I was excited to read this based on the premise and I was really into it at the beginning, but then it leveled off and was really slow. I did like the main character and I liked how her story was told. Overall, it was decent. I think I was just expecting more.

I think that the plot of this book was great and I will absolutely read it in book form, but the audiobook narrator was not it for me . This one was a struggle to get through in audiobook, but I will for sure be reading the book!

This just didn’t grab me or hold intrigue. It was fine. It felt even keel throughout, lacking emotion. The parts that should have felt more dramatic felt purely factual to me (besides right at the end). I think this will rate higher for those looking for more of a domestic drama vs a thriller/mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley, Goodreads, and Amazon.

Title: The Company She Keeps
Release Date: July 1, 2024

"The Company She Keeps” is a compelling slow burn that keeps listeners on edge with its intricate plot and character development. Rebecca, a successful businesswoman with a troubled past, struggles with her unfortunate taste in men. This personal turmoil is interwoven with the chilling presence of a serial killer on the loose, adding layers of suspense and tension.

Rebecca's character is well-crafted, and her backstory is revealed gradually, giving depth to her actions and choices. The contrast between her professional success and personal struggles makes her relatable and human. The narrative explores themes of resilience, trust, and the impact of one's past on the present.

While the plot is engaging, the pacing may feel slow for those expecting constant action. However, the deliberate build-up adds to the tension, making the climax more impactful. The blend of personal drama and thriller elements creates a unique listening experience.

The narrator does a decent job of bringing the story to life. Though not exceptional, their performance is competent and keeps the story moving forward. Some moments could benefit from more emotional depth, but overall, the narration is satisfactory.

In conclusion, "The Company She Keeps" is a solid choice for those who enjoy character-driven stories with a mix of personal and external conflicts. The slow burn nature requires patience, but the payoff is worth it for listeners who appreciate a well-rounded, suspenseful tale.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ALC. I read this in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

This is good! It’s about a woman, Rebecca, a successful businesswoman that had a very unhealthy childhood. She was very close to her Father whom she found dead after he committed suicide. This could or could not be causing her to possibly choose poor life partners. At this time she has three relationships; one with her fiancée, Larry- an American she hasn’t known for very long, especially to commit to marry him. Simon, a married cop and finally Mervyn - a “stalkerish”journalist she tries to get rid of. In the background there is an active serial killer who has just claimed his tenth victim. The more she learns about the men in her life the more the reader questions if any of them are good for her or if one of them be the killer. I’m not going to say more so as not to ruin the ending!
Well-paced. Plot is well-sequenced. Enjoyed this one.

The Company She Keeps released July 1 2024 and, on audio, was a solid book with great narration. Listed as "mystery thriller" by the publisher, I found it to be enjoyable (as enjoyable a book including a serial killer can be), but also found it to be a slow burn.

The primary focus of the plot wasn't so much the killing, as the main character Rebecca, a smart successful woman with incredibly bad taste in men. It's clear from the beginning one of these men is a very very bad man, and the whole tale involves red herrings to keep the reader guessing.

Was I glad I read it? Yup. Killed a day at almost 9 hours on audio with a narrator who portrayed each character well.

Do I think you should read it? Sure. It's an easy one and worth a look.

Would I listen to it again? No, not likely. BUT, I would absolutely check out more from author James Woolf.

First of all, the main characters, Rebecca, is an incredible woman! She is tenacious, astute, and—this is good news for readers—she is not a dumb main character. I'm grateful, James Woolf.

Our protagonist has great success on the professional side but not so much on the romantic one. An understatement, actually. She just ended a relationship with a morally questionable policeman, Simon, started kind of seeing a weird dude that fixates on her, and finally we have Larry, a man whose wife’s death haunts him in more ways than one.

About the plot, I thought everything was quite clear-cut. You know most of the time what is going on, but enjoy it nonetheless. Like a safe kids rollercoaster ride.
More than the book itself, what I'll focus on is the narration of the audiobook. Until roughly the 75% point, I thought the narrator's tone was more cosy-low stakes than giving off a dark, suspenseful thriller-like vibe. I think it would have suited me better if I had read the book with my own eyes, to have the full richness of the suspense in the story.

