Vi Keeland's *The Unraveling* took me on a rollercoaster ride through the dark alleys of obsession and desire. Set against the backdrop of New York City, this psychological thriller introduces us to Dr. Meredith McCall, a psychiatrist haunted by loss. When she crosses paths with Gabriel Wright—a man with secrets darker than the city's shadows—her life takes a treacherous turn.

Keeland's prose is like a finely tuned violin—each note resonating with tension and intrigue. As Meredith unravels the threads of Gabriel's past, the stakes rise. Their chemistry is electric, forbidden, and utterly consuming. But this isn't a typical romance; it's a dance on the edge of madness.

The pacing is relentless, pulling you deeper into the labyrinth of secrets. Keeland masterfully navigates the blurred lines between right and wrong, sanity and obsession. The characters are flawed, magnetic, and achingly real. And that twist? It hit me like a thunderclap.

The Unraveling is a symphony of suspense, passion, and psychological turmoil. If you're ready to lose sleep, clutch the pages, and question your own sanity, dive into this gripping novel. Vi Keeland has woven a spellbinding tale that lingers long after the final chapter.

What did I just read?? I’m still asking myself that question after just finishing it. My mind is reeling (don’t know if that is a good or bad thing) and I do have questions… But I have to say, this book kept me invested until the last page. It didn’t do what I expected, (though I will say, I’m still not sure how I feel about that) but it did what any good thriller book would do which is leave you wondering and curious. I was invested in the character, and I enjoyed experiencing the story through her eyes. I was surprised by the end that this book is not only a Thriller-Stalker-Romance, but also slightly feel-good? All around, it’s a good read

Meredith is a psychiatrist. She is still trying to recover from an accident in which her husband was the driver of a car that hits and kills a woman and child. He also died. One day she happens to see the dead women’s husband, Gabriel. He looks happy. Meredith thinks - how can he be happy after such a loss? She starts to stalk him. And down the rabbit hole we go!

Have you ever read a book where you are saying to yourself- you did not just do that! Or - what are you thinking? That’s what I found myself thinking as I read this book. The only excuse would be where Meredith is mentally as she deals with her own grief.

I ended up reading this book in one sitting. I’m new to this author and I found her writing to be very entertaining.

I received a copy of this book from Atria via Netgalley. The publisher date is July 9, 2024.

WOW...What a page turner. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This was my first Vi Keeland but it certainly will not be my last. I know that this was not her usual genre, but what a great job she did. There were so many twists and turns it kept your interest throughout. I do not want to give any of the story away. READ IT.

2.5 Stars. I wasn't aware of this author, who writes popular romantic, steamy fiction, which doesn't interest me. This is her first psychological suspense thriller. My enjoyment level was closer to a 2-star level, but I rounded it off to 3 because I found the tension and suspense solid and compelling. I kept reading as I wanted to know the outcome. I did not care for any of the characters and found the main character, Meredith, particularly annoying and unlikeable. She was a psychiatrist who, due to being careless with her prescription pads and, ignored that her husband was stealing them to order excessive pain medication. They had a happy marriage while he was a skilled and famous hockey player, but a severe injury ended his hockey career. He became irritable and critical of mostly everything she did or said, leading to tension in the home.

He was driving while impaired by drug use and died in a tragic motor vehicle accident that killed a mother and young daughter. At this point, Meredith begins to unravel both mentally and emotionally. It was clear that even before this shattering event, she did not always make good decisions. She blames herself for her husband's accident and the death of two innocent pedestrians. Her license is revoked, and she is mandated to shut down her psychiatric practice for a year and receive psychiatric help.

Overwhelmed by grief and guilt and without her work to keep her busy, she realizes she is in a fragile state and wonders if she can ever recover. Her days and nights have become aimless. One day, she sees Gabriel, the man who lost his wife and young daughter in the horrific accident. Gabriel is looking happy and smiling, and she decides irrationally to follow him daily. She cannot understand why he seems content and hopes to discover a clue to help her recover to a more stable state of mind. While stalking him, she sees him with women and notices he goes to a storage facility each day for an extraordinary amount of time. While following Gabriel, she shoplifts a small item from a bookstore, which thrilled her. She even searches the cemeteries for his family's graves. She loses a small souvenir she carries in memory of her husband. One day, she is alarmed to bump into Gabriel, who does not seem to recognize her or to be aware that she is stalking him.

