205

Everything Luke Driskell knows about his wife Ashley seems to be a dream as she and her young daughter Joy have mysteriously vanished. Was she real?
Luke can find no proof that Ashley-the women he loved and still loves is real!

This actually was a fast read with all kind of action as Luke begins a dangerous cross-country pursuit of his family.
There was a lot going however I honestly didn't love it. 🤔
But I did like the ending. 😏

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 27, 2024.

This is the book you're looking for if you want an intriguing thriller mystery.

-When Luke's wife Ashley and his step-daughter Joy go missing, Luke is determined to find them. However, throughout his journey, he realizes that he has no idea who his wife really is.

-This book features false identities, the FBI, and a corrupt government. It's a really frantic read that takes no more than two to three hours.

-The well-developed characters in this book are amazing. Ashley, the love of his life, and Luke Driskell, our protagonist are both shown with nuance and realism.

This book is a five star read, hands down. It's filled with all the tropes that I love in psychological thrillers. It's coming out on February 27, 2024

---------------------------------------------------------------
Post Date: December 4, 2023
Blog url: http://www.pagesofperfiction.com/
Review link: http://www.pagesofperfiction.com/2023/12/bite-sized-reviews-feat-ya-fantasy-2024.html

I really enjoyed Family Money and All He Has Left by Chad Zunker, so I was happy to receive a copy of The Wife You Know from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

The book starts out with Ashley Driskell running into a burning building and saving several children trapped inside in a day care center. Because everyone has their phone at all times, the event shows up on social media and, despite her own lack of an online presence, Ashley is an instant online hero and viral sensation. Then, within less than 24 hours, she suddenly checks herself out of the hospital and vanishes, along with her daughter Joy.

Ashley’s husband Luke is in full-on panic mode, which only gets more intense when it looks like the woman he thought he had married (not all that long ago, after a very brief relationship) doesn’t actually exist. When Luke finds Ashley’s stash of fake IDs, all with different names along with addresses in several cities, he is devastated, worried, and sort of going crazy. He loves her still, and wants to find out who he really married, and what she is hiding, or running from, or both. It’s fast-paced, fun read, and another four-star effort from Zunker.

Wow!! That's the first word that comes to mind for this book!
How well do you really know your spouse, the person that sleeps next to you, knows your secrets, that you share everything with? Luke thinks he has found the perfect wife, although she has a few quirks about her, a few strict rules she asks him to respect. Luke comes home from a business trip to find his wife has been thrust into the social media spotlight, the one thing she hates the most. This sends both of their lives into a whirlwind of uncovering secrets, betrayal, run ins with local and federal law, and maybe even death. Luke has to face the truth, how well does he know his wife, does he love her enough to trust her based on what little he does know, and is their love real and enough to keep them both and their daughter safe ? Chad Zunker did an absolute amazing job with keeping you guessing at every turn and putting in twists that you never see coming!

LOVED Chad Zunker's newest thriller - I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his books, and this one did not disappoint!! Luke's wife Ashley mysteriously disappears after her heroic deed "goes viral", and she seems to have taken her young daughter, Joy, with her. The Wife You Know is the story of Luke's search for his wife and stepdaughter, only to find out that he doesn't really know them at all.

This book is fast paced, and a compelling page turner. It features Zunker's classic chases and Gospel loving characters, which I love! I finished the book in record time - I couldn't wait to find out what would happen. I was surprised and joyfully satisfied by the ending.

Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Wife You Know.

What a fast-paced exciting thriller! The story starts off with the FMC, Ashley, running into a burning building to save a bunch of kids and it never slows down. I was hooked from start to finish and I also had no idea which way the story would take me next.

Although I was on the edge of my seat for much of the book, I had a few too many issues with the writing style to rate it higher. The MMC, Luke, uses too many inner monologue rhetorical questions to speak to the reader and they felt unnecessary. My own inner monologue was yelling "Yes! Duh!" at most of these questions. There were also some moments where the dialogue didn't feel natural. I often found myself saying "People don't speak like this."

This was my first book by Chad Zunker and I would be curious to read others, especially if they are as intriguing as this one!

This book it was a page turner from the beginning. It has everything that a thriller should have: compelling characters, twists and turns, a good structure, and a beautiful ending. Congratulations to the author. I can't wait to read his next book!

I enjoyed this book, and the twists it took to get to the conclusion. However some parts of the plot seemed like a stretch. It was a page turner once I got into the story, and read it in 2 days.

“The wife you know doesn’t exist.”

Luke’s wife is a hero, but she’s also now missing. Luke is persistent on finding her at any cost. The past unravels at a furious speed and he can barely keep up.

This book is a very fast paced and quick thriller read. It’s packed with action and secrets, make it a page turner.

I did find areas to be a lot drawn out, and I’d catch myself skimming until I reached dialogue sometimes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC to enjoy before release.