1979 England
The Yorkshire Ripper is wreaking havoc in northern England, claiming his 10th victim.
Enter Rebecca, a wealthy businesswoman who tends to select questionable relationships with men. Her latest beau and fiance, Larry, has her on edge, and she reaches out to her former romantic entanglement, Simon, with help learning the darker side of Larry.
Rebecca is willing to place herself in dangerous situations to find out the truth about Larry. A man without redemption was leading a police chase before claiming his next victim.
I enjoyed the story but hoped the Yorkshire Ripper would have been immersed more into the story. The main character, Rebecca, is intelligent and strong-willed, but she's not perfect and places herself in precarious situations.
I hoped for a thrilling ride, but the story didn't fall completely flat.
The narrator did a lovely job creating voices for each character and even pulled off a male American accent.
I listened to The Company She Keeps for an honest review for NetGalley.

This was a slowwwww burn, and actually a bit obvious overall. The prologue lends itself to creating a sad backstory for the Rebecca, but after that, it was a little difficult to get into at first. While I became more invested as the story unfolded, I was underwhelmed. There isn’t a big twist, the Yorkshire Ripper is mostly commentary, and I felt it was less mystery/thriller than expected.

I did love that the FMC wasn’t the usual unreliable narrator or dumb damsel; in fact, she was incredibly successful, intelligent, and resourceful. It’s a wonder she surrounded herself with these men.

The narrator Henrietta Meire was excellent. Each character had their own voice, and Meire did a wonderful job switching between British (and multiple British accents) and American accents, even an American male she did very well. That said, and no reflection of her, I think I would have preferred to read this book over listening to the audio, as that may have added more mystery/darkness to this otherwise just okay read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (but I seem to be in the minority, so would still recommend giving it a try!)

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to Netgalley, James Woolf, and the Dreamscape Media for an ARC of this fast paced thriller!

Rebecca, a wealthy UK business woman meets Larry, an American after a series of terrible men: the reporter who is obsessed with her, and a married policeman. However, he does not seem forthcoming about his past, even after asking her to marry him.

After digging through his past, Rebecca wonders, is Larry like the others? Can he be trusted?

The narration was great, setting the mood for the thriller!

3.5 ⭐

I really liked the premise of The Company She Keeps, by James Woolf. I thought the main protagonist was really interesting, but the story started off a little slow, however there were a few twists and turns that surprised me. The narrator did a great job bringing all of the characters to life.

I was intrigued by the book’s description, but it didn’t meet my expectations. I listened to the audiobook & this is one instance in which I may have enjoyed reading, instead of listening. The book moved too slow for me & was a bit predictable. I seem to be in the minority on this one, so don’t let me sway you from checking it out yourself.

I thought this would be an interesting story but I got to 50% and I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t connect with the story and the overly animated voices at certain points took me out of the narrative. If a book is a thriller the timeline should move quickly I feel. This book dragged for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
So if you think this one starts out a bit slow, hang in there. It gets really good.
So many surprises woven into this story about Rebecca, Larry, a brewery and a murderer. This was a great book that is a bit of a slow burn. Totally worth the slow burn though. Great setting. Great narrator. Awesome audiobook!

The premise really intrigued me. I tried to get into it, the beginning started off well, but then I found myself uninterested and the pacing was really slow. Also, I had a hard time with the narrator. I had to DNF unfortunately.

3⭐
Genre ~ historical psychological fiction
Setting ~ England, 1979 ~ 1981
Publication date ~ July 1, 2024
Est Page Count ~ 352 (p+ 79 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 8 hours 51 minutes
Narrator ~ Henrietta Meire
POV ~ 3rd
Featuring ~ suicide, serial killer, slow burn

Rebecca knows how to pick em...or not.

When I hear there's a serial killer, and one based on the real life, Yorkshire Ripper, I expect killings to be a main focal point of the story, but that's not really the case here. I mean I don't need to read about the attacks in a gruesome way per say, but this is mostly about Rebecca and her relationships with 3 men. As you can probably figure out by the way the blurb is written one of these 3 is our killer.

Overall, I do think it was well written for what it is, but I was just expecting something more chilling and thrilling. I remained fully in the middle of my seat the whole time.

