Seline is excited to be starting her new teaching job. There she meets Robbie a kind and loving boyfriend, that is if she does as she's told. Things start of all loving with him then when she's moved in her reveals his dark and controlling side. Trying to escape his clutches she turns to an old family friend for help, but will he help her or has he other plans of his own?.

British writer Caleb Crowe hits the ground running with his knock-out, highly impressive, electrifying psychological thriller debut, THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING! Fans of Clémence Michallon’s The Quiet Tenant (My top thriller of 2023) will devour it!

I knew I would love this novel; I was on the edge of my seat, from the stunning, alluring front cover to every page turn. I could not put this one down. These evil, sinister characters will keep you guessing in this web of deceit and dangerous cat-and-mouse game until the explosive ending!

The author brilliantly captures the reader with the Prologue. A car. An accident. In freezing water. Not an accident. Deliberate. Someone wants her dead.

Seline is a lovely young woman from Manchester who wants to make it alone, leaving her safe and secure childhood home and parents. She has accepted a job as an art teacher and has rented a room in a home with a family. She is nervous and excited about her new adventure. A new job, her first ever teaching art. A new place. A new beginning.

She landed the position due to Michael, an old friend of her father's. Back in school, they were best mates and kept in touch for a while, then drifted apart. He was a governor at the school and was looking for a new art teacher. This guy, she later learns, is powerful, rich, and can open doors for her in the art world.

She arrives in Holts Hill in the country. The room she is renting could be better. Maybe she has made a mistake.

She must make this work to prove to her parents that she can make it independently. However, her dream job at St. Oswald's is not as expected, as she has a troubled teen girl in her class who is disruptive and disrespectful. The girl's dad is also a teacher at the school.

She feels the staff needs to be more supportive when she tries to report the student. She feels unwelcome at school and second-guesses herself and her decision to come here.

Next, she meets Robbie. He is handsome, dangerous, and charming. He is a bad boy; however, she has no clue how evil he is. Seline gets caught up in a romantic affair with Robbie, who lives in a run-down flat over a restaurant. At first, it was all-consuming; she felt alive.

Soon thereafter, he turns into a different person. He is dark, rough, messy, moody, manipulative, controlling, evil, and abusive. Drives uncontrollably and madly. He is not as he appears. Soon, he moved all her things into his flat, and there was no escape. He even takes her to school and picks her up. The only solace is her art.

Plus, there is a locked door in his flat, and she is dying to find out what is inside. She tries to break free of him, but he threatens to kill her. She thinks he is selling drugs. But everyone in the village seems to know him, and looks can be deceiving on the outside. What is he hiding?

She is a nervous wreck; someone destroys her drawings—sinister and scary. Robbie goes everywhere with her and even shows up at school. How will she ever escape him?

She finally meets Michael, the person responsible for helping her get the job. Can she turn to him for help? She tries to escape to her parents, and Robbie finds her and threatens to kill the parents if she tells anyone about him.

When she thinks she has found a way to escape, she learns Michael may not be who he appears to be either. What is going on? Then there is the car accident. Someone wants her dead, but why? Who can she trust?

Seline must learn more about Michael and devise a plan to save herself. But then there is another tragedy with her family, and she learns nothing or no one is as they appear.

How will she escape this madness?

WOW! If this is a debut, I cannot wait to read more by this new voice in fiction, Caleb Crowe! Inkubator Books sure knows how to crank out the winners!

THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING exceeded all my expectations and what I look for in a riveting and engrossing psychological thriller. I enjoyed the metaphors, symbolism, and paintings of the doors and shadows and how it ended.

Atmospheric, eerie, dark, sinister. THE GIRL IS THE PAINTING is like a nightmare, gas lighting, nerve-wracking, horrifying, and not for the fainthearted. However, it is suspenseful, lyrical, and twisty and will keep you on the edge of your seat. And that ending was killer!