Her visits to the psychiatrist are going well. He seems to validate her feelings as normal, but she initially keeps some crucial information from him. Over time, he has encouraged her to stop her compulsive stalking. The year is up, and she returns to her psychiatric office. One of her earliest new patients is Gabriel, who still appears not to realize that she is the widow of the man who destroyed his family. He now discusses how empty his life has become. Merideth feels a growing attraction to Gabriel. She has a young female patient who is into rough sex with several men while obsessed with one who is unavailable. Merideth feels this justifies her obsession with Gabriel, as others can feel a similar compulsion. She tends to be ineffective with her long-term patients, as her mind is barely on their therapy.

Meredith lacks boundaries in her life and psychiatric career. She continues to make terrible choices, including several sessions of rough sex with Gabriel. This part was graphic, smutty, and ultimately distracting and unnecessary. This was too vulgar for my taste. Her office assistant is supportive of any problem Merideth cares to discuss. Meredith is back looking for more information about Gabriel, sneaks into his storage unit, and discovers he knew her identity all along. She now thinks she is being followed and wonders if she is paranoid. She goes to the police for a restraining order against Gabriel but lacks the evidence that he is stalking her.

The ending is twisty and unexpected. I read to the end while hoping all characters had an unpleasant outcome. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this gripping psychological thriller. The Unraveling will be published on July 09.

I see you @vi_keeland… wow! This was an amazing “debut”. Listen Keeland usually writes romance and this is her first thriller. Damn did she hit it out of the park. This book does have some spice (hot damn is it spicy too…) but the twists, secrets and deep unhealthy obsession that runs throughout had me hooked from the start.

This book made me gasp and pick my jaw right off the floor until the last page. I absolutely ADORED the ending. I was enthralled. This is totally unhinged and a PERFECT depiction of messy psychological relationships with unhealthy habits/tendencies and consummation. I loved every single thing about it and I cannot wait for her next thriller. Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy. I need to snag a physical!

WHATTTTTT 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
Literally me after finishing this book with that final twist. I just stared at my kindle thinking WTF?!
A psychological thriller with a bit of spice. 🔥
PICK THIS BOOK UP!!!! And go in blind!!! I went in blind and it made it even better.
I’ll definitely be discussing this book with book besties who read it because I need alllll their thoughts.

The Unraveling is quite the reading experience. Vi Keeland breaks out her new thriller writing chops and gives us a story that I couldn't put down. I was anxious to see where this venture would lead Dr. Meredith McCall Fitzgerald and the tragedy she is trying her hardest to put behind her but is seemingly stopped at every chance she has to move forward. As we get a glimpse into the opioid addiction her late husband suffered after a hockey injury threatened his career, it's no wonder Meredith continues to blame herself as she finds out just how desperate Connor was to keep medicating himself.

There are subtle twists and turns galore as Meredith tries to move forward and take on patients again as a successful psychiatrist. Combining loyal patients with a few new ones, she is suddenly face to face with Gabriel Wright, a man who was also deeply impacted by what occurred when her husband drove under the influence. And what follows is an intricate game of cat and mouse, Meredith often not quite sure just who is playing who. Her obsession with what Connor caused sets her on a path of destruction and although she knows she is obsessed with finding out why Gabriel is somehow happy and settled when she is still somewhat a mess, she just can't help herself and that may cause the most damage of all.

I'm floored at how this book continued to create mayhem within my brain, as I tried my hardest to figure out if Meredith was in fact losing it a bit and only thought she was being followed and played. Keeland throws out crumbs here and there and I knew to pay close attention to the finer and understated details wondering how certain scenes would affect what I knew would be an explosive outcome. And I wasn't proven wrong as the story starts to get even crazier with Meredith and Gabriel crossing lines by having a torrid albeit brief affair with our fine doctor actually taking sexual ideas from another patient consumed with a former lover! I was gobsmacked more than once at all that is brought to light page by page and how I hoped Meredith could find herself again and get away from this vicious cycle of self-destruction once and for all.

