Review: Believe Me by J.P. Delaney, Tony Strong (Pseudonym)

Summary from Goodreads:

In this twisty psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation.

A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected.

Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide.

Then the game changes.

When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.

Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy . . . and who is the prey?

My Review:


What I Liked:

Middle Twist. I had no idea that the first twist near the start of the novel was coming at all. It was shocking and made the story even more compelling. 

Characters. The novel only follows Claire's point of view, a character that you both like and dislike. She does stupid things (some of the twists explain it) but is still an interesting characters. The other side characters were well done. 

Writing Style. This was my first experience with the work of Delancey and I went in blind. The novel flew by because of the short chapters and the author's writing style. The prose flowed really well and I enjoyed how much detail went into the story. 

What I Disliked:

Unrealistic. I felt that aspects of the novel, and some of the twists were a big too unrealistic for me. It took me out of the story and ruined the conclusion for me. 

Ending Twist. The novel reveals another big twist at the end that once again changes the whole story. However, I felt that the twist was not realistic and did not fit with the whole plot so far. 

I recommend checking out this interesting thriller. It is well-written and suspenseful. 

My Rating:

4 Stars Out of 5 Stars