From art, ambition, love, obsession, and revenge with some dark triggers, THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING is explosive and may be difficult for some to read. Psychologically rich, a locked-room thriller, it is intense, haunting, and heartbreaking but also focuses on resilience and survival.

I enjoyed the author's writing immensely, and I look forward to more from this new voice in fiction! Smartly written, addictive, it is unputdownable. It would make for a great movie or TV series. It also would have been fun to have a POV from Michael (an enigma). I would love to see Seline featured in a future book.

This one is for you if you love dark, imaginative, twisty thrillers with menace and unreliable narrators. Highly recommend! I cannot wait to see what comes next. An author to watch. He is on my list, for sure!

For fans of authors Jennifer Hillier, Clémence Michallon, Lisa Jewell, Sally Hepworth, Daniel Hurst, Miranda Rijks, Eliot Stevens, Robin Mahle, Freida McFadden, and Emily Shiner.

Thanks to Inkubator Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to be introduced to this new author and an ARC for an honest opinion.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Jan 31, 2024
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A fast paced read with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. The author does an excellent job of developing the characters in such a way that made me want to keep reading late into the night. I kept saying just one more chapter.

I am definitely not a fan of books written in the third person- it makes me feel quite disconnected from the main character. I persevered but kept losing attention. An average book overall.

The Girl in the Painting follows main character Seline as she embarks on a suspenseful venture to a new town, with the help of an old family friend, to start her life and prove to her parents she can succeed. She begins to wonder if this was the right choice as she gets tangled up in a less than loving relationship. She doesn’t know who she can trust. She realizes that someone may be trying to kill her, but who? I thought this book had a good amount of suspense and good twists. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat or anything with this one, but still enjoyed reading it!

Seeing Robbie change through the book was very disturbing, a lot of darkness and lies in this book. Definitely recommended.

Thank to #Netagalley and #VictoryEditingNerGalleyCoop for the book #TheGirlInThePainting by #CalebCrowe. This dark book was full of suspense, abuse and evil. It absolutely held my attention and had me on edge to the very ending. Highly recommend.

The book starts out a little slow but does pick up .
It is a suspenseful read, with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. The author, creates a realistic and atmospheric setting, with very flawed characters. The writing is engaging and descriptive,
The story also explores the psychological aspects of the characters, and the impact of trauma, abuse, and betrayal on their lives.
Overall the book is captivating and chilling psychological thriller and will appeal to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a touch of art and romance

Found this on Net Galley there wasn't a description but I DNFd it, the writing was weird and I'm not a fan of 3rd person. It was hard to get into but if you like a story being told from the outside you may like it more than I did. They cover is what pulled me in but I wish there was more of a description so I would have known the point of view. They writing feels almost old even though it set in present times. I may try to pick it up again at a later date but right now just wasn't for me.

Brilliant! I could not put the book down. The setting was visual and the story intense. There were times that I wanted to read ahead because the suspense was high. It did not end the way I expected, but was better than I would have imagined. I would love to see a follow up story to see what happened with the characters involved.

The cover and description of this book caught my attention on NetGalley. I had low expectations that Caled Crowe exceeded.

Seline lands her first big girl job teaching, thanks to her father’s estranged childhood friend. It’s a new town and a chance for her to prove herself. Seline immediately moves in with the seemingly charming, Robbie. He’s not who he appears to be, but neither is anyone else she meets in this town.

One complaint I have is I felt like she was always in a car. The prologue is her in the car, first chapter, and what feels like every other chapter, she’s in a car. I also want closure with a few characters that I felt like didn’t get explained away well enough.

I’m giving this book 3.5 ⭐️ It was a fast paced thriller that had a good twist.

What a wild ride this book was! Had my jaw drop plenty of times. Had me anxious & angry, but in the end it all came together. Couldn’t put this book down less than 24 hour read (I had to sleep unfortunately). So many twists & turns, I really didn’t know what to expect or who done what kind of thing. Definitely worth the read if you’re into mystery/thrillers. This will have you on the edge of your seat for sure!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this & give an honest review.