Keeland kept the wheels turning at a good pace as the book started to head for the finish line. When everything was finally revealed and I read those last few chapters, I was wickedly stunned at just who stepped out as the ultimate villain in all of this chaos. Talk about a brilliant ending. This author took what is a common premise of a widow suffering from a great loss and not knowing how to move on and made it her own. The element of mystery combined with the right amount of steam and chills gave this book all I needed to get lost in this talented author's words.

I suppose I was as unraveled while reading this book as Meredith was in living it. Which, in my humble opinion, is exactly how one should feel while reading a book of this nature. Vi Keeland created a compelling and addictive storyline that I will not soon forget and I can only hope she writes more in this genre. Sure to be the hit of the summer of 2024, I happily give The Unraveling a huge 5+ stars!

Oh my goodness this book was all kinds of crazy in the best way! propulsive and completely unputdownable! Meredith McCall is a psychiatrist but had her license revoked for a year. But that doesn't stop her from being completely obsessed with Gabriel. But why? Why can't she let go and what drives this deep obsession? Get yourself a drink, snacks and get comfy. Once you start you will not stop until the mind blowing end!

There was some repetition that started to annoy me but it stopped about 40% through and picked up speed a bit

I did not see a lot a few significant pieces of this coming which is always nice

A quick read, thanks to Netgalley and Atria for the free advanced copy!

⭐️: 2.5/5

Psychiatrist Meredith McCall is adrift after suffering a personal tragedy, when she happens across Gabriel Wright, the man who she is connected to via that tragedy. A chance encounter sparks a dangerous obsession, and soon, Meredith is following him, trying to find out how he is seemingly happy. The situation is further complicated when Gabriel, seemingly unaware of their connection, walks into her office as a patient, and she puts her professional and personal lives in danger in order to treat him.

I always start reviews like this with the caveat that I am a thriller snob. I love a good thriller, and I read more than my fair share of of books within the genre, so I’ve read some GREAT thrillers, which makes ones that aren’t as great feel…really not great. One of the big things that bugs me when reading subpar thrillers is when the dialogue is used in a blatantly obvious way to communicate details of a plot. It leads me to the thought, “people don’t talk like that,” and if I’m having that thought while reading, I’m already annoyed. This one had so many extraneous details in the dialogue, and it made me cringe. The plot itself was also majorly contrived, with character motivations that didn’t really make sense to me. A lot of time you have to suspend your disbelief while reading, but there was nothing in this one that made me want to take the effort to do so with this one. Meredith as a character was an overdone trope, overused in thrillers, of the psychiatrist who is clearly bad at their job, but insists they used to be great at their job before xyz personal thing happened and they became an alcoholic. She made bad decisions repeatedly for majorly contrived and unrealistic reasons, and was overly dramatic about almost everything. There was no true suspense in this one either, which kind of defeated the purpose of the plot in my opinion. Anyway, I’m sure there are readers out there that will enjoy this breezy “thriller”, but I was not one of them.

I devoured this psychological thriller. I loved how focused the story was on the psychological aspect of the character-driven plot. It was told solely from the perspective of a psychologist named Meredith McCall and focused on her past struggle to cope with her failing marriage before the eventual death of her husband. Her emotional state comes across as fragile at times making her feel like a real person, and I loved the external conflict that resulted from her interactions with Gabriel Wright.

The Unraveling was a very quick and entertaining read. It was interesting and well-written and even though some twists were easy to guess, the ending still surprised me. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and I’d definitely be interested in reading more thrillers by Vi Keeland in the future.

Much thanks to NetGalley, First Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for the ARC of "The Unraveling" in exchange for an honest review.
Oh boy, did I have fun with this one. For me, it evoked all those domestic psychological thrillers that permeated movie theaters throughout the 1990's.......and I could never get enough of them. Usually they involved some esteemed professional (doctor, lawyer, professor, etc. etc.) who makes one terrible decision after another, putting them in terrible danger and even under suspicion by skeptical police detectives. Of course, twists abound and nobody's what they seem.
So here we have a widowed New York City psychiatrist, Dr. Meredith McCall, suffering under a crushing burden of guilt. Her NHL hockey star husband died in a car accident while under the influence of massive Opioid doses he obtained by swiping her prescription pads. His car plowed into a a young mother and her little girl, killing them instantly, leaving Gabriel Wright grieving for his perished family.
But how grieving is he exactly.? When she does come across him, Meredith wonders why he seems not quite overcome with melancholy and takes to obsessively stalking him. Imagine her stunned surprise when one day Gabriel walks into her office as a new patient seeking therapy. Since he doesn't recognize her as the wife of the man who destroyed his family, Meredith throws medical ethics to the wind and chooses to see him.......and the "see him" part escalates into something way beyond the 'I see that our hour is up' stage.
Under NO circumstances would I dare reveal how Meredith's reckless choices send the plot twisting and turning into all sorts of dangerous directions. Just fasten your seatbelt and take this wild ride all the way to that final sentence that's guaranteed to leave your mouth agape and your eyes raised all the way to your hairline.
For anyone like me who pounces on thrillers like this, mark this one down as a 5 star Don't Miss.

"This isn't a love story. It's a story about obsession."

What a ride!!
The Unraveling immediately draws you in with Meredith's grief and guilt, and then to watch her absolutely spiral was a touch unsettling!
The story progresses and what you think you know you DO NOT know - then you get that epilogue?!?!? Excuse me?!?? Unhinged and I was here for it.

This is a dark, suspenseful, guilty pleasure kind of psychological thriller that you are going to want to read!

Vi Keeland is known for her romance novels but has expanded her range with The Unraveling.

Meredith McCall is a widow after her husband Connor died in a tragic car accident that also resulted in the death of a mother and daughter. Tortured with survivor's guilt, she obsesses over Gabriel Wright, the husband and father of the victims. As a psychiatrist, she knows the dangers of obsession, and yet she can't stop herself from following Gabriel to see how he is handling everything.

Then, a new patient for her comes in and it's Gabriel. He does not know their connection, ... or at least it seems that way.

What follows is a mind-bending thriller. Vi Keeland is more than just a sexy romance and this proves it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow, Keeland had me hooked from the first page with this intense thriller. The characters were so engaging you almost felt you knew Merideth by the end of the book. It was a fast read with an intense plot that had me at every chapter as I needed to know what would happen next. With an insane ending that I did not see coming. A great thrill ride! I will be looking forward to more from Vi Keeland!

Wow………
Where do I start and can I do this book justice. I finished this book a while ago but it’s taken me until now to put my thoughts on paper. The Unraveling has shown me how diverse and confirmed how very talented Vi Keeland is. This book is very different to any book I have read by her because she has now’s taken me into a raw, dark and gritty world with Meredith McCall and Gabriel Wright’s journey and I loved it.
Meredith is a NYC psychiatrist and is happily married to her soulmate who plays hockey for a living but when Connor suffers a bad injury he becomes addicted to pain meds which leads to his unfortunate demise.
Meredith is trying to get her life back on track but is struggling with grief and feeling alone and she is finding it hard to get through each day until Gabriel Wright walks into her office.
What follows is a connection that leads to a game of cat and mouse as we enter a world of secrets, lies and suspense. This book is not for the faint hearted and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it because I’m not normally drawn to psychological thrillers but that in its self is a testimony of how great a writer Vi Keeland is. I was kept on the edge of my seat from the first chapters to the last line as I dodged twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book to get lost in.

Thank you to Atria, Vi Keeland and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

Wow! 4.5⭐️ Rounded up to 5. Binged this book in one day! So good! If you are a fan of phycological thrills with stalkers… this is it!

The Unraveling is Vi Keeland‘s debut psychological thriller and after reading and loving her romance books, I was so excited for this book.
 
I only read thriller’s every now and then and I feel like this is a good start for someone who has never read a thriller but simultaneously for everyone who enjoys thrillers. I feel like this book is best to go in blind and the twists and turns are very surprising and shocking the least you know.
 
Our protagonist Meredith is a psychiatrist and she had it all from a hockey player husband and they wanted to start a family together. Until this all shattered through an accident. It was really cool to see how you get chapters from the past and in the present and the way all of this was connected was done beyond well.
 
One of her new patients is Gabriel who is a literary professor. They feel an attraction towards each other, and it’s not only forbidden because of the doctor-patient-dynamic but also because of their past. The story includes trauma, grief, stalking, secrets, romantic and spicy moments and above all twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and led to Meredith’s unraveling. The writing and plot were compelling and enthralling and I was sucked into this story very easily and couldn’t put it down.
 
Overall, The Unraveling is such a good thriller and I hope to see more from this genre from Vi Keeland. 4 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)