Narration notes:
She did a good job. She gave each character a distinct voice. She even did an American man accent pretty well.

A somewhat uneven, (too) slow burn for me.

Rebecca, a successful, self-made business woman in her mid-thirties, is a brilliant character, even more so since the novel is set mostly in the late 1970s in England, a time when feminism and women's rights were once again at the forefront of many women's minds - not least because of the danger posed to them by the (real) Yorkshire Ripper, leading to fear and uncertainty in the female population, but also "Take Back the Night" marches. I liked that Rebecca was smart, no-nonsense, and a great business woman, although I could not understand some of her (personal) decisions in the last third of the book.

After a prologue that takes place in 1961 and gives Rebecca an interesting personal backstory, "The Company She Keeps" spans two-and-a-half years - from the Spring of 1979, just after the Yorkshire Ripper claimed his tenth victim, until the Fall of 1981 - and follows a now grown-up, unmarried Rebecca who - as the book's title suggests - is not exactly great at picking her romantic partners. After a string of failed romantic prospects (yay Rebecca for standing up for herself and wanting more for herself!), she seems to finally find love and happiness - until one former suitor expresses doubts about her most recent partner. Just a case of jealousy, or is her fiancé hiding something sinister?

It felt as if the novel couldn't really decide what it wanted to be - social commentary, historical novel, serial killer mystery, domestic thriller, or even romance. While the book contains all of these elements, it never really seemed to find its true form, and ultimately, I could never really get into it. It didn't help that all the other (more interesting) aspects often took a backseat to Rebecca's love life.

That being said, the book is well-written, so maybe it was just me - or the format of it. I listened to the audio version, which definitely did not sound like the very thrilling story the cover and blurb made it out to be, even when things picked up at the end. I definitely think this is one book where reading the actual book may have been preferable (side note: the narrator definitely lent her most annoying, high-pitched voice to children. It was completely distracting).

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Company She Keeps" is slated to be published on July 1,2024.

Thanks for #NetGalley and #DreamScapeMedia for the book #TheCompanySheKeeps by #JamesWoolf. Rebecca is a wealthy businesswoman in 1980 and she has three men in her life. Simon, a married policeman, Mervyn, a journalist obsessed with Rebecca, and Larry, an American whose wife has died. After she agrees to marry Larry, she starts to things something is wrong, especially regarding his ex wife. As she digs deeper, she finds things aren’t what they seem. Is he dangerous?

The Company She Keeps by James Woolf
Narrated by Henrietta Meire

Successful business woman, Rebecca, leads a risky life. But it's her life and she's free to lead it as she sees fit. The men in her life right now are a married man who she sees off on and on, a stalking journalist that she decided she didn't want to date before even their first date, and an American who lost his first wife in tragic circumstances. Once she's seeing the American, Larry, things move quickly and it's not long before he moves in with Rebecca and they are planning their wedding.

It's the late 1970s and the the Yorkshire Ripper is always in the news as he keeps killing women and the police are having no luck catching him. Women are scared but many woman are also not going to change their lives for him. He's very much on the mind of Rebecca, especially because some of her employees are living in fear on a daily basis due to their long commutes.

All three of the men play a part in the life of Rebecca as she begins to have her doubts about one of them. Rebecca even has concerns about her decision making after her car breaks down in a remote, rural area and she deals with the situation in a dangerous manner. Things aren't right at home anymore and Rebecca decides to dig deeper into Larry's past. Once again, all three of these men are involved in Rebecca's doubts and fears but she's heading into danger all on her own. It was very hard for me to understand her actions so I just sat back and watched in trepidation. I also read about the Yorkshire Ripper and his reign of terror and I can see why women were so frightened during that time.

Henrietta Meire's narration is spot on for this story. The story is brutal and it will take me a while to forget what I read. Almost from the beginning there is a feeling of unease which never lets up.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.

We join Rebecca, a successful business women, whilst she try’s to improve her romantic and personal life all whilst the Yorkshire ripper is running riot.
Great premise.
The opening gripped me right away but the pace soon slowed down and although there was plenty of opportunity for suspense it never really came. I never felt on the edge of my seat and the need to turn the page as quickly as possible to find out what happens. It was all ok and a ‘fine’ book.
Narration was fine also