Loved how fast paced this book was, I was hooked from the very beginning! There was a lull in the middle of the book, but the last 30% of the book really made up for that. It was my first Chad Zunker book, but definitely won’t be my last!

What a great story. This was a quick page turner, I finished within a few hours. This ended with a twist I didn't see coming. I anticipated the protagonist Ashley was running from a domestic abuse situation but was so wrong. I love her character and the lengths she is willing to go to protect her family.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in return for my voluntary and honest review.

I think there will be plenty of people that like this one. The beginning is a good way to set up the story, and the writing is readable and flows pretty well. I didn't find myself gravitating towards the story or characters, though. It is a DNF for me at 10%. I would consider putting this in the library, as I think may thriller reader would like this one.

This is the first book I read from this author and I love his writing style ! First person POV all throughout, fast paced. As Luke went on a quest to find the truth, every twist revealed made me want to know more ! The end is bittersweet in my mind, but still, I loved it !

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. The short chapters - PLEASE KEEP! This is the best in books (for me), but I also feel for most people. I was looking for a different kind of mystery/thriller and I like the FBI plot line in this. The characters had their unlikeable moments for me, but that didn't deter me at all.

-This is exactly what you need if you wanna treat yourself to some mind-blowing mystery thriller w/o the good ol' murder thing.
-Missing spouse, FBI, fake identities, a corrupt government, all in all a pretty chilling 2-3 hours max read although with a few loopholes
-It started out pretty strong but then thru the middle it kinda got boring but not in the "wtf nothing's happening" way but rather in the too much information dump way if ykwim but then things picked on again it ended pretty strong so I've no complaints regarding that.
-I truly do not have anymore thoughts about it w/o spoiling things. It was a pretty short read anyway.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book! Quick, fast paced, and an easy read.

What if you found out the wife you love is not the person you think you know? What lengths would you go to to find out the truth and find her?

What if the wife you know, doesn’t actually exist?

Luke Driskell must question everything he thinks he knows about his new wife after she mysteriously vanishes with her young daughter….

After rushing into a burning day-care center to save the eight children trapped inside, Ashley immediately becomes a local hero and a social media sensation.

Then, she disappears from the hospital before she can even be released, and vanishes into the bitterly cold night wearing only a thin hospital gown.

With no trace of their whereabouts, Luke makes a plea to the Public for help-and offers a substantial reward for any information that can help reunite him with Ashley and his young stepdaughter, Joy.

Little did he realize that his wife is extremely private for a reason, and he has just put a target on her back.

Luke begins a dangerous cross-country pursuit of the truth, and his family, which will ultimately test a vow he made to Ashley when she accepted his proposal.

This was my first time reading Amazon Charts bestselling author Chad Zunker and I devoured the quick and engaging 205 page story in one sitting!

The writing is a bit simplistic, and let’s face it-a woman with second degree burns on both arms and her neck, would be unlikely to walk out of a hospital hours after she is admitted 🤦🏻‍♀️ BUT it reads like a fun, two hour action movie that I might watch on the screen, so I just went with it, and enjoyed the show! 😉🍿

I got David Bell vibes with this one, so if you enjoy his work, you may want to give this author a try! I would definitely read more of his work!

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up!

Available February 27, 2024.

Thank You to Thomas & Mercer for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

The Wife You Know by Chad Zunker was good. I have read most of his books and really enjoyed them. This one follows the new trend for the main character to talk to the reader – To include the audience in the mystery and story.
Widower Luke Driskell meets and marries Ashely – who has a daughter Joy. Luke is happy and really enjoying his life.
Ashely runs into a burning Day Care which puts her in the media -- So she disappears with her daughter.
Luke goes looking for her and Joy but finds out she never existed.
He goes looking for her. He was mostly clueless and stubbled around. The end was farfetched.
I like the way Mr. Zunker writes. This one was not as good as many of his books. I do think it is worth a read.

What happens when the wife you thought you married and knew, turns out to be a completely different person. Meet Luke Driscoll. He's a widower who didn't expect to fall in love again. That is until he met Ashley. Ashley has a daughter named Joy that Luke accepts as his own.

One day Ashley saves children when she rushes into a burning day care. A video of her saving the kids went viral. Ashley has to spend the night in the hospital so Luke goes home to take care of Joy. While he sleeping that night, Joy disappears from her bed and Ashley disappears from the hospital.

When Luke wakes up the next morning, he realizes that they are both gone. We follow Luke on his journey to figuring out what happened to his wife and step-daughter. As things unfold, he learns that he didn't know his wife as well as he thought he did.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was a short, quick read. As I was reading, I was intrigued about who Ashley could really be and why her life was a secret from Luke. The events of the book escalated as I got closer to the end. As I read the book, I felt like I was on the trail with Luke. The ending was really good.

I would recommend this book and I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.