This just flew by. Its a really quick and easy read. It's quite predicable, naive girl meets controlling man but it's really well written and has good character growth throughout the book. Robbie is just vile and is written to just set off every alarm bell in ones body. It's the sign of good writing when you're evoking a physical reaction fron your reader due to how horrid a completely made up person is! Really enjoyable, a few twists (even if they're not the most shocking) and just a fun easy read that delivers what it sets out to

I stumbled upon the book's cover on Netgalley and was intrigued by the title and the girl. This is a fast-paced psychological thriller. I read this book in one sitting — such a page turner!

4 stars.

“... explain the dangerous appeal of a charming man who's anything but charming underneath…"

Michael Lockwood, Seline's father's friend, helps her get a new job as an art teacher. He's friendly and charming, with lots of money. He always seems to be in the back of her mind and in the background.

Then, she meets Robbie, who's mysterious and doesn't live life by the rules. She quickly falls for his charms, but he isn't who he seems, and realizes as quickly as she has fallen, she can't seem to get up…

Pros:

- Fast pace writing style, easy to read
- Interesting plot with twists and turns
- Good character development

Cons:

- Robbie is a complete and utter jerk with controlling issues. I wanted to kick him in the nuts, hard, until they fell off. Kudos to Crowe for making me feel this way.
- I wish Seline wasn't as naive, but glad she got stronger towards the end. I kept screaming “red flag, red flag” concerning Robbie throughout the entire book.

I wasn't expecting to get sucked into this thriller. Caleb Crowe's debut novel, and it seems like he has been writing for years. I love the easy and fast-paced suspenseful writing style he has. I look forward to his next.

Such a great Psychological page turning thriller!
Follow Pov Seline, as she moves out of her parents house to pursue her independence and work her first teaching job. Her parents old time friend Michael has reached out and has an opening at his school for an art teacher. Seline finds a room to rent and settles in to her new life. She meets Robbie, and things quickly progress between these two until Robbie's dark side is revealed. There is a lot of domestic violence in this book just a trigger warning. The plot gets really dark and repetitive.
Wouldn't say its very twisty (its predictable) Michaels character comes into the plot just about 70% in, Selines character got very irrigating. The rest of the book portrays her as a very defenceless, clueless woman. unable to make decisions and just being tossed around by her boyfriend. Great ending, was well worth the wait; if you can push through the repetitive violence.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

nice and well done thriller, would recommnend. a lot of tragic things happen to our protag but she keeps on going. thanks for the arc

The Girl in the Painting was a quick entertaining read that had quite a few twists in it. While the beginning of the book was slow to get into, once the plot picked up it kept me reading until done. Seline’s shy, worrisome personality sets her up for many conflicts and her issues with teaching felt true to life. I didn’t see the ending coming and that made for a great read!

I’m f I’m being perfectly honest this book started out very slow for me. Almost put it down but decided to see where it went. Once I got through maybe the first 1/4, it picked up speed and quickly. It kept me engaged and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I would for sure recommend this to anyone that likes a good suspense thriller!

Fast paced story line & a bit predictable. A bit of a slow start to get interested in. Not sure if I'd recommend to a friend.

3.5 stars - I’m rounding down.

Content warnings: domestic/emotional abuse, language, sexual commentary
Similar reads: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh, It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Celine takes her first job as an art teacher in a small town. Living apart from her parents for the first time, will she come to regret the decisions she makes? The story and thriller aspects of this novel were great! The main character, Selene, is curious, and breaks out of her shell to be confrontational when needed. Personally, I struggle to read any type of plot with domestic abuse. I’ve read books with more than this one, but I still don’t love it, for that reason I docked from my stars.

I wish Selene had a tad more character development in her back story, but again that’s just a personal preference. I saw one of the twists coming but that final one was a fun surprise! It was a good read, but not necessarily one I was *invested* in like other plot lines.