Jodi Brett has been with Todd for twenty years. She has always been there for him no matter his actions. Todd loves Jodi but strays when it comes to sex. When he starts seeing his best friend’s daughter, the cracks in his comfortable life start to appear. Can he have his cake and eat it?

The characters of The Silent Wife are the sort you’ll love to hate. Todd is a serial cheater but Jodi lives in denial. As a therapist, she prides herself on her ability to act coolly and give Todd his space and that’s exactly what Todd loves about her. It’s ironic that the behaviour that Jodi thinks is balanced in her professional opinion is just what makes her seem a bit crazy to the reader. Natasha, the other woman, may be young and impulsive, but her actions seem much more rational from an emotional standpoint.

There’s quite a lot of psychology amongst the pages. Jodi is an odd one; a therapist who refuses to treat people with actual mental illness. Throughout conversations with her mentor, where she had to go through therapy sessions as part of her training, Jodi’s troubled background is slowly revealed. I’m not sure how this directly reflects to how she reacts to Todd’s infidelity except that she is clearly troubled.

I found it slow to get into although when I did the pages flew by. There are plenty of details of their domestic life and it takes a while for something to happen. I’m not sure the present tense narrative suited the story. In the first pages, it is indicated that Jodi will be made into a killer. Normally in a psychological thriller, a crime happens early on, but this is all about the actions that come before. There were several points when it felt like it was using present tense for things in the past and I’m not sure it quite worked for me.

However it got to the point where I was turning the pages to see what crazy thing would pop into Todd or Jodi’s head next. The viewpoint switches between Her and Him and at times they both seem as lost as each other. There were moments when I actually laughed at them; though it’s certainly not meant to be funny but when you don’t like the characters, their predicament stops being traumatising.

Sadly A.S.A. Harrison died before she could see the publication of her debut. The Silent Wife is her legacy and will be published by Headline in trade paperback and ebook editions on 25th June 2013. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review. If you’re really quick you can enter my giveaway to win a copy or keep your eyes on the #silentwife hashtag on Twitter.

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Also reviewed @ Displacement Activity

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.