The Quiet Wife by Diane Saxon is a psychological thriller told through a dual time line of past and present and the main character Soriah, a woman who really needs some luck, it started of strong but I did find I lost interest in the story and I did skim through parts, I found the story had a predictabe theme to it and I guessed how it was going to end and the ending had a rushed feel when it finally came. t would probably make a good tv series though. What I would really like is some more DS Jenna Morgan stories, fingers crossed Diane Saxon will return to her soon.

The Quiet Wife is intriguing and I like the dual timeline delivery.

However, I found myself skimming through some of the monologuing when it struggled to hold my attention. I’m not convinced it was all required to portray the same story, as it was repetitive from time to time.

I seesawed a bit with feelings for the characters. There are plenty of them to dislike. I didn’t connect with any of them, nor did I find myself rooting for any of them.

Overall, I liked the plot. I just prefer a faster pace than this.

If you enjoy a dark, twisted domestic thriller with a slow burn you’ll probably enjoy this one.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an early ebook arc to review.

Overall a good read although for me personally I enjoyed her previous book better.

The characters mainly were good and well described.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC which I can thoroughly recommend.

4.5

A huge thank you to Boldwood Publishing and, of course, to Diane Saxon for the privilege of reading one of her books in advance once again!

When it comes to Diane Saxon and her books, you really never know what the next book will be - or the style that it is written in. While most authors have a distinct writing style, I would argue that Diane Saxon's hallmark is her ability to delve deeply into the emotional complexities of her characters. She does not tiptoe around trauma or try to play it down - instead the portrayal of emotions are very real and raw.

I try not to focus too much on Soriah's trauma portrayal, but it’s important to acknowledge how vital it is to understand that trauma can drive people to act naïve, irrational, or even secretive. Saxon weaves these elements seamlessly into a slow-burning psychological thriller that gains momentum as the story progresses.

I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Diane Saxon, brilliant!

This was a book I didn’t want to put down. We all have our past and this one came back to her. I really enjoyed this book.


I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for my honest opinion

I really enjoyed The Quiet Wife. The characters were well-developed and felt real, which made the story easy to read. Some of the flashbacks did interrupt the flow here and there, but they added depth overall. The tension and thrill was certainly there.

My only small gripe was that the climax between Craig and Marcus felt a bit rushed after such a strong buildup. I’d have loved more dialogue and detail in that moment.

That said, it’s a great read, and I’d definitely recommend it!

“The Quiet Wife” is a mystery/thriller by Diane Saxon. In this book we follow two timelines - present and 20 years ago. In the past storyline we meet college aged Soriah and her friend Gilly. Craig is a college student who is infatuated (think stalker infatuated) with Soriah. With Gilly’s encouragement, Craig becomes more obsessed with Soriah - which leads to a horrible outcome. In the present storyline, Soriah is married to Marcus and she learns that Craig is being released from jail. Soriah discovers odd things happening - she’s getting photos and messages from unknown numbers, little odd things happen around her house - and she wonders what is going on and is it related to Craig’s release. This book after one hint was dropped became, sadly, very predictable - but until that time, I thought this book wasn’t that bad of a read. There were a lot of little things leading the reader to believe a few different possible “who is doing this” scenarios, so that was enjoyable. I did find Soriah, for a person who felt things deeply, to be rather “okay, go with the flow and don’t make waves,” which I found disturbing (maybe unsettling). I found Ms. Saxon’s writing to be engaging and I flew through this book.

Main characters
Soriah
Craig

Storyline
Craig Lane is obsessed with  Soriah, and he believes he could make Soriah love him back if he just tried harder. However, after rejection comes a horrifying nightmare.

Years later, Soriah is given news, which terrifies yet informing her that her past is being released from prison.

The next question is, is she safe?

Thoughts
This thriller at the beginning had me gripped. However, I slowly started to lose interest as the plots and twists fell flat or were predicable for me.

This book has some heavy triggers, so please do check them before reading.

Awesome book!! Great author! Will be looking for more!!!!!!!!!!! Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before I even get into my review, I feel I need to mention that there could potentially be trigger warnings for this one that are not mentioned. Those warnings include stalking, forced imprisonment, rape, and the mention of abortion.

The synopsis of this one caught my attention immediately, and after seeing the early praise for this story with people calling it "complex, dark and disturbing" and "unputdownable with a tense, fast-paced & terrifying plot", I was beyond excited to read it.

Sadly, what I got was an overly predictable story with characters who were not likable in the least (some for less obvious reasons than others) that I could (and did) easily put down and forget about for extended periods of time. This was truly disappointing because this novel had such amazing potential (take for example my favorite line of the novel in which Soriah says "it's not the dark that worries me, but the monsters that hide in its shadows"). It's obvious this author knows how to write, it was just some of the creative choices they made seemed flawed.

For example (and to give credit where it is due), there was one instance where I was caught a bit off-guard because I thought the author was going one way with the story, but instead they decided to go a completely different route. However, I felt like that reveal came much too soon because it instantly not only put me on my guard, but made me wonder how Soriah didn't see it herself. I wish the author would have held off on this plot point just a little bit longer (or maybe not included it at all as a different point in the story as to not make it a huge red flag for the reader when it happened, but that would have allowed Soriah to know the truth).

Looking past the plot to the characters, as I mentioned prior, none of the main ones were very likable. Craig and Gilly for obvious reasons, but Soriah and her husband Marcus for less obvious reasons (at least at first). Marcus immediately comes across as a user (and a shady one at that). Seriously? You have to go away for a weekend and stay at a hotel in order to attend an awards ceremony for your job, the same job that says due to budget cuts your spouse can't attend? Could he be any more obvious? Also, I'm still confused as to whether or not there was an actual awards presentation as there was no mention of him bringing one back with him when he came back, only more instances of him being an uncaring git towards his wife. And then we have Soriah, who was just ..... a doormat. For her entire life. She didn't stand up to Craig. She didn't stand up to Gilly. She should have reported the admin from her school when things first began to escalate, but she didn't. Then later on... she didn't stand up to her husband. For heavens sake, she didn't even stand up to her parents at times. I really would have hoped that after everything that had happened to her when she was eighteen, that she would have learned how to stand on her own two feet and be assertive.

Despite these things however, I do feel like there will be other readers who will enjoy this one a lot more than I did. I would give this author another chance to see if maybe it was just this particular story that didn't jive with me.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

A fast paced read.
Some good twists but not the best from this author.in my opinion.
A decent thriller.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

My secret past is coming to get me.
Pregnant Soriah is happy with her life married to her lovely husband Marcus, but she holds secrets going back and it won't be left there.
The quiet wife is a story jumping out to be told, as the author takes us back and forth for readers to find the truth.
Chilling gripping chapters that sends shivers, a well written book with plenty of mind blowing chapters.
Sets out to be just a few chapters that you find yourself wanting to read the next as it can't be left alone.
I loved it.

This was one of the best reads I have read in awhile! I will be looking for more reads from this author. Soriah is definetly a quiet wife. No matter what life throws at her she remains quiet. The book flips between past and present so you do not have to guess what happened. I thougt I had the book figured out but I was very wrong. I was actually shocked at some points. You will not regret buying and reading this book!

Another twisty story from Diane Saxon and while it became somewhat obvious where the story was going, it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed it. There are a few nasty characters but they add to the plot.

This is the first book of 2025 I have read and the bar has been set VERY high!! This psychological thriller is ridiculously hard to put down! The plot is centred around Soriah, a woman in her late 30s, who is married to Marcus, and struggling to conceive a much longed for baby. We learn early on that Soriah was the target of the unwanted advances of a peer at college. The story plays out in 2 distinct timelines, revealing the events at college 20 years previously, and current events, with Soriah receiving some unwanted communications, leading her to believe someone is threatening her. The intersection of these 2 timelines is superb - smoke and mirrors at their finest!!

A gripping read, fantastic plot and talented writing - this book is perfect!!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

Wow what an amazing, unputdownable thriller, I found this book so hard to put down, I loved the book so much I will definitely be recommending this one.

Trigger Warning: SA, DV, and other traumas.

Wow. What a whirlwind of emotions as I finished this book. Part of me cannot believe how much trauma the main character, Soriah, endured in this book. The other part of me wonders how the heck the author thought up this story. Twister, dark, but very cleverly written.

I loved the dual time line in telling this story. It was very smoothly written and helped the story progress. It was also told from multiple points of views between the dual time lines. This books definitely touches on seem very sick, dark and twisted concepts. Sexual assault, stalking, murder, domestic violence, kidnap, and multiple avenues of drama. If you are triggered by those things, this book probably isn’t for you because it goes into this way in depth.

The plot was good, the climax was good, the ending was good (but predictable). I like that Soriah finds her strength eventually and overcomes what she’s been faced with.

I can’t say much else without my giving the book away or mentioning spoilers.

Definitely worth a read and is 10/10 in the thriller/suspense category.

When you pick up a Diane Saxon novel you know you're in for a treat. She doesn't shy away from difficult subjects and I feel writes empathetically about her characters. This book centres of Soriah, both present day and flashbacks to 20 years previously while she was in college.
In college we meet her friend Gilly and Craig, a wannabee boyfriend, who collude together to create a relationship between Soriah and Craig. This has a disastrous outcome and effects the rest of Soriah's life.
Added to this we have a secret POV, someone who is watching Soriahs every move.
This novel is tense, most of the characters are likeable, but of course it wouldn't be a thriller if there weren't some nasty characters too. And some of those are definitely who you wouldn't expect.
To date this is my favourite Diane Saxon novel. I couldn't put it down

The Quiet Wife was an absolute page-turner. I found it incredibly difficult to put down as the story kept me on the edge of my seat, eagerly anticipating what would happen next. The author masterfully weaves tension and intrigue throughout, making it a truly captivating read. Highly recommend!.

I was recently given the opportunity to review The Quiet Wife, and managed to fly through it in two sittings. (Thanks Net Galley!) The book takes place in two timelines, but with the same characters. I thought that might get confusing, but each chapter is very clearly labelled so we always know where we are. The main character is written as both a teenager and as an adult, and it's not hard to tell them apart. Her thoughts and feelings really sound youthful in those younger chapters. If you like books with a ton of action and drama, this one should satisfy. It is one thing after another! Bonus points for the adorable